The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings

[Genowyn]

Ravenously consumed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline over the past few days.

Been working on getting through Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes for a few months...

[Fluffy Lothario]

I'm about to finish The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.

The story was okay, but I really didn't like the book overall. I generally enjoy the classics, but I just found the moral stance of it quite repulsive. I've seen people talk about it as a "discussion on the existence of God and free will" and things like this. It just came across to me as a horrendously one-sided vehicle for slandering atheism.

[hefdaddy42]

Reading the Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King.

I just started this one myself (Christmas gift). So far, so good.

[Dimitrius]

As of last night I finished Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Now, I can call myself a trve kvalt fantasy fan.

[Prog Snob]

As of last night I finished Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Now, I can call myself a trve kvalt fantasy fan.

Not until you've read The Silmarillion.    Everybody reads LOTR these days. 

[Dimitrius]

Bah, I ain't reading that. The prose in LOTR was archaic and boring enough!

[SwedishGoose]

Bah, I ain't reading that. The prose in LOTR was archaic and boring enough!

Sacriledge!!!!

[Prog Snob]

Bah, I ain't reading that. The prose in LOTR was archaic and boring enough!

I'd say it was ahead of it's time for a book written over 70 years ago.

[Cool Chris]

Stay strong, George!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3382228/No-one-disappointed-Game-Thrones-writer-George-R-R-Martin-admits-Winds-Winter-novel-won-t-finished-season-six-airs.html

'THE WINDS OF WINTER is not finished,' the 67-year-old admitted on his blog Not A Blog.

'For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, 'I have completed and delivered THE WINDS OF WINTER' on or before the last day of 2015. But the book's not done.'

Ultimately, the words and story just weren't flowing, Martin said, adding that he has never been good with deadlines. 'Unfortunately, the writing did not go as fast or as well as I would have liked,' he explained.

'You can blame my travels or my blog posts or the distractions of other projects and the Cocteau and whatever, but maybe all that had an impact... you can blame my age, and maybe that had an impact too.

'But if truth be told, sometimes the writing goes well and sometimes it doesn't, and that was true for me even when I was in my 20s. 'And as spring turned to summer, I was having more bad days than good one

However, it soon became clear he wasn't going to finish by December 31 either, and a depression set in that made it harder and harder to write.

'I grew unhappy with some of the choices I'd made and began to revise,' he said. 'And suddenly it was October, and then November... and as the suspicion grew that I would not make it after all, a gloom set in, and I found myself struggling even more.

'The fewer the days, the greater the stress, and the slower the pace of my writing became.'

As a result, Martin has decided to ditch deadlines altogether.

'But I won't make excuses. There are no excuses. No one else is to blame...It will be done when it's done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it,' the author said.

[Evermind]

Yeah. He's saying he's written a lot, but there is still a lot more to write and revise. He says: "I am months away still... and that's if the writing goes well." Which is pretty much what I was expecting I guess, good to have it confirmed.

The link to his full post is here:

https://grrm.livejournal.com/465247.html

[Fluffy Lothario]

Watching this series unfold is just funny, from the perspective of someone who has resolved to only think about reading it once it’s all over.

Let’s say the next book’s released tomorrow. This thing people have been badgering him about for years is finally here. Most people will read it in a week, two or three weeks tops. Some will read it in a day or two. Those are the heights of the relief you can possibly expect. Because after all that, it’s only part six of seven, so regardless of what anyone might insist, their internal timer of patience will restart after a month or two, if not immediately, and they’ll be waiting again. For another five or six years.

Plus, it doesn’t sound like the pressure the dude’s under is doing anything for the quality of the writing.

[Evermind]

Watching this series unfold is just funny, from the perspective of someone who has resolved to only think about reading it once it’s all over.

Let’s say the next book’s released tomorrow. This thing people have been badgering him about for years is finally here. Most people will read it in a week, two or three weeks tops. Some will read it in a day or two. Those are the heights of the relief you can possibly expect. Because after all that, it’s only part six of seven, so regardless of what anyone might insist, their internal timer of patience will restart after a month or two, if not immediately, and they’ll be waiting again. For another five or six years.

Plus, it doesn’t sound like the pressure the dude’s under is doing anything for the quality of the writing.

Well, I will do a reread then after a short while, and probably another one then, and will spend some months discussing it too.

But yeah, no pressure from me. I've got lots of great stuff to read in the meantime.

[hefdaddy42]

I understand what he says when he talks about "sometimes the writing goes well and sometimes it doesn't", but it's a little bit of a cop-out.

I don't begrudge him and he certainly doesn't owe me anything, but if would stop the other things he does and projects he oversees and just focus on the writing, it would work itself out eventually, and he wouldn't have to hide behind any excuses.

But hey, it's his writing, not mine.

[Kwyjibo]

Didn't he abandon deadlines a long time ago? At least that "done, when it's done"-stance is as old as Feast For Crows, maybe even older.

And yes, he can do what he wants and doesn't owe me anything, but at that pace the series will never be finished.

[masterthes]

I wonder if Wheel of Time would have been finished by now if Jordan was still alive?

[Jarlaxle]

On that subject, if George isn't able to finish his series who will come in and finish it for him? I sure hope it wouldn't be left as is with the argument "the TV show already finished the series." Not that I think that would happen.

[Podaar]

I'm trying to work my way through Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dan Dennent but I keep getting sleepy. It's actually riveting reading but cold medications are taking me out of the game.

[Fluffy Lothario]

On that subject, if George isn't able to finish his series who will come in and finish it for him? I sure hope it wouldn't be left as is with the argument "the TV show already finished the series." Not that I think that would happen.

George has said that if he dies, the series dies with him. He might just be saying that out of frustration because of fans going, "you're old and fat, eat some salads and write my fucking book", but then again, he might not.

[hefdaddy42]

In the meantime, he should just eat some salads and write the fucking books.

[Phoenix87x]

DMT the spirt molecule



This thing is wildly fascinating. Don't know what to fully make off it yet.

[home]

DMT the spirt molecule



This thing is wildly fascinating. Don't know what to fully make off it yet.

I recently watched a documentary with the same name. I did  get the feeling the people in it where very biased and didn't have proof for what they were claiming. Still really interesting and made me very curious to try DMT sometime in my life.

[masterthes]

Thud! by Terry Pratchett

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

On that subject, if George isn't able to finish his series who will come in and finish it for him? I sure hope it wouldn't be left as is with the argument "the TV show already finished the series." Not that I think that would happen.

George has said that if he dies, the series dies with him.

Charles Schulz said the same thing, and look what happened. The invisible hand does not care about George's wishes. (I am not at all claiming this is a good thing.)

[Podaar]

Yeah, I'm sure Stieg Larsson thought the Millennium series would die with him as well. 11 years later someone else is writing about his characters. Like it or not, Martin's books will be finished with or without him as long as there is a market for books. It's just too much money for the publisher to pass up.

[masterthes]

What about copyright law? Look no further than Salinger for an example
 

[Kwyjibo]

I sure hope that Martin someday completes his series but if not, I would find it sad if such a grand story would never be told completely and all the loose endings remain open.

I want to know how it ends, but that would mean that, in the case of Martin not being able to finish it, someone with an insight into how the story should unfold has to finish it.

[Prog Snob]

I sure hope that Martin someday completes his series but if not, I would find it sad if such a grand story would never be told completely and all the loose endings remain open.

I want to know how it ends, but that would mean that, in the case of Martin not being able to finish it, someone with an insight into how the story should unfold has to finish it.

I wonder if there is someone who could piece together all of his notes to bring us as close to George's vision as possible if GRRM were to die before he finished writing the books.

Christopher Tolkien has been able to give us more of his father's works thanks to the wealth of writing JRRT had done over the years. So one can't help but wonder if GRRM has something similar planned just in case.

[kaos2900]

As much as I liked the GOT books I LOVE the show. So if he doesn't finish the books, I'll be content with the show.

Also, I just finished The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by King and it was fantastic. Just started Imagica by Clive Barker.

[masterthes]

Totally dig your signature Prog Snob

Anyway, now reading Myra Breckenridge by Gore Vidal

[Prog Snob]

Totally dig your signature Prog Snob

Anyway, now reading Myra Breckenridge by Gore Vidal

I aim to please...

Well actually she does.   

[Cool Chris]

Just finished the Harry Potter saga. For books in a series, I normally mix in at least one unrelated book between books in the series, but after Goblet of Fire, I couldn't manage. I had to read through the last three without interruption. I was.... Enchanted? Spellbound? This saga is simply amazing. I am a huge Stephen King fan, but was a bit worn out by the time I got to the Dark Tower with Roland. Had the same feeling when Frodo got to disposing of the One Ring. Reading the last page in Deathly Hallows was as fresh and exhilarating as the first page in Sorcerer's Stone. I didn't want the journey to end. But it ended exactly when, and how, it should have.

Kids books, books about wizards, whatever. These books defy categorization, other than awesome. If you have an 'awesome' shelf in your library at home, and these books are not on it, do yourself a favor and get them.

[jasc15]

Are they any so called "definitive" books detailing Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expeditions, specifically on the "Endurance"?

[Fluffy Lothario]

Just finished Camus’ The Stranger. It was okay.

Next book will be Submission by Michel Houllebecq. It’s a French novel, near-future dystopia about France electing a Muslim president who imposes Sharia law. It happened to be released on the day of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

[masterthes]

Starting The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Let's see if I can finish all ten books

[Jarlaxle]

Started Wolf of the Plains, the first book in the Conqueror series by Conn Igguldon. It's a historical fiction novel about Ghengis Khan's rise to power. Very interesting so far.