The agony and the ecstasy ..

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Jer

As for older and more respected authors? I must admit that Alexander Dumas is my favorite.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sea...earchid=575871
______
Dennis

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by eumesmo

The only book I feel ashamed of not being able to finish reading is the Gulag Archipelago, hopefully I'll try again, but not really a literary priority.

I've never been able to finish Gluag Archipelago; it's too depressing.

[eumesmo]

I feel the use of imdb significantly improved my movie viewing habits, although the ratings are not sacrosanct, and the top 250 list is not god(ie, my favorite movie, Les Enfants du paradis, is not on the list), it is an marvelous database, and a decent guide, I don't remember ever finding a movie I truly enjoyed rated below 8, or a noteworthy movie rated below 7. Too bad it is so unlikely such thing for books would ever achieve the notoriety necessary for statistical relevance.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by eumesmo

...my favorite movie, Les Enfants du paradis, is not on the list.

That's twice I've heard someone mention that movie recently. I've never heard of it...but it is now on my Netflix queue (where is listed only under Children of Paradise). Thanks!

[eumesmo]

PM me your opinion on it afterwards. I believe it was François Truffaut who said something in the lines of willing to give up all his movies in order to do just this one.

[Riocaz]

Originally Posted by lmarie

When I was a teenager I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way to the middle of the third volume, got bored, and quit. Nobody could believe I never finished it. Then, when the movies were due to come out, I decided to try again. I stuck with all the "over hills and over dales" and found I liked it -- but that was 30-some years later!

It's not just me then.

I got to the beginning of the 3rd book and ended up chucking it across a room in utter frustration (I seem to remember it was 3 pages of Sam trying to decide which pot/pan he's going to throw away that did it).

I do tend to ifnish anything I start. There are only 2 occasions where I have given up entirely. One was Return of the king and the other was the da vinci code (that got chucked out a window and into a skip rather than just across a room)

[gwynevans]

Tried "War and Peace"? Took that on holiday one time but very quickly decided that it was just too involved for a relaxing read!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by eumesmo

I feel the use of imdb significantly improved my movie viewing habits, although the ratings are not sacrosanct, and the top 250 list is not god(ie, my favorite movie, Les Enfants du paradis, is not on the list), it is an marvelous database, and a decent guide, I don't remember ever finding a movie I truly enjoyed rated below 8, or a noteworthy movie rated below 7. Too bad it is so unlikely such thing for books would ever achieve the notoriety necessary for statistical relevance.

Have you tried http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com ? It is an interesting site where you put the title of the book you are reading now, or just read, or liked, whatever and it will recommend similar books.

BOb

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Have you tried http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com ? It is an interesting site where you put the title of the book you are reading now, or just read, or liked, whatever and it will recommend similar books.

BOb

Very odd results. I put in a few Star Trek books and it didn't come back with any other Star trek books as recommendations.

[mazzeltjes]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Very odd results. I put in a few Star Trek books and it didn't come back with any other Star trek books as recommendations.

VERY SMART PROGRAM

[Moe The Cat]

Originally Posted by astra

From the last year: Earthsea series by Ursula Le Guine, Black Man by Richard Morgan, American Gods by Neil Gaiman...they are the worst books I have read in 2007.

You make an interesting point about Black Man by Richard Morgan: I devoured the Kovacs trilogy, but I'm having trouble getting into Black Man (it's retitled Thirteen in North America). I think the trouble is that the author abandoned the first person viewpoint of the trilogy for Black Man. I simply don't have the same interest in the characters that I did in the Kovacs trilogy. I wouldn't go so far as to call Black Man one of the "worst books" of the year, however ...

[montealan]

Sometimes I will start with the audiobook (unabridged, of course) and this helps me decide if its worth the read. It also can help get involved in the book, especially if the the beginning tends to be dry.

I will also read the book, listen to the audiobook, read, etc. I find that this helps me finish a lot more books in a year.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by grimo1re

Eeeek! Shock, horror! I love that book to bits (I read it as an e-book, does this count as a bad pun? I love bad puns...). Seriously, I wanted to marry that book and make babies with it. On the other hand, and I'll probably be flamed by the entire forum for this, but I absolutely hate Shakespeare.

There I said it. Feel much better

Oh, good, I'm not the only one......I would probably like him more if I could UNDERSTAND what he was saying......I know its English, but the words don't make sense.

And here's my all time worst..

DUNE, and all the rest that came with it.....Lord, lighten up already. I thought the movie would help me understand the book better, but by the time I finished it, I was ready to poke my eyes out. So whenever my husband wants to watch me run around the house screaming, he'll call me into the room when its playing.......Yeah, I know, to many its a classic.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

And here's my all time worst..

DUNE, and all the rest that came with it.....Lord, lighten up already. I thought the movie would help me understand the book better, but by the time I finished it, I was ready to poke my eyes out. So whenever my husband wants to watch me run around the house screaming, he'll call me into the room when its playing.......Yeah, I know, to many its a classic.

You mean the David Lynch production?

Back when that came out, people asked my opinion. I said "If you haven't read the book, you might like the film, but you won't understand it. If you have read the book, you'll hate the film." It had a lot more to do with David Lynch's particular obsessions than it did anything Herbert wrote. I don't know anyone who considered the film classic anything except bad.

The SciFi channel mini-series was a lot closer to the mark. I could pick nits, but for the most part they captured the book.

I tend to recommend people read _Dune_, _Dune Messiah_, and _Children of Dune_ as one long book, since that's about how they were written. After that, if you really liked them, you can look at the others.

Joanna Russ reviewed Dune for F&SF many years ago, and called it "carefully worked up third-rate". I disagreed, but I understood why she thought so. Herbert was not a great stylist, and could write unfortunately clunky prose, bit did tell an interesting story. I had some major quibbles , like "There is a pervasive anti-technology bias, but somebody builds the mile long heighliners the Spacing Guild uses as interstellar transports. Who and where?" I also found the whole "Arabic feudalism transplanted into space" to be highly unlikely. But if you could swallow those (and I could, mostly) it was a decent read.
______
Dennis

[fifteenjugglers]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I've never been able to finish Gluag Archipelago; it's too depressing.

I've managed to find two of the three volumes. I began the first and devoured a sizable chunk of it before pushing it aside as, yes, depressing. My promise to myself is that I will indeed finish the complete work when I can locate the third volume.

Oddly enough I haven't gone out of my way to track it down as yet.

So much to read so little time. Back to it!

15j