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

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by gmw

I can thoroughly relate. I'm one of the 1% - but mostly because I can be pigheaded about some things. I read it because it's a classic and I wanted to be able to tell myself that I had, in fact, read it. There are a couple of really great quotes in there (you will notice if your eyes haven't glazed over as you read), but you've probably heard them recited elsewhere and don't need the book.

Yes, that's why many people persist with classics. There have been classics I've enjoyed but not one of them was totally understandable completely. Such as Far From the Madding Crowd. I gave it 4 stars. But even that book was illegible at times.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Yes, that's why many people persist with classics. There have been classics I've enjoyed but not one of them was totally understandable completely. Such as Far From the Madding Crowd. I gave it 4 stars. But even that book was illegible at times.

What did you find to be illegible about it? Was it unfamiliarity with the society in which it was set, do you think?

[HarryT]

Just finished "Kren of the Mitchegai", by Leo Frankowski and Dave Grossman, which I bought from Baen in 2004. The book is a frame narrative, telling, from the far future, the "ancient records" of a war between humans and an alien race (the eponymous "Mitchegai") which apparently resulted in the extermination of the human race. A good story, but somewhat annoyingly it stops with a "To be continued..." at the point at which the Mitchegai actually start their invasion. Apparently Mr Frankowski died, which is a little irritating. On that basis, I can't really recommend that you read it.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What did you find to be illegible about it? Was it unfamiliarity with the society in which it was set, do you think?

I can't quote the 'offending' lines now. But some sentences simply hinted at things that I didn't get. This happened once every 5 pages, I think. I've no problem with post War books. These are thoroughly modern. But the true classics and I have an uneasy truce.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I can't quote the 'offending' lines now. But some sentences simply hinted at things that I didn't get. This happened once every 5 pages, I think. I've no problem with post War books. These are thoroughly modern. But the true classics and I have an uneasy truce.

Fair enough. I love the classics, but I've spent 30+ years reading 19th century literature, so I am now thoroughly familiar with what can be a description of a very different world. One simple thing that can be confusing is the "technical" vocabulary relating to the bewildering range of horse-drawn transport that people used then: words that were everyday words at the time, but which are unfamiliar to people today. That kind of thing is what I find the Kindle's dictionary very useful for.

It can be useful to read versions with good footnotes that explain things. The "Penguin Classics" series is excellent for that.

[PandathePanda]

Just started reading Torrent by Megan Linski, she recently released it via her publisher as an ARC.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I'm reading Moby Dick, and I absolutely hate it. I'm simply reading because someone on Goodreads said that 1% of people who start the book, complete it. I'm reading this book for that reason only. I'm going to give it 1 star.

I would stop reading if I hated it.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Fair enough. I love the classics, but I've spent 30+ years reading 19th century literature, so I am now thoroughly familiar with what can be a description of a very different world.

I'm another fan of Classics, but not all of them! Writing was different then as well as history. Many of them take more patience.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would stop reading if I hated it.

This is nearly the first time and definitely the last time that I read a book that I dislike thus.

[Conan46]

Some editor should have completely dumped the "Etymology" at the beginning of Moby Dick. What a wonderful way to drive away readers.
Having said that, once I plowed through that junk and hit: Call me Ishmael...
Wonderful, beautiful book that moved along well for me. Not a book to be rushed through like a modern novel IMO though.

[Dngrsone]

Of course, I plowed through the second Vatta's war book, Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon, and now have begun My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall.

Have a hold at the library for the next Vatta book.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Kren of the Mitchegai", by Leo Frankowski and Dave Grossman, which I bought from Baen in 2004. The book is a frame narrative, telling, from the far future, the "ancient records" of a war between humans and an alien race (the eponymous "Mitchegai") which apparently resulted in the extermination of the human race. A good story, but somewhat annoyingly it stops with a "To be continued..." at the point at which the Mitchegai actually start their invasion. Apparently Mr Frankowski died, which is a little irritating. On that basis, I can't really recommend that you read it.

Yep, I read it in paper many years ago and remembered thinking that I would never get to finish it because he died.
I felt the same way when Louis L'Amour died before writing the two sequels to Walking Drum. If you have never read it is a historical fiction book and not a western. I highly recommend this one.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/l...lking-drum.htm
Apache

[Dngrsone]

Finished Penny Marshall, now a third of the way through Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson, one of those vampire/werewolf things... urban fiction? Anyway, I'm reading that, just to get it out of my queue.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Smokescreen". Another enjoyable bit of nonsense from Dick Francis. Amazon description:

Edward Lincoln has scaled the Himalayas, survived deadly car chases and defeated scores of assassins. As a movie action man he's even suffered stoically at the hands of sadistic directors.
After finishing his latest film, he's asked to visit South Africa to discover why a dying friend's horses are suddenly failing on the race track. Unfortunately, Lincoln's attempt to help a friend soon puts him in harm's way. From a nearly fatal interview to a dangerous accident in a gold mine, it seems only luck is keeping him alive.
And in life, unlike the big-screen, there's no coming back from dead . . .

Very enjoyable. This one's essentially a straight thriller. Horseracing, which is normally the central theme in Francis' books, features only peripherally in this one.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz. The third in his Odd Thomas series.

An OK story, but it's the style that earns it 5/5 from me. I'm really enjoying this series.

Next up: The Harp of Imach Thyssel by Patricia C. Wrede. The third in her Lyra 'series'.