SpecialAttack.net
https://forum.specialattack.net/

Recommend a Book!
https://forum.specialattack.net/viewtopic.php?t=9246		 Page 2 of 3
Author:  Ollieboy [ 02 Jan 2011, 12:27 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
[SpA]Bucky wrote:
Let me take a guess here, you all know a brave new world cuz it was obligatory reading material in school and you got it handed to you in that blackbird pocket bundle?
I'm Australian so I didn't experience the wonder, and I found it all on my own when someone recommended it to me who had, in fact, read it in school in England and thought I'd like it 'cause I liked 1984.
Author:  [SpA]Bucky [ 02 Jan 2011, 12:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Were you even a sperm cell in 1984? :P
The 80s, bad hair, bad clothes, bad music, bad movies. Seriously, after the 60s and the 70s, the 80s was a big hangover period where not much epic stuff happened! :P
At least the 90s brought us gabber, the house scene and made computer tech real big! :mrgreen:

Seriously, I'd trade my left nut to go back in time to the 60s, those seemed like some interesting times :mrgreen: Man, Woodstock.... :cry: Shame I missed that :P I wasn't even a sperm cell in the 60s though. I think I was a big fat joint in that time :mrgreen: Or I'm the natural acid that all the hippies in the 60s used up, reincarnated :4

Image

I bet you cardboard loved the 80s :mrgreen:
Author:  Ollieboy [ 02 Jan 2011, 13:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Ah if only I was even slightly representative in the 60's. My father hadn't even hit the sperm producing puberty yet.
But in answer to your question, no, I was not a sperm cell until the early April of 1991.
Author:  ProtectMyBalls [ 03 Jan 2011, 19:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
American Psyhco- Bret Easton Ellis
Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
Complicity - Iain Banks
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Author:  [SpA]cardboard [ 03 Jan 2011, 20:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
[SpA]Bucky wrote:
I bet you cardboard loved the 80s :mrgreen:
hardcore punk, straight edge and the beginings of emo.. thats officially ALL I love about the 80's
[SpA]ProtectMyBalls wrote:
American Psyhco- Bret Easton Ellis
Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
Complicity - Iain Banks
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Its all a little shock-value-lit for me but I've read all of Banks work and all or Cormac McCarthy's work. Everyone on that list writes well. :26
Author:  ProtectMyBalls [ 03 Jan 2011, 20:10 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
[SpA]cardboard wrote:
[SpA]Bucky wrote:
I bet you cardboard loved the 80s :mrgreen:
hardcore punk, straight edge and the beginings of emo.. thats officially ALL I love about the 80's
:5: :16 propper emo as well, not all this shittyass cry baby wanky tits shit.
[SpA]cardboard wrote:
[SpA]ProtectMyBalls wrote:
American Psyhco- Bret Easton Ellis
Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
Complicity - Iain Banks
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Its all a little shock-value-lit for me but I've read all of Banks work and all or Cormac McCarthy's work. Everyone on that list writes well. :26
they are fun ^^

i've started just reading gastronomy books now and anthony bourdain,... not to mention the graphic novels i enjoy :D
Author:  keithgw [ 19 Jan 2011, 23:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Fiction Series:
A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin. The first book is A Game of Thrones.
This series has an incredible amount of depth and complexity. The setting is a fictional island which has historically been divided into kingdoms, and reunited into one kingdom, rinse and repeat. The series occurs during one of these times of change. There is a tasteful splash of fantasy (i.e. magic, mythical creatures), a great deal of politics, and very gripping characters. No one character is good or evil, but somewhere in between. It is also being turned into an HBO series which is to begin airing in the spring.

Non-Fiction:
Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
This is always my number one recommendation for people who enjoy being smart. This book gets at the heart of the common psychology of how we as humans view our world, and how to use logic and reason to make better decisions about how you perceive the world around you. I feel most who read this book will come away as better citizens of the world and humanity. If you do happen to read this book and like it, I have at least 100 more recommendations for you.

Memoir:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers. Eggers is a terrific writer, and this book is (as the title suggests) both hysterical and terribly depressing. The best of his works, Staggering Genius is a great book to read if you are in your early 20s.
Author:  Hafnium [ 20 Jan 2011, 03:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
The best description of the Song of Fire and Ice that I've ever seen is "The knights who say fuck." It was billed as a magic-light fantasy novel full of political intrigue. It's REALLY an author establishing a bunch of really likeable 3d characters and then FUCKING THEM UP. Its so addicting, but I wouldn't really call it good writing. Its effective writing. Plus, the next book is some five years overdue. All he does is blog teasers. He enjoys stringing his readers along.
Author:  ProtectMyBalls [ 20 Jan 2011, 10:50 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
My mum bought me Frankie Boyle's book "My Shit Life So Far".... im really dubious to read it tbh, i love his stand up... but im not sure i really wanna know about what childhood event sparked his controversial and excellent comic gift... plus he is Scottish :mrgreen:
Author:  sebas [ 20 Jan 2011, 11:37 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
From what I've read lately: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

A novel placed in 16th century Istambul revolving around a "family" of miniaturists: a few murders, an unconventional love story and some political, religious and artistic turmoil. Sounds plain, I know. But the narrative and philosophical subtleties are simply amazing. Without giving tooo much away I am just going to say that the chapters are named and written from different perspectives, such as:
I am the horse
My name is Red
I will be named the killer
Me, money
I am a tree
My name is Ester
..and so on.

The novel holds great hystorical, social and artistic value and is filled with fabulous descriptions (you can tell Pamuk is actually an architect :P).



Otherwise, right now I am casually reading Letters by Vincent Van Gogh due to my love for his coloring and his humane spirit. It is refreshing to engulf in the life of a man who desired nothing more but to be a simple man. That life threw a lot of shit in his face which eventually wore him down, while tragic, only make the reading even more interesting and constructive for my personality.

Also, my gilrfriend just gifted me Life on a Platform Station by Octavian Paler which is something I've been wanting to read for a long time. We'll see if it makes it in this topic or not. :P
keithgw wrote:
Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
I will take up on this reccommendation. Cheers! :)
Author:  [SpA]cardboard [ 20 Jan 2011, 12:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
A friend passed on this link too me

Feed Books

It has a large and growing public domain section... where almost anything could be recommended.

Also Bucky mentioned A Prayer for Owen Meany and I can't recommend that enough. I've just started the second part of Stephen Fry's biography and that's fantastic.

I'm reading through Karl Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery and A.J.Ayer's Language Truth and Logic both of which seem to be natural companion pieces for Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant.

I'm also attempting "Decoherence, Entanglement and Information Protection in Complex Quantum Systems" which I recommend only if you are desperate for an aneurysm.
Author:  DrMcMoist [ 20 Jan 2011, 14:42 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
[SpA]ProtectMyBalls wrote:
My mum bought me Frankie Boyle's book "My Shit Life So Far".... im really dubious to read it tbh, i love his stand up... but im not sure i really wanna know about what childhood event sparked his controversial and excellent comic gift... plus he is Scottish :mrgreen:
You better pray that Scatterbrain doesn't take umbridge to that comment. He'll fuck you up royally.
Author:  ProtectMyBalls [ 20 Jan 2011, 15:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
oh yeah, forgot you traded in your kilt and haggis for a bratwurst and... and... GERMAN! :mrgreen:
Author:  DrMcMoist [ 20 Jan 2011, 16:34 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Totally worth it. 8)
Author:  ProtectMyBalls [ 20 Jan 2011, 16:43 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
:5: hey id move there too if i had good reason too ^^
Author:  keithgw [ 20 Jan 2011, 17:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Quote:
It's REALLY an author establishing a bunch of really likeable 3d characters and then FUCKING THEM UP. Its so addicting, but I wouldn't really call it good writing.
You really think he's fucked up the characters? I'm not even sure we can make such a judgement until the series is complete. I thought the first three books were fantastic, but barely remember the fourth book (knowing that it was a companion to the unwritten book five, i didn't pay much attention). I understand the animosity towards Martin, but I don't think his lack of progress should inform ones opinion on the writing.
Author:  Hafnium [ 21 Jan 2011, 03:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Not fucking them up as in he screwed up their development. He just killed/maimed/made them all miserable.
Author:  [SpA]Bucky [ 21 Jan 2011, 04:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
They're gonna turn game of thrones into a tv series, i saw that pass by and seemed interesting.
Author:  [SpA]ArchLurker_Chad [ 21 Jan 2011, 08:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Looks rather interesting :)
Author:  Hafnium [ 22 Jan 2011, 02:11 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Oh god, is that Boromir?
Author:  keithgw [ 22 Jan 2011, 16:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Indeed it is.
Author:  bloody_llama [ 23 Jan 2011, 05:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Haha, a thread about books! Finally my kind of thread! (I'm a sci-fi addict)
Let's see...

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein - Favorite book ever by one of the best authors of all time.

Anything by Isaac Asimov

The Bio of a Space Tyrant series by Piers Anthony. I know he usually writes fantasy, and the Xanth series is repetitive enough to turn anybody off, but this is an awesome space opera series.

The Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green. More space opera, fucking awesome.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Whatever you do, don't watch the movie.

ALL of Terry Brook's novels.

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. RIP.

The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell.

Scar Night by Allen Campbell. Don't read the sequels, they'll only let you down.

Battlefied Earth by Ron L. Hubbard. I know this nutjob founded scientology, but this book is epic.
[SPA]cardboard wrote:
Solaris - Stanisław Lem, An attempt to understand a alien life form their experiments provoke a strange reaction. Nothing made from this novel has anything near the impact of the book itself.
Amazing fucking recommendation. You get major kudos for that.
Author:  Lim-Dul [ 23 Jan 2011, 05:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
I have read everything by Stanisław Lem, and not because he was Polish. I just like this "hard" and philosophical kind of Sci-Fi and not the stupid pulp that most authors churn out (regardless of genre ;-).
Author:  bloody_llama [ 23 Jan 2011, 05:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Lol yes Lim, hardcore scifi is MUCH MUCH better. That's why I find all my favorite scifi behind the covers of books from the 40s-80s usually. Back before computers and space travel they used to use their fucking imagination and shit. Why don't new scifi books have astrogators anymore?

Speaking of that, look what I just found!: http://www.astrogatorsguild.com/
Lol

Random new reccomendation: Cherry Wilder. Kinda hard to find her stuff sometimes, but it's all awesome.
Author:  [SpA]cardboard [ 23 Jan 2011, 19:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Is it odd that I don't really consider Stanisław Lem a science fiction writer at all? I know that's where his stories are set but the thematics are closer to the studies of the human condition, psychology and philosophy you get from Nabokov, Dostoevsky and Mirbeau. I also found it very hard to read any science fiction after Lem purely because of how much it elevated the genre.

I find its often the same with most fantasy and sci-fi its either pulp or glorified fair-tale without the deeper allegorical weight that a fairy tale would bring. Heinlein and Dick are odd exceptions to this but Heinlein often writes so strongly in favour of his own ideals that it becomes lecture not discourse and Philip K Dick had amazing ideas that remind me a great deal of Lem but unlike Lem he couldn't write for shit.
Author:  Lim-Dul [ 23 Jan 2011, 19:54 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Yeah, you are right. i.e. in many of his books the characters are just vehicles to carry specific "archetypes" to convey specific ideas. Notice how i.e. in Eden the whole crew is just named "Navigator", "Commander" etc. without any names. =)
He stopped writing Sci-Fi in the '80s and concentrated on publishing purely philosophical essays.
Author:  [SpA]cardboard [ 24 Jan 2011, 00:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Yeah I know, I've read a few of the essays and honestly I think he made the right decision. I don't think he lost the quality of his work in his novels because he stopped before the work deteriorated and and like Umberto Eco I think he had way more to contribute to a much wider field of study than the novels would allow.
Author:  bloody_llama [ 25 Jan 2011, 16:42 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Lol, cardboard, you're right about Heinlein to a certain extent, but his books are still amazing. And at least you still have a lot too choose from: compare The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to A Stranger in a Strange Land and you'll find a world of difference.
Author:  [SpA]Bucky [ 27 Aug 2014, 17:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
Yes, this one!

Attachments:
84268137__800.jpg
84268137__800.jpg [ 475.31 KiB | Viewed 6535 times ]
Author:  [SpA]AwesomeFriends [ 28 Aug 2014, 02:03 ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommend a Book!
[SpA]Bucky wrote:
Yes, this one!
Does that thing have eyes for nipples? I call for the nsfw tag :lol:
Page 2 of 3 All times are UTC+02:00

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited