Metal Reviews

About to finish Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill of the Warhammer 40k series, great story/descriptions.

Loving this George RR book. Plot Twist!

Anyone read The Troy Game series....Sara Douglass????

Finally managed to finish Mostly Harmless (last in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy polylogy) by Douglas Adams. A very boring and tiring first half followed by an interesting and quite fast second part. I think I liked the ending. 3/5

Now reading:
Timothy Zahn - The Icarus Hunt
After the 2 first chapters I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Reads like quite a standard sci-fi space opera adventure which I think is exactly what I wanted to read - something light, easy and fast-paced.

The Jungle is depressing me :(

Gonna start Plato - The Republic tonight.

Heh, just recieved a copy myself.

Toni Morrison - "Beloved"

Man, this shit is deep.

In other languages, just finished "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, which I thought was nothing more than pretentious entertainment; and I just started "Andorra" by Max Frisch, which is a lot more promising.

About to finish Hannibal Rising, great stuff as is usual from Thomas Harris. Anyone read Black Sunday, and is it good?

Spoiler: Socrates is a douche.

Spoiler: The dialogue is a shitty writing format when the characters spend line after line coming to the answer. I would recommend reading some other Plato dialogues before the Republic with an emphasis on The Apology, Euthyphro and Crito.

Ultimately, The Republic is an uber-conservative look at a perfect society. My favorite part which I came up with is that reason rules over the soul, the way society is controlled by the ruler and the desires of the soul should be controlled by reason, the way merchants (ie: the masses) should be controlled by the rulers. That's my marxist look at The Republic.

I hated "Beloved". Literature depicting African Americans after the civil war annoys me and Beloved's elaborate symbolism couldn't even save it.

I liked "Siddhartha" but it was really just a retelling of Buddha's life wasn't it? It described the ideas of a peaceful life and the path to enlightenment.

Yeah, I think she's pretty much considered the best writer of the 20th century. She's the only modern writer who I've heard mentioned in the same sentence as Plato, Shakespeare, etc.

I think that by applying modern terms like "uber conservative" and "marxist" to the Republic you're missing the point, and that the Republic is worth checking out if only because it basically created political theory; it also can pretty thought provoking. That being said, I also do like some of his other dialogues, like the Apology, the Crito, and the Gorgias- but in terms of length, variety and detail, the Republic is kind of in a whole other league.

I see how she is good but Joyce or Pynchon run circles around her.

As for the Republic, I understand that what Plato was doing is groundbreaking but when he is setting up an oligarchal, caste system with selective breeding, it is hard to not say his ideal society isn't conservative. As for the marxism, it isn't necessary to recognize that Plato would want the artisans to be controlled by the guardians in an authoritarian manner, disseminating lies and censoring stories.

I've read The Bluest Eye and I thought it was stupid at the time. I would probably like it more now.

Joyce=redonk. I just had to read Dubliners for school. Great literature, although I prefer great literature that is also fun to read.

Brothers of the Snake - Dan Abnett.

I think I'll probably start reading Dracula soon but the thing is that over time through so many movies and references, I probably already know the story, so there's probably no point in reading it. Or is it written well enough that it would be a good read?

Dracula's a great read, my little brother's engrossed in it at the moment. I picked it up to see what I remembered from doing it for school, and the next thing I knew it was two hours later! Fantastic book.

just over 200 pages into My Name is Red and.. what the fuck? i like the writing and the way the story is told through many viewpoints, including that of a gold coin, the colour red and a an illustration of death, but the conversations.. i really can't stand it. i think this is going to be like with Crime And Punishment, the issues that so horribly afflict the main characters just don't get to me at all. should i still press on? i hate giving up on a book..

I really liked that book, but it is a bit hard-going at times, agreed. I'd stick with it, if you're enjoying it so far...

finished The Jungle. it was very well-written although at times i would've liked less exposition and more plot, but that wasn't really the point of the book.

gonna start Grapes of Wrath tonight