Return of the Book Thread

[HAMMER FRENZY]

I just finished reading Ruins by Scott Smith. It was pretty good. Some really gory parts in that. Not too bad. I enjoyed it.

[Murgos]

I assumed that Enoch Root (Root as in the first or beginning) was the Enoch of the Bible.

"By faith Enoch was transferred, that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had transferred him; for before his transference he had the witness that he had pleased God well." (Hebrews 11:5)

Enoch was also seen as the inventor of writing, and teacher of astronomy and arithmetics, all three reflecting the interpretation of his name as meaning initiated.

Enoch, according to classical literature, is a teacher and inventor and scientist and a guide who is (depending on interpretation) undying.

[Morat20]

I assumed that Enoch Root (Root as in the first or beginning) was the Enoch of the Bible.

"By faith Enoch was transferred, that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had transferred him; for before his transference he had the witness that he had pleased God well." (Hebrews 11:5)

Enoch was also seen as the inventor of writing, and teacher of astronomy and arithmetics, all three reflecting the interpretation of his name as meaning initiated.

Enoch, according to classical literature, is a teacher and inventor and scientist and a guide who is (depending on interpretation) undying.

I don't know if he was the Enoch of the Bible (it's possible he simply took that name), but he was what Newton wanted to be -- a successful alchemist who had the secrets to life. (He brought Waterhoiuse back when he died during his stone removal, and there were serious hints -- albiet morphine influenced -- that he had something damned interesting when he was around Shaftoe in WW2). Then there was the very special gold....

[Ironwood]

His part in Crypto was the only part that bugged me in the book.  I just figured that the Erudite group he belongs to just always has somebody called Enoch Root.  Like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Er.  That's not how I read it at all.

Indeed, if that's the case it has now ruined ANY point to the story.

Explain please?

I kinda can't without spoiling it for anyone else.  I wonder if that small text thing will work.

Root's immortal, you do get that, right ?  He's using the Solomonic gold to make himself immortal.  That's why Newton was able to, er, Rise from the dead at the end.  And why Waterhouse survived his deep coring.  For all we know the Root in the later books is the same blooming Root.  At the end of all 3 books I sat and said, 'well, that story must have been about Gold that makes you immortal'  because it sure wasn't 'about' anything else....

[Ironwood]

Awesome, I got to all that trouble and there are 2 posts above mine already discussing it.

 

[Morat20]

His part in Crypto was the only part that bugged me in the book.  I just figured that the Erudite group he belongs to just always has somebody called Enoch Root.  Like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Er.  That's not how I read it at all.

Indeed, if that's the case it has now ruined ANY point to the story.

Explain please?

I kinda can't without spoiling it for anyone else.  I wonder if that small text thing will work.

Root's immortal, you do get that, right ?  He's using the Solomonic gold to make himself immortal.  That's why Newton was able to, er, Rise from the dead at the end.  And why Waterhouse survived his deep coring.  For all we know the Root in the later books is the same blooming Root.  At the end of all 3 books I sat and said, 'well, that story must have been about Gold that makes you immortal'  because it sure wasn't 'about' anything else....

Bear in mind though that Root was pushing to remove that from the world -- his whole goal was to replace the study of alchemy with that of natural philosophy -- with science. Solomon's Gold -- the philosopher's stone and all that -- was just dandy for a handful of people. But what the Enlightment was groping towards would change the world for everyone.

Still, most memorable scenes in the Baroque cycle had to be Waterhouse's surgery, and Hooke swilling down a full glass of mercury every day. Although the dog vivisection was pretty nasty too.

[Sky]

I got the vibe of him being at the very least a long-lived being from hints dropped in Crypto. So knowing that bible passage, it makes a bit more sense and makes the stuff in Quicksilver a bit more palatable.

[Murgos]

I don't know if he was the Enoch of the Bible (it's possible he simply took that name), but he was what Newton wanted to be -- a successful alchemist who had the secrets to life. (He brought Waterhoiuse back when he died during his stone removal, and there were serious hints -- albiet morphine influenced -- that he had something damned interesting when he was around Shaftoe in WW2). Then there was the very special gold....

Looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...  Maybe he's not supposed to be that Enoch and just someone trying to model himself as that Enoch but, eh, that's a pretty vague distinction.

[Endie]

This thread of all threads needs no spoilers for the books being recommended:

Hey guyz read this book it's great it turns out Harry Potter is a girl and Snape is his dad.

[Ironwood]

I would have thought so.

[bhodi]

Recently finished Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi.. Military Sci-Fi. It's more Starship Troopers than Honor Harrington, and I wouldn't say it compares to Heinlein's  classic, but it's readable enough. It's entertaining enough that I'm going to get the third (final?) book in the series.

I also turned on the wayback machine and hit Resnik's Santiago and The Return of Santiago. It's a quick fun read, I'd guess aimed more at young adult.

[Moaner]

I've been reading frantically lately.  I'm trying to catch up for the last couple years of reading nothing but nursing journals.

I started with the Legend of Dune series.  It was decidedly blah.  Brian is no Frank, although they are fun in a comic book kind of way.

I then read Ringworld which I have wanted to do since I was a teenager and just never have.  I wasn't sure what to think at first but by the end I was hooked.  I just ordered the rest of the series a couple days ago. 

As of just recently I finished Rendezvous with Rama.  Seriously, it was one of the best books I have ever read.  Clarke rocks my world.  I'm now working on Rama II and even a few chapters in I'm completely transfixed.  The man was amazing.

[cmlancas]

With all the things that are discussed on this forum, who would have thought that there would have been so much interest in vivisection and alchemy. And I thought my 16th-18th century lit class was a waste of time! :D

[Morat20]

With all the things that are discussed on this forum, who would have thought that there would have been so much interest in vivisection and alchemy. And I thought my 16th-18th century lit class was a waste of time! :D

*laugh*. Stephenson is a geek writer -- alchemy and vivisection were the geek occupations of that era. (Although I do love his author's note telling people that if they bitch about how long his books are, they should go weigh his primary source material. Can't remember what it was, however.)

[lamaros]

Are we allowed to talk about non-fantasy/SF books here?

[Lt.Dan]

Are we allowed to talk about non-fantasy/SF books here?

Talk about whatever you're reading.  There are other fiction styles and non-fiction books smattered through this thread - there was even a diversion into philosophy at one point. 

But yeah, a community of gameplayers and you get a lot of sci-fi and fantasy.

[lamaros]

Ah well in that case...

I recently finished readings lots of things, but the bigger of the lot was White's Riders in the Chariot (see: http://www.amazon.com/Riders-Chariot-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590170024/ref=sr_1_1/105-8145886-2205227?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187235404&sr=1-1) which I wouldn't exactly recomend. I found it pretty up and down and while it has its nice points it also has a lot of ugh. It's very capital L literature and if I wasn't reading it for a class I probably wouldn't have bothered with it. I found that he tended to go on about the same points too frequently and the book was too unsubtle for the prose - what's nice in a line or two doesn't have to be stretched out to a paragraph every single time.

If I didn't know otherwise I would have guessed it was his first novel as there were bits that just seemed to lack control. The pace was up and down, the style jumping back and forth between brilliant, overwrought and tedious constantly.. etc.

Having got it out of the way though I'm prepared to give him another chance and read another of his books that has a better reputation, probably Voss. Though if anyone else has read some of his stuff and would suggest The Tree of Man or Vivisector instead then I might go for one of them.

I keep wanting to read Under the Volcano again, sadly whenever I get the book in my hands I keep getting the thought that if I have time to read I should be reading stuff for classes, or at least something I havn't read before, so I'm yet to do so.

[Johny Cee]

Are we allowed to talk about non-fantasy/SF books here?

Talk about whatever you're reading.  There are other fiction styles and non-fiction books smattered through this thread - there was even a diversion into philosophy at one point. 

But yeah, a community of gameplayers and you get a lot of sci-fi and fantasy.

I always appreciate book recommendations,  of any genre,  if it's something you found enjoyable.  Most of my history reading (which I do alot of) is pretty much in the category of "if you aren't into that time period,  you don't care" so I generally don't say much about it.

[Margalis]

I just read "The First Five Pages" and "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers." Both are pretty good and quick reads. I don't have any time to do any fiction writing myself right now but it is interesting.

[Endie]

I always appreciate book recommendations,  of any genre,  if it's something you found enjoyable.  Most of my history reading (which I do alot of) is pretty much in the category of "if you aren't into that time period,  you don't care" so I generally don't say much about it.

You might be surprised the range of periods covered by F13 reader interests.  Post anyway.

And in any case, a good book is a good book, no matter what the period.  I know very little about 16th Century central Europe, for instance, but if someone says a book on the period is a cracker I'll pick it up.

[Sky]

One of my fiancee's turn-ons is historical fiction. I recommend a good book, and it's a /good thing/.

[Viin]

And don't forget to upload your books and ratings to http://www.librarything.com/!

[Johny Cee]

And don't forget to upload your books and ratings to http://www.librarything.com/!

Ugh.  Too much work.

I've managed to get most of my hardcovers and decent trade paperbacks in bookshelves,  but I still have hundreds of paperbacks packed into boxes and stacked in closets.

I'll have to see how motivated I can get to put my collection up.  Sounds like an all winter project.

[Johny Cee]

One of my fiancee's turn-ons is historical fiction. I recommend a good book, and it's a /good thing/.

Hmmm....

Can she recommend a few titles Sky?  I enjoy historical fiction,  though I've really only read Forester's "Hornblower", O'Brian's "Aubrey & Maturin", and some of the Sharpe books.  Unless you count some of what Kay does as historical fiction.

[cmlancas]

Try Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Everest romp that is a gripping page turner. It's actually considered non-fiction, but if she likes historical fiction, she'll like Into Thin Air because it reads like that genre.


And to the earlier posts about different eras of lit, I'm an English major, so I'll discuss whatever you want :D

[WayAbvPar]

Into Thin Air is about events that happened in 1996. I wouldn't exactly consider that historical fiction.

[cmlancas]

I clearly stated that in the post. I said it was non-fiction. Then I said it read like historical fiction.

Was it unclear?

[WayAbvPar]

I guess I don't understand what you mean by 'reads like historical fiction'. I would consider Stephenson's Baroque Cycle to be historical fiction- fictional characters in a real historical setting dealing with real historical events and personas. Just don't see how that ties in with a first person account of a mountain climbing disaster.

[cmlancas]

Quite a bit of straight non-fiction that I read is inexplicably dry. At times during the novel I was questioning whether the book was truly non-fiction primarily because the events were so intense. I guess that's why I made that claim. I suppose I should define what historical fiction reads like, but all I can come up with is "not dry non-fiction" which is a horrible definition. Sorry.

[WayAbvPar]

Not a problem. I was just confused, and interested in how you read it. Coincidentally, I have the movie version sitting on my TiVo as we speak! Never seen it, so it should prove interesting.

[cmlancas]

Didn't know there was a movie -- let me know how it is. The book was awesome.

[WayAbvPar]

Looks like it is a made for TV flick.. Ugh. Still a very compelling story.

Have you read Krakauer's other stuff? Into The Wild was interesting but just depressing. Under The Banner of Heaven was infuriating yet compelling. 

[Johny Cee]

Try Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Everest romp that is a gripping page turner. It's actually considered non-fiction, but if she likes historical fiction, she'll like Into Thin Air because it reads like that genre.


And to the earlier posts about different eras of lit, I'm an English major, so I'll discuss whatever you want :D

If you liked that....  The Climb is about the same events, from Anatoli Boukreev's perspective.  Krakauer's book kind of slammed Boukreev a bit,  and this was Boukreev's response.  

Boukreev was a huge badass.


Any of the books on the Shackleton expedition to the South Pole are amazing as well.  Shackleton was a Brit who lead an expedition to the Antarctic.  Right out of the gate,  they got caught in ice and had to abandon ship.  And then things got worse.  Great read.  I think Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is one of the better books on it.  Been a while since I read it, though.

Edit:

I went through a pretty big Everest phase with my father,  who would research and find all this stuff.  While we're talking about '96 Everest....  an old frat brother of my father's worked with Beck Weathers,  one of the survivors of the '96 storm. 

My father had a video tape of Beck doing a whole presentation/talk thing where he talked about his experience on Everest.  Really gripping video.

[cmlancas]

No, but maybe I should check him out. A really good friend/teacher recommended him to me when I was younger.

I'm definitely no stranger to infuriating writing. I've been under the thumb of post-modernism for the past year.

[trotski]

Looks like it is a made for TV flick.. Ugh. Still a very compelling story.

Have you read Krakauer's other stuff? Into The Wild was interesting but just depressing. Under The Banner of Heaven was infuriating yet compelling. 

Krakauer pwns.  I like his stuff a lot, coincidentally they made Into The Wild into a movie. I'll definitely be interested to see it. Also. since we're sort of on mountain climbing books, if you like the genre, check out Touching The Void -- serious page turner and relatively short read.