809 replies to this topic

[Donkeymog]

/>I've been going through Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. I'm enjoying it so far.

Fascist. I've only read essays by Ayn Rand and she is just an awful, cold and bitter human being.

I'm reading Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. I really enjoyed the Crying of Lot 49 even if it was a bit over my head. Luckily this is much easier to read and as with all Pynchon novels is jam packed with great characters you wish were your friends in real life.

[Vicious Parker]

I've only read her novels, and none of her essays, and I guess I just don't see what you're so opposed to. Which essays have you read? In fact, knowing what I do know of her politics, fascism isn't even close to her philosophy.

[Donkeymog]

/>Which essays have you read? In fact, knowing what I do know of her politics, fascism isn't even close to her philosophy.

You are, of course, quite right. But I read The Virtue of Selfishness with rather high hopes for Objectivist philosophies (being a bit more sympathetic toward American-style Libertarian politics back then) and it thoroughly disappointed me. Rational self-interest is just such a pointless ideal as it is both unrealistic and unimpressive and yet it has lead to some particularly worrying social and economic policies not just America but globally too. And it's that last part where my accusations of fascism crop up, but I guess the author can't be blamed for the interpretation of her work.

Or perhaps I'm just an awful, cold and bitter human being with too much communism in me.

[Stars]

I'm giving The Hunger Games a try. A couple of girls I work with recommended it quite enthusiastically, so I got it cheapish at Borders. Just finished chapter 1, so I'm still forming my opinion on it, but it's off to a decent start.

[Donkeymog]

I've been having another stab at Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Repair but I still find the narrator pretentious and generally intolerable. A book I really want to like for some reason though.

[Stars]

Found a ton of Bleach volumes for cheap a while back, so I've been reading those fairly constantly.

EDIT: Also The Hunger Games was quite good. Read the whole thing over the weekend. I wasn't so sure I wanted to read Catching Fire (the seqel) after reading reviews, but my brother suggested getting the audio book from the libary. Since I have to drive about 45 minutes round trip to class three days a week, I may just do that.

[Kamau]

Still plowing my way slowly through The Naming. I am determined to finish this book before moving on to anything else, though I don't know if I'll decide to read book 2 or another series after finally finishing it...

[Stars]

I've been reading far too many comics lately. I'm caught up on Bleach, reread Fairy Tail, reread Pandora Hearts, and now I'm going through the unpublished PH chapters online. I'll also be able to get through the rest of Rave Master once I get volume 28 in the mail.

On the side, I've also started The Lightning Thief. Still deciding how I feel about it.

[Kamau]

Pride and Prejudice, for my English class. It's the first time I've read this book, and we're watching the movie at the same time, so not only do I need to read the assigned chapters, I also need to read ahead so the movie doesn't spoil the book for me...

[Stars]

I was supposed to read that book. Never did. Still got an A in the class. =)

[SpazCat]

The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain

[kspr]

The Man In The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas. It came in a huuuuge book with the three musketeers and the count of monte cristo. i bought it back in july '08. it's really hard to read when the only time i can concentrate is right before bed, and someone else would rather play with the cats...

[Stars]

Finally got an audio book of Catching Fire from the library yesterday (I was 7th on the waiting list). Got a little way into it on the drives to and from class today.

[rekaru]

"To Live". Depressing novel about Communist China.
"Red Scarf Girl". Memoir of a young girl living during the Cultural Revolution.
"1Q84". Newest Murakami.
"Makioka Sisters". Neat Japanese novel. Soap opera-ish (how I like it).
"Emma". Book by one of the Bronte sisters. Been wanting to read it.

[Kamau]

"Emma" is a very good book. =)

Reading the second-to-last Jane Lindskold Wolf book. Gave up on finishing The Joy Luck Club now that I've seen the entire movie, and the movie seems to be exactly the same as the book.

[rekaru]

Selected Stories of Lu Xun.
Written during the Chinese revolutionary period, it's mostly sociopolitical commentary about tradition and cultural habits. Pretty interesting stories nonetheless.

Red Capitalism.
More stuff about China and its economy.

[Stars]

Started the second Dresden Files book, Fool Moon, last night. Got a bit over halfway through by this afternoon.

[Kamau]

So I started reading Deepwood, by Jennifer Roberson. I got to about page 100 when it dawned me that they were talking about an awful lot of things with the casualness of "you should already know this". So I peeked at the back of the book and realized I was reading book 2... and so now I'm reading Karavans, which is book 1. XD

[Stars]

Already finished Fool Moon yesterday afternoon and have started on Grave Peril, the next in the series.

[Stars]

Having been on the road for quite a while, we listenned to The Amazing Mrs. Polifax on audio book yesterday. Currently we're on disc 5 of 6 of The Elusive Mrs. Polifax. Good stuff.