Metal Reviews

Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales

Really, Chaucer, did you really need to rhyme every line?

The Knight Templar (crusade triology) by Jan Guillou..

I'm currently at book number 1. The road to Jerusalem.

I couldn't stand dredging through the Middle English so I bought a modern English translation which made it so much more enjoyable. The satire aspect of each story makes them timeless.

Enjoyed it but don't feel like I understood every aspect of the story.

I did the same actually- I can only handle one paragraph of middle english at a time. Some of the stories so far have been indeed hilarious- I loved the Miller's Tale, and find the writing really flows beautifully, due to the rhyming and the consistent use of iambic pentameter (which I assume is thanks to Chaucer and not the translator). I'm looking forward to the rest- though I may just be dumb, because I couldn't recognize any satirical elements in the Knight's Tale, unless he was satirizing the stupidity of chivalry and fighting for love.



I'm really looking forward to reading that one. The general impression seems to be that many of the references and aspects (like traptunderice says) are arcane, but that with a basic knowledge of Russian history, literature and the Faust story, you can still get something great out of it.

i don't have much knowledge of any of those and i'm enjoying it so far >.>

Some of the satire may be a bit latent but all wag their finger at the feudal society's standards of chivalry, indulgences and the like.
I may have understood more than I thought. For Noodles, Faust is just the guy selling his soul to the devil and Russian history summarized is the peasants are basically slaves and the nobility were incredibly indulgent.

Geoffrey of Monmouth- History of the Kings of Britain

Germinal was decent. The story was a heart-wrencher; the lack of any clear winner is usually fine but I didn't at all like it in this case. Souvarine was cool but I dislike the burn-and-purge anarchism plot point.

Now reading Immanuel Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics and David Hume's Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

Going to Vancouver tommorow until thursday, and I'll be bringing with me:

Guy Gavriel Kay- Ysabel
Paul Cartledge- The Spartans
Joseph Conrad- Lord Jim
Robin Hobb- Assassin's Apprentice

Finished:
-Jean-Paul Sartre 'No Exit'
-Jean-Paul Sartre 'Respectful Prostitute'
-Bertrand Russell "Why I'm Not a Christian

i'm reading A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

I really really liked that book! I felt as if the whole series had a wonderfully suffocating atmosphere that kept my interest high through till the end.

Bertrand Russell is enjoyable since it's easy to read while still being very intellectual and informative. The quality does diminish when he puts in too much of his own opinion and a general lacking of information on post-Renaissance philosophy.

Just finished Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke today, and I'm going to start Children of Men by PD James.

this is what i've found so far, haven't gotten to the post-Renaissance stuff yet though

When I get some money I'm going to buy a shitload of sci-fi books (Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Azimov etc) and philosophy. My brain needs real information instead of the psuedo-intellectual wank I've had to wallow in at uni all this time.

I'm about halfway in, and while the writing itself is very good (especially for a first novel), the characters well built and even some nice mysteries (wtf, Fool?), its just not pulling me in. Enjoyable, sure, but I'm hoping that the plot picks up. Anyway, even if it doesn't, I'll definitely be reading the rest of the trilogy, and then decide if I want to read more Hobb from there.

George Bataille - Blue at Noon

So, scratch that. Maybe it was he fact that I was reading the first half on a plane, but I got completely caught up in the story as soon as I read the next chapter. The book was very good, and now I need to buy Royal Assassin.