Just Like Mr Benn
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« Reply #615 on: June 16, 2011, 05:12:55 AM » |
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I think the GoT TV programme has improved as the series has gone on. On the other hand I thought it was pretty good from the start.
A but too much sexposition, which is when lengthy background information is given in a conversation where at least one of the people is naked in an attempt to hook the fans of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
I'm reading the sections of the first novel after watching the relevant sections on TV, but once the series finishes next week I'll definitely plug on with the rest of the novels.
I guess the TV had to miss out so much information, and I'm enjoying the background I'm getting from the novels.
I understand why people compare it to LOTR, but I'm not a Tolkein or Fantasy fan at all. GoT appeals to the history geek in me, in that it has a lot of parallels to English history, but with the advantage that I don't know what's going to happen. It also has a lot more philisophical meat to it, about morality and ethics. If that kind of depth is in LOTR, I completely missed it.
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ericthered
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« Reply #616 on: June 16, 2011, 04:14:59 PM » |
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I gave up on fantasy a long time ago...too much Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, David Eddings and such...but I recently started reading GoT too, also after watching the first episode of the series. It is not great literature, but it is good fantasy...
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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.
"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.
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piglet
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« Reply #617 on: June 19, 2011, 04:39:34 PM » |
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I am still trying to get my head round Latefordinner's "Tolkien on Crack"  |
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For people who like peace and quiet - a phoneless cord
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Borkya
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« Reply #619 on: June 19, 2011, 11:54:32 PM » |
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I haven't read his wife's books, but I have read all of Peter Hessler's books and I am a big fan. If you liked river town you should read his new one, Country Driving. It's all about how the car culture is changing china. It's quite good!
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china-matt
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« Reply #620 on: June 20, 2011, 01:42:20 PM » |
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WastedYouth, there's a good reason why River Town is still considered a great work of nonfiction--Hessler's done a great job of diligently researching his subjects. If you're interested, I did an interview with him for Terracotta Typewriter a while back: http://www.tctype.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Spring10.pdf |
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"I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway." -Calvin Terracotta Typewriter: a literary journal with Chinese characteristics http://www.tctype.com |
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becster79
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« Reply #621 on: June 20, 2011, 02:49:34 PM » |
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A couple of years back when I was in Taiwan for a summer camp I had a few days off. Found myself in Page One bookshop at the base of Taipei 101 and found 'River Town'. Flicked through it and didn't end up leaving the bookshop for about 3 hours- speed read pretty much the whole book. Found myself constantly nodding to myself over various events and descriptions.
Really should have bought it!
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Kid Presentable
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« Reply #622 on: June 20, 2011, 04:29:51 PM » |
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I've yet to read Hessler's other books, but I recently read Country Driving, and really liked it. I particularly enjoyed his account of village life. The way he became a part of that community and an "uncle" to the only young boy in the village was pretty amazing to me.
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porcuswallabee
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« Reply #623 on: July 16, 2011, 11:44:36 PM » |
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I just read the first Hunger Games book...which might be why I was asking about learning archery in another thread. :]
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"The soldiers carry our hatred for us, and they do our killing for us. So do the police. We carry morality for them."
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ericthered
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« Reply #624 on: July 17, 2011, 05:51:31 AM » |
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I am reading "German for Dummies"...I took the languge, by force not choice, for 7 years in school...now reviewing...not for fun though, for money...it would seem I am relocating to a Uni which has several friendship-agreements with German universities...Might be able to get some private German tutoring classes...so back to reading German...  |
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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.
"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.
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NATO
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« Reply #625 on: July 17, 2011, 08:13:58 AM » |
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Mao: A Life, by Philip Short. And I'm realising there is a lot to like about him during the early years, say up to 25ish. Idealist, democrat, organiser, pacifist. Looking forward to getting into his later life to see how it all went so awry.
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Escaped Lunatic
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Finding new ways to conquer the world
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« Reply #626 on: July 21, 2011, 09:39:36 AM » |
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Just finished Chinese Wine, Universe in a Bottle by Li Zhengping. A little pricy at 95 RMB, but it provides some useful background material for my baijiu collecting hobby.
Decided to dig into the crates were the Library de Lunatique is stored and was happy to find David Brin's Brightness Reef as well as the other two books in that trilogy. I read the first two when they came out, but that was back in the 90's, so I'm starting from book 1, chapter 1, page 1.
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I'm pro-cloning and we vote!
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Cassnadra
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« Reply #627 on: July 22, 2011, 12:25:08 AM » |
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I better start reading the odd selection of books I accidentally sent to my new kindle...  |
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I'll tell you all my secrets but I'll lie about my past. (Tom Waits)
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ericthered
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« Reply #628 on: July 22, 2011, 01:03:58 AM » |
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Having been up most of the night devouring Harold Bloom's "The Western Canon", I am now downloading as many of the titles on his fiction reading list as possible to my Kindle. Bringing "The Divine Comedy" to Hangzhou today...Dante, coffee, Subway sandwich, that spells a good day |
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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.
"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.
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piglet
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Posts: 1140
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« Reply #629 on: July 22, 2011, 01:54:45 PM » |
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For people who like peace and quiet - a phoneless cord
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