What are you reading now?
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@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
About ¼ of the way through it, and so far, it's a much better book, and a much tighter story. The events of "The Tourist" set up the situation in "The Nearest Exit," but the story isn't really dependent upon it.
See, I'm the type of person who likes the whole goddamned story.
"Nearest Exit" was a much better book than "The Tourist." More satisfying, less obscure, and the characters were really fleshed out well.
The ending was good, but left enough threads in the air that I was hankering for more.
So the other day, I started #3 in the "Milo Weaver" series. It's gotten so-so reviews because some found it confusing and difficult to follow.
If you're going to find spy stories convoluted, stay away from Steinhauer (and LeCarre).
Yeah, this is convoluted, and I find it difficult to keep track of all the Chinese names. But, the overall arc has been good, and Steinhauer's trying to tie up the loose ends of "The Nearest Exit."
I find myself getting into a rhythm of his books, and I'll probably continue with the fourth, and final, book in the "Weaver" stories.
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Unfortunately, "An American Spy" was not what I was hoping for. There's a lot of edge-of-your-seat action, and lots of suspense, double-crosses, etc.
But...it's nothing more than a vehicle to set up the fourth, and final, book of the Milo Weaver story.
I found all of the Chinese characters' names confusing, and the wheels-within-wheels story was just a bit too complicated for its own good. It's like "All The Old Knives" on steroids.
So, someone recommended more Alastair Reynolds. This is a standalone book. I'm only about 10% into it, and it's typical Reyonlds. It has a totally new take on a far-flung future. Humanity is no longer what it was. The protagonist, an "angel" pathologist named Quinllan, has to leave his home.
Why? Who's put him in danger?
Typical Reynolds. Mind-boggling imagination and wholly unique worlds.
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@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:
I haven't finished this one - but it is excellent. I'll have to read his lates book Cell next.
@bachophile recommended "The Emperor of All Maladies" to me a long time ago.
Still haven't gotten around to it.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K You read any of these? I'm in the last bits of this one:
Please love yourself.
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@Aqua-Letifer no, I haven't. I might pick up a Ballard book just to see how it dovetails with the Bosch books.
Still plowing through Interview with the Vampire - getting boring, I might add.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
@Aqua-Letifer no, I haven't. I might pick up a Ballard book just to see how it dovetails with the Bosch books.
If they're anything like these, they're 50/50 with every other chapter written from Bosch or Ballard's perspective. Other than that, pretty much more of the same so if you like the other books, these are good, too.
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I just bought this. New writer for me.
Amazon: "In 1954, at the start of the Cold War, the Soviet military offered four political prisoners their freedom if they participated in an experiment requiring them to remain awake for fourteen days while under the influence of a powerful stimulant gas. The prisoners ultimately reverted to murder, self-mutilation, and madness.
None survived.
In 2018, Dr. Roy Wallis, an esteemed psychology professor at UC Berkeley, is attempting to recreate the same experiment during the summer break in a soon-to-be demolished building on campus. He and two student assistants share an eight-hour rotational schedule to observe their young Australian test subjects around the clock.
What begins innocently enough, however, morphs into a nightmare beyond description that no one could have imagined—with, perhaps, the exception of Dr. Roy Wallis himself."
When it comes to horror I love slow gradual escalation peppered with small shivery surprises, a la King.
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@George-K said in What are you reading now?:
@bachophile recommended "The Emperor of All Maladies" to me a long time ago.
Still haven't gotten around to it.
I’m actually re-listening to it now. You’ll love it. Great history. Not just of the medicine but public policy.
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The story of the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the biggest volunteers to the project was actually a US guy in a English criminal insane asylum. (He was there for murder)
Actually, it was quite an interesting book. Really enjoyed it and did not know the history behind the writing of the book.
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@taiwan_girl said in What are you reading now?:
Actually, it was quite an interesting book.
The movie was out a few years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Professor_and_the_Madman_(film)
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Astonishingly, not a kook book.
When medieval Vikings used their words for "elf," they didn't mean slender, thin people with pointy ears. And "dwarf" didn't mean stout, beer-drinking short people with braided beards. They weren't races at all. This book basically explains what they meant when they used those words.
He uses the word paranormal to try to help modern readers get into the mindset of medieval cultures. We hear "paranormal" and think "X-Files," which is a modern example of what it looks like when people believe in superstition.
