Books: a literary discussion

[taumel]

Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz.


Many poems from Rainer Maria Rilke.


Larry Niven's Ringwelt.

[taumel]

Hergé's Tim und Struppi.


Paul Klee's Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch from his Bauhaus years.


Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous mit Rama.

[taumel]

Gary Larson's The Far Side.


Erich Kästner's Die Konferenz der Tiere.


Ursula K. Le Guin's Die Enteigneten/Planet der Habenichtse.

[Chyron8472]

Taumel, are you really reading two or three books per day?

[Rather Dashing]

I don't know if he is either, but when I was a kid I'd read at least 150 pages per day. I'm far less of a reader than I used to be(though more than most americans), some of these could be read in a day(Die Konferenz der Tiere, for example, is only 99 pages). It's more than average, but if I was on a particularly strong reading binge it would probably be fairly manageable.

[taumel]

Nope, i sadly don't have the time to read this much anymore but i had my years when i was reading a lot and read tons of books. Currently i just enjoy making suggestions of very good comics and books i think people could enjoy a lot if they are interested in the genres. There often is a big difference between books which are available in a bookstore and those which are really good.

[Avistew]

I used to read LOTS. Then I decided to read a book per week (on average. You can't expect to take the same amount of time for, say, Les Misérables or The Little Prince) and did that for a while, and on summer break I'd pretty much read one book per day (here again, on average, so some days I'd read like five, and sometimes I'd take days to read one).

Now... I barely read at all O.O I have reading phases and stuff but they're few and far between. I think it's because I used to spend a lot of forced time around people (my family, school, work, etc) and reading was a way to be alone and away from everyone. Now I spend most of my time alone so I prefer activities that feel more social (IMs, Skype, forums).

I'd like to go back into reading though. Maybe I'll join a book club of some sort (we never ended up starting ours, did we guys?).

[doodinthemood]

Currently reading:


and

[GeorgeC]

I recently read Chuck Yeager's autobiography, it was one of the best biographies I've read! If you like badass american war hero test pilots, you'll love this

[Ignatius]

Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner.

[Chyron8472]

I was reading a book called Boycotts & Barflies that my mom recommended to my wife and me. Turns out it's just a "chick flick" in book form, so I'm going to start reading the first book of The O'Malley Series instead. It's a mystery series that my wife likes.

[taumel]

Frank Le Gall's Theodor Pussel serie.


Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Der kleine Prinz.


Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis from Douglas Adams (not because it's written well but because of the ideas).

[DoctorCello]

I'm reading this:



It's from the 10th century, and supposedly, teaches how to achieve immortality. 3/4ths of it is the translator explaining what it all means. The text itself is pretty short, but man is it esoteric. Here's a verse:

Originally Posted by Chang Po-tuan

Just when the white tiger on the west mountain goes wild, the blue dragon in the east sea cannot handle it. Catching them both, have them fight to the death, and they will turn into a mass of violet gold frost.

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by Chang Po-tuan via DoctorCello

Just when the white tiger on the west mountain goes wild, the blue dragon in the east sea cannot handle it. Catching them both, have them fight to the death, and they will turn into a mass of violet gold frost.

I love that this comes from a book titled Understanding Reality.

[DoctorCello]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

I love that this comes from a book titled Understanding Reality.

To be fair, the entire thing is written in metaphors. Or at least, I think it is.

[Comrade Pants]

I'm reading this. Can we talk about how great it is?

Also reading:

[taumel]

Bill Watterson's Calvin und Hobbes.


Hans Saler's Zwischen Licht und Schatten.


David Gerrold's Die biologische Invasion serie.

[Chyron8472]

I really enjoy listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks as read by Stephen Fry. I have the whole set on mp3.


It had been a while since I last heard Jim Dale's reading of the books, so I decided to listen to it for a bit, just to see if I'm not being fair in my preference of Fry over Dale.

...but it turns out that I just confirmed for myself that Stephen Fry is indeed far superior.

I mean, seriously. compare these two:

Jim Dale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeAzVwGdhNw&t=6m50s

Stephen Fry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mIjBuu5L58&t=4m03s

Hands down, Fry is better. The twins mocking Percy isn't even funny at all in the Dale version.

[taumel]

I dedicate this recommendation to Avistew:

Jean-Philippe Peyraud's Schönheitsflecken.

[Alcoremortis]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

I really enjoy listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks as read by Stephen Fry. I have the whole set on mp3.


It had been a while since I last heard Jim Dale's reading of the books, so I decided to listen to it for a bit, just to see if I'm not being fair in my preference of Fry over Dale.

...but it turns out that I just confirmed for myself that Stephen Fry is indeed far superior.

I mean, seriously. compare these two:

Jim Dale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeAzVwGdhNw&t=6m50s

Stephen Fry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mIjBuu5L58&t=4m03s

Hands down, Fry is better. The twins mocking Percy isn't even funny at all in the Dale version.

That was absolutely fantastic! Stephen Fry is one of my favorite actors ever. And not much beats having Jeeves read Harry Potter.