Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One of the issues in particular is the highly non-linear time sequence of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", with multiple plot-lines, and the reader reading one narrative, then switching to another viewpoint and jumping back in time, to eventually catch up with, or go forward from, the previous plotline.

I quite agree that an exact transference of any book to film is probably impossible, and likely to result in a poor film if attempted.

And in this particular case, I agree with the decision not to have lots of "meanwhile, a month ago in Minas Tirith" kind of scene changes. There seems to be no way that a film could keep that structure of the books.

And I agree that a better film version is unlikely in the next few decades. And some changes weren't completely awful. Arwen for Glorfindel? OK, ish.

Perhaps it's just that I like the BBC radio adaption so much more than the film. (And at 732 minutes it's less than an hour longer than the 681 minutes of the extended version of the film trilogy.) If anyone hasn't heard the BBC radio adaption, I do urge you to get it. It's splendid.

[HarryT]

You've reminded me that I have the boxed set of the BBC Radio version, and I haven't listened to it since I first bought it when it was released. It's high time that I remedied that oversight - it's ideal "listening in the car on the way to and from work" material.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You've reminded me that I have the boxed set of the BBC Radio version, and I haven't listened to it since I first bought it when it was released. It's high time that I remedied that oversight - it's ideal "listening in the car on the way to and from work" material.

Yes, indeed, excellent for reading while driving.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished Wen Spencer's Elfhome. Thoroughly enjoyed, though definitely in the "guilty pleasure" department.

Two-thirds through the eARC of the Bujold's Captain Vorpatril's Alliance . What a delight so far. LMB has such a way with words and people.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Just got a paperback copy of Harman Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever. Those who follow Star Trek will recognize this episode as a fan favorite (it certainly is my favorite episode of the original series). Even though the episode won a Hugo as well as the 1966-67 Writers Guild of America Award for best teleplay, Ellison has to this day complained bitterly about the way Gene Roddenberry "eviscerated" his original vision. This book presents the original script as the author intended it to be filmed.

For some reason, the K book is on a separate listing. It has the same publisher, E-Reads, so I can't imagine why it's separate. I've always meant to read that one and the price was reasonable ($7.69). Thanks!

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I am reading The Unwritten an excellent comic/graphic novel about fiction controlling reality. I'm hooked.

That is an interesting series, but I left off reading it after a while because the series doesn't appear to end. I may return for more, however. The characters are interesting.

[BlueSky77]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have been reading Louis L'Amour since I was a young child many years ago. I have read them all multiple times and continue to read them to this day.
Jubal Sackett is the fourth, in The Sackett's Series in Chronological Order. He is the son of Barnabas Sackett, the protagonist in Sackett's Land. To The Far Blue Lands is also about Barnabas Sackett. Then The warrior's Path is next and follows two of Barnebas's other sons.
My favorite Louis L'Amour book is The Walking Drum. This is not a western. It is set in Europe and The Middle East, in the 12Th Century.
He wrote 105 books so enjoy. I did and still do.
Apache

Thanks for replying. So far I've read about 20 of his novels. Every one of them has been incredible! I didn't read the Sackett novels in order but I am still enjoying the heck out of them. I plan on reading all 105 of L'Amour's novels eventually. My favorite so far is without a doubt Jubal Sackett, followed by The Daybreakers and Hondo.

As an aside, I also joined the Louis L'Amour Collection and have started receiving his books in the leatherette binding. It's a great investment for my library and something I can pass along to my kids someday.
____________________
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however, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Two-thirds through the eARC of the Bujold's Captain Vorpatril's Alliance . What a delight so far. LMB has such a way with words and people.

Finished. Loved it. Not sure about the ending, but it certainly was a surprise.

Overall, as eArcs go, this is pretty clean. I noticed a few glitches that will likely be cleaned up by the editors, and a couple of places where the language needed some tightening, but that's hardly surprising. Definitely worth a read now, or when it comes out this fall.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

[...]The films have some marvellous visuals. But the adaption is not a good one.

While I agree that the film does diminish some of the characters, compared to what I thought it might be - I think - the movie was a very good adaptation. It borrowed from years of fan-art to produce visual that merged very well with expectations and, taken as a whole, the character portrayals and story adaptation were - I thought - about as well done as it is really possible to expect.

I've seen some people have a great deal of trouble with the books, many struggle to get through the first in particular. (I first read the books as a single huge volume and didn't really notice the breaks.) The characters and relationships that many of us found in reading the novels seem not to be immediately accessible to all readers, and I suspect the movies acknowledged this with some of their exaggerations. Certainly there were some disappointments, but overall I still like the movies very much.

[DrNefario]

I thought Fellowship was far and away the best of the books and the best of the films. the rest I don't much care for in either format.

I just finished Embassytown by China Mieville. I really need to give up my irrational dislike of the man and his works. I think it's a bad reaction to over-praise. The book wasn't unreservedly brilliant, but it was decent.

I've just got Mira Grant's Deadline left from the Hugo short list, now. The one I've least been looking forward to. Not only did I dislike Feed, the previous book in the series, but I'm also having to read this on my iPad rather than my ereaders, because I couldn't wrangle the PDF from the Hugo voter packet into a usable ebook.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I am reading The Unwritten an excellent comic/graphic novel about fiction controlling reality. I'm hooked.

I love that one. I have to catch up on a few volumes though. I'd love to re-read it from the beginning, actually, but I've been too busy. Enjoy!

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I love that one. I have to catch up on a few volumes though. I'd love to re-read it from the beginning, actually, but I've been too busy. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That is an interesting series, but I left off reading it after a while because the series doesn't appear to end. I may return for more, however. The characters are interesting.

I have read the first 12 issues. Wow. I loved the Kipling issue and, oh wow, the bit about putting a corrupted story out of its misery was something. Friday is payday and I am definitely going straight to my ComicsX app and getting more.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I have read the first 12 issues. Wow. I loved the Kipling issue and, oh wow, the bit about putting a corrupted story out of its misery was something. Friday is payday and I am definitely going straight to my ComicsX app and getting more.

I left off after reading #15. From what I can tell, the series is up to #38. Is an ending planned for the series?

[MickiTee]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I quite agree that an exact transference of any book to film is probably impossible, and likely to result in a poor film if attempted.

And in this particular case, I agree with the decision not to have lots of "meanwhile, a month ago in Minas Tirith" kind of scene changes. There seems to be no way that a film could keep that structure of the books.

And I agree that a better film version is unlikely in the next few decades. And some changes weren't completely awful. Arwen for Glorfindel? OK, ish.

Perhaps it's just that I like the BBC radio adaption so much more than the film. (And at 732 minutes it's less than an hour longer than the 681 minutes of the extended version of the film trilogy.) If anyone hasn't heard the BBC radio adaption, I do urge you to get it. It's splendid.

Couldn't agree with you more about the BBC adaptation. The late Robert Stephens was infintely better than Viggo Mortensson as Aragorn.

[MickiTee]

Just finishing Echoes of Betrayal which is the third part of Elizabeth Moon's Paladin's Legacy series. Only another 12 months until part 4 arrives.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I saw a movie staring George Clooney on cable the other day called The American and I really liked it. Went looking for the novel that it was based on. Found it in Kindle format on Amazon. Luckily I had enough on my Father's Day gift cards to include it on my shopping spree! I'm reading it next! Its title is A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth.

The major reason I wanted to read this novel was that even though the movie was entertaining and engaging it left me with a whole lot of questions when it was over. The book certainly answered these questions as well as having much more sensible plot points than those that the movie had altered from the original story and thus confounded me. Booth is certainly a fine writer but he also takes a very long time to arrive at the meat of the story he is telling.

Next I'm going to read one of the following:

The Singing of the Dead, book 11 in the Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow
Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Black Camel by Earl Derr Biggers