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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 4, 2008 10:53:00 GMT -5
I've been reading a surprising amount of literature lately. Instead of going on digg or watching movies to waste my time I've been investing it in good books. Just before the movies came out I started reading the Golden Compass and I Am Legend. The latter being a wonderful fantasy book delving into concepts ranging from theology to M theory and parallel universes. The Golden Compass is actually the first of a trilogy so over Christmas I started the Subtle Knife and recently finished the Amber Spyglass. Even if the movie could have done better, the 3 books of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials are an excellent read (The Subtle Knife being my favorite). It actually enrages me that some people would condemn such wonderful books based on their own philosophy.
I think I can see more truth about life in fiction than I can really grasp elsewhere. I think thats one of the things about a really great book. Take for instance if you're watching a movie and empathize with a character you want to be like the actor, you want to emulate them. With a book you can rather see yourself reflected in a character. Rather than taking what remained of the Amber Spyglass with me on the plane I decided to save a couple pounds and grabbed The Memory of Earth, Orson Scott Card's first in the Homecoming series. Fundamental Sci-fi, the Earth is lost and all that remains of humanity is stuck on a primitive planet 40 million years in the future. I noticed that while this is one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read it's the characters that really make the story not the setting. The characters are fundamentally human, flawed in a way you could never capture on screen. I read it and can say these people are me. That personal connection puts a much more positive spin on my whole world view. I'm now on The Ships of Earth (3 of 5) and it continues to amaze me. So, go out there and find a real book not just something on the shelf at Meijers and you might be pleasantly surprised.
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 5, 2008 20:04:31 GMT -5
So far I've managed to go through a book just about every day so hopefully I'll be done with Homecoming by the end of the week. Although I might have to actually do some homework tomorrow. Then I guess I'm back to the Ender Series - I have the first 3 of 9 for that one... Then as I understand it there are numerous short stories as well. I have to give Card credit he is an exceptionally talented writer and prolific writer (and I doubt any of his books are under 350 pages). I knew Ender's Game was a big series and I knew it had at least 2 sequels but it never occurred to me that they were all part of the same. With Homecoming it was clear The Memory of Earth was just beginning and all five books were in fact one. Ender's Game was apparently enough for me to find my fill but now it seems Xenocide, a book I never gave much thought until today is his most acclaimed. We'll have to see if I actually get any work done before finals.... I wonder if it's good that I'm reading more or bad that I'm becoming more withdrawn from the real world. I was thinking about it and I'm pretty sure this is the reason why I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer although I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to make this fiction become fact it has always been my greatest dream.
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 10, 2008 17:51:29 GMT -5
Well, I'm done with Homecoming so now I guess it's back to Ender... Found this interesting tidbit, "Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, making Card the only author (as of 2007) to win both of science fiction's top prizes in consecutive years. Card has written, "We care about moral issues, nobility, decency, happiness, goodness—the issues that matter in the real world, but which can only be addressed, in their purity, in fiction." I couldn't agree more with that assessment.
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 17, 2008 6:42:33 GMT -5
Geez! I talk about reading and everyone just leaves the forum...
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Post by derf87 on Mar 17, 2008 9:09:56 GMT -5
Apparently books suck.lol They want movies. YOU get the just of it in half the time needed to read it and you put forth a fraction of the brain power.lol This is one of the major downfalls of our society,
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 17, 2008 19:16:25 GMT -5
Thats the thing these books practically haunt my dreams. There are nights where I'm so worked up I can't sleep let alone work on anything else. I need to finish reading Xenocide just so I can do the dishes without tearing my mind apart. Dan probably thinks I'm a vegetable as much as I've been sitting around reading.
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Post by AronMsmith1987 on Mar 17, 2008 22:38:14 GMT -5
well it seems i have picked up some interesting books on Lucid Dreaming and let me tell you it seems like controlling your dreams may help you in more ways than one. if 3 seconds of dreaming can span what seems like over a week of real time and you had control over that just think of the possibilities for general problem solving, you could basically solve some of your toughest problems in virtually no time while in REM sleep and at the end of it all you are problem solved stress free and well rested..Hmm must learn how to control dreams ........flips open to chapter 3
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 18, 2008 17:20:46 GMT -5
Thats the funny thing sometimes I never dream, sometimes I'll dream of homework problems that seem impossibly difficult, sometimes I'll have the craziest dreams about philosophy, religion, and generally how the world works. I guess I should really get more sleep.
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Post by derf87 on Mar 19, 2008 11:31:17 GMT -5
In terms of dreaming, i find that i have the craziest after i eat at the Chinese restaurant.lol The most recent one definatly came from hitman.lol i dreamed that i was the target and the hitman was for some odd reason, Dr. Phil.lol Don't ask why as i don't have an answer.lol
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Post by AronMsmith1987 on Mar 19, 2008 22:57:25 GMT -5
Hmm. Dr. Phil I see some serious psychological problems in your future, that or Dr. Phil was on TV in the background while you were sleeping....
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Post by Kämpfer on Mar 20, 2008 9:47:53 GMT -5
So any suggested reading material? Judging by the pile sitting next to my computer I should probably avoid the bookstore for a while but I'm always interested. Maybe I should actually figure out how to check out one of U of M's 8 million books. I know the graduate library alone has over 3.5 mil volumes and 10,000 journals in 300 languages among its stacks. It figures that I've never check out a single book, but hey 2.5 million are available online anyway! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_Library |
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