The Reader’s Nook - The N&G Book Thread
- Thread starter Joe Mac
- Start date
Englishbob
Well-Known Member
Ooh, I almost forgot. Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos. Right up there with Lotr and asoiaf imo. Really interesting characters.
And if you like Stephen King, The Dark Tower series is a must. Along with The Talisman and Black House.
And if you like Stephen King, The Dark Tower series is a must. Along with The Talisman and Black House.
Max Sterling
Well-Known Member
::Opinion Alert::
I hated Hyperion. It was so disjointed. I wouldn't put it anywhere near Lord of the Rings. The characters were fairly interesting, but what story was he trying to tell? It was nonsense.
/rant
mareinfinitus
New Member
Have you read the Canterbury Tales? He supposedly modeled it after that.
Englishbob
Well-Known Member
Boooooo!
Teeeee
Well-Known Member
It's an epic, sweeping story. It's good. And yes, when I read it I wondered how long it would be until it was made into a movie. It just had that feel to it.
AudioAce
Well-Known Member
Just a recommendation seeing all the Mono Dylan boxes recently. If you are anywhere near a Dylan fan you should try and find yourself a copy of Chronicles, a memoir that he did talking about specific times in his career. The only bad thing about it is it left me wanting more.
BoilerRhapsody
Active Member
I haven't read the sequels so I'm kind of guessing here, but the impression I got was that Hyperion was 90% world building and that you need the full series for a payoff in terms of the 'story'. Very bold to end it on such a huge cliffhanger, but I still think there was plenty of merit in the plot that it does have, even without the 'conclusion'.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed Hyperion plenty, though I would say its reputation precedes it and people do attribute a weird amount of depth to it. I read about 75% of Fall of Hyperion, got really, really bored, and gave up. On the plus side, Simmons shifts from worldbuilding mode and into story mode. On the minus side, I didn't really dig the story he was telling; he gets really focused on politics and Keats.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
In other news, I've been tempted to start a reread of Dune, but also trying to hold off 1) because I want to read it closer to the Villeneuve adaptation coming out in 2020, and 2) I told myself next time I reread Dune I'll take another crack at the sequels as well.
Max Sterling
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed Dune and Children of Dune, couldn't really get into the rest of them.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
I liked the first trilogy (Dune/Children/Messiah) and loved God-Emperor (my second favorite in the series) but Heretics was a real slog and I never got around to Chapterhouse.
mareinfinitus
New Member
Yes world building is a huge part of it. Also have to keep in mind that Simmons had to split his book(s) into two volumes due to length. Stylistically, Fall of Hyperion is also much different and more plot driven than Hyperion.
Bennnnn
Well-Known Member
Finished Swamplandia tonight. I really liked it, maybe not loved it as a whole though. There's so much I like about it. The way Karen Russell densely packs the pages with her style and how that informs the density of the swamp is fantastic. And the overarching theme of losing innocence is powerful. There's a lot to read into, a lot to discuss. The general idea of what she was going for is something I was very engaged in. But by the end, I guess if I have to assess it as a whole, it's not something I'm completely taken by. I'm not sure why. I've read some reviews and I think there are a ton of people out there who hate hate hate this book because of one specifically dark scene, which seems a little unfair. The scene in question is awful, for sure, but it's obviously there for a reason. And based on that, it lands very hard. People have complained about how it's handled, but I think if you understand the voice of the main character and the themes going on, it's clearly handled in a logical way. I don't know. I know it's not a new book or anything, but I'm still refraining from spoiling anything for anyone who wants to read it, because if you're robbed of what happens, the impact won't work.
Now I'm going to read Vampires In The Lemon Grove, a short story collection also by Karen Russell. I've heard that people who don't like Swamplandia still think she's done well with short stories. And this is a short story collection. I don't read a ton of these, but I like her style, and am curious to see how she works in that format.
Now I'm going to read Vampires In The Lemon Grove, a short story collection also by Karen Russell. I've heard that people who don't like Swamplandia still think she's done well with short stories. And this is a short story collection. I don't read a ton of these, but I like her style, and am curious to see how she works in that format.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Out of interest, has anyone read any of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child? A friend lent me the latest one when we were on holiday and I blitzed through it. I've been picking them up at my local charity shop for a couple of quid and I must be on my 6th-7th now. They're really easy to read and much better than the film series.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Flying through A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. Really enjoying it so far, and it will be interesting to watch the film again after reading it.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I specifically remember turning on this book because of The Dark Scene. It felt like a betrayal to the characters; I was so confused why the protagonist, who's depicted as pretty strong and self-reliant, would just let herself be taken in by an obvious fraud, and then when The Dark Scene comes pretty much out of nowhere, it feels inevitable and the main character felt completely resigned to it. Just weird. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Bennnnn
Well-Known Member
I think it makes sense, but I do understand where you’re coming from. And many many people feel the same way.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
Just had a chance to read through this thread for the first time. Great to see so many people reading so many great books. I go through peaks and troughs of reading and I'm just coming out of a 5 year long trough!
In the past couple of weeks I've read Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections which I absolutely loved and Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer which I thought was actually pretty poor and vastly over-rated for what seemed like a run of the mill crime novel.
I'm now reading J.P. Donleavy's The Onion Eaters which a quarter of the way through may be one of the oddest books I've ever read. A chap yielding a third testicle inherits a fully staffed country castle that hasn't seen much life in decades yet the day he moves in he is visited by a swarm of odd characters that he allows to stay in the many rooms, one of which is transformed into a snake pit by some of the guests! I don't know where it's heading but I'm intrigued.
I loved The Satanic Verses. I found it so funny and not at all what I expected after the hullabaloo surrounding it when I was growing up. Midnight's Children is one of those books I've always felt I should read but never got around to. It's still on my list.
Another one on my long list of books I need to read. I loved Love in the Time of Cholera, in fact its one of my favourite novels ever. I gave a girl I was chasing a copy many moons ago and she ended up marrying me so I'd say I owe it debt of gratitude.
Half way through is as far as I got with this a long time ago. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, I wouldn't say it was boring me, I just seemed to get tired of reading it and it sent me into one of my troughs of not reading at all for a time. I'd like to try it again some day but fear it may have the same affect.
In the past couple of weeks I've read Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections which I absolutely loved and Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer which I thought was actually pretty poor and vastly over-rated for what seemed like a run of the mill crime novel.
I'm now reading J.P. Donleavy's The Onion Eaters which a quarter of the way through may be one of the oddest books I've ever read. A chap yielding a third testicle inherits a fully staffed country castle that hasn't seen much life in decades yet the day he moves in he is visited by a swarm of odd characters that he allows to stay in the many rooms, one of which is transformed into a snake pit by some of the guests! I don't know where it's heading but I'm intrigued.
I loved The Satanic Verses. I found it so funny and not at all what I expected after the hullabaloo surrounding it when I was growing up. Midnight's Children is one of those books I've always felt I should read but never got around to. It's still on my list.
Another one on my long list of books I need to read. I loved Love in the Time of Cholera, in fact its one of my favourite novels ever. I gave a girl I was chasing a copy many moons ago and she ended up marrying me so I'd say I owe it debt of gratitude.
Half way through is as far as I got with this a long time ago. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, I wouldn't say it was boring me, I just seemed to get tired of reading it and it sent me into one of my troughs of not reading at all for a time. I'd like to try it again some day but fear it may have the same affect.
Last edited: