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+------ Thread: Books (/thread-432.html)
RE: Books - Ausstan - 02-18-2017
It's pretty good so far, but I'm still only half way through the series.
RE: Books - Drall - 05-26-2017
Sounds really good, I'll think about giving it a try. Then again, I have a veritable mountain of high fantasy to get through, and a few classics...
RE: Books - GI-Land - 05-28-2017
Just finished "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett.
It wasn't as good as the first book of the trilogy in the beginning imo, but became better, when it finally got to the time before and during WW2.
As of the end of WW2 and the time afterwards, I thought it became worse again unfortunately, because he suddenly begun skipping a few historic bits, I'd have considered as important and also interesting. Plus even though he tried to be quite neutral throughout the book, you could clearly see his Western point of views towards the end :/
All in all, it was interesting, but a bit worse than the first book. Inconsistencies he had in the first book, weren't vanished in the second one.
Now I'll read his third book too and hope, he will make the most out of it (Although I already saw in the outlook at the end of "Winter of the World", that he again skipped several years, like he did between the first and the second book. That's also somehow a thing I don't like).
RE: Books - Escade - 05-28-2017
I read Red Rising by Pierce Brown. At first I was like "Oh I've seen this before" but actually as it went on it broke a lot of the usual stereotypes. It's like a science fiction dystopia set in the far future. Now onto the next book in the trilogy!
RE: Books - Seraph - 05-28-2017
(05-28-2017, 10:07 AM)GI-Land Wrote: Just finished "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett.
It wasn't as good as the first book of the trilogy in the beginning imo, but became better, when it finally got to the time before and during WW2.
As of the end of WW2 and the time afterwards, I thought it became worse again unfortunately, because he suddenly begun skipping a few historic bits, I'd have considered as important and also interesting. Plus even though he tried to be quite neutral throughout the book, you could clearly see his Western point of views towards the end :/
All in all, it was interesting, but a bit worse than the first book. Inconsistencies he had in the first book, weren't vanished in the second one.
Now I'll read his third book too and hope, he will make the most out of it (Although I already saw in the outlook at the end of "Winter of the World", that he again skipped several years, like he did between the first and the second book. That's also somehow a thing I don't like).
I've only read one Ken Follett book, being The Pillars of the Earth , which I found to be engaging and yet oddly disappointing at the same time. I'm picky about my historical fiction, it seems and if they aren't helping to convince me that the past truly is 'another country' (preferably one I can book a flight to), then I feel like it's a wasted opportunity. I had the same feeling about Edward Rutherford's London, A Novel, although I find myself wanting to read his Sarum nevertheless...
Books - Kris Kringle - 08-24-2017
Today I finished 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. It was very engaging, and a welcome small-town twist to your usual vampire story. I highly recommend it.
I now plan to read Courtwatchers, a book by Claire Cushman that collects interviews and eyewitness accounts about the workings of the US Supreme Court.
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RE: Books - Seraph - 09-02-2017
I just finished reading October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
by China Mieville.
This is my first serious foray into Mieville's non-fiction writing (I've skimmed some of his articles online, before), though he is probably my all time favourite author, and the first time I've read a whole book on history, so, despite the material, I'm unlikely to sound very erudite about this. Nonetheless, I found this book engaging, fascinating and challenging in many ways.
Mieville presents history as narrative, but writes much of it in a very straightforward, even dry manner, saving his trademark efficient, yet beautifully poetic prose for moments of particular impact or where the imagery available is almost too convenient. He announces at the outset his own potential for bias (he is a staunch socialist) and his intent to avoid it as much as possible and, for the most part, the text seems to hold up in this light, but not always. In his epilogue Mieville attempts to address the questions of where October led and how this might impact (or might not) our interpretations of the revolution itself. He strongly favours a sympathetic and optimistic view of the revolution, whilst acknowledging the decisions and mistakes that led to the Stalinist regime (and even the horrors before that), but even so I feel he skirts the issue a lot in comparison with his description of the Tsar's regime and he mentions the murders of the Romanov's not at all.
In the end, I think my own view is still somewhat sympathetic to the Bolsheviks, at least with regard to their intentions, and Mieville has gone a long way towards helping me choose that position. October is a truly thought-provoking book and I hope it will form an important part of the discussion around the events of a century ago as we approach the anniversary in early November (stupid, confusing Julian calendar!)
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