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[CortJstr]

Wow, no reaction to Watchmen. I figured I was the last person here to read that one.

Anyway, just finished Stardust. Good stuff. I found it more enjoyable than Neverwhere but I can't exactly say why.

[arkabee]

how are their cigarettes crazy?

[Pedro Picasso]

how are their cigarettes crazy?

They're long with bulbs on the end.  Just like the electric cars and the charging station that Comic Reading Kid is always leaning against, they're meant to be little makers reminding you that the story does not occur in your world.  The story occurs in a world where there were superheroes.  It's the eighties, but it's a different eighties.  The godlike Dr. Manhattan has won the Vietnam War and unbalanced the Cold War toward the US.  Watergate never happened, and Nixon has overcome term limits to achieve FDR-like longevity.  It's the eighties of the future.  And they smoke Camel Crazies.

______________
Ignorance.

[Pedro Picasso]

I um, got Snow Crash as my audible.com book last month.

I'm a reader, but I've never really found modern novels that held my attention - so rather than leave them half-finished I'm listening to them in audiobook format and find that they make nice soundtracks for a late night walk or washing the dishes or something.

Snow Crash is great for listening to while screwing around.  It's not at all a smart novel, but it's fun and blatantly unpretentious.  Did you get it unabridged?


______________
Is.

[Pedro Picasso]

Stephenson has Problems with endings. It seems like everything's going awesome and great and really cool and then he flashes the lights on and off and tells everybody to get the fuck out. I think he did better with the new stuff, but Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Zodiac and The Big U all  suffer from this.

Shit, I just realized I've read every single book Stephenson's ever put out.

I liked the ending of Diamond Age.  The little girl army was awesome!  The drummers I didn't really care for.  I appreciate that speculative fiction is about stretching your boundaries, but that seemed more than a bit ridiculous, and needlessly grotesque.  But perhaps my tastes are too banal.  I like Confucian judges and armies of little girls.

Cryptonomicon's gold-gasm didn't really do it for me though I loved most of that book.


________________________
Just.

[CortJstr]

Stephenson has Problems with endings. It seems like everything's going awesome and great and really cool and then he flashes the lights on and off and tells everybody to get the fuck out. I think he did better with the new stuff, but Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Zodiac and The Big U all  suffer from this.

Shit, I just realized I've read every single book Stephenson's ever put out.

I liked the ending of Diamond Age.  The little girl army was awesome!  The drummers I didn't really care for.  I appreciate that speculative fiction is about stretching your boundaries, but that seemed more than a bit ridiculous, and needlessly grotesque.  But perhaps my tastes are too banal.  I like Confucian judges and armies of little girls.

I dunno. I seemed to me that for 3/4 of the book he was just telling us stuff that happened and it was all perfectly interesting. But then he suddenly realized he needed something major to close out the novel and tie everything together. Also, I was sad that we didn't get to see any more the judge.

It's the eighties of the future.

I did find it funny that it was a vaguely futuristic 1985 despite the fact that the comic was released in 86-87. I also never realized how similar the early Tick comics were to Watchmen which is really pretty weird if you think about it. And here I thought Ben Edlund was really creative for thinking of a former super-hero autobiography.

[miles]

So I'm back in my normal reading groove--that is, not being able to finish books.  I keep getting distracted.  The last book I was able to finish was an Elmore Leonard novel.  Although I just started the Human Factor by Graham Greene, and it's great so far.  I'm going to force myself to not get distracted.  I also started God's Grace.  It's by Bernard Malamud, and it's great so far.

[editor]

Same here: started reading five books and haven't finished any of them.  Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, Aloft by Chang Rae-Lee, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (but I read this when I was younger) are just three of the titles I can remember off the top of my head.  The other two are sitting on my dresser/cardboard box and have been neglected for some time now.

[AlohaDawg]

Guns, Germs and Steel is a great book.

[AlohaDawg]

I'm currently reading

The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge and
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

If you are looking for an interesting book that could serve to help you clarify your sense of faith in the modern world, the first is pretty interesting.

If you are a guy pondering your faith and it's place in your life, and your life and it's place in your faith, and if you are wondering how much being a 'guy' matters in 2005, the second is pretty interesting too.

If you are a secular agnostic into moral relativism and gender equality in every aspect of life imaginable, then the second book may not be for  you.

[editor]

I'm currently reading

The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge and
Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

If you are looking for an interesting book that could serve to help you clarify your sense of faith in the modern world, the first is pretty interesting.

If you are a guy pondering your faith and it's place in your life, and your life and it's place in your faith, and if you are wondering how much being a 'guy' matters in 2005, the second is pretty interesting too.

If you are a secular agnostic into moral relativism and gender equality in every aspect of life imaginable, then the second book may not be for  you.

I'm intrigued.  Dare I add two more to my ever-growing list?  Thanks Aloha, I'll definitely be checking those two out.

 I let my sister borrow Naked by David Sedaris and Aloft so that she will leave my copy of The Neverending Story alone.  I feel robbed.

[AugustWest]

14 pages is long enough.  I'm starting a dang ol' new thread.