• View unanswered postsView active topics

  • Books Discussion (Possible Spoilers)

    All the rest (non-gaming) topics

    Postby Dean 07 Feb 2012, 01:11

    I've been trying to find an eBook version of Kiedis' book so I can have a read of it.
    I'm reading through the Millenium Trilogy at the moment. I have the movies here to watch (The foreign versions) once I'm done - It will interesting to see what the US versions will be like as well.

    God is not Great - Christopher Hitchens
    Image
    Being an athiest myself this was very interesting, especially from such a notorised academic. Hitchens just basically points out how blinded people are by faith, so much so that they ignore scientific proof and, well the reality that contradicts the Bible and it's timelines. I don't begrudge anyone their faith but when some people blindly refuse to accept what Science has proven because of a book of fables and stories then they really are just lying to themslves. Heck, none of us really know the truth, and there's something poetic in living on after our mortal death, but some scientific facts are just irrefutible, no matter how much faith you have. Not all religious believers are so blinded, obviously, and I'm not trying to turn this into a discussion about religion, nor do I think the book will change anyone's faith but it certainly might broaden some peoples views and open their eyes that we can accept Scientific fact while still maintaining our faith in religion.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 07 Feb 2012, 01:23

    The Murder of King Tut - James Patterson
    Image
    Patterson tries to pass this off as fact rather than fiction and I guess a little of it is based on fact but a Hell of a lot of this is mere story telling and speculation. This takes part in 2 seperate time periods, 1300BC and 1895-1925AD. The times of Tutankahmen when alive, are of course just Patterson spinning his skill, which is the ficticious part, but a lot of finder Carters movements 100 years ago are well documented.
    No one knows what really did happen to the Boy King but the fact that James Patterson of all people think that after 3,500 years is going to work out what happened when no one else has is frankly quite preposterous.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Ron 07 Feb 2012, 02:08

    Christopher Hitchens makes a lot of good points about religion. I'm an atheist as well, and I think religion has done a lot of damage not only to the world but to our evolution as humans as well. Not to say that religion is a bad thing per se, some people can find strength out of it I guess, but to me the whole concept of God is on par with Santa Clause and Superman. It's make believe. Though I can understand it can be hard for believers to let it go, after all it's sort of a foundation on which they build their life. And I do hope there's a heaven of some sort of afterlife, because it would suck if it would just end. But like with a lot of big organisations, you should stay critical.
    Ron
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 6237

        

    Postby Dean 09 Feb 2012, 05:41

    Nerd do well - Simon Pegg
    Image
    This had some funny moments but basically tells the story of a guy and how he became famous with nothing much remarkable happening to him. There's some comical moments plus a lot of name dropping, although he states he hates doing that, there is still a lot of it in the book.
    The book was entertaining in most parts but overly drawn out in others, where his writing just waffles on for far too long about unimportant aspects of his life.
    Worth a read if you a big fan of his movies and Tv shows, or just generally like the guy, but otherwise you really aren't missing much here.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 09 Feb 2012, 06:02

    Tick Tock - James Patterson
    Image
    Book 4 in the Michael Bennett series. I've read all of Patterson's Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club series and like those, this is also an enjoyable, ongoing series. The main character is likeable, the situations seem mostly believable and the books are easy to read. This style of book is what Patterson does best and although with the amount of books he churns out, some of his stuff becomes fomulaic, this is still quite a decent, entertaining read.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Chris 12 Feb 2012, 02:34

    Interesting thread. I've never tried an e-reader before, but I've always been curious. Not sure it would be any better than just reading on my netbook or not. I just looked up "free e-books" on google now and clicked on the first book I saw: "Black-Eyed Susan". Ok sounds good to me, I start reading haha :)

    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38835/38 ... 835-h.html
    Chris
    User avatar

     
    Posts: 5
    Location: Canada

        

    The following user would like to thank Chris for this post
    DoomJedi

    Postby Dean 12 Feb 2012, 03:51

    The World according to Clarkson - Jeremy Clarkson
    Image
    These are a selection of social commentary newspaper columns that Jeremy has published over the last 10 years. There are 4 volumes all up, of which I've only read 3 at this time. They are quite amusing and reading them you can pretty much hear Clarkson's voice in your head as you turn the pages. Some are related to things in his life while many others are the state of the World as he sees it. Some of very Elnglish and people not living in the country aren't going to get all the political or social references but most are relatable.
    Each entry is only a few pages so it's easy to pick the books back up or read them at your leisure.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 14 Feb 2012, 07:10

    The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
    Image
    I hadn't heard of this until the movie got made (Which I haven't seen yet) but the book was really well done. It follows the death of a young girl, in the opening chapter, and then how her family try to continue on with their lives afterwards while she watches over them. It's told from the murdered girls perspective and is quite sad in parts. I hear the movie is quite good so have downloaded it and will watch it soon.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 14 Feb 2012, 07:19

    The Girk with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larson
    Image
    I really enjoyed this. I wasn't sure what to expect going in but this was quite multi-layered and keep me gripped all the way through. The story and characters are expansive but you never feel over-whelmed or lost with all the information. I've read books that have been translated from another language before and a lot of them just lose something in the translation but outside of me being unable to pronounce a lot of the places and some peoples names (!), this was a fantastic book. I have the 2 follow ups and am really looking forward to reading them also.

    Has anyone seen either the Swedish or American films yet? Was just wondering how they may stack up to the books. I'm imagining they would either have a lot cut out or be fairly long movies to covre everythin in depth properly.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 22 Feb 2012, 06:35

    Forrest Gump and Gump & Co. - Winston Groom
    ImageImage
    I love The movie so thought I'd read the books. The movie is based on the first book and the second book came after the movie as some sort of attempt to cash in, I believe. For once I've found a movie that is actually a fair bit better than the book it is based on. The basis of the character is there but only about half of the things that happen in the movie happen in the book. There are also things in the book that are left out of the movie, and by good choice, especially where Forrest joins a rock band and smokes dope for 6 months! In the book He also goes to prison and is locked up in a Psych ward.
    The sequel is crap, farcicle and comes across as a cheap cash in, they'll never make this book as a movie.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 22 Feb 2012, 06:47

    The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
    Image
    Yeah, ok this was a weird one! follows the story of a, somewhat, weird 19 year old boy who lives on an island in England somewhere and all the depraved things he gets up to as a daily form of entertainment. The sory also follows his brother who has escaped from a Psych ward and is crossing the country on his way back to the island. You always get the feeling that writer is building up to a big twist at the end, which he of course delivers but there' nothing really exciting about parts of the book. An interesting read (the first non sci fi book of his I've read) but not one I can recommend to most people or would read again any time soon.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 29 Feb 2012, 06:12

    Bossypants - Tina Fey
    Image
    I really like 30 Rock so was interested to see if this was funny also. It turns out the book is quite entertaining but it more an observational perspective on her life and the industry as she's experienced it more than a real autiobiography. A fair bit of the book is just how she sees the world and defends some of the opinions of critics and others towards SNL and her career.
    It discusses things a fair bit about 30 Rock, SNL and her personal life but has plenty of funny moments also.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 29 Feb 2012, 06:17

    The Postcard Killers - James Patterson
    Image
    This was actually one of Patterson's better books of late but as usual when he writes with another author you really wonder just how much of the book is his, I know I've read a couple of his collaborations that read nothing like his style. This does seem to have the similar writing style of a lot of his books but for a (nice) change takes place outside of the US. Of course there's the usual happy ending and the bad guys are caught but the unfolding tale was quite well written and kept the pages turning quickly. If you only read a few of his books then I can honestly say this is one of his better ones and a book you will probably enjoy, whether he actually wrote much of it not!
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 29 Feb 2012, 06:22

    Red Dog - Louis De Bernieres
    Image
    There was a very good recently made Australian film of this book that did huge business here so I thought I'd read the book, The book was actually writtin by a French author 10 years and discovered about the adventures of red Dog while in Australia doing a book tour. He came back and gathered as much information of the tales and heroics of the dog and compiled them into the book. The book is in horonological order but there is some creativity added to the stories. They follow in more of a collection of stories than one long story but they work together well and the book is a really great read although non-Australians will most likely have trouble undrstanding a lot og the Aussie slang and lifestyle of those that live in remote areas of our country. Going to go watch the movie now!
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Postby Dean 01 Mar 2012, 05:52

    Binary - Michael Crichton
    Image
    Although written in the 70's this is still quite relevant today with it's use of technology. I'm amzed this was never made into a huge action thriller type movie as it so easily lend it self to that, you could pretty much visualise the film and the actors as you were reading it. I've read a few of Crichtons later novels and they are really well written but this was just as good. He actually wrote this under a psuedonym but it came out later again under his real name.
    Dean
    User avatar
    Team RayCast member
    Team RayCast member
     
    Posts: 1336
    Location: Australia

        

    Next

    Return to General topics


    Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

    cron