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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
Heike Monogatari sounds interesting, I may track down a copy. Cheers, Namirrha, especially for the info on translations (I have the same problem when searching for subtitled films - dvdcompare.net and kungfucinema.com are useful, as they give details of poorly-subbed releases and often an alternative release is available).
I've just finished reading Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy. It's brilliant, and totally unlike anything I've ever read. Vivid and incredibly gruesome - it's ostensibly about a young kid in the American west of 1840-ish who ends up travelling with a group of scalphunters into Mexico... with hilarious consequences! Actually no, not hilarious - I meant to say "disgustingly violent."
It should appeal to anyone interested in westerns, or violence or evil in humans (fans of Clockwork Orange will probably love this). |
Sat Dec 11, 2004 8:49 pm |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
I'll keep Blood Meridian in mind. You know, I've started to become interested in Westerns because of all the Kurosawa films I've watched in the past couple months. Kurosawa was a big fan of Westerns, and Westerns were likewise influenced by Kurosawa (Fistful of Dollars). Ancient Japan has a frontier feel to it--the thugs, small mountain villages, forbidden love, rascals, sword saints, and tough justice. I'm through a decent amount of the Genji monogatari, except it's a huge book, over a thousand pages of small print. And I found another book at the library called Yoshitsune, which is a fictionalized biography of the most famous samurai hero from the Heike. Good stuff. Once finals are over, Christmas will be here, and I'll have more time to indulge my historical readings.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:32 am |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
Well, Blood Meridian is the only "western" book I've ever read but I am a big fan of western movies (Japanese movies, too). I think the best "movie" western I've ever seen is actually the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove, it is superb... an adaptation of a book by Larry McMurtry, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, so I guess he's probably a good author to look out for regarding old west tales. |
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Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:37 pm |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:22 pm |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
Well, now that I have a little leisure time, I'm re-reading Sun-tzu's The Art of War. I'd forgotten how much I liked this work.
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Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
What do I have to show for my hard work? A piece of paper! Wee!
=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound=  |
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Sat Dec 18, 2004 5:16 am |
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xSamhainx
Paws of Doom
Joined: 11 Sep 2002
Posts: 2192
Location: San Diego |
World of Warcraft Strategy Guide by Brady Games
I dont have many printed strat guides for games, but I checked out this one @ the book store and just had to have it. Why?
- the size of the thing @ 430 pages, gimme a big manual and I'm happy.
- the extensive array of great maps. I'm a cartographer at heart, and one of my fave aspects of gaming is the maps. From a rough count, like 150 pages of just maps & their keys.
- hilarious Penny Arcade WoW cartoons thruout.
- Nice WoW artwork, it's just a great looking book that is laid out well.
- pretty extensive slash command listing and instruction
- sounds silly, but a nice online gamer jargon dictionary. It's just funny to see terms such as "Aggro" and "Duping" actually given dictionary-style treatment. I also learned that I am theoretically a "Care Bear" player, since I prefer PvE ='.'=
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“Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.”-Mark Twain |
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Sat Dec 18, 2004 7:19 am |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
quote:
Originally posted by Val
Well, now that I have a little leisure time, I'm re-reading Sun-tzu's The Art of War. I'd forgotten how much I liked this work.
Very practical book, isn't it? One that I think is a companion guide to Art of War is von Clausewitz' On War. Von Clausewitz has superb analyses of the aspects of war, including the psychological, which military theorists sometimes ignore.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:03 am |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
Thanks, I'll add it to my reading list.
_________________
Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
What do I have to show for my hard work? A piece of paper! Wee!
=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound= |
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Sun Dec 26, 2004 9:35 pm |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
Finished The Tale of Genji, Good Business by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Yoshitsune. Currently reviewing some of my favorite writing books by Orson Scott Card, such as How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy and Characters & Viewpoint. What a master of the craft. Also reading various books by Lafcadio Hearn to feed my Japanese fiction addiction.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:20 pm |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
While waiting for "On War" to ship to me, I'm reading The Words We Live By. A very interesting book on the U.S. Constitution. It's a short, but informative read so far.
_________________
Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
What do I have to show for my hard work? A piece of paper! Wee!
=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound= |
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Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:35 pm |
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ScOut3R
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 15 Feb 2002
Posts: 299
Location: Hungary |
quote:
Originally posted by Val
While waiting for "On War" to ship to me, I'm reading The Words We Live By. A very interesting book on the U.S. Constitution. It's a short, but informative read so far.
Do you mean On War from Clausewitz?
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Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:00 am |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
Yes.
_________________
Freeeeeeedom! Thank heavens it's summer!
What do I have to show for my hard work? A piece of paper! Wee!
=Guardian, Moderator, UltimaDot Newshound= |
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Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:06 am |
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ScOut3R
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 15 Feb 2002
Posts: 299
Location: Hungary |
quote:
Originally posted by Val
Yes.
It's a good, but difficult book. Oh, and don't believe everything he sais. 
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Last edited by ScOut3R on Sun Feb 13, 2005 9:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:39 am |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
Just finished reading the new Pratchet - Going Postal. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone.
Now I am thinking about starting the Malazan series, but frankly, I don't exactly think I have the time to read such a long series  |
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Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:27 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
I've just read Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban - and my word, what an amazing, amazing book!  It's set in a post-holocaust Kent, with a new primitive civilisation and a new dialect; Ridley himself is possibly the first writer of this era, and the writing style reflects this, resembling the simple word-of-mouth storytelling tradition of his world. I've long been skeptical of novels that invent their own languages or dialects (like Clockwork Orange), but this one is perfect - the word origins are usually clear and totally logical and convincing, and rather than hindering progress or seeming gimmicky I found it made the characters and small setting seem totally real, and helped me plough through the book. Pretty impressive feat even without knowing that the author is American. The story is incredible and bizarre, and the simplicity of the telling allows the emotional impact to come barreling at you unhindered. And, perhaps most surprisingly of all, it's really funny too. Brilliant piece of work, I can't recommend it enough. |
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Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:50 am |
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