What are you reading? — Page 42

People conflate the book with the movie, probably assuming that because the latter is a masterpiece that the original story must be too. It’s not even all that similar to the movie’s plot. I’ve not met many people that have actually read it.

DuracellEnergizer said:

Eight chapters in, and I’m at a loss understanding why this book is so beloved. No character has any real personality, and the descriptions are clinical and passionless; the book feels like it was written by an emotionless robot. Maybe the story improves further along, but I really don’t feel compelled to find out.

I thought I was so cool when I was 12, cos we had to read that book in school and I was very public about how much I disliked it.

DuracellEnergizer said:

Eight chapters in, and I’m at a loss understanding why this book is so beloved. No character has any real personality, and the descriptions are clinical and passionless; the book feels like it was written by an emotionless robot. Maybe the story improves further along, but I really don’t feel compelled to find out.

It’s written to be a fairy tale, which are usually simply told. Baum’s view was that children get bored by detailed descriptions and their imaginations are permitted to work more when the author does less. You have to buy into the concept that this little girl finds herself in a strange land and takes it in stride as she seeks to get home. I wonder if you might like “The Marvelous Land of Oz” or “The Patchwork Girl of Oz,” which do have more dynamic characters I think and a bit more going on.

chyron8472 said:

Dek Rollins said:

I also tried reading Jurassic park before that but didn’t make it past 75 pages before I simply lost interest. Michael Crichton wrote that book as an impossibly boring slog. When something is actually happening and meaningful it’s super interesting and well written, and I’m excited for what’s going to happen next, but then that’s all bogged down by three pages of unnecessary technical explanations for things I don’t care about. It’s like he can’t just get to the point. It took all the fun out of what was otherwise an exremely fun read. I might pick it up again sometime and try to finish it, but I can’t see myself spending any time on it soon.

DuracellEnergizer said:

This mirrors my experience with Crichton. The Lost World and Timeline both had intriguing plots, but all the passages spent on technical details simply killed my enjoyment; I abandoned both books before I got halfway through either and haven’t picked up a Crichton novel since.

You know, I had a similar problem reading Daemon by Daniel Suarez. I loved Influx so I started reading Daemon, but the technical junk bogged down the plot too much and I quit reading it. Well, not complex technical explanations of things. […]

It just… ugh. People who are knowledgeable about a certain hobby or field don’t frequently extrapolate on the jargon. They use jargon when they’re around people who would understand, and they don’t around people who don’t. But they don’t explain the jargon if it’s not necessary to get the point across. The book Daemon kept using jargon and then explaining what it meant or a character’s opinion about it.

I ran into my old high school friend, who recommended Influx to me, and he asked me if I ever finished Daemon and Freedom™ (Freedom™ is a sequel). I told him no, and generally why, and he asked me to give Daemon a second shot.

So I am… and I still don’t like it. I’m only about a third of the way through the book, but the plot really is convoluted and the characters really do use too much unnecessary technical jargon. Unfortunately, out of respect for my friend, I’m going to finish them both anyway. =\

I’m planning on reading The Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley. We’ll see how that goes.

Is That A 🐟 In Your Ear? by David Bellos. About translation/language/meaning.

TV’s Frink said:

Mrebo said:

Is That A 🐟 In Your Ear?

It’s not by Ernie?

That would be a banana.

I assume the fish is a reference to the Hitchhiker’s Guide babel fish.

Well then I’m not sure why you would make a joke that made no sense when you already knew it didn’t.

chyron8472 said:

chyron8472 said:

Dek Rollins said:

I also tried reading Jurassic park before that but didn’t make it past 75 pages before I simply lost interest. Michael Crichton wrote that book as an impossibly boring slog. When something is actually happening and meaningful it’s super interesting and well written, and I’m excited for what’s going to happen next, but then that’s all bogged down by three pages of unnecessary technical explanations for things I don’t care about. It’s like he can’t just get to the point. It took all the fun out of what was otherwise an exremely fun read. I might pick it up again sometime and try to finish it, but I can’t see myself spending any time on it soon.

DuracellEnergizer said:

This mirrors my experience with Crichton. The Lost World and Timeline both had intriguing plots, but all the passages spent on technical details simply killed my enjoyment; I abandoned both books before I got halfway through either and haven’t picked up a Crichton novel since.

You know, I had a similar problem reading Daemon by Daniel Suarez. I loved Influx so I started reading Daemon, but the technical junk bogged down the plot too much and I quit reading it. Well, not complex technical explanations of things. […]

It just… ugh. People who are knowledgeable about a certain hobby or field don’t frequently extrapolate on the jargon. They use jargon when they’re around people who would understand, and they don’t around people who don’t. But they don’t explain the jargon if it’s not necessary to get the point across. The book Daemon kept using jargon and then explaining what it meant or a character’s opinion about it.

I ran into my old high school friend, who recommended Influx to me, and he asked me if I ever finished Daemon and Freedom™ (Freedom™ is a sequel). I told him no, and generally why, and he asked me to give Daemon a second shot.

So I am… and I still don’t like it. I’m only about a third of the way through the book, but the plot really is convoluted and the characters really do use too much unnecessary technical jargon. Unfortunately, out of respect for my friend, I’m going to finish them both anyway. =\

I’m finishing up Freedom™. In the synopsis online, it says “Here is the propulsive, shockingly plausible sequel to New York Times best seller Daemon.”

…Shockingly plausible? Really?!? Umm…no. In fact, one reason I don’t like this series is I can’t buy into the far-fetched plot. It’s supposed to take place in a modern-world very near to ours, but there are just too many things that stretch the limits of plausibility past their breaking point. Plus, too many characters use and then explain technobabbly terms when doing so is unnecessary to get the relevant point across in conversation. I, myself, already know what these words mean. They don’t need to be used when simpler language will do.

Also the series seems to be trying to sell the idea of a need to overhaul our corrupt plutocratic society, but the society it’s replaced with is bloodthirsty and vindictive. People’s lives can hinge entirely on how many upvotes or downvotes they get in the virtual space, and a mass-murdering psychopath is left unchecked for most of the story because he works for the glorified computer-logic-tree.

So no, I do not recommend.

Missed the movie in theaters, but discovered that it was a book first, so I’ve started to read it. I like it so far.

I was going to read that one. I really wanted to see the film but didn’t catch it in theaters either.

Get Out was so FUCKING good!

Let me guess. Is there

female nudity

in the film?

suspiciouscoffee said:

Let me guess. Is there

female nudity

in the film?

What does this even mean?