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read any good books lately...
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TheProgtologist View Drop Down
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Reading Beyond The Blue Moon,the last book in a fantasy series by an excellent sci fi writer named Simon R. Green,who wrote the Deathstalker series(great books!!!!!).


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Contact by Carl Sagan  One of the BEST novels ever written.
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Originally posted by TheProgtologist TheProgtologist wrote:

Originally posted by NetsNJFan NetsNJFan wrote:

I think Dune is my favorite book, along with 1984 and Deepness in the Sky (Vernor Vinge)

I am a huge sci fi and fantasy fan and IMO Dune is the greatest sci fi book ever written


Did you ever read something by Stanslaw Lem?


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Lem is incredible! My personal favorite is "Eden" (because parts of it are so eerie, I guess) but the philosophy and humor of "The Cyberiad" always blows me away.
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Finished N.V.Gogol - Dead Souls

Started Mario Vargas Llosa - The Storyteller
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Originally posted by James Lee James Lee wrote:

Lem is incredible! My personal favorite is "Eden" (because parts of it are so eerie, I guess) but the philosophy and humor of "The Cyberiad" always blows me away.

Did you read "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub"? That's my personal favourite. Another excellent one is "The Futurological Congress". The first one is absolutely weird and creepy (a secret agent in the headquarter of a secret agency tries to find out what his mission is), the second absolutely hilarious.


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Of course, I'm going to point out the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. No book has ever hold as much philosophical absurdist humor that almost even weirded me out than this one.

Also, me and my wife have become quite pleased with all the Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore. For those who don't know who Drizzt is, he's a character from the Forgotten Realms DnD setting. We currently have the first three collector's editions.
Epic.
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Originally posted by BaldFriede BaldFriede wrote:

Originally posted by James Lee James Lee wrote:

Lem is incredible! My personal favorite is "Eden" (because parts of it are so eerie, I guess) but the philosophy and humor of "The Cyberiad" always blows me away.

Did you read "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub"? That's my personal favourite. Another excellent one is "The Futurological Congress". The first one is absolutely weird and creepy (a secret agent in the headquarter of a secret agency tries to find out what his mission is), the second absolutely hilarious.


In my memory I always confuse "Memoirs" with "Peace on Earth" but they're both wonderful. Anything with Ijon Tichy is always funny..."The Star Diaries" and "The Futurological Congress" especially. One of my favorites that I almost forgot about was "The Investigation" which is not really sci-fi at all but an eerie philosophical murder mystery with a focus on statistical probability!

On the other hand, I could never make it through "Imaginary Magnitude"...it's fascinating and funny but doesn't keep my interest. I'm still waiting to get "His Master's Voice" and "Mortal Engines" which I hear are excellent.
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I've recently finished The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Quite good, interesting insights about religeon. I'm nearly finished with Larry Niven's Ringworld, which is already one of my favorite books. Anyone else read any of Niven's books? I've read most of them.
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I love "Imaginary Magnitude" and the quite similar "A Perfect Vacuum". The first is a collection of introductions to fictitious books, the second a collection of reviews of fictitious books. The books he invents there are so hilarious. The best thing is the self-irony in these books; the first "introduction" or "review" are reserved for the book they appear in. (Lem was always very self-ironic).


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I'm in the middle of the Chronicles of Narnia books from C.S. Lewis. I don't know how I missed out on them in my young days.

I always enjoy James Paterson's novels. His writting style is addictive and the books are hard to put down. I'm currently finishing up 3rd Degree.

LOTR is coming around for another read. I start with the Silmarillion and the Hobbit, then jump into the Fellowship and beyond. This while be my third time through it in the past few years.

 

 
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The Alice books by Lewis Carroll ("Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There"), with whom I share b-day, by the way (Jan 27th; not the year though lol) and the Oz books by L. Frank Baum are our favorite children's books (which is why we named our daughters Alice and Dorothy. Yes, we do have daughters; there is something like artificial insemination, guys.)


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Originally posted by BaldFriede BaldFriede wrote:

I love "Imaginary Magnitude" and the quite similar "A Perfect Vacuum". The first is a collection of introductions to fictitious books, the second a collection of reviews of fictitious books. The books he invents there are so hilarious. The best thing is the self-irony in these books; the first "introduction" or "review" are reserved for the book they appear in. (Lem was always very self-ironic).

Lem is a true original. As good as all the works cited so far are, I still have a soft spot for the Cyberiad, one of the most engaging and original collections of stories I have ever read. Beautifully crafted, and as meaningful to me at 43 as it was when I was 13.
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

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Just finished reading Notes From the Underground by Dostoyevsky
"It's amazing that we've been able to put up with each other for 35 years. Most marriages don't last that long these days."

-Chris Squire
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Points: 3047 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NetsNJFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2005 at 17:13

I am currently reading

"The Roaring Nineties" by Joseph E. Stiglitz (nobel prize winner in Economics)

very interesting so far

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Vatican Archives: An Inventory and Guide to Historical Documents of the Holy See

...bit of background research
"...misty halos made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine."
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I'm reading Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur
I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you?
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Originally posted by Syzygy Syzygy wrote:

Originally posted by BaldFriede BaldFriede wrote:

I love "Imaginary Magnitude" and the quite similar "A Perfect Vacuum". The first is a collection of introductions to fictitious books, the second a collection of reviews of fictitious books. The books he invents there are so hilarious. The best thing is the self-irony in these books; the first "introduction" or "review" are reserved for the book they appear in. (Lem was always very self-ironic).

Lem is a true original. As good as all the works cited so far are, I still have a soft spot for the Cyberiad, one of the most engaging and original collections of stories I have ever read. Beautifully crafted, and as meaningful to me at 43 as it was when I was 13.



One of my two main choices as well. I was going to ask if you'd read them in the original language, but I see you're from the UK. How did I come to think you were Polish?
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I just finished "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer, and now I've moved on to "Seven Pilliars of Wisdom: A Triumph" by T.E. Lawrence.  Superb stuff!
And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I
don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.
I never said I was frightened of dying.
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Im curently reading the "Dune" series and "Nietzsche the man and his Philosophy" by RJ Holloway
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