What Book(s) Are You Reading?

[Theben]

Just finished reading The Da Vinci Code.

Now reading an operations manual.

[Theben]

Originally posted by Immortal Wombat
IMHO, Dan Brown's books are all structurally very similar, formulaic and about as deep and meaningful as a teaspoon. However, they are pretty gripping and provide a good afternoon's entertainment, so they're still definitely worth a read.

I concur with the above. The deep and meaningful content was about as stirring and persuasive as Ishmael, but with more entertainment and less preaching.

[Whaleboy]

I have to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at some point.

[Theben]

Oh, also finished The Heart of Darkness. I didn't get it. Apparently the horror of it all was before my time.

I also got sick of Conrad mentioning the "x of darkness" every 2 pages. The fact that I lost the book and don't care says a lot I think.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Vlad Antlerkov
I've somehow managed to avoid reading . . . any of the Harry Potter books.

I weep for you.

Originally posted by Whaleboy
I have to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at some point.

Boy, you can say that again!!

Originally posted by Whaleboy
I have to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at some point.

Oh ha ha. Very funny. That's such an old joke.

[Dis]

basic electronics. It's for class though . I would never read that on my own.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by MosesPresley
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, the second time in about twenty years....

A pleasure to read this one. I've read it about 3 times so far, and have to wait until I forget enough of it to maximize the excitement. Good stuff, short but has a lot to it.

I also enjoyed Creatures of Light and Darkness by Zelazny, though it is more amusing than thought provoking and doesn't work as a novel as well. Still some funny stuff.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

Does the Federalist count?

Only to ten.

[Sikander]

Oh, and I'm reading Warfare in the Early Modern World which is great for people who like EU2. I'm also reading Great Tales of Okinawan Masters by Nagamine The Oxford History of British Empire.

I'm managing to maintain my reading list at about 90% non-fiction.

[Kassiopeia]

I'm 300 pages into the da Vinci Code, and I agree with IW's assessment as well. This is the first time I've read Brown, but the formula is just oozing out from there.

E.g. thing X is finally discovered by the characters, after figuring out yet another clue from the scribblings a person managed to think up and make in 15 minutes (granted, Brown does describe him as someone who does have the brains to do this) . The true nature of thing X is now apparent. But because this is a suspense novel, I will irritatingly shift the viewpoint every single time you're about to find something out. HA!

A classic device, yes, but it gets oooold. I like having to put my hand over the next page to keep my eyes from skipping to the big revelation, thankyouverymuch. I must add that I merely loaned it on impulse from a friend. Hey, you don't see books in paperback and their original language in this neck of the woods too often.

Also, it's just so a rip-off of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars.

He's not unlike a Finnish novelist called Ilkka Remes, his books aren't the epitomes of deep thought but they're a thrilling read. And he churns them out on a regular basis. And I always get the newest one and read it within two days with a passion, and then have an intellectual hangover after the act.

[Immortal Wombat]

Yeah, it's almost a rip-off of a book called the Daughter of God (another Vatican conspiracy thriller), and the author tried to sue him. Probably jealousy. Daughter of God was pretty unexceptional and sold nowhere near as well.

Incidentally, the formula I was describing was intended to be the way all four of his books have the same basic plot, characters and so on. But it works on a lower level as well. He teaches creative writing, I believe.

[Kassiopeia]

Ah, I was thinking you meant that there's same formula to all books, but I've only read TDVC, and even that half-way, and yet I there are these... things. And he does teach creative writing, it says so in the first page. I'd be hard pressed to describe his mechanical application of the same structure over and over again as creative, though.

[Patriqvium]

It's also a rip-off of Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, which happens to be about the best classic adventure game ever made. Or to be more accurate, based on the same pseudohistorical work, namely Holy Blood, Holy Grail by a group of BBC producers.

[Minute Mirage]

I'm going through a Clancy period and am reading Red Storm Rising again. This is my tenth Clancy novel in a row, all read in a period of a few weeks.

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Patriqvium
It's also a rip-off of Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, which happens to be about the best classic adventure game ever made. Or to be more accurate, based on the same pseudohistorical work, namely Holy Blood, Holy Grail by a group of BBC producers.

Yes, this was another thing that irked me. I've known about that purported Big Conspiracy that they showcase in The da Vinci Code for a good while now, so it felt really awkward when the big revelation was actually stuff I'd heard about years ago. Quite an anticlimax.