No.4743
Hey /8lounge/, what are you currently reading? Anything you have on your list? Anything you just finished?
I just finished re-reading 1984, and on the recommendation of a friend, Brave New World. I gotta say I like 1984 more, but BNW was okay, especially for how morally neutral it felt, none of the cut-and-dry stuff from the former.
So, any readers?
No.4744
I'm reading the last volume of the original "Chung Kuo" series. For me, at least, it's been life changing.
No.4746
>>4744
Oh wow, this series looks great. How long did it take you to make it through the whole series?
No.4747
>>4746
I'm neither the fastest nor the most dedicated reader, so it took me a couple of months to a year to finish the first seven books. I'm currently reading the eighth, but the separation between finishing the seventh and starting the eighth has made me a lot slower with it.
My sluggishness aside, I highly recommend them. It's a criminally underrated series.
No.4748
>>4747
Looks really interesting, thanks for the recommendation. Don't suppose you have a link? I may just end up buying it, I need a good series in my life again.
No.4749
>>4748
I'm afraid I don't. In fact, the reason for the gap was because I had to look for each of the books in used bookstores.
No.4750
>>4749
Oh well, I have a pretty decent used bookstore near me, I suppose I can check there. Thanks again.
No.4754
>>4743
The standard political starter kit also includes Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged if you're interested. I'm re-reading some textbooks on multivariable calculus and chaos & dynamics because I feel like I've forgotten a lot of the stuff in the past couple years.
I was also looking at Ovid's Metamorphoses and am on Book II right now.
No.4756
Almost finished reading "Das Schloß" by Kafka. Currently trying to find out what the heck happened in this book.
No.4757
The Book of the Damned by Charles Fort. Although it's interesting, it's a pain to slog through the dense prose.
No.4758
Pact by John Mcrae/Wildbow
Good poppycock, urban fantasy horror that pulls no punches whatsoever. It was a serial format book, it'll be published in a few years most likely.
No.4759
Not sure if it would intrest anyone on here but "Biohackers: The Politics of Open Science" was a very interesting read. It has some really cool biochem things in it, and the author is pretty engaging.
No.4760
>>4747
Hey, if you're still here, any recommendation on if I can skip the first book? I was able to find all of the books save for the first one locally. I could always order it but I'd rather not wait that long.
>>4754
>Atlas Shrugged
damn, I should pick that up too, slipped my mind last time I was at the store.
No.4768
>>4754
I found Ayn Rand preachy and boring.
No.4813
I guess it wasn't here, but someone recommended No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu, and it was pretty good, figured I'd pass the recommendation along to anyone else looking for more stuff to read.
>>4749
Ordered the whole original series for a bargain after reading through a hundred pages or so of the recast, thanks again!
>>4754
>>4768
Atlas Shrugged is interesting, but such a laborious read so far, I made it about halfway through and had to stop for a while.
No.4814
Finished Gogol's 'Dead Souls' last week. That dude could write. What tragedy the second part turned out to be, I had no idea going in.
I want to go to the library and get something good but I also don't want to leave the house.
The only two unread books on my shelf are Fahrenheit 451 and American Psycho. They were both given to me so I'm kind of skeptical of their quality. If no one wants to vouch for either of them I may have to venture out and pick up some more 19th century russian stuff.
No.4815
>>4814
American psycho is incredible, one of my favorite books actually, even if the 1-2 page descriptions of apartments/food/everyone's clothing get a little tedious
No.4851
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Surprisingly informative in many ways:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20203
No.4852
>>4815
I actually really loved the in depth descriptions of these things. I have a morbid fascination with the insipid, hollow aesthetic of 80's wealth and it was very immersive.
No.4872
>>4815
Alright I'm >>4814 and I'm back after having almost finished American Psycho.
You're fucked up dude. Why would you recommend that to me?
More importantly, why would an English Prof invite me to her office and give me a fucking copy of American Psycho?
She also gave me Dead Souls, Neuromancer, Invitation to a Beheading, Brighon Rock and some Alice Munro stories so maybe I'm just too disturbed by this novel.
No.4873
I just got done reading 1984. It makes me fear for the future.
No.4874
I've been reading some relatively trashy light novels.
Overlord is the latest thing I read through. It was just such a fun read and had me feeling giddy thinking about what would come next in the story.
No.4897
Anybody here have the habit of starting books and then about halfway through you just sort of stop reading? This poppycock happens to me way too often.
No.4903
>>4897
It's happened to me so many times. You just have to force yourself to finish it.
No.4912
>>4872
>why would an english prof give me a fucking copy of american psycho
because its a good book, its nice and dissociated, plus bateman is a great transgressive character. I found it funny that the times he seemed most (relatively) human to me were the times he was most shallow, or when he wasn't acting like himself.
>>4897
find something that makes you interested enough to keep reading. Or find something that isn't linear?
>>4744
I'm on the third book now, this series is incredibly good, although I heard the last book is a letdown, so not looking forward to that. I may take a break soon and read the first two books of the recast before finishing the first set.
No.4978
I've recently realised I haven't actively read a lot since my high school and early college days, almost a decade ago, something I'd like to correct. I'm moving into a new city, and I plan to give the library good use- anyone got some good general suggestions? For reference, the books I think have stuck more with me over the years would be Lolita, some Saramago books, Kafka, Murakami, uh… Sherlock Holmes, I suppose, Lovecraft. Fairly banal stuff, I'm afraid. If I had to see a pattern here, mostly modern-ish setting stuff with a post-modern feel?
No.4986
>>4852
>I have a morbid fascination with the insipid, hollow aesthetic of 80's wealth and it was very immersive
80s decadence is best decadence.
No.4990
>>4852
>Patrick Nagel Paintings.
>Patrick Nagel Paintings everywhere.
My favorite part of the 80s.
No.4994
>>4978
Could try Calvino? Or find a nice hole-in-the-wall bookstore and ask for recommendations there.
No.5002
>>4990
oho, this is my bedroom
No.5003
>>5002
apparently
l
e
l
filters to "oho"
No.5004
I've been reading Dune: House Harkonnen. The Prelude to Dune trilogy is written like a young adult series and pales in comparison to the original book in terms of complexity, but I've been finding these books to be enjoyable reads.
No.5005
>>5002
Clearly, you're a refined gentlemen of fine taste.
No.5025
If you're looking for a slightly humorous approach to history, I can warmly recommend Will Cuppy's The Decline and Fall of Literally Everything. It portrays various notable historic individuals in a not quite so serious manner, and also has a few biting remarks about contemporary historians.
No.5035
>>4990
That pic reminds me of the artwork for Shi comics.
No.5036
Finished Thomas Sowell's Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Starting Our Magnificent Bastard Toungue by John McWhorter + a Spanish Speaking Visual Guide.
For those interested in learning languages check out:
>>>/spanishclass/
>>>/lang/
No.5045
-Horus Heresy Book 1
-The Republic
-Transcending the Matrix Control
System
-Slowly re-reading bits of Marcus Aurelius every night
-some short James Allen book
-A William Walker Atkinson book on business
No.5049
I'm reading Deutch Na klar!
No.5061
>>5025
Read it. Enjoyed it greatly. Thanks, Mr(s). Anon!
No.5083
I've desperately wanted to get into reading as a hobby, but it keeps slipping my mind.
My personal favorite book at the moment is Moby-johnson. Some books I've been meaning to read are Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, Terry Pratchett's work (only thing I've read by him is a standalone novel called Nation, years ago), and the Dune series.