What are you filthy heathens reading atm?

Hotblack Desiato

Dades wrote: »

That to me is like saying, well, a good teleplay is better than a good book. They're different mediums!

(This isn't the first time I've had this discussion with 'purists' - in fact I think one of them is known here )

I enjoyed the first 2-3 books. Thought the last two of the trilogy (:rolleyes:) were a bit crap tbh, with the distinct whiff of cash-in-meets-deadline about them.

But what I enjoyed the most was my introduction to h2g2, the TV series. Especially the animated Guide sequences, bowl of petunias, God disappearing in a puff of logic lucky my ma went out on Tuesday nights or she'd have turned it off or insisted we put the news on. That was the only reason we got to see NTNOCN as well...

ShooterSF

keane2097 wrote: »

Personally thought the original radio show was streets ahead of the books, although the books are still great of course.

Never listened to them. Must source them out so!

On this thread; I have the kindle app and because of this thread it is now lousy with samples of books!

keane2097

Dades wrote: »

That to me is like saying, well, a good teleplay is better than a good book. They're different mediums!

(This isn't the first time I've had this discussion with 'purists' - in fact I think one of them is known here )

There are degrees of difference between mediums to be fair, you can certainly compare the two particularly in a time when many people consume books in audio form (myself included). In fairness, a lot of the extra enjoyment in the radio version comes from the often hilarious production values, but the story changes a lot between all the incarnations and for me the story on the radio (as far as it goes) was better than the one in the books. In broad strokes it's the same, but the details change.

I also thought some of the characters and jokes that are shared between the two were imagined or framed (or both) better in the radio show. It's very much subjective of course but for me if I had to spend X hours on H2G2 there's no doubt which version I'd be reaching for.

ninja900 wrote: »

I enjoyed the first 2-3 books. Thought the last two of the trilogy (:rolleyes:) were a bit crap tbh, with the distinct whiff of cash-in-meets-deadline about them.

Very much agree with this.

ninja900 wrote: »

But what I enjoyed the most was my introduction to h2g2, the TV series. Especially the animated Guide sequences, bowl of petunias, God disappearing in a puff of logic lucky my ma went out on Tuesday nights or she'd have turned it off or insisted we put the news on. That was the only reason we got to see NTNOCN as well...

Never actually got around to watching the TV show, must dig it out some time.

Dades

I actually thought the Eoin Colfer installment "And Another Thing..." (6th?) was quite good. And he's Irish!

robindch

McG wrote: »

[...] Scott Card's Ender's Game series [...]

MagicMarker wrote: »

Just finished Ender's Game, absolutely brilliant!!

bluewolf wrote: »

Ender's Game is brilliant. Even if its author was a scary mormon

swampgas wrote: »

Ender's Game is epic, but Speaker for the Dead is truly awful, and a massive let down after Ender's Game. Even Orson Scott Card has admitted as much.

kylith wrote: »

Moved on to Xenocide in the Ender series.

Osron Scott Card? More than a scary mormon...

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/02/orson-scott-card-superman/
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/03/orson-scott-card-superman-comic/

Delirium

Big Bang Comics in Dundrum released a statement back in February that they won't be carrying the Superman comic for the duration of Mr.Card's time on it.

From their facebook page:

Dear all,

We've decided not to carry Adventures of Superman # 1 on the shelves in The Big Bang and only order it for customers who wish to pre-order it.

This isn't a knee jerk reaction from us and it's something we've discussed long and hard. But the fact remains that for us, no matter how talented a writer like Orson Scott Card is, he actively goes about trying to prevent people from their right of marrying the person they want to marry. His involvement in the National Organization for Marriage and his extreme opposition to gay Marriage and gay rights are not something we support. Especially considering the fact that we have both customers and friends of all orientations. Thus, we won't be carrying the book for the duration of Mr Cards involvement on our shelves.

Ironically in all of this it's a Superman story. And Superman stands for Truth and Justice. I'm pretty sure Superman, if he were a real living breathing person wouldn't be into restricting the rights of any person no matter what their sexual orientation was but Mr Card is and that doesn't represent the principles of Truth and Justice to us.

The second irony in all of this, if we were to boycott the title all together we'd be no better than Mr Card restricting peoples right to get this issue if they so wanted to. We're not about censoring rights, unlike Mr Card. So if you do wish to get this Comic Book you must tell us as we'll be ordering this only for customers that have it pre-ordered. All orders must be received by the 16th of March

Our sincerest apologies go out to all the other talent involved in this book, in particular Jeff Parker that you all had the pleasure to meet at D.I.C.E. '12.

Cheers and see you in store.

The Big Bang.

Source

pH

I noticed that on the NYT bestsellers list, (along with half a dozen books about people who'd been and returned from heaven) were 3 books about scientology.

I read Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill, it was interesting, but a little short on details and dwelt a lot on her childhood in the church, which didn't hold a lot of interest to me.

The second one (I'm half way through) is Going Clear much better, with a fascinating amount of detail regarding LRH's life.

Sadly not available on amazon.co.uk - not sure if they'll sell the ebook to irish readers from amazon.com - anyone check?

Sulla Felix

pH wrote: »

I noticed that on the NYT bestsellers list, (along with half a dozen books about people who'd been and returned from heaven) were 3 books about scientology.

I read Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill, it was interesting, but a little short on details and dwelt a lot on her childhood in the church, which didn't hold a lot of interest to me.

The second one (I'm half way through) is Going Clear much better, with a fascinating amount of detail regarding LRH's life.

Sadly not available on amazon.co.uk - not sure if they'll sell the ebook to irish readers from amazon.com - anyone check?

Irish kindles are locked to amazon.com anyway afaik. At least mine was when I first got one, might have changed since.

Bannasidhe

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Irish kindles are locked to amazon.com anyway afaik. At least mine was when I first got one, might have changed since.

Mine still is. Had a look yesterday on .co.uk and all the books I saw said available in UK only.

pH

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Mine still is. Had a look yesterday on .co.uk and all the books I saw said available in UK only.

It's relatively trivial to get your kindle registered as a UK kindle and be able to use amazon.co.uk if you want to (I do). Not sure it's a better choice, you lose out on some good deals on .com that aren't on .co.uk - but I mainly follow UK reviews and releases and it made sense at the time.

So if someone has an "irish" kindle registered to .com can you buy "going clear" from amazon.com or not?

fisgon

The Believing Brain, by Michael Shermer. It is a guide to why people believe such ludicrous things, and never question their beliefs. It has to do with seeing patterns everywhere, and imposing explanations that don't hold up logically, but which at least make us feel in more control.

It basically demonstrates that human beings are not naturally skeptical, or rational. We form our beliefs first, then look for evidence for them later.

Dades

pH wrote: »

It's relatively trivial to get your kindle registered as a UK kindle and be able to use amazon.co.uk if you want to (I do). Not sure it's a better choice, you lose out on some good deals on .com that aren't on .co.uk - but I mainly follow UK reviews and releases and it made sense at the time.

So if someone has an "irish" kindle registered to .com can you buy "going clear" from amazon.com or not?

It's pretty simple to buy any ebook and put on your Kindle to read. You're not restricted to Amazon. There's a bit of Freeware called Calibre I use to manage my Kindle library and it converts pretty much any format and drops it unto your device.

---

Started "Caliban's War" last week. (The sequel to "Leviathan Wakes").

Lingua Franca

I'm currently tearing through Damien Echols' Life After Death. I'm assuming here that everyone has heard of the West Memphis Three. His story has resonated with me since I first heard it since we're about the same age and I was also a troubled teen. There's very much a feeling of "could have been me or any of my friends" when I hear or read his words. And perhaps it's because he was caught in the time capsule of death row from the age of 18 but he sounds like 18 year old me, which is weird but also captivating.

It's a slightly disjointed but surprisingly well written account of his life both pre and post death row. He looks to have dabbled in several religions over his life time looking for some spiritual peace but found them all wanting in some way. Goodness knows what he's into now. You should see his twitter feed, it's full of flowery trite wall plaque sentiments that make me want to stab my own eyes out. Thankfully there's little of that so far in this book.

MagicMarker

There's another new movie (4th movie) on the West Memphis 3, it summarizes everything up nicely that's contained in the first 3 movies. With more stuff thrown in.

It's called 'West of Memphis' and it was produced by Peter Jackson, it's very good. Absolutely shocking deal that they got to get out of prison though.

MagicMarker

Started Small Gods, my first Pratchett experience. It's good. Weird not having chapters though, I don't know when to stop!!

Canis Lupus

MagicMarker wrote: »

Started Small Gods, my first Pratchett experience. It's good. Weird not having chapters though, I don't know when to stop!!

You've never read his stuff before???!

Shame on you sir.

Try Nation next for a non discworld novel that's great. Then try some discworld. The Nights Watch books are great. I think I tried The Color of Magic and wasn't thrilled. By Jingo was the one that really sold me on his stuff.

kylith

I usually recommend Mort for first-time Discworlders. No-one doesn't like DEATH. Or Guards! Guards!

Sod it, Discworld binge tonight!

Bannasidhe

Dog ate the cover off my first edition of The Colour of Magic....:(

PopePalpatine

Canis Lupus wrote: »

You've never read his stuff before???!

Shame on you sir.

Try Nation next for a non discworld novel that's great. Then try some discworld. The Nights Watch books are great. I think I tried The Color of Magic and wasn't thrilled. By Jingo was the one that really sold me on his stuff.

Speaking of the Night's Watch, I just began "After the Feast", the latest of the Song of Ice and Fire books.

Dades

MagicMarker wrote: »

Started Small Gods, my first Pratchett experience. It's good. Weird not having chapters though, I don't know when to stop!!

It's the only Prachett I ever read. :eek:

*hides

Sulla Felix

on a tom holland binge. Just re read persian fire, in the middle of re reading Rubicon and have the new to me Millennium lined up for after that.

Lingua Franca

Lingua Franca wrote: »

I'm currently tearing through Damien Echols' Life After Death. I'm assuming here that everyone has heard of the West Memphis Three. His story has resonated with me since I first heard it since we're about the same age and I was also a troubled teen. There's very much a feeling of "could have been me or any of my friends" when I hear or read his words. And perhaps it's because he was caught in the time capsule of death row from the age of 18 but he sounds like 18 year old me, which is weird but also captivating.

It's a slightly disjointed but surprisingly well written account of his life both pre and post death row. He looks to have dabbled in several religions over his life time looking for some spiritual peace but found them all wanting in some way. Goodness knows what he's into now. You should see his twitter feed, it's full of flowery trite wall plaque sentiments that make me want to stab my own eyes out. Thankfully there's little of that so far in this book.

....it's there now. Lots of detailed recollections of meditation sessions which were so incredibly relaxing that they made his feet bleed through 2 pairs of socks intertwined with a somewhat sanitised version of Echol's teenage years. He talks about the difficulties of being poor and being a goth but not his well documented repeated suicide attempts or the time he threatened to slit his mother's throat. A little bit more honesty about his mental turmoil at the time wouldn't go amiss, and a lot less Zen-and-the-art-of-bleeding-through-socks would be appreciated.

I've put it down for now. I might try again in a few day's time.

Lingua Franca

By the way, have any of you ever been so relaxed that your feet bled? Yeah, me either. I thought he was gonna claim stigmata!

Hotblack Desiato

Finally finished Buzz Aldrin's Magnificent Desolation.

A bit crap tbh

Dades

ninja900 wrote: »

Finally finished Buzz Aldrin's Magnificent Desolation.

A bit crap tbh

Don't let Buzz hear you he might swing for ya! A fiesty one is Buzz.

Aenaes

Just finished Gangster Squad. Mickey Cohen my arse, Jack Whalen was some boy..

Hotblack Desiato

Dades wrote: »

Don't let Buzz hear you he might swing for ya! A fiesty one is Buzz.

Meh, he only punches moon hoax CT-ers, I hear :cool:

What was there in relation to the moon mission was OK, but there was more technical detail in Mike Collins' kids book Flying to the Moon and other strange places that I read when I was 8.

Feckin' half of it is going on about how great his third wife is and how she saved his life from booze and despair, and looked after his business interests etc, and isn't 20+ years of marriage great, well about a year after writing it he separated from her*. You could plod through all the Lois crap if it at least had a happy ending, but given that he doesn't really seem to have learned as much along the way as he thinks he has, it renders the story of a personal journey of supposed enlightenment rather redundant... and there's still the whiff of a really bad attitude to women off him.


* Allegedly due to having an affair, with a much younger woman, in his ninth decade of life. Pfizer have a lot to answer for :pac:

DazMarz

Reading Primary Colors at the moment. A roman á cléf about the Democratic Presidential Primaries in 1992, with Bill Clinton being re-cast as Jack Stanton. All the players in his campaign are there under pseudonyms. Cutting and sardonic and funny. Well worth a look if you can get it.

Once I'm finished that (nearly finished it), I have some light reading lined up in the form of Hitler's Hangman: Reinhard Heydrich... Can't imagine it will be a skip around the maypole, but how and ever. This follows on from Mein Kampf, The Occult Roots of Nazism and Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. All of which I have read in the last 6 months. My friends think I have a problem. Until I buy an SS uniform, I think I'm not too bad.

the_monkey

About to start "The Ancestors Tale" by Richard Dawkins.

eviltwin

The Church Of Fear by John Sweeney. Its an interesting expose on the cult that is Scientology.