What are you reading now?

[Beny]

Just finished Lord of the Flies. Was good, but now I realise I left it on the plane along with my favorite bookmark 

Now I've just started William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Riech. Pretty fascinating stuff so far, but I doubt whether I'll be able to stomach the whole 1,100 pages all at once.

 

[Calradianın bilgesi]

Scanlon what we owe to each other?
It's long and deep but clearly written and understandable. Pretty original work of contemporary  moral philosophy and convincingly responds to important questions like 'Why be moral?' that were puzzling me for a while

 

[rebelknight]

Got my paws on a copy of Red Storm Rising.

I normally hate Tom Clancy because of his conservative bias in his books but this one pretty neutral so i bought it.

 

[Paronomasia12]

One thing that I've come to realise as a result of Clancy's books (and real life incidents e.g the Kursk) is how awful being a submariner would be when something goes wrong.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

Genuine question, why did anybody volunteer for those?

 

[Bluehawk]

They were the swashbuckling pirates of the 20th century (and portrayed themselves as such), sneaking around the high seas, hunting down enemy shipping and sending them to the ocean floor to slip away without consequence, even sneaking into enemy harbours and wrecking havoc on their anchorages in the dead of the night. Volunteering for the submarine fleets meant real action with real results that could be measured in tonnage and their loathed reputation as bandits gave them a special esprit de corps.

Getting crushed like an empty aluminum beer can under a 2-ton truck at the slightest breech in the hull is just the risk you have to pay for eternal glory.

 

[Elric]

Stanislaw Lem - Solaris

 

[dinnerblaster]

Peter H. Wilson's A Thirty Years' War: Europe's Tragedy

 

[Wulfburk]

Reading the fellowship of the ring. I had tried to read all 3 books when i was a kid, after the two towers movie was out, but then i coudnt help myself skipping pages and what not then halting midway, and it wass a portuguese edition (unlike the one i got now, the 50th anniversary edition). So i coudnt remember **** from that, and i gotta say, i just got to the council of elrond, but man its probably the best book ive ever read. The first film specially is on my top 3 of all time, but still it is miles behind the book.

Ive already read the hobbit too, a couple of years back. So what should i go for next after i end with return of the king? Unfinished tales? Silmarillion? Whats the preferable reading order of all that post lotr release?

 

[Antonis]

I've always went for Silmarillion and then Unfinished tales. Also, try to get the editions with the extra folding maps and such. Really coll stuff. And don't skip the appendices. And yeah, some say ASOIAF is the ****, but to me, Middle-Earth always felt alive. Maybe because Talkien did his thing with languages, songs, poems and fake folk tales for all those nations. Ah, I think I'll have another LOTR marathon again. 

 

[Wulfburk]

yeah one thing that the portuguese edition that we had is that it had so much cool maps, this version im reading now doesnt has that many at all, in fact just 1 for the fellowship of the ring, a map of the shire. i'll probably gift my brother the silmarillion in this christmas... a cheap gift since its for me too but the heck, lol. The unfinished tales he already has, so i guess after all those its children of hurin next!

 

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

ignore folding maps, just go straight for the Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Fonstad as a companion book. Silmarillion, UT, Children of Hurin are next readingas you say.

 

[Antonis]

Folding maps are cool.

 

[pentagathus]

Children of Hurin is great, would absolutely recommend that next. Unfortunately I haven't got around to buying unfinished tales yet, and the silmarilion is awful. It's not really a novel, its a mess of a thing with bits of stories and too many names and its sometimes like reading through a middle earth history wikepedia page, it definitely doesn't read anything like the Hobbit or LoTR.
I think there has recently been a release of the Beren and Luthien story too, probably worth checking out.
Also they aren't set in middle earth, but Tales of The Perilous Realm is a great collection of Tolkien's short fairy stories. Some of them are very much for kids, but many of them are a great read for adults too, Giles of Ham is the most charming mother****ing tale ever.

 

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

It's not awful, it's just different.

Beren and Luthien isn't a single story, it's examining various versions of the tale that were written at different points in time.

(and yes foldout maps are cool, but the Atlas is better).

 

[Dystopian]

The Silmarillion is amazing, you sir simply don't possess the mind to comprehend it. And really, if you like lore in any way you'll like the Silmarillion. War, romance, gods, what else do you want?

As for what I'm reading now:

DUNE

And I'm loving it, I haven't fell in love with a universe this hard in a long time. I bought it about four days ago and I'm past page two hundred n fifty.

 

[Antonis]

I know Dune is considered good and it is good, but I have to confess I lost interest quickly after the 1st book.

 

[HoJu]

I know Dune is considered good and it is good, but I have to confess I lost interest quickly after the 1st book.

That's because the first one is the only one that is good.

 

[Dystopian]

I know Dune is considered good and it is good, but I have to confess I lost interest quickly after the 1st book.

That's because the first one is the only one that is good.

Sounds like ASoIaF

 

[Llew2]

I know Dune is considered good and it is good, but I have to confess I lost interest quickly after the 1st book.

That's because the first one is the only one that is good.

This is logical from people who consider the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy to be the height of the literary genre. 

ＤＹＳＴＯＰＩＡＮ, pay no attention to these smut-loving losers. The rest of the Dune books (at least by Herbert himself) are top quality. Some of the best writing around and pretty damn engaging.