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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 4:25 pm
(This post was last modified: February 10, 2015 at 4:26 pm by FatAndFaithless.)
In my opinion one of the (maybe the) best books ever written is Nabokov's Lolita. The style and diction and imagery are utter delights to read, and the book tackles a hugely taboo subject and provides insight into the mind of a pedophile so well that many readers actually feel empathetic towards the self-described perverted protagonist. This book was published in 1955 and yet still offers such a thoughtful and personal window into the vastly "deviant" life of Humbert Humbert, that even compared to modern attempts at humanizing sexually predatorial minds it stands out starkly above the rest.
Absolutely fantastic read.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 4:31 pm
(February 10, 2015 at 4:25 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: In my opinion one of the (maybe the) best books ever written is Nabokov's Lolita. The style and diction and imagery are utter delights to read, and the book tackles a hugely taboo subject and provides insight into the mind of a pedophile so well that many readers actually feel empathetic towards the self-described perverted protagonist. This book was published in 1955 and yet still offers such a thoughtful and personal window into the vastly "deviant" life of Humbert Humbert, that even compared to modern attempts at humanizing sexually predatorial minds it stands out starkly above the rest.
Absolutely fantastic read.
As you can likely surmise from my earlier post in this thread, I am a big Nabokov fan. More than any other author I've ever read, Nabokov seems to have loved words. His novels exhibit the greatest diction ever put to paper. If I had to describe Nabokov's prose, I would say: "Nabokov rolls around in words like a dog rolls around in garbage." I consider that a compliment of the highest order.
How will we know, when the morning comes, we are still human? - 2D
Don't worry, my friend. If this be the end, then so shall it be.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Good to know there's another Austen fan around here.
I've gotten tired of defending her in my real life. It seems like it's cool to hate her lately.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 5:18 pm
(February 10, 2015 at 4:50 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Good to know there's another Austen fan around here.
I've gotten tired of defending her in my real life. It seems like it's cool to hate her lately.
What kind of person hates Jane Austen? All of her books are worth reading. Even her Minor Works (aka Juvenilia):
http://smile.amazon.com/Oxford-Illustrat...192547062/
All the novels and the above:
http://smile.amazon.com/Oxford-Illustrat...192547070/
You must be surrounded by barbarians.
But, I suggested Pride and Prejudice, primarily because it is one of her more enjoyable books, and is arguably her best (though a case can be made for Persuasion being her best, people are less likely to enjoy that one so much). Also, Pride and Prejudice has the best opening lines.
I hope I have the good fortune to never encounter one of those foul creatures who hates Jane Austen. You should associate with better people. And have a glass of wine to calm your nerves, after having dealt with such odious cretins.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 5:22 pm
(December 22, 2014 at 10:08 pm)Sionnach Wrote: I have not read anything in quite some time.
However, what I would most likely first recommend to anyone is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series.
Next, just about anything by Dean Koontz
"Sword of Truth?" Really? I found those to be horribly monotonous and extremely repetitive. All except the first which was quite good.
I am constantly recommending Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman to any- and everyone I know who reads. Sanderson's world and character building is surpassed by few, if any and Gaiman's storytelling is hard to top, especially with that wide streak of dark humor that runs through him.
Thief and assassin for hire. Member in good standing of the Rogues Guild.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 5:57 pm
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 5:58 pm
(This post was last modified: February 10, 2015 at 5:58 pm by thesummerqueen.)
Unfortunately, most of them have other qualities to recommend them to my company. We just agree to disagree about Austen.
(February 10, 2015 at 5:57 pm)Cato Wrote: Atlas Shrugged
Asshole.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 6:00 pm
(February 10, 2015 at 5:57 pm)Cato Wrote: Atlas Shrugged
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 6:09 pm
Collapse, by Jared Diamond is probably the best book I've ever read. Jared Diamond is a genius in a way that very few people are.
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RE: Books You Can't Shut Up About
February 10, 2015 at 7:39 pm
(December 18, 2014 at 5:21 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: "The Changing World of Mormonism" is a fascinating look at just how TOTALLY fucked up old Joseph Smith's church started out and STAYED for almost 200 years.
Added it to my amazon wishlist. I'm up to 521 items now. 
(January 11, 2015 at 5:48 am)Alex K Wrote: This is nonfic, or even meta-fic  , but I got Pinker's "A Sense of Style" for Christmas, and I can't shut up about it. I really share his passion for what he calls classic style.
Oops, make that 522... 
(February 10, 2015 at 4:15 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Far better than any of the adaptations on film. Jane Bennet is better in the book than in any of the films, which always change her to be less intelligent and less pretty, evidently to ensure that the viewer will prefer Elizabeth Bennet. The book starts with a very famous and memorable first sentence. A delight to read. Austen is a keen observer of human nature.
I love Pride and Prejudice. I'm still annoyed that I loaned to an ex (he wasn't an ex at the time) and his dog chewed it up. Not joking.
It's been a long time since I've read Persuasion, but I'm in a non-fiction kick right now.
(February 10, 2015 at 6:09 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: Collapse, by Jared Diamond is probably the best book I've ever read. Jared Diamond is a genius in a way that very few people are.
That's in my purchased-book queue but was pushed back because I wanted to read The Demon Haunted World again...
My book I can't shut up about lately is
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Life-Henr...etta+lacks
It tells the life story of the black woman whose cancer cells were biopsied in the 1950s, and then unethically, and unbeknownst to her and her family, given to a tissue culturist and went on to be the first human cells ever successfully cultured in a lab. HeLa, as her cells are called, became the basis for the polio vaccine, the HPV vaccine, and, for a long time, the only human cells on which doctors could perform medical research.
It talks a lot about the life of Henrietta, her family (particularly her daughter), the state and future of medical ethics and tissue research, as well as gives a background on how poor, black people were treated by doctors at Johns Hopkins during the era of segregation: because they often didn't have the money to pay for treatments, the doctors basically felt that they "owed" the hospital in some way and their payment for treatment would be that the doctors could take samples without asking and, in some cases, perform medical tests without getting consent (in one instance, a doctor injected HeLa cells into patients' forearms, effectively giving them cancer without telling them what he was doing or informing them of the danger he was placing them in).
It's a great conversation-starting book! I told my mom she had to read it
It's also only $1.99 on amazon
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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