Mono, thanks for the review of this book. It's been on my to read list for a good decade or more and your wonderful rating of it has inspired me to make it a must read for 2006.Quote:
Originally Posted by mono
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Mono, thanks for the review of this book. It's been on my to read list for a good decade or more and your wonderful rating of it has inspired me to make it a must read for 2006.Quote:
Originally Posted by mono
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
I finished the story a couple of days ago. I decided to read the novel since it was so widely popular on the forum and I wanted to see why. I am glad I decided to take everybody's recommendation. The story is one of the best I have ever read and is up in my top 10 of all time favorites.
The story is about three editors, Casaubon, Belbo, and Diotallevi, who after reading manuscripts on the occult and hearing a story from a colonel decide to make up a story to go in their employers' collection on all of the occult and secret societies. The novel is basically all back-story on Casaubon's life from meeting Belbo at a local tavern to him hiding in a museum waiting for something they thought they made up to happen, in between you see a South American ritual where he meets a very interesting character, the formation of the plan from trying to just make a profit on it to the “plan” consuming all three editors in different ways.
The book was well written and flowed nicely in the big chapters but it seemed he could have grouped some of the two page chapters into the next chapter and not lost anything.
The “plan” is the star of the whole book. It is basically an amalgam of esoteric groups and theories, from the Templar knights, Comte de Saint-Germain, Illuminati, to Hitler and the hollow-earth theory, all tied into together by the three editors. The “plan” will grab you like nothing else has and you’ll start seeing associations with the “plan” in everything you read or watch. It has such a stranglehold until you come to chapters with Lia in them.
A couple of months ago we had a post on most/least favorite character. I would have to put her in both categories. After reading her synthesis on why numerology isn’t that special, I put her in these categories. She made me feel like I was back in grade school and you went up to do a math problem and after finishing and you look at the teacher for confirmation and he/she has that look like he/she is thinking: How did he get that answer. After reading her chapters and went to the next, my heart wanted back the “plan” but a small piece of your brain knows that this is all a story, but no character I have ever read has made me do such a complete flip in my thinking and feelings of the book while reading the book.
All in all this is one of the best books you could ever read and everybody should. Whew, that was a long post. I give it a 9.9/10
The Feleen Brand by Will Henry. I don’t know how many lovers of good Westerns there are on this site but I LOVE westerns whether they’re books, movies, TV shows or comic books and Will Henry is my second favorite author of the genre. He also wrote as Clay Fisher in his earlier days but when he wrote as Will Henry those books seem to be more historically based. Perhaps my favorite book by him is No Survivors which is a haunting, fascinating read. The Feleen Brand is not quite in that caliber but it was definitely an intriguing read.
It’s a story about a young man, the ‘hero’ Hushton (Hush) Feleen, and mind you I use that word very lightly. He leaves his family to fend for himself in the Wild West, taking up with an elderly Spanish man who has strong morals and a good work ethic which he attempts to teach to Hush. This is something Hush struggles with throughout the book which makes for a very different type of hero and western. At one point I was quite disgusted with him and considered Hush to be the stupidest man that ever lived or invented.
One usually expects the hero to live up to the reputation of all good heroes more or less but our so called hero doesn’t quite attain that status in his many trials and tribulations. Although he starts out as a good enough sort and even likeable he has a mishap after mishap and instead of it making him stronger and learning from his mistakes he continues to drown himself so to speak. It’s an incredibly unexpected way to write a western I think because I kept expecting him to get wiser but it’s the struggle to reach that point that’s so compelling. It’s almost like watching a train wreck. You can’t believe something so awful is happening right in front of you, you hope there’re survivors, you want to shout, scream, do something, but all you can do is watch or in this case continue reading.
Getting to the end is worth the ride as to me it was the most fascinating part for we run into Charles Goodnight, Tom Horn, Bat Matterson, Wyatt Earp and a few other legendary men of the wild and wooly west. That added to my enjoyment as I think it would for anyone who loves western lore, in fact that alone made it score higher for me. I’ve just never read a western where the ‘hero’ isn’t really a hero at all and in fact has almost no redemptive qualities about him in the slightest so without the bonus real life characters I would have scored this much lower. I hope I haven’t given too much away because I think knowing too much about a book sometimes spoils it. Suffice it to say that the life and times of Hush is riveting and unbelievably real, a good read but so not the typical western which could be a good or a bad thing. I will say the ending came full circle in an almost funny, sad and not at all predictable way. 8/10
Last night I finished reading The Sardonic Humor Of Ambrose Bierce, edited by George Barkin, a relatively short anthology of Bierce's poetry, essays, and strange fables.
Having read all of Bierce's short stories, and his famous The Devil's Dictionary, I found this work especially entertaining and mind-bending, as he ranges much from serious metaphysical and mystical work, to darkly humorous political allegories, to the oddest fables one could think. One such fable I will type:
Not exactly like Æsop's fables, eh? :brow:Quote:
The Crimson Candle
A Man lying at the point of death called his wife to his bedside and said:
"I am about to leave you forever; give me, therefore, one last proof of your affection and fidelity. In my desk you will find a crimson candle, which has been blessed by the High Priest and has a peculiar mystical significance. Swear to me that while it is in existence you will not remarry."
The Woman swore and the Man died. At the funeral the Woman stood at the head of the bier, holding a lighted crimson candle till it was wasted entirely away.
My rating: 8/10 (not long enough, as Bierce wrote so much in comparison).
What is it about western which make it different with other genres? I do like some western movies or series, Lonesome Dove is one of them. I think the adventures and cowoboys' lives are the most interesting part. Is it the same with the book?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darlin
I think the books are actually the best way to learn about the west without having to go there and visit museums and old cities like Virginia City – though if you can I highly recommend it. You really get a feel of how it must have been like in that era. If you have the right author the books will usually be more realistic and less romantic filled with exciting and fascinating adventures. The era if full of legendary people who performed legendary feats. The heroes are almost all rough, never too handsome, solid and honorable men. They may be poor and simple or struggling cowboys but they always overcome their problems as well as the bad guys in the end, it’s just a given.Quote:
Originally Posted by subterranean
In other genres it’s not so cut and dry as that. But when I read the Feleen Brand that really threw me! Maybe it was too realistic for me. Poor Hush was just so stupid he couldn't win and he certainly couldn't be a hero. And that’s why the Western genre’s usually different. The Hush’s are few and very far between what you’ll read about in good westerns. It’s almost always clear cut who the good guys are and who the baddies are that they have to defeat. In a good western you're always rooting for them and always expecting them to win gosh darn it because they’re supposed to! :)
I agree that Lonesome Dove is an excellent series - I loved it and anytime I see Chris Cooper in a film or on TV I always think of him as Blue. And best of all they had real Native American Indians who weren’t stereotyped. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones were wonderful in it, Angelica Huston and Danny Glover as well. By the way Danny Glover is in another favorite western of mine – Silverado. Now that’s a good western! We’re entertained thoroughly through out, it never lags, you have the shoot outs and set backs but we always, always know our rugged heroes are going to win! Now that’s a Western! I highly recommend it!
I recently finished Margaret Atgood's book "The Handmaid's Tale."
It was a great read that truely made the reader think about where our society is heading, in the same genre as "1984" "Brave New World" and "Darkness at Noon." While it could not quite stand up to these greats, it was still a great book.
It was a story about the US government taking over the counrty and reverting it to a man controlled society, with the women simply belonging to the men. there were a few different classes of women, for that is who it focused on, in the novel. First there were the wives, who were aloud to do pretty much as they pleased, as long as they followed the rules to some extent. Secondly there were the Handmaids, whos sole purpose in society was for reproduction, and who led stirctly regemented lives. They under go a ceremony once a month in which their commander tried to fertilise them. Also there are lesser ranks of women called the Martas and others that play minor roles, such as cleaning the commanders' houses and such.
As Offred's life is explained in greater detail, both through what she explains around her and in her many flash backs, the reader comes to know and appreciate how she and other women like her feel. It is a great book that looks at present humans through one of thier possable futures.
10/10
I Would Like To Know About The Pros And Cons Of A Book I Am Reading Now,orientalism.
I just finished reading an ARC of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and I can't believe this is Anne Rice.
I always considered her a brilliant writer...capable of writing deeply and mysteriously and profoundly, yet succintly and meaningfully. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt is horrible. The plot is thin, the story wanders around and never quite says anything, the syntax and grammar is appalling.
I really hoped Anne Rice would use her gift to glorify God and her notoriety to draw people to Christ. This book is going to do neither of those things.
Hi,
What excatly the title? Is it Orientalism? Who's the author?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hamadoriental
Bad Girls by J. Wilson
Yet another teen book from Wilson. This time the bullying is the theme. As usual, the author manages to write a page turner for the teen girls; something for them to identify with and it ends with a nice lesson for them to ponder.
A good read for young readers: 7/10 KitKats!
The last book I read was "Las 20 grandes conspiraciones de la historia" (The 20 greatest conspiracies of history).
It's a nonficition book, and it pretty much covers 20 different conspiracy theories regarding different subjects.
I must say, the prologue is the most awesome passage I've read in my life.
The first conspiracy you read is about the Catholic Church, and how Jesus Christ never really existed in flesh and bone, and it stated that He was only a symbol. It quoted the Bible several times, proving that several of its passages contradicted each other.
Then they talk about the relationship between Islam's suicide bombers and Abdul-Al-Khabba's fanatic soldiers a thousand years ago.
It, of course, talks about the world-famous "We never really stepped foot on the moon" theory, and Hitler's liking for Occultism and how it influenced WWII.
And a whole bunch more.
The whole book is a true page-turner for readers of any age. Anyone who can read should have a copy of this book on their bookshelf. 92/100
Actually I Have read this books for two times("A Tale of Two Cities"),it is such wonderful book i ever read!! The story of Sydeny is so touching!!I think it is the best in Charles Dickens'books!Quote:
Originally Posted by Akira
I Wouldlike To Knowabout The Intellectual And Political Aspects Of Edward Said`s Book ''orientalism"
last book Tina Modotti written by Cacucci.....tells the life of tina modotti and her struggle in a revolutionary mexico, an oppressing soviet union and a confused spain.........along the way we meet her circle of intellectuals from diego rivera to frida..........great book 8and 3 quarters /10
last book reread..well not book play.....Richard III fantastic and always will be...the last sentence...a horse a horse, my kingdom for a horse.....fantastic...10/10