What are you reading? (Literature)

[Mrs. Iceburg]

Also, has anyone read Catcher in the Rye? I got about 3/4 of the way through it before I had to return it to the library, and I was never really interested in finishing it, because Salinger's writing annoyed me. I understand he was portraying teen angst, but... it was so annoying.
Unless there happens to be a crazy plot twist that I didn't reach, which I doubt. =/

That's a shame, I liked it a lot. But if you didn't like it halfway through (or earlier), you won't like it at all. What about his writing do you find annoying?

[metteminne]

The BB cases , a spin of of Death Note , so awesome

[Kareem Said]

A year ago I read the Hunger Games. And it was outstanding. Just plain outstanding. Then I read Catching Fire and it took me a bit longer to read it because it was a bit weaker but it still good.

Then Mockingjay. And that book was mostly pretty boring which is why it's been a year and I still haven't finished the whole series. It's a shame the other two novels couldn't match the first but regardless I'm excited for the film coming in 2012.

After I finally finish Mockingjay I'm thinking of starting Discworld.

[Mr. Zoro]

That's a shame, I liked it a lot. But if you didn't like it halfway through (or earlier), you won't like it at all. What about his writing do you find annoying?

Hmm I think it was mainly because I'm not use to that kind of writing, that and I had a different expectation for the book. Someone told me that it was about a boy who was smarter than his teachers and would call them out on their faults during classes...

And occasionally Holden would be thinking in his head about the situations, such as when he was watching actors and would think along the lines of "all the actors are the same, the ones that are really good are good, but they aren't, y'know? Like you can tell they're really good but you can tell it's still just acting at the same time", or something like that (I probably butchered that).
In that respect I can see that it's very much how a teen would think about things, but it's something that I don't like reading in a book.

What did you like about it?

[Manny]

Reading The Canterbury Tales translated by David Wright.

[Mrs. Iceburg]

Hmm I think it was mainly because I'm not use to that kind of writing, that and I had a different expectation for the book. Someone told me that it was about a boy who was smarter than his teachers and would call them out on their faults during classes...

And occasionally Holden would be thinking in his head about the situations, such as when he was watching actors and would think along the lines of "all the actors are the same, the ones that are really good are good, but they aren't, y'know? Like you can tell they're really good but you can tell it's still just acting at the same time", or something like that (I probably butchered that).
In that respect I can see that it's very much how a teen would think about things, but it's something that I don't like reading in a book.

What did you like about it?

Well, if you expected some kind of cool story about a guy who is too awesome for this world, I can imagine you were disappointed. :p

But yeah, that's basically what the book is, all angsty and reflective. And I can imagine why someone wouldn't like it, but I did. It was really different from anything I'd read, it was like a liberation to read something written in such a personal, natural style. I liked the main character too, he's a boy after my own heart. Reading the book has also taught me quite some, there are some interesting trains of thought in there. I recommend everyone at least try to read it, it's not difficult at all and far from a waste of time. But, as I said, I can understand why you wouldn't like it.

Which books do you like, then?

[Mastello]

Catcher in a Rye was one of my favorite books when I was 13, although maybe I liked it because I was a whiny teen myself back then. :P I should read it again some day....

[Hawkeye]

I am real, really trying to get into some Stephen King books. Read Carrie recently but I am trying to steadily work my way up to the Dark Tower series. So many people have recommended it to me but every time I try to take a stab it the first couple of chapters are so slow. I talked to one of my professors about it and told me that I might want to read some of his other books just so I could get used to his writing.

[GypsyCarts]

I literally just finished Swamplandia!

That book started with so much promise, and really fell flat for me. I felt as if Russell really rushed her ending and got very messy with her transitions. She has a real gift for scenic description. But I don't know, she lacks a sense of flow in this story. I do want to read more from her.

[Sai-chan]

Reading volume 8 of Ranger's Apprentice~ I love the story. <3

[Kareem Said]

Catcher in a Rye was one of my favorite books when I was 13, although maybe I liked it because I was a whiny teen myself back then. :P I should read it again some day....

Catcher in the Rye is pretty great. I read it when I was 17 when I was kind of out of the whiny teen phase but I could still really get behind it if only because it was very easy to remember how I was back then and the author (blanking on his name) just captured so well what it's like to be a concerned teenager. Holden had good intentions he just couldn't express them well and he felt like a real person at the end of the day. So yeah, I've always felt like Catcher in the Rye is one of the best "Great American Classics".

[GypsyCarts]

I never cared for Catcher and the Rye. It just never appealed to me.

[BartArt]

I'm reading some Nietzsche some Rimbaud, some Bukowski, about finished with The sorrows of young Werther and just starting Metamorphoses by Ovid.

And in lighter reading news I bought Venom written by Rick Remender art by Tony Moore, can't wait to get started on that.

PS: I really recommend to everyone who hasn't, especially those around the age of 17, to read Une saison en enfer or A season in Hell by Rimbaud. It has energy and grim beauty unmatched by all.

[GypsyCarts]

Alright, my new project is to read all those "Books I Should Have Read By Now But Haven't" titles. Today I started Fight Club. So far, I'm giving it a big ol' meh.

I don't care for the style. Honestly.

[Gourmet Hunter]

I am soon going to be reading Mardock Scramble! Supa' excited! Anyone else read it?? Thoughts?

[chopper666]

Right now im reading Visions of Cody by Jack keroac and Tom sawyer by Mark twain

[Mrs. Iceburg]

I'm reading some Nietzsche some Rimbaud, some Bukowski, about finished with The sorrows of young Werther and just starting Metamorphoses by Ovid.

PS: I really recommend to everyone who hasn't, especially those around the age of 17, to read Une saison en enfer or A season in Hell by Rimbaud. It has energy and grim beauty unmatched by all.

That's some heavy stuff! Where do you find the time to read all that :p
Do you have a favourite poem by Rimbaud? What did you think of Werther? And how's Metamorphoses coming along? I read that book until about halfway a few years ago, and still haven't found the time/courage to pick it up again...

[BartArt]

That's some heavy stuff! Where do you find the time to read all that :p
Do you have a favourite poem by Rimbaud? What did you think of Werther? And how's Metamorphoses coming along? I read that book until about halfway a few years ago, and still haven't found the time/courage to pick it up again...

Ohh, I have plenty of time : Þ I only work a few evenings a week and go to school for a couple of classes three days of the week. So when I can tear myself away from the internet, I read.

hmm Rimbaud
A season in hell has to be my favourite, out of the shorter ones I really like Dream in wintertime, it reminds me of the first steps of being with a girl.

I like Werther's passion, I'm a dreamer and romanticist myself so I can relate, but he does get a bit mellow-dramatic at times, the form of it all being his letters is nice, I like writing letters...

I've always enjoyed studying greek mythology, it was my favourite subject in school. I read some more about it and then decided to go all out and read the big one. Most of it is really entertaining, I just read a bit now and then, I'm about 1/3 through. Oh and I'm reading that one in Icelandic, when things like that are well translated they're often easier to understand in icelandic not only because it's my first language but also because Icelandic is such a straight forward language, it's more intuitive.

[Mrs. Iceburg]

Ohh, I have plenty of time : Þ I only work a few evenings a week and go to school for a couple of classes three days of the week. So when I can tear myself away from the internet, I read.

hmm Rimbaud
A season in hell has to be my favourite, out of the shorter ones I really like Dream in wintertime, it reminds me of the first steps of being with a girl.

I like Werther's passion, I'm a dreamer and romanticist myself so I can relate, but he does get a bit mellow-dramatic at times, the form of it all being his letters is nice, I like writing letters...

I've always enjoyed studying greek mythology, it was my favourite subject in school. I read some more about it and then decided to go all out and read the big one. Most of it is really entertaining, I just read a bit now and then, I'm about 1/3 through. Oh and I'm reading that one in Icelandic, when things like that are well translated they're often easier to understand in icelandic not only because it's my first language but also because Icelandic is such a straight forward language, it's more intuitive.

Oh, I looked one up the Wintertime one, that's a really cute poem! I particularly liked Les Chercheuses de Poux (The Lice Seekers).
Do you read them in a translation, or in French?

I know, right! I love Romanticism, in literature and in painting. I feel I really wold have belonged in that era, haha. And letters should definitely be reintroduced into everyday society.

Well the good thing with Metamorphoses is that it's a string of hundreds of little tales, so you can just pick it up when you feel like it. Greek mythology used to be one of my favourite subjects too, with the thousands of characters and their mystical, intriguing stories. I have a Dutch translation myself, a very good one might I add - I can imagine it's really hard to convey all the little word quirks and oddities of the original text in a different language.
I wouldn't know the first thing about Icelandic. Which languages is it related to? And how do you mean it's intuitive?

[BartArt]

Oh, I looked one up the Wintertime one, that's a really cute poem! I particularly liked Les Chercheuses de Poux (The Lice Seekers).
Do you read them in a translation, or in French?

I know, right! I love Romanticism, in literature and in painting. I feel I really wold have belonged in that era, haha. And letters should definitely be reintroduced into everyday society.

Well the good thing with Metamorphoses is that it's a string of hundreds of little tales, so you can just pick it up when you feel like it. Greek mythology used to be one of my favourite subjects too, with the thousands of characters and their mystical, intriguing stories. I have a Dutch translation myself, a very good one might I add - I can imagine it's really hard to convey all the little word quirks and oddities of the original text in a different language.
I wouldn't know the first thing about Icelandic. Which languages is it related to? And how do you mean it's intuitive?

I need to look that one up, I read them in English, my French isn't good enough, although I hope one day it will be.

I would have loved to live in Vienna and to have spent my time wooing : Þ

And yeah, that's what I was getting at, all those little stories are a perfect read basically whenever. Icelandic is a germanic language, the closest thing to the old Norse, the way it's intuitive is that it uses shorter words you already know when making newer longer complicated ones.