What are you reading now?
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@catseye3 said in What are you reading now?:
Another book that has that same easy style that absorbs you is The Russians by Hedrick Smith. He wrote it based on his experiences as the Moscow NYT Bureau Chief. IIRC, the emphasis was very much on everyday life in Russia, and not so much on politics. (I could be wrong about that, though.)
No you're not wrong. Smith did not venture into politics he focused on everyday life. I still have my copy that I read back when it came out in the late 1970s. One topic that Smith really did not understand though was Solzhenitsyn. Westerners had no clue about what Solzhenitsyn was on about then, nor did they understand him any better when he was in exile. It was only after he returned to Russia in the 1990s did Westerners begin to grasp how much he loathed Western liberalism and democratic values.
Did you know that Smith wrote a follow up book during the late Gorbachev era entitled The New Russians?
I should reread both books just to see how they stand in perspective of what has happened there in the last 30 years.
@renauda said in What are you reading now?:
Did you know that Smith wrote a follow up book during the late Gorbachev era entitled The New Russians?
I should reread both books just to see how they stand in perspective of what has happened there in the 30 years.
^No, I didn't! And yes, it would be interesting to compare the two. If I ever get serious about my reading again, I will consider doing that also.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
Audio version or book? I was planning on getting the audio for listening during vacation. If that ever happens.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
Audio version or book? I was planning on getting the audio for listening during vacation. If that ever happens.
@bachophile said in What are you reading now?:
Audio version
Yeah. That's what I'm doing. It's a short book - about 5 hours, so you might want to get something else as well.
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I'm also going through the short stories in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe. They're quick little reads and do a lot to fill in the background of the larger books.
Reynolds has done a remarkable job of world-building. The stories are intricate, intertwined and span centuries, frequently within the same book. He doesn't allow magical FTL travel, and he actually has an explanation for the Fermi paradox.
Looking forward to his next book (Inhibitor Phase) coming out in July.
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To Whom It May Concern:
There are occasional convos here about college admissions. I'm posting this for those who may want to pursue the topic.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z43V2RY?
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Evangelizing Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" books - again.
Having gone through all of the RS books (and, believe me, they're LONG and complicated), I decided to re-read the short stories that flesh out some of the stuff in his books.
Having done that, I thought it might be fun to re-read "The Prefect" (or, as he renamed it, "Aurora Rising"). It's set before the events of the main trilogy which he published first.
What a great tale.
In terms of complexity and world-building, it is, IMO, on the order of Dune. The re-read adds SO much to the understanding of what's going on.
Highly, highly recommended. This is hard, HARD, sci-fi, however. It's intricate, complex and demands your total immersion.
Also, these are long books - 500-600 pages each. Totally worth the effort.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
@loki is this a new Larson?
I think 2020. It’s amazing. I have read so much Churchill but am learning more. Mostly what makes it so good is that you have a fiction writer take on non fiction and you just don’t want to put it down… even though you know the ending.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
@loki is this a new Larson?
I think 2020. It’s amazing. I have read so much Churchill but am learning more. Mostly what makes it so good is that you have a fiction writer take on non fiction and you just don’t want to put it down… even though you know the ending.
@loki I have read some of his other books and they were really good.
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I wouldn’t call Larson a fiction writer. He writes almost exclusively non fiction.
