Books The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

[Organizized]

I'm currently reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q89 and I'm loving it more and more as the story unfolds. This is the closest plot that has the potential to be an anime.

Felt that way about a lot of his books actually. I don’t know which of his other works you have read, but I recommend ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World’. It’s a bit different from his other works but still so very Murakami.

 

[tsubakikun]

It's in my list but I haven't found or bought a copy yet.

 

[destiny4ever]

I have finished reading two books:

Condors are not buried every day by Gustavo Alvarez Gardeazabal (an excellent book about how absolute power corrupts absolutely)

The North China Lover by Marguerite Duras (a forbidden love story)

 

[destiny4ever]

The Holy Grail Thieves by Renato Giovannol

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

 

[kkck]

So, I have a question about the witcher's books:

Spoiler

I saw the netflix show and have played the wild hunt. Along with having read summaries of the books online. But a bit I can't really understand yet is what exactly is ciri's destiny. Destiny plays a big role when it comes to ciri in general with her powers and being a child of surprise. There is also that prophecy which tells of the coming ice age. But... I haven't actually found anything concrete on what her destiny is supposed to be. The final book in the saga as far as I understand has a bit of an ambiguous ending but my understanding is that it shows a probably dead geralt/yennefer and ciri going of with gallahad elsewhere. So.... beyond her being the lady of space and time, what destiny was she supposed to fulfill by meeting geralt and.... living?

 

[SleipnirX]

So, I have a question about the witcher's books:

Spoiler

I saw the netflix show and have played the wild hunt. Along with having read summaries of the books online. But a bit I can't really understand yet is what exactly is ciri's destiny. Destiny plays a big role when it comes to ciri in general with her powers and being a child of surprise. There is also that prophecy which tells of the coming ice age. But... I haven't actually found anything concrete on what her destiny is supposed to be. The final book in the saga as far as I understand has a bit of an ambiguous ending but my understanding is that it shows a probably dead geralt/yennefer and ciri going of with gallahad elsewhere. So.... beyond her being the lady of space and time, what destiny was she supposed to fulfill by meeting geralt and.... living?

Having just started replaying Wild Hunt (and already having fallen in love with it again!) I’m considering reading the book series, would you recommend if you‘ve read them? I like most big fantasy works like LotR, ASoIaF, the Wardstone chronicles etc, is it in the same vain as those? I’m not entirely sure what to expect but as I say I love the world as portrayed in the game and quite like the Netflix series - hear the game is quite different to the books though?

 

[kkck]

Having just started replaying Wild Hunt (and already having fallen in love with it again!) I’m considering reading the book series, would you recommend if you‘ve read them? I like most big fantasy works like LotR, ASoIaF, the Wardstone chronicles etc, is it in the same vain as those? I’m not entirely sure what to expect but as I say I love the world as portrayed in the game and quite like the Netflix series - hear the game is quite different to the books though?

As my post implies, I haven't read the books. The entirety of the context I have about the series comes from the netflix show and the games. The most I can say is that the internet thinks the witcher saga is pretty good, though it hasn't been fully translated to as far as I can tell.

 

[Jammin]

I just started reading the first Witcher book, The Last Wish, and I'm really struck by how different it is from the TV show.

Like you can see the stories they were adapting but they changed them in quite a few fundamental ways. It's left me sort of puzzled about what they were thinking too. The book has been much better.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 14, 2020, Original Post Date: Jan 22, 2020 ---

Working my way through book 2 now and I'm steadily coming to the realization that I just don't like Yennifer very much. Everything else about the books is really working for me.

I'd say I like her more in the books than in the games or tv show because there is more of a sense of emotional vulnerability with her. But her personality is... something else.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 22, 2020 ---

Finished Blood of Elves this week

And I have to say as impressed as I was with The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. I did not care for Blood of Elves much at all. At least not the last half. The first half was pretty enjoyable. The last half though seemed like sort of a mess to me.

 

[Marmalade]

I just started reading “the discovery of heaven” by Harry Mulisch. Have read it before back in highschool and while it isn’t a light read, I still think its an interesting book.

What are you guys reading right now?

 

[Organizized]

I'm reading one of those books I've been meaning to read since I was like 14 - and one of the most agreed-upon "must read" books of all time - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Definitely one of "The Great Books" as the title says. I just never got around to it before I guess. But so far it's amazing, and I'm going into the final "act" now so assuming it'll only get better.

After this I'm starting the first Rivers of London book by Ben Aaronovitch which I have on recommendation from about 15 different fellow Terry Pratchett fans, and therefore should be good by all accounts.

 

[Faust]

I currently read Herodotus' Histories from time to time.

 

[Makasa]

I've been persistently advised to read Atlas shrugged by Ayn Rand. Also I'm planning to read Black swan by Nassim Taleb.

 

[Ramen]

I've been persistently advised to read Atlas shrugged by Ayn Rand. Also I'm planning to read Black swan by Nassim Taleb.

Atlas Shrugged is whatever. Ayn Rand wrote that as a defense of Anarcho-Capitalism and why it's awesome and why government sucks as a whole while trying to make an interesting novel. It's not something I personally recommend. If you're looking for Pro-Libertarian and Pro-Free Market literature then I strongly reccomend reading anything by Ludwig Von Mises or The Libertarian Mind by David Boaz. I'd say both are more interesting reads and less dry than Rand.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 5, 2020, Original Post Date: Apr 5, 2020 ---

So as an English Major, I love books. Currently reading Dracula by Bram Stoker as classics are my favourite type.

Planning on reading Don Quixote by Cervantes next.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 5, 2020 ---

However, I really did enjoy the Prince by Machiavelli. Crazy to see how his work is being applied in today's society.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 5, 2020 ---

I currently read Herodotus' Histories from time to time.

I've been meaning to read it as I have a passion for Ancient History. How are you finding it?

 

[Faust]

I've beeen meaning to read it as I have a passion for Ancient History. How are you finding it?

It's really nice. It's not as boring as school history class that's for sure.

Herodotus' insights and no restraints on mentioning references are cool. Although he claims to be factual/a know-it-all sometimes when in fact he wasn't right on certain things (as the notes to the pages/paragraphs would explain, e.g. he didn't really understood the Persians as much as he thought he did)

I'm reading the Oxford World's Classics ver. new translation by Robin Waterfield (1998)

 

[Ramen]

It's really nice. It's not as boring as school history class that's for sure.

Herodotus' insights and no restraints on mentioning references are cool. Although he claims to be factual/a know-it-all sometimes where in fact he wasn't right on certain things (as the notes to the pages/paragraphs would explain, e.g. he didn't really understood the Persians as much as he thought he did)

I'm reading the Oxford World's Classics ver. new translation by Robin Waterfield (1998)

How bad are the exaggerations? I've heard that while he is the father of history, he likes to add over exaggerate the success of the Greeks.

 

[Faust]

It's not that bad that its ruins the book entirely, so don't worry about it.

 

[Arjuna]

Started rereading A Song of Ice and Fire novels,i had bought only the first 3 books quite some time back and am binge reading them once again.

 

[Ramen]

Charles Dickens- Hard Times is next on the list for me. I've enjoyed all the Dickens works I've read so far so I'm quite confident going into this one. After that I want to pick up political literature again.

 

[Static]

Not started yet but plan to read either Aqeedah Al-Tahawwiyah or The Sealed Nectar soon.

 

[Ramen]

Not started yet but plan to read either Aqeedah Al-Tahawwiyah or The Sealed Nectar soon.

If for whatever reason, you're ever interested in reading on Islamic economics, I have a book I can send you.