OT: What Are You Reading?

Know what you mean gilgawulf, I tend to have about four on the go at any given time, usually three history books and a modern novel. The novel at the moment is ‘Under enemy colours’ by Sean Thomas Russell - Napoleonic era along the C.S Forrester lines. Dickens, try as I might, is an author I just can’t get into. The only one I’ve finished is, rather predictably, ‘A Christmas Carol’. I do however love ‘Crime and Punishment’. The bleak Russian spirit has always appealed to me.

You know, I don’t think I got into Dickens all that much until I found out that Dostoevsky liked him. I think after that I started to see a bit more of the humor in Dickens, a similar humor to what I find in Dostoevsky (albeit perhaps a bit less bipolar and/or prone to fits of despair). How is C.S. Forrester? Is it all swashbuckling and the like, or more focused on historicity? Because, as my interest in Dumas should attest, I’m a sucker for swashbuckling tales of adventures on the high seas &tc.

Forrester - good. I’m also in the middle of the 4th Horatio Hornblower novel (finished Groo last night). Yes, very swashbuckling type stuff, but a bit more character too. If you get a chance there was a series of TV movies a few years ago based on these books. All good.

Hunter S. thompson Fear and loathing in america

Brisngr --Paolini Effective Speaking --course text

I’m currently Re-reading a short western by Louis Lamour.

I’m also reading ‘The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao’ by Junot Diaz - great book; probably even better if I spoke Spanish, but what the hey.

Didn’t Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons write & draw a lot of the old Doctor Who comics in the '70s? I have a bunch of those.

I loved V for Vendetta. That’s what got me into Alan Moore a couple years ago. I’ve read the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I liked it a lot. I’ll check out From Hell. Another comic I liked a lot was Y: The Last Man. Anyone read that?

I couldn’t agree more! Gibbons was very much a product of the “Enlightenment” period (what a mis-labelling of a period!) Typical Occidental and totally (I believe willfully also) ignorant of the Eastern Orthodox Empire. Anything pagan, anything Latin or ancient Greek would do for him as the standard of cultural measurement. Yes Galen was spectacular indeed. As a matter of fact, herbal medicine like Valerian and St. John’s Wort was known in Byzantium and before - and both are becoming increasingly popular.

And they did a mean flame thrower too…

I’m reading more Groo the Wanderer. (also listened to Rush, took snuff and had a lot of honey in my tea, bob. But I’m out of Tick comics to read)

ooh! Greekfire!

I just reserved a copy of “Battle Cry of Freedom” Watching “The Blue and The Grey” has put me in the mood.

The new Stoker’s Catalog

lol, nice

I hope I get the new catalog. I didnt order anything from the first two they sent me, but i was planning on it. I think some companies take you off their list if you don’t order anything. Not to say that stokers is like that. And I suppose its still a bit early. I just got done reading a book called Water for Elephants for lit class. Pretty good read. Next I’m gonna read The Nose by Nicoli Gogol. I was in San Francisco last week and our hotel was by the SF museum of modern art. An artist named William Kentridge had an exhibition and there was one really cool film piece based on The Nose. It was very cool. The Nose is on google books and only 40 pages or so, so what the hey.

David Gemmel, I currently have two of his set aside for a special occasions since I don’t want to finish them too fast.

Turns out there is a lot of mention of snuff in The Nose. "Should you care for a pinch of this? Snuff can dissipate both headache and low spirits. Nay, it is good for hemorrhoids as well.” hmm can’t find the insert link function http://h42day.100megsfree5.com/texts/russia/gogol/nose.html

I recieved the Winter catalog from Stokers last week. I flip through it almost daily. If I still dipped, I would pick up a tub of that pinching tobacco in the butternut flavor. So cheap, but probably better than anything I could get in a store.