What are you reading? - Page 9

SM · 07-20-2005, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Then they shouldn't have cast podgy waddler Tom Hanks in the role.

Yeah true, but Langdon seems to spend an awful amount of time explaining things to Sophie in regards to Grail history. Dunno whether the audience would get bored with all that exposition, especially since a large chunk of the audience knows it already, but they have to cater to people who don't know as well.

To balance all that yacking, I think they might need to amp up the action a bit.

So says the hack whos been hammering at film scripts for years with zero result...

Harley · 07-20-2005, 07:48 PM

Currently reading Chronicles of Amber. That thing is as thick as bible but i can't put it down. Roger Zelazny rox!

)-(@????

J A Eyers · 07-25-2005, 05:04 PM

I'm currently reading the 1991-2001 diaries of Tony Benn, the British socialist politician even conservatives like my mother appreciate. He's just so relentlessly pleasant, not a nasty bone in his body. Makes you want to be an MP. No, scrap that, makes you want to be Tony Benn.

SM · 07-25-2005, 06:25 PM

Can finally cross 'A Brief History of Time' off the list of 'Books I Must Read Before I Die'. While I can appreciate the Hawking's genius, after wading through what was supposedly a layman's guide to quantum mechanics, I just have the overwhelming urge to let his tyres down.

Shoulda taken the hint when I did so badly at physics in high school. Black holes as portrayed incorrectly in movies are infinitely more interesting than real theory.

Have now moved onto Conrad's 'Nostromo', after flicking through Tolkein's 'Unfinished Tales' and thinking, 'nah'.

Renegade 2501 · 07-27-2005, 06:33 PM

Unfinished Tales was interesting, I thought. Fills in some of the gaps pretty well.

Right now I'm reading the novelization of Vampire Hunter D (the original). It's a fun read.

The Drunkk Machine · 07-30-2005, 08:09 PM

Saw an Edward Gorey illustrated War of the Worlds and immediately bought it. Much better than the last time I read it, perhaps because I appreciated the "less is more" style more than I did when I was ten. Then I read Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which was equally enjoyable, although I couldn't help feeling I was wading through some minor sections. I think J A Eyers posted a review of it back here (?) so I won't bother with a plot summary. And then: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov. I don't want to use the word quirky so I won't. A failed novelist writing orbituaries for a sinister newspaper in Ukraine kept company only by his pet penguin. I'm quite tired and I'm running out of positive terms so maybe somebody should recommend me some books I won't enjoy. On an unrelated note today I went out and bought Life of Pi and Fahrenheit 451.

Renegade 2501 · 07-30-2005, 11:35 PM

You want a book you won't enjoy? Read anything by Dean Koontz.

SM · 07-31-2005, 10:20 PM

Having read loads of Koontz years ago, before realising most of his stories are the same, I can agree with that.

Except for The Bad Place. That's still prety cool.

Quote:

Unfinished Tales was interesting, I thought. Fills in some of the gaps pretty well.

I got it from the library based on your recommendation. Maybe another time.

Pie · 08-03-2005, 09:24 AM

I'm reading About a Boy by Nick Hornby, and put simply it is just hilarious.

Renegade 2501 · 08-03-2005, 08:19 PM

Took Interpol's advice and picked up I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I read the first few chapters, and it's pretty damn good. There was an old Vincent Price movie called The Last Man on Earth; this book must have inspired that movie, because it has the exact same premise.

SM · 08-03-2005, 08:39 PM

Last Man On Earth and The Omega Man are both adaptations of I Am Legend. (As is The Homega Man).

Renegade 2501 · 08-03-2005, 08:46 PM

Ah, okay. Good thing I forget the ending to The Last Man on Earth.

J A Eyers · 08-04-2005, 06:30 AM

I once read a film script adaptation of I Am Legend that Ridley Scott was allegedly going to direct starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Neville. It was truly, truly awful in every way it was possible to be awful. I don't think even Arnie would have touched it with a barge pole, let alone Ridley Scott. But apparently it was the draft that got Matheson's approval. (Of course, Matheson was the guy who also wrote Jaws 3D, so...)

Apparently there's a new version of I Am Legend now being touted with Will Smith connected to it. It could be like I Robot, but with vampires instead. Maybe Paul Anderson could direct it (WS, not T).

Xenomrph · 08-04-2005, 07:02 AM

Currently reading:

'Alien' movie novelization, by Alan Dean Foster

Next up:

'Aliens' movie novelization, by Alan Dean Foster

It recently occured to me that I have NO idea where I got my copy 'The Complete Alien Omnibus'. According to the barcode on the back, it says "not to be sold in the USA or Canada". I've had the book since about 1998 or so, if I remember correctly.

After I knock down the Alien movie novelizations, I'll be re-reading the AvP movie novelization, then the Predator movie novelizations, and then the Alien, Predator, and AvP novels in chronological order (with the intention of adding entries to the AvPOE site).

J A Eyers · 08-04-2005, 07:11 AM

And when you've finished all that, you can read them all again, just in reverse order this time!

Xenomrph · 08-04-2005, 07:40 AM

And upside down and backwards!

Ryan The Ruler · 08-08-2005, 09:31 AM

i just finished 100 people who are screwing up america and yest i bought and started reading The politically incorrect guide to islam and the crusades. pretty kewl thus far if you're at all into this.

Tarefson · 08-08-2005, 12:09 PM

did you try out mein kampf ? pretty cool if you're into all this.

MacCabbe · 08-08-2005, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Harley
Currently reading Chronicles of Amber. That thing is as thick as bible but i can't put it down. Roger Zelazny rox!

Absolutely.

However, the second saga is far inferior to the first one.

J A Eyers · 08-08-2005, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tarefson
did you try out mein kampf ? pretty cool if you're into all this.

I'd also add the complete works of David Irving to the list. That's like the politically incorrect guide to Judaism, incorporating the alternate history of the Holocaust (i.e. it didn't happen).

Renegade 2501 · 08-11-2005, 05:54 PM

Finished reading I Am Legend, thought it was very good. I've read some of the short stories that follow it too, and some of them were pretty good. I liked Prey the best, even though it's a pretty cliche story by now. Person to Person is the last one, and I'm looking forward to it.

Renegade 2501 · 08-19-2005, 12:58 AM

Person to Person rocked. I think it could make a pretty good short film or something.

J A Eyers · 08-19-2005, 05:13 PM

I am currently reading Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. Can't say I can see why so many US school boards banned it as subversive communist propaganda, besides, of course, its suggestion that the American Dream might not be quite so dreamy as the romantic view of it.

jedigirl78 · 08-19-2005, 11:29 PM

Lately I've been reading alot of African American romance novels, from Brenda Jackson and Francis Ray. They help me alot with my own writings. Other than the romance novels the last book I read was the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Good Stuff.

Renegade 2501 · 08-21-2005, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by J A Eyers
I am currently reading Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. Can't say I can see why so many US school boards banned it as subversive communist propaganda, besides, of course, its suggestion that the American Dream might not be quite so dreamy as the romantic view of it.

Yeah, I read that in school. I'm in no way a Steinbeck fan (not that I think his work is bad, just that I don't wish to read his books - I had to read Of Mice and Men), but I thought it was pretty good. I had seen the old black and white film version when I was little, long before I read the book, and I remember the end had a big impact on me. The Pearl was pretty bad, from what I remember; I wouldn't recommend it.

J A Eyers · 08-21-2005, 06:58 AM

Yeah, when I was at school one class did Of Mice And Men and the other did A Farewell To Arms by Hemingway. Which is the one I had to read, which I was annoyed about then because it's about six or seven times longer and far more crammed to the nines than Of Mice And Men. Anyway, I'm enjoying Of Mice And Men, which is quite a simple read. I'm taking it at a casual pace. It's so short I might have been able to finish it in an afternoon, but the longer you take with books, providing it's consistently read, the larger the impact I find.

BullpupDFWM · 08-25-2005, 09:09 PM

I can't remember the end of Of Mice and Men. I read it a few years back, didn't mind it, just found it very forgettable.

I'm currently reading The Stand, the extended version, by Stephen King. I've never been a fan of his books, and can honestly say that I've never actually finished reading any of his books (except for the first part of The Green Mile).
I decided to read it because I love the mini-series, the first half scared the crap out of me and the second half I found really interesting (the whole end of the world, re-invention of society thing).

So far it's pretty good, a little long winded, and it's seems to go on for pages about something very trivial. Understandable, considering it's over 1400 pages long.

On a side note, I was at the markets the other day and found the original edition of the Stand, I found the part that I was up to, it was on page 150, when I checked what page I was up to in mine, it was page 350.... that's a lotta yammerin'...

Anyways, it's still a pretty good read, so far not nearly as scary as the film, but just last night I got the tingles on the back of my neck for the first time....

Renegade 2501 · 08-25-2005, 10:53 PM

I love Stephen King; he's probably my favorite author, because he writes the kind of fictional stories that I enjoy. Sadly, most of his good books have already been made into movies, which I've already seen, so the surprise is taken out of reading the books.

That said, I'm currently almost half way through IT, which was made into a television movie I used to watch (and get nightmares from) as a little kid. I must say, the book is much better, just for the fact that the clown and all its various forms are much more frightening. It's great because Pennywise is such a great creature, using the fear of the children to turn into monsters - werewolves, mummies, Rodan, etc. - but also vulnerable to their other emotions; it all depends on whether they're afraid or not. The kids are great characters, too.

BullpupDFWM · 08-26-2005, 01:13 AM

Yeha, It used to scare the hel out of me too. I've heard that all his books are better than the movies, I've just never had the impetus to read any of them.
My girlfriend just finished Misery, she said it was really good.

Renegade 2501 · 08-26-2005, 01:20 AM

Yeah, all of his books that I've read were made into films, and the books were always better since they have more details. You can't blame the films, though, since there is only so much you can fit into 2 hours. Some film adaptations are just bad, though. The Shining was WAY better than the film version (the Kubrick version); the ABC miniseries that they made in the 90's was much better in terms of accuracy. I own it on DVD.

07-20-2005, 07:48 PM	#242 (permalink)
Harley Motorhead Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: In Deep Shit where oral sex is illegal Posts: 4,017	Currently reading Chronicles of Amber. That thing is as thick as bible but i can't put it down. Roger Zelazny rox! )-(@????

07-25-2005, 05:04 PM	#243 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	I'm currently reading the 1991-2001 diaries of Tony Benn, the British socialist politician even conservatives like my mother appreciate. He's just so relentlessly pleasant, not a nasty bone in his body. Makes you want to be an MP. No, scrap that, makes you want to be Tony Benn.

07-25-2005, 06:25 PM	#244 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	Can finally cross 'A Brief History of Time' off the list of 'Books I Must Read Before I Die'. While I can appreciate the Hawking's genius, after wading through what was supposedly a layman's guide to quantum mechanics, I just have the overwhelming urge to let his tyres down. Shoulda taken the hint when I did so badly at physics in high school. Black holes as portrayed incorrectly in movies are infinitely more interesting than real theory. Have now moved onto Conrad's 'Nostromo', after flicking through Tolkein's 'Unfinished Tales' and thinking, 'nah'.

07-27-2005, 06:33 PM	#245 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Unfinished Tales was interesting, I thought. Fills in some of the gaps pretty well. Right now I'm reading the novelization of Vampire Hunter D (the original). It's a fun read.

07-30-2005, 08:09 PM	#246 (permalink)
The Drunkk Machine see you - GET ME A ♥♥♥♥ING CURLY WURLY Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,346	Saw an Edward Gorey illustrated War of the Worlds and immediately bought it. Much better than the last time I read it, perhaps because I appreciated the "less is more" style more than I did when I was ten. Then I read Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which was equally enjoyable, although I couldn't help feeling I was wading through some minor sections. I think J A Eyers posted a review of it back here (?) so I won't bother with a plot summary. And then: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov. I don't want to use the word quirky so I won't. A failed novelist writing orbituaries for a sinister newspaper in Ukraine kept company only by his pet penguin. I'm quite tired and I'm running out of positive terms so maybe somebody should recommend me some books I won't enjoy. On an unrelated note today I went out and bought Life of Pi and Fahrenheit 451.

07-30-2005, 11:35 PM	#247 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	You want a book you won't enjoy? Read anything by Dean Koontz.

08-03-2005, 09:24 AM	#249 (permalink)
Pie zoooooom Hardcore Veteran Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lisburn , Northern Ireland Posts: 5,162	I'm reading About a Boy by Nick Hornby, and put simply it is just hilarious.

08-03-2005, 08:19 PM	#250 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Took Interpol's advice and picked up I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I read the first few chapters, and it's pretty damn good. There was an old Vincent Price movie called The Last Man on Earth; this book must have inspired that movie, because it has the exact same premise.

08-03-2005, 08:39 PM	#251 (permalink)
SM Network Interface 2037 Epic Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Network Interface 2037, WY Melbourne Posts: 15,284	Last Man On Earth and The Omega Man are both adaptations of I Am Legend. (As is The Homega Man).

08-03-2005, 08:46 PM	#252 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Ah, okay. Good thing I forget the ending to The Last Man on Earth.

08-04-2005, 06:30 AM	#253 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	I once read a film script adaptation of I Am Legend that Ridley Scott was allegedly going to direct starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Neville. It was truly, truly awful in every way it was possible to be awful. I don't think even Arnie would have touched it with a barge pole, let alone Ridley Scott. But apparently it was the draft that got Matheson's approval. (Of course, Matheson was the guy who also wrote Jaws 3D, so...) Apparently there's a new version of I Am Legend now being touted with Will Smith connected to it. It could be like I Robot, but with vampires instead. Maybe Paul Anderson could direct it (WS, not T).

08-04-2005, 07:02 AM	#254 (permalink)
Xenomrph AvP Online Encyclopedia Epic Poster Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Flagstaff, AZ (NAU) Posts: 19,812	Currently reading: 'Alien' movie novelization, by Alan Dean Foster Next up: 'Aliens' movie novelization, by Alan Dean Foster It recently occured to me that I have NO idea where I got my copy 'The Complete Alien Omnibus'. According to the barcode on the back, it says "not to be sold in the USA or Canada". I've had the book since about 1998 or so, if I remember correctly. After I knock down the Alien movie novelizations, I'll be re-reading the AvP movie novelization, then the Predator movie novelizations, and then the Alien, Predator, and AvP novels in chronological order (with the intention of adding entries to the AvPOE site).

08-04-2005, 07:11 AM	#255 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	And when you've finished all that, you can read them all again, just in reverse order this time!

08-04-2005, 07:40 AM	#256 (permalink)
Xenomrph AvP Online Encyclopedia Epic Poster Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Flagstaff, AZ (NAU) Posts: 19,812	And upside down and backwards!

08-08-2005, 09:31 AM	#257 (permalink)
Ryan The Ruler Banned Elite Poster Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 13,932	i just finished 100 people who are screwing up america and yest i bought and started reading The politically incorrect guide to islam and the crusades. pretty kewl thus far if you're at all into this.

08-08-2005, 12:09 PM	#258 (permalink)
Tarefson Unsure... Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Switzerland (french speaking zone) Posts: 3,643	did you try out mein kampf ? pretty cool if you're into all this.

08-11-2005, 05:54 PM	#261 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Finished reading I Am Legend, thought it was very good. I've read some of the short stories that follow it too, and some of them were pretty good. I liked Prey the best, even though it's a pretty cliche story by now. Person to Person is the last one, and I'm looking forward to it.

08-19-2005, 12:58 AM	#262 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Person to Person rocked. I think it could make a pretty good short film or something.

08-19-2005, 05:13 PM	#263 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	I am currently reading Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. Can't say I can see why so many US school boards banned it as subversive communist propaganda, besides, of course, its suggestion that the American Dream might not be quite so dreamy as the romantic view of it.

08-19-2005, 11:29 PM	#264 (permalink)
jedigirl78 Registered User Forum Fledgling Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Detroit, Michigan Posts: 136	Lately I've been reading alot of African American romance novels, from Brenda Jackson and Francis Ray. They help me alot with my own writings. Other than the romance novels the last book I read was the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Good Stuff.

08-21-2005, 06:58 AM	#266 (permalink)
J A Eyers Better ban'd than bland Godlike Poster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Southend, England Posts: 24,315	Yeah, when I was at school one class did Of Mice And Men and the other did A Farewell To Arms by Hemingway. Which is the one I had to read, which I was annoyed about then because it's about six or seven times longer and far more crammed to the nines than Of Mice And Men. Anyway, I'm enjoying Of Mice And Men, which is quite a simple read. I'm taking it at a casual pace. It's so short I might have been able to finish it in an afternoon, but the longer you take with books, providing it's consistently read, the larger the impact I find.

08-25-2005, 09:09 PM	#267 (permalink)
BullpupDFWM I've had my shit PUSHED IN Hardcore Veteran Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 9,794	I can't remember the end of Of Mice and Men. I read it a few years back, didn't mind it, just found it very forgettable. I'm currently reading The Stand, the extended version, by Stephen King. I've never been a fan of his books, and can honestly say that I've never actually finished reading any of his books (except for the first part of The Green Mile). I decided to read it because I love the mini-series, the first half scared the crap out of me and the second half I found really interesting (the whole end of the world, re-invention of society thing). So far it's pretty good, a little long winded, and it's seems to go on for pages about something very trivial. Understandable, considering it's over 1400 pages long. On a side note, I was at the markets the other day and found the original edition of the Stand, I found the part that I was up to, it was on page 150, when I checked what page I was up to in mine, it was page 350.... that's a lotta yammerin'... Anyways, it's still a pretty good read, so far not nearly as scary as the film, but just last night I got the tingles on the back of my neck for the first time....

08-25-2005, 10:53 PM	#268 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	I love Stephen King; he's probably my favorite author, because he writes the kind of fictional stories that I enjoy. Sadly, most of his good books have already been made into movies, which I've already seen, so the surprise is taken out of reading the books. That said, I'm currently almost half way through IT, which was made into a television movie I used to watch (and get nightmares from) as a little kid. I must say, the book is much better, just for the fact that the clown and all its various forms are much more frightening. It's great because Pennywise is such a great creature, using the fear of the children to turn into monsters - werewolves, mummies, Rodan, etc. - but also vulnerable to their other emotions; it all depends on whether they're afraid or not. The kids are great characters, too.

08-26-2005, 01:13 AM	#269 (permalink)
BullpupDFWM I've had my shit PUSHED IN Hardcore Veteran Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 9,794	Yeha, It used to scare the hel out of me too. I've heard that all his books are better than the movies, I've just never had the impetus to read any of them. My girlfriend just finished Misery, she said it was really good.

08-26-2005, 01:20 AM	#270 (permalink)
Renegade 2501 Caveat Emptor Hardcore Veteran Join Date: May 2001 Location: "Kahlifoania" Posts: 9,332	Yeah, all of his books that I've read were made into films, and the books were always better since they have more details. You can't blame the films, though, since there is only so much you can fit into 2 hours. Some film adaptations are just bad, though. The Shining was WAY better than the film version (the Kubrick version); the ABC miniseries that they made in the 90's was much better in terms of accuracy. I own it on DVD.