KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,979|6889|949

Uzique wrote:

i find amassing and collecting books a bit of a pleasure-in-itself, really... book fetishism, perhaps. the way i look at it is that books are a belonging that will never age or lose value like another ordinary item would. once you buy a book - especially a classic - it's there for life, to be read and reread and passed around forever. it won't age and it'll never lose its 'value' (in material and intellectual regards). i have a shitload of books at my house at home, and my dad has a 'library' room.
yes, for sure.  I buy hardcovers for any book that I know I want to keep.  I'm positive I own at least two copies of some books, in hardcover and paperback editions.  I have some hardcopies signed by the author.  For all my books, it's about far more than just going to the bookstore and purchasing a new story.  There's a certain amount of thrill to buying, reading, and maintaining a book collection.  Calling it a fetish isn't too far off.
presidentsheep
Back to the Fuhrer
+208|6218|Places 'n such
Anyone else like the smell of old books??
If I ever get a house with a spare room i'm turning it into a library/study and just filling the walls with old books and having a massive comfy armchair in the middle of it with a lamp next to it.
Maybe a table for my brandy to sit on to
I'd type my pc specs out all fancy again but teh mods would remove it. Again.
Shahter
Zee Ruskie
+295|7032|Moscow, Russia

presidentsheep wrote:

Anyone else like the smell of old books??
o/
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
AussieReaper
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+5,761|6410|what

presidentsheep wrote:

Anyone else like the smell of old books??
If I ever get a house with a spare room i'm turning it into a library/study and just filling the walls with old books and having a massive comfy armchair in the middle of it with a lamp next to it.
Maybe a table for my brandy to sit on to
And a fireplace to throw books into that are terrible.
https://i.imgur.com/maVpUMN.png
Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|6858|132 and Bush

KEN-JENNINGS wrote:

Uzique wrote:

i find amassing and collecting books a bit of a pleasure-in-itself, really... book fetishism, perhaps. the way i look at it is that books are a belonging that will never age or lose value like another ordinary item would. once you buy a book - especially a classic - it's there for life, to be read and reread and passed around forever. it won't age and it'll never lose its 'value' (in material and intellectual regards). i have a shitload of books at my house at home, and my dad has a 'library' room.
yes, for sure.  I buy hardcovers for any book that I know I want to keep.  I'm positive I own at least two copies of some books, in hardcover and paperback editions.  I have some hardcopies signed by the author.  For all my books, it's about far more than just going to the bookstore and purchasing a new story.  There's a certain amount of thrill to buying, reading, and maintaining a book collection.  Calling it a fetish isn't too far off.
I never understood getting a book signed.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,053|7029|PNW

I wouldn't mind a signed copy of Microsoft Bob with Bill's signature. Depends on what floats your boat. I have several signed books, but most were bought that way. Doesn't really give me much of a sense of accomplishment unless it was a signing in person or by a well-established author.
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727
so for the last 4 weeks i've been going through ulysses and finnegan's wake with one of the top joyce scholars in the world...

these books are fucking insane. insanely difficult but insanely complex and developed. so much more to them than almost anything i have ever read before. really incredible. what roland barthes would call in critical terms a "complete literary cosmogeny"; a "mathesis" for the high-modernist era. if you want an intellectually challenging read that will demand that you know everything of high artistic culture from the ancient greeks through to the modernist-now, and if you're feeling fluent in 3/4 languages (including ancient greek/latin) and also have a good grip on popular culture of the 19th and 20th century... pick them up. they are infinitely rewarding books.

just have a dictionary and wikipedia to hand
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
Pochsy
Artifice of Eternity
+702|5800|Toronto
I attempted Finnegan's Wake on my own last summer. Made it 1/4 the way through and realized I was missing more than 3/4 of the references and completely failing to comprehend his genius. I may attempt Ulysses with the aide of a guide book this coming summer if I feel up to the challenge.
The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families
presidentsheep
Back to the Fuhrer
+208|6218|Places 'n such

AussieReaper wrote:

presidentsheep wrote:

Anyone else like the smell of old books??
If I ever get a house with a spare room i'm turning it into a library/study and just filling the walls with old books and having a massive comfy armchair in the middle of it with a lamp next to it.
Maybe a table for my brandy to sit on to
And a fireplace to throw books into that are terrible.
Definitely. Might just buy all of jeremy clarksons books for that exact purpose.
I'd type my pc specs out all fancy again but teh mods would remove it. Again.
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727

Pochsy wrote:

I attempted Finnegan's Wake on my own last summer. Made it 1/4 the way through and realized I was missing more than 3/4 of the references and completely failing to comprehend his genius. I may attempt Ulysses with the aide of a guide book this coming summer if I feel up to the challenge.
i'm absolutely in love with ulysses. a big article was written on my joyce professor and his work on finnegan's wake in a december issue of the london review of books, and it scared me off it... for now. my prof is running additional seminars and reading sessions to try and help people decipher FW, but i've got enough on my plate for this finalist-period with both ulysses and a la recherche du temps perdu to battle with .

can't wait for the summer so i can read lots of non-prescribed stuff!
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
FEOS
Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate
+1,182|6668|'Murka

Just read this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4b/Cover_for_the_Overton_Window.JPG/200px-Cover_for_the_Overton_Window.JPG

Now, before the flames start...

I read it on a lark. I've been struggling to finish up a course and needed a break. I wanted to see what Beck could do with fiction. He's a surprisingly good writer. His use of language, particularly descriptive language is exceptional. The structure of the book leaves something to be desired. It's relatively simplistic and it's clearly used as a platform for his messaging. But his ability to take facts and weave them into a fictional tale, using the central theme of the Overton Window as a teaching point overall was interesting. Sourcing the facts at the end of the book was a nice touch, as well.

Award winning fiction? Not by any stretch. But not a bad freshman effort...assuming one doesn't consider his previous work to be fiction, of course.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein

Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
Hurricane2k9
Pendulous Sweaty Balls
+1,538|5959|College Park, MD
Didn't he write some short Christmas novella?
https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/36793/marylandsig.jpg
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727
glen beck

exceptional descriptive language?

someone hasn't read much classic fiction
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
FEOS
Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate
+1,182|6668|'Murka

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

Didn't he write some short Christmas novella?
He did. I was talking about his first foray into "serious" fiction.

Glad to see you've read the book, Zique. Oh wait.

And yes, I have read plenty of classic fiction.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein

Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
FEOS
Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate
+1,182|6668|'Murka

Dilbert_X wrote:

Anyone getting the Rumsfeld book?
I'll get it from the library, not paying that guy a cent.

Reviews are interesting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/seealso/2011 … onald.html
He won't be getting anything. All proceeds are going to charity.

Rumsfeld’s book was first announced in 2008. Rumsfeld received no advance and will donate all proceeds to veterans charities.
I can't believe you hate veterans.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein

Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX
Thats like throwing a pack of bandaids after you've shot up the boat isn't it?
Fuck Israel
AussieReaper
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+5,761|6410|what

Uzique wrote:

glen beck

exceptional descriptive language?

someone hasn't read much classic fiction
da nanananana Ghost-writers!


*da nanananana Batman
https://i.imgur.com/maVpUMN.png
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727

AussieReaper wrote:

Uzique wrote:

glen beck

exceptional descriptive language?

someone hasn't read much classic fiction
da nanananana Ghost-writers!


*da nanananana Batman
well that's an even poorer argument then, isn't it.

"glen beck's ghost writer doesn't have a bad style!"

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201006080037

i've also read the first few samples pages from google books - here

fucking wow if you think this prose has anything worth talking about. you've read plenty of 'classic' fiction? classic as in tom clancy? did your have your eyes closed the entire time? cliche-ridden, single-utterance sentences; no subtlety in political or thematic intent; identikit characterisation; standard thriller plot devices... wow, what a revolutionary read!
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
Varegg
Support fanatic :-)
+2,206|7067|Nårvei

Currently halfway through this one ...

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

About the last great explorer of the Amazon Percy Fawcett that went missing in 1924 with his son looking for what he thought to be a hidden city, the author himself follows in his footsteps 80 years later ...
Wait behind the line ..............................................................
Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|6858|132 and Bush

FEOS wrote:

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

Didn't he write some short Christmas novella?
He did. I was talking about his first foray into "serious" fiction.

Glad to see you've read the book, Zique. Oh wait.

And yes, I have read plenty of classic fiction.
My sister bought me The Christmas Sweater the Christmas before last.

meh..
Xbone Stormsurgezz
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727
i'm already looking forward to when this thread is returned to a state of normality without glenn fucking beck needing to be mentioned in the same breath as the words 'classic fiction'. jesus tittyfucking christ...
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/
Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|6858|132 and Bush

Blame feos.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
AussieReaper
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+5,761|6410|what

Well, I agree that Beck writes fiction.
https://i.imgur.com/maVpUMN.png
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,815|6363|eXtreme to the maX
He's good at stand-up comedy too.

Next book for me "Fundamentals of Microsystems Packaging" by Rao Tummala.
https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kFgAQ9TWL._SS500_.jpg

Read it before, can't remember how it compares to Dickens or Nietsche in terms of sentence structure, quality of prose and imagery, need to read it again for a new job. Better start now...

Last edited by Dilbert_X (2011-02-17 04:19:08)

Fuck Israel
Uzique
dasein.
+2,865|6727
who talks about sentence structure, quality of prose or imagery in dickens or nietzsche?

hahahhaaha wow, just wow.

"the sentence structure in little dorrit really helps me empathize with the protagonist"

jesus christ dilbert sentence structure? it's painfully obvious you left literature behind at high-school age 15 level and never looked back

so stop trying to be condescending in a thread about fucking LITERATURE
libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual. http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/

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