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That's how you know a book is good.

Hyperion 8.3/10 Plenty of 10/10 moments throughout, but certain stuff fell flat. I loved the narrative structure (didn't expect short stories ) but there was some weird shifting going on with first-person vs. omniscient narrator - is this clever or just dumb/lazy? It didn't really hurt. I'm not sure if Silenus was intended to be a shitty poet or if instances of shittiness were deliberate because he was muse-less or if Simmons was simply in over his head. The Consul's story was pretty underwhelming so things ended on a disappointing note in that regard, but I wasn't pissed at the way the frame story closed (thanks, board soft-spoilers!). I've heard plenty about how the second book is a let-down, so it'll probably be a good while before I confront that. I can't imagine any of the narrative threads paying off in a way that's as satisfying as the set-up does. I enjoyed the little nods to science/sci-fi stuff throughout. Also, all the "RNA medicine" stuff is satisfying because that's kinda-sorta becoming a reality now/soon.

Thoughts on Weintraub's story:

Necrometer wrote: Thoughts on Weintraub's story:

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

And the time tombs... thinking about the logic of them moving backwards through time makes my head hurt. Like... if there was something dangerous inside... does it even matter which direction it's moving through time? I guess if it's going forward, you want to keep it shut forever, but if it moves backwards, you'd want to open it ASAP to prevent it from fucking up your universe's past? Is that even possible? I feel like the timeline has to be fixed. Eh.

Not what you think. It's explained better in #2. Well maybe not "better" if you're trying to figure it out but definitely need #2 to understand this aspect more.

kickpuncher wrote:

kelly wrote:Ask the Dust (John Fante) ?/10 I don't think I'm ready to rate this yet?! I also had no idea that it was made into a movie. It was a gift from someone and after I read it I realized it was the second book of a 4 book series. So I feel like I need to read the rest of them before rating because it definitely feels like there was something before it and something after it and I just got this small chunk and don't know what to do with it.

hmm. read this last year, and i thought it stood pretty well on its own?

Do you still post here? I finally got around to reading the first book (Wait Until Spring, Bandini) and I think it's essential! Have a completely different opinion now. Will probably re-read Ask the Dust.

Only book I purposely decided to quit was V

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey - 7 but god damn did I have to work for it
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - 9
Bram Stoker's Dracula - 8
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 7

featherboa wrote:

Only book I purposely decided to quit was V

My condolences.

Perdido Street Station 7.8/10 Is this the most steampunk thing ever? First half crushed the second, but still a really enticing world to inhabit. A lot of the plotting rubbed me the wrong way. I don't need everything to be all happy, but don't be a douche in the way you make things shitty. Narrated by John Lee, who was just as enjoyable as on Invisible Cities. Very much looking forward to The Scar, which I am not allowed to buy as an audiobook here, but I was able to torrent.

The Windup Girl - 8
The 6th Lamentation - 5

Dune [first third] 1/3.3333 ... had to bail on this because the writing was so bad. if I'd never seen the movie, maybe I could get into it based on the world-building, but as things are it was intolerable. this joins Asimov's Foundation on my list of shitty sci-fi books by people who can't write

Becoming Animal
I read like 3/4s of it then set it down for a year then finished so

People quitting V and Dune on the same page? Whatever the universe's antithesis of a pizza is goes here.

Pilaf H. Horatio Quibbenathy - Rex Odiopa Ulyssus Consortium Dillemma


9/10 cans of intellectual banana milk.

feel smart just braggin up that I read it mens!

A Brief History of Misogyny 5/10 well intentioned book by a non-feminist dude ... has a bunch of sentiment about how it's women's role to be beautiful ... kinda irritating

Citadel of the Autarch 7/10 And now I'm done with Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I guess I never even rated Sword of the Lictor? It was probably a 7 as well. Despite this series never really blowing my mind or adding up to much more than the sum of parts, it was consistently enjoyable & classy and I routinely found myself missing that world whenever I had been away from it for a while. Recommended that febtus dust the first book off, at least. Honky - you done yet?

Edit: I fucked up book 3's title...

what the robin knows
10

Necrometer wrote:Citadel of the Autarch 7/10 And now I'm done with Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I guess I never even rated Claw of the Cociliator? It was probably a 7 as well. Despite this series never really blowing my mind or adding up to much more than the sum of parts, it was consistently enjoyable & classy and I routinely found myself missing that world whenever I had been away from it for a while. Recommended that febtus dust the first book off, at least. Honky - you done yet?

Not yet but I need to finish. It's been calling me.

Disfriendly Goatus wrote:The Windup Girl - 8

Love this book.

ok i will !

guns, germs, and steel - 8/10 - Really got me thinking about how agriculture may have been the first sign of doom. Book likely could have been edited down to half its size or more.

re-posting this because it's important

Nausea 8/10

Existential Psychotherapy 10/10 to KRB for the rec http://amzn.com/0465021476

The Scar [great-so-far]/[now-reading]

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater 10/10. To me, there are 3 perfect writers: Vonnegut, PKD, and Vollmann.

legends of the Caucasus - 7

a wizard of earthsea

what's the proper way to rate a kid's book?

featherboa wrote:a wizard of earthsea

what's the proper way to rate a kid's book?

10 fucking skulls

5 squirting juicy pricks

limp to erect [more cock action]

or just rate the sonofabitch like you would any other book.