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Has anyone read The Sense of An Ending? Won the Booker Prize last year. I would love to hear others' thoughts about it. I am reading it for the second time - first time left me with so many questions (in a good way) that I had to read it again.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Books
What is everyone currently reading?
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Graybeak
Hunky Town
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Interesting seeing some of the events described in this book from the other side. Lots of names dropped and bridges quite possibly burned.
It will be interesting to see if this is a swan song to public service, or a call to action for the next attack.Posted 7 months ago # -
Roland
Clintonville
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Sci-fi novel that is heavy on 80's nostalgia. A guy invents a futuristic MMORPG that everyone uses. It's worth bizillions of dollars. The guy dies which kicks off an elaborate game, the winner of the game inherits his company.
It's been a fun read so far but I'm finding the author's method of heavy injection of 80's references to be an exercise of ego stroking more than an homage. The main character just reminds me of the annoying know-it-all folks that I've met in my life and wanted to run away from.
Posted 7 months ago # -
Graybeak
Hunky Town
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Roland said:
Sci-fi novel that is heavy on 80's nostalgia. A guy invents a futuristic MMORPG that everyone uses. It's worth bizillions of dollars. The guy dies which kicks off an elaborate game, the winner of the game inherits his company.
It's been a fun read so far but I'm finding the author's method of heavy injection of 80's references to be an exercise of ego stroking more than an homage. The main character just reminds me of the annoying know-it-all folks that I've met in my life and wanted to run away from.
Yes indeed. And as I mentioned somewhere else, set in "Columbus, OH"
Posted 7 months ago # -
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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Roland said:
Sci-fi novel that is heavy on 80's nostalgia. A guy invents a futuristic MMORPG that everyone uses. It's worth bizillions of dollars. The guy dies which kicks off an elaborate game, the winner of the game inherits his company.
It's been a fun read so far but I'm finding the author's method of heavy injection of 80's references to be an exercise of ego stroking more than an homage. The main character just reminds me of the annoying know-it-all folks that I've met in my life and wanted to run away from.
I read "Ready Player" earlier this year, and while I liked the novel overall it did have some pacing issues for me. Not to give any spoilers, but between the protagonist solving the first quest and developing a relationship, I really found it difficult to keep my interest up, it just sort of lagged for 70 some odd pages before picking up again. I agree about the ego stroking, although it was more palatable for me considering the setting (its not like this kid had anything else to do with his life/time, literally).
Also, I love dystopian fiction and while this fits into the category, I'm not sure it has the staying power of some of the classics.Posted 7 months ago # -
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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I just finished Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone and I've got to say its one of the creepiest books I've read in some time. Narrated by four main character's sharing events during their childhood, each chapter starts with the name of the narrator, and takes you down a path of childhood innocence gone wrong. No character goes unscathed, and some characters are true psychopaths. The writing is subtle, which adds a measure of quiet darkness to the events being described.
Not horror in the monsters in the closet sense, but definitely horror in the human depravity sense.Posted 7 months ago # -
Roland
Clintonville
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I'm 20% along and loving this book so far. 2nd book of the Kingkiller Chronicle. It's vague where the story is ultimately trying to go, but the journey getting there is thoroughly enjoyable. Author does a great job in creating a fantasy world that feels fresh and interesting. Characters and background lore have a good amount of thought behind them. Doing this one by audiobook, which so far is well done.
Back to Ready Player One. Yes, the story physically takes place here Columbus and has some references to certain locations and streets, but most of the story takes place in virtual worlds. I liked the book but most of the characters were annoying.
Posted 6 months ago # -
derm
Grandview
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Roland said:
I'm 20% along and loving this book so far. 2nd book of the Kingkiller Chronicle. It's vague where the story is ultimately trying to go, but the journey getting there is thoroughly enjoyable. Author does a great job in creating a fantasy world that feels fresh and interesting. Characters and background lore have a good amount of thought behind them. Doing this one by audiobook, which so far is well done.
Back to Ready Player One. Yes, the story physically takes place here Columbus and has some references to certain locations and streets, but most of the story takes place in virtual worlds. I liked the book but most of the characters were annoying.
Loved the first two of the Kingkiller chronicles. Too bad Rothfuss takes eight years to write a book and the last I looked he was years away from the finale.
Posted 6 months ago # -
G. A. Colin
Hilliard
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Has anyone tried my books? The Sons of Apollyon and Blood Reign? It's a paranormal mystery,romance set here in Columbus.
Posted 6 months ago # -
jeff_r
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I just finished Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham and really enjoyed it.
I'm not a huge fan of suspense/thrillers, though my work requires I at least try and keep up with what's being published. That said, this is a solid police procedural with a refreshingly damaged protagonist. I can't do much better than the Publisher's Weekly review which states, in part:
Fans of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander will cotton to the heroine of British author Bingham’s highly entertaining U.S. debut….An insightful look at a damaged unusual woman trying to fit…enhance the brisk, realistic plot.
Full review here: Talking to the Dead
Posted 5 months ago # -
tolemac5050
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Two Graves by Doug Preston and Lincoln Child.
Posted 5 months ago # -
ColumbusTime
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I recently finished
"Mugged" by Ann Coulter
and
"Life After Death" by Damien Echols (West Memphis Three)
Both are highly recommended.
Posted 5 months ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC, Vietnam ✈
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I'm really enjoying Mastery by Robert Greene.
What did Charles Darwin, middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force’s last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene’s fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Picking up where The 48 Laws of Power left off, Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world’s masters.
Posted 5 months ago # -
stephentszuter
Downtown Columbus
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Stay Awake by Dan Chaon.
It wasn't what I expected it would be. I think it might be good, if that's your kind of writing style...
Posted 5 months ago # -
jeff_r
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Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz
This is a terrific young adult novel featuring a protagonist with Asperger's Syndrome trying to solve a mystery in his first week at a new school. Readers who've enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and/or Sherlock Holmes should especially take note. I've got my fingers crossed that this one spins into a series.
Posted 4 months ago # -
tdziemia
GV/Schumacher
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Slowly reading through Founding Faith by Steven Waldman, which tries to examine the spirituality of five of the founding fathers (Franklin, Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Madison) and then explain how these men and others tried to forge a nation that balanced religious tolerance with separation of church and state.
I figured an evenhanded account like this could help arm me for today's culture wars :-)Lots of fascinating stuff, like:
- Many of the colonies perpetuated habits of the mother country, like state sponsored religion, and instituionalized religious intolerance. Massachusetts and Virgina residents were taxed to support their respective state churches (Puritan and Anglican) church. If you were an Anglican or Catholic practicing in Massachusetts, punishment ranged upwards to whipping and execution.
- Washington was the first to set a policy of religious tolerance in a national institution: the Continental Army.
- Jefferson's angle on religious tolerance came from his own personal experience. His highly unorthodox beliefs about Christianity made him a heretic in the eyes of clergy of pretty much every denomination of his day.And I haven't even gotten into the good stuff yet.
Posted 4 months ago # -
TomOver
lovecause.org
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jpizzow said:
"Too Much Magic", James Howard KunstlerWhat do you think of Too Much Magic ? Have you read some of his cultural critiques pertaining to energy and other resources, such as The Long Emergency ? I read that and thought the writing was a bit snotty and cynical. He seems to go too far in his critique to the point of looking down on and disparaging our society. But I haven't read Geography of Nowhere which predicates by several years The Long Emergency.
Currently, I've read All About Love by bell hooks, which led me to The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm. In the case of the latter, it reminds me of a pattern pertaining to reading books written 50, 100, 150 or more years ago.
It involves trying to read the material and then getting turned off, but then trying again, and perhaps a few times more. Sometimes, though not always, I'll suddenly connect with the dead writer after having setting the book aside several times. That's happening now with Fromm.
Just thought I'd share that, because we can miss out on what a book has to offer if we give it only one try. But I'm not sure what to suggest regarding books that we can't seem to get into after many tries (even though our friends, colleagues or the writers we live recommend them to us). I have that experience with Being and Nothingness by Sartre. I'm due for another try though.
I also grabbed by impulse on my out of Whetstone Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama. I was turned off by the "his holiness" part of his name, but I can relate to the book's call for a universal sense of morality that's not based on religion, (even though he's a Buddhist.) But, to me, Beyond Religion isn't focused enough on morality as it pertains to how we live our lives in public.
Posted 4 months ago #
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