What's everyone reading?

[toxicat]

well he's kind of got a point. if people feel they have a right to be compensated for the time and intellectual exertion they put forth in to creating something bad, then we should be equally compensated for the time wasted and intellectual degradation we received from it.

Fine, allah; PM me your email. I don't want to argue...with anyone.

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

well he's kind of got a point. if people feel they have a right to be compensated for the time and intellectual exertion they put forth in to creating something bad, then we should be equally compensated for the time wasted and intellectual degradation we received from it.

No he doesn't.

If you start reading a book, watching a movie, listening to a song or whatever, you can stop at any time. Any intellectual depredation you experience is entirely your own choosing. If you choose to waste your time and degradation your intellect, why should the artist have to pay for it? and more importantly, if you choose to use the author's works to waste your time and degrade your intellect using the author's work, why shouldn't you pay them? It is a service rendered. Like a dominatrix for the literary masochist.

If you want free degradation, write your own damned book.

[Morning Glory]

All of your arguments are one sided.

An author can choose to stop writing anytime that they want to as well. I'm not arguing that they shouldn't be paid for the creation of a book, because they have contributed a marketable product. I'm arguing that they shouldn't be paid for the intellectual exercise of using their imagination, which would dictate that they be paid for just for thinking of an idea or for any amount of information that they chose to convey onto paper, no matter how cohesive it was or whether it could be marketed and sold.

should you pay a mechanic that spent two hours rearranging parts on your car, but not fixing it?It was your choice to go to the mechanic, and he have his services, so your dissatisfaction is your own. yadd yadda. I say it's the same thing for creating art that is not enjoyable.

Really what Allah's point was is that you can't tell how you will appreciate a work until you take in the whole experience. If I buy a book I might enjoy it the whole way through but be utterly dissatisfied with the ending and it devalues everything else for me in retrospect.

On amazon and itunes you can listen to Cd's before you buy them so you can know whether they are worth listening to again or not. You can also buy individual songs so that you only have to pay for the content that you like, and not a superfluous bundle that may contain things that you don't like. Since the experience of appreciating art is entirely subject to personal taste, that only seems fair.

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

Subjective to personal tastes and fair do not belong in the same sentence.

The reason you can get a refund on a mechanics work if it does not meet your expectation is because a mechanic has an objective goal, not a subjective one. If my brakes don't work after seeing a mechanic, he failed to do his job regardless of how I feel about it. If I read Twilight and think it is a crap cupcake (sorry Rogizoid, I'm a hater )then the author has not failed. It is, as you said, a subjective measure. Buyer beware.

[Velvet-Tongue]

Big pile of random renaissance rapier and medieval swordsmanship books.

[Morning Glory]

he failed to do his job regardless of how I feel about it. If I read Twilight and think it is a crap cupcake (sorry Rogizoid, I'm a hater )then the author has not failed. It is, as you said, a subjective measure. Buyer beware.

I guess that depends on what the authors goal is. If the author's goal is to entertain you, then they have failed. If their goal is to just take your money... well, the same can be said for the mechanic. I don't see the difference.

Sure, it's a bit more of a narrow definition for a working automobile, as opposed to an entertaining read, but nevertheless, you are paying money for a service under the expectation that you will receive satisfactory results. It falls under the criteria of business ethics.

Many companies guarantee their product meets your satisfaction, or your money back, even if it's petty and subjective. If you are going to make art as a business venture, then I think you should be subject to the same scrutiny.

Back on Topic...

I started reading the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It's going pretty slow, although I do enjoy it. I just haven't been able to bring myself to sit down and read for more than an hour lately. Maybe I'm getting burnt out on all this reading...

well, more like I'm burnt on this routine expereince. I need a change of scenery.

[Dusk]

ATM Im reading Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs.
Its getting desperate, Ive almost finished and theres nothing left for me to read in the house. I cant get anything from the library cos I forgot to bring back my overdue loans. Might have to hit the second hand shops nd see if they have anything new.

[Toe Cutter]

I just finished 'Riding High Living Free' & 'Freedom' by Sonny Barger. He's the founder of the Hells Angels. I think Hells Angels are fucking cool.

[Amelia G]

I just finished 'Riding High Living Free' & 'Freedom' by Sonny Barger. He's the founder of the Hells Angels. I think Hells Angels are fucking cool.

Forrest was sent off to either kindergarten or elementary school wearing a Free Sonny Barger T-shirt.

[Amelia G]

Oh yeah, just finished reading the new Elmore Leonard. A little short in the books dept at the moment as I'm attempting to economize in this loathsome down economy.

[NothinButCult]

House Of Leaves...a bit confusing and wacky but kinda creepy and cool.

[toxicat]

Master and Margarita (Ма́стер и Маргари́та)! If you like the opera, Faust, you'll dig this Mikhail Bulgakov novel!
I mean...just look at my post #!

[johnny]

On a lark I read Deathstalker and to my surprise it was good and had to get the rest. Flash Gordon meets Dune meets smorgasborg of sci fi and fantasy.

[Amelia G]

Jay McInterney's How It Ended. His stuff used to seem like such a familiar world populated with familiar people. Now it makes me feel vaguely nostalgic.

[Rockwulf]

House Of Leaves...a bit confusing and wacky but kinda creepy and cool.

I read that a few years back, awesome book.




As for me, lately I've been reading Duane Swierczynski. He's a Philly based writer that sets all his books here. You might recognize the name from the "Cable" series from Marvel Comics and his recent "6 Hours to Kill" series on the Punisher, where he brought ol' skull-shirt to Philly and blew up one of my favorite bars in the process. His books are awesome. I'm in the middle of "The Blonde" but just finished "Severance Package" which was a total page-turner and was an incredible story.

Also just got sucked into "Ex Machina", a comic series that's really great based on a formula of superhero/plitical thriller that I was introduced to when one of the waitresses at the bar where I work leant the first volume to me.

[Amelia G]

I read that a few years back, awesome book.




As for me, lately I've been reading Duane Swierczynski. He's a Philly based writer that sets all his books here. You might recognize the name from the "Cable" series from Marvel Comics and his recent "6 Hours to Kill" series on the Punisher, where he brought ol' skull-shirt to Philly and blew up one of my favorite bars in the process. His books are awesome. I'm in the middle of "The Blonde" but just finished "Severance Package" which was a total page-turner and was an incredible story.

Also just got sucked into "Ex Machina", a comic series that's really great based on a formula of superhero/plitical thriller that I was introduced to when one of the waitresses at the bar where I work leant the first volume to me.

Swierczynski is fucking awesome. I wish I knew how to say his name aloud, so I could recommend him to people more. I liked The Blonde better than The Wheel Man but just enjoy his writing style in general. I love that he honed his Philly trivia working at their City Paper equivalent.

I kind of feel like The Blonde could be cross-marketed as SF. What do you think?

[Rockwulf]

Well I'm only in the beginning of it so I don't know too much of what's going on with that one yet. But from what I've seen, yeah. It would make a great movie too.

I met him when the bar that I mentioned held a signing/talk for him that I initiated by bringing the idea to my friend Chris who runs the joint and he's a really cool guy. He mentioned that The Blonde was in talks to be made into a film so I really wish him all the best with it.

[Rockwulf]

Swierczynski is fucking awesome. I wish I knew how to say his name aloud, so I could recommend him to people more.

Also, "Sweer-sin-skee"

[DeformedGod]

Right now, I'm working my way through Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind and The Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson. I'm always reading a bunch of books at once, and then I order more before I finish, I have a stack of classics and fantasies on my desk. -_-

[Amelia G]

Also, "Sweer-sin-skee"

Thank you so much. Although of course now I am going to want to misspell it.

[Rockwulf]

You're welcome of course. Just tell anyone you're recommending to type "Dwayne Sw" into their book retailer of choice's search engine. They'll be fine.

[lesa1242]

ha trashy romance ! it fully rocks- lol

[Nobodys Hero]

im currently reading 1984, again, this is like the third time.
im such a loser.

[RubyViolence]

Right now, the new issue of Rue Morgue! Can't get enough of the horror and gore. hehe

[lesa1242]

your mind!

[helcyon]

I hadn't had time to read anything for ages (apart from re-reading snippets from A-Z of Serial Killers as a bed-time story to myself... it's on permanent rotation even though the copy I have is a bit dated... the BTK killer is still at large according to this book. Believe it or not this book is written with a degree of humour somehow).

One reason for the lack of time is that I needed to shift house and while doing this I found a brand new copy of a Charlaine Harris' book "Dead as a doornail". This is book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse Series which of course "True Blood" TV series is based on. I have absolutely no idea how it got there but I assume that one of the ex-flatemate's emo crew dropped it there by mistake whilst high on whipped cream bulbs and Mudvayne.

Anyway I would normally like to methodically start with book one and then read the rest in strict sequence but if something is cheap or free then all bets are off. I'm glad I read this Sookie-Booky... it's good light entertainment. I may read some others in the series.

[Vix]

A Short history of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Its a bit, sort of technical, and not for ppl that are looking for a novel as such. It has a lot of noncence and namby pamby facts as it were, well a lot of very good facts, and relevent to todays standards... but it lacks finesse. A good read none the less.

[Rockwulf]

Bryson's one of my favorite authors. His travel books are gold.

[Morning Glory]

Seems like a good bump.

Recently finished:

The Ring by Koji Suzuki

Know What I mean? Reflections On Hip Hop by Michael Eric Dyson

Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson

Currently Reading:

The Simulacra by Phillip K Dick

Utopia Or Oblivion by R. Buckminster Fuller

The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castanada

Thinking about starting on the Dark Horse Comics Alien's collections.

[mystoo]

I'm on the 4th book of the True Blood series. They make for a light read when you just want to take your mind off other things. I'm also reading The Scarlet Letter and Before The Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima.
I also have a pile of books waiting to be read and I just can't seem to make the time.

[Mr Karl]

I'm reading my comics again......I'm on th lucifer series at the moment

[Morning Glory]

Is that a Sandman spin off? Those all seemed not so good to me.

[Mr Karl]

yeah, it is a spinoff.......but it's pretty good

[VoltaireBlue]

Siddhartha by herman hesse for the quadrillionth time.

[nvrsetl]

I'm so under-read.... Well, I read tons at work but its all in the course of my night and only for problem solving.

[Amelia G]

I just finished re-reading The Buddha of Suburbia and almost everything Mick Farren ever wrote.

[aXa]

im currently reading a bunch of magazines and at least one book. i wont bother to list the magazines and will just mention the book. it is "boneshaker" by Cherie Priest. its your basic steampunk bit of fiction, but it has a nice suspenseful horror edge to it because of its setting. The Boneshaker was a machine that was intended to cut through the earth and mine gold. but something went seriously wrong while it was being tested out. it went haywire and began carving tunnels underneath downtown seatle, undermining much of it. a good portion of the city collapsed, included a good number of banks. to make matters worse, strange toxic fumes began seeping from the earth...many died during the disaster. but they did not Stay dead. yup, zombies! the surviving citizens escaped and walled off the disaster area in the hopes of containing it.

the plot concerns a mother who has to venture into the walled-off section to hunt for her wayward son.

[Toe Cutter]

Songs of the Doomed, by Hunter S. Thompson. It is really funny.

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

Since I am reading a bunch for work, I also read Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy. If you can get past a few of his odd naming conventions (wetboys for assassins) it is really well written fantasy. Dark in the vein of The Black Company, but an enjoyable read.

[mystoo]

Songs of the Doomed, by Hunter S. Thompson. It is really funny.

This one has been on my list forever now. Can't believe I haven't got there yet. Have you read The Rum Diary? It's good. Read it next. Ok bye