What are you reading right now?

[Helene Potier]

going back to the Philip Pullman discussion, i thought His Dark Materials were the best books i'd ever read. granted, the last time i read them (ive read them three times) i was thirteen, so 18-year-old me might not find it so impressive as 13-year-old me did. however, i find philip pullman to be the best author i've ever come across, and i read anything by him, including his children's books, which i admire for his ability to have a lot of things going on and tie them all up at the end so that everyhing mattered.

ANYWAY. enough ranting. I'm now reading Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. I've been reading it since last week, and its where i first heard of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I immediately researched it on the internet and then joined this forum. thank you, richard dawkins, for introducing me to this blessed religion

[Helene Potier]

I also agree with DTH that the wheeled mammoths were truly awesome... what were they really called?
I think the wild digression from the story-line was justified in their case!

the wheeled mammoths were called Mulefa. And i dont think it was a digression: he was presenting us with an ideal for a perfect society in which nature and people work together harmoniously. And it was important to Mary Malone's growing understanding of Dust. And the setting, in which lyra and will fall in love, was plainly reminiscent of the garden of eden.

[Capellini]

That's funny, I read the HDM series at 28 and thought that it was something that would really appeal to a 13 year old. My reaction was that the first book was excellent, but the second two so horrific as to make it the second biggest literary disappointment of my life.

Nothing like a guy acting like the discovery that organized religion is bad is somehow new to make me feel annoyed and patronized.

And the wheeled mammoth things had to be the most idiotic thing I've ever seen put on paper. Every time one of those chapters came up I wanted to throw myself in front of traffic to have an excuse not to read it.

[Nef Yoo BlackBeard]

uhmm gowin ta weed
Up to Low an' Angel Square By Brian Doyle

furst i weed Angel Square den Up to Low
but et dunt mader much if ya weed dem tha uddur way wownd
Auntie weedid dem ta me a long time ago
now dat i kin weed an' wite so gooder an' such
i gunna weed et ta me peerwit !

warr R ye burdy?
ye kin kum owt now
i not gunna cook ye fur supper!

[Julius Aurora]

That's it, who taught Nef Yoo to read???

[Ubi Dubium]

I think he just looks at the pictures and pretends to read the words.

I'm finally reading Death From the Skies! and about time too. The Bad Astronomer was in my 6th grade class, so the least I can do is read his book. Its really fun, written much the way I talk, and with lots of wonderful nerdy references, all of which I get. UDK#1 is reading it too, but I had to explain to her what a Kzin was.

[Charlie]

Finally got round to reading Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns'...Fantastic.

Yes! Someone else who reads mainstream comic books. There really should be a thread for comic books. Anywway, I've always had an aversion to DC. It's just the way they enjoy killing of plenty of characters before realising they need those characters and bring em back, only to kill them again. Like Batman got killed by Darkseid, and now he's probably going to be brought back as a Black Lantern.

I finished reading Incognito #1-2 by Ed Brubaker. Very nice. I've also finised the 'Old man Logan' storyline which is also very good.

Getting back to books, I've finished Rainmaker by John Grisham. For some reason, John Grisham is my second favourite author, (first being Gaiman) even though I'm not a big fan of the law genre. This puzzles me to this day . . .

[black bart]

Bugger...I didn't know Batman gets killed!

[Detective TurtleHolmes]

He also gets sent back to the stone age, doesn't he?

[black bart]

He also gets sent back to the stone age, doesn't he?

[Charlie]

Bugger...I didn't know Batman gets killed!

Oh . . . I'm sorry. *Gives him/her/behemoth a cookie.*

It's okay though. like I said, he'll probably come back as a Black Lantern (i.e. a lantern with a ring powered by death? What the hesh!) just like Martian Manhunter did, who died in a fire but is now alive again. Well, he's actually more of a zombie, if his ring is powered by death.

[Helene Potier]

That's funny, I read the HDM series at 28 and thought that it was something that would really appeal to a 13 year old. My reaction was that the first book was excellent, but the second two so horrific as to make it the second biggest literary disappointment of my life.

Nothing like a guy acting like the discovery that organized religion is bad is somehow new to make me feel annoyed and patronized.

thats what i meant. i meant that it might not be so amazing to me now that im 18, when i enjoyed them immensely at 12, 13 and 14 (i read them three times in as many years, it didnt take me 3 years to read them once). I'm scared to read them now, because it might seem ridiculous to me. but you never know.

I dont think it was patronising. If you read them as a young teenager it really uses fantasy to bring that message across to you, and it doesnt feel patronising. if you read it at 28, of course it'll feel patronising.

Oh, and the mulefa arent ridiculous. they're so very different from human beings, but sentient, which shows us the idea of seeking to understand those who seem very alien to us, and that being human doesn't make you a person. You need to have a brain and use it, like they do. that's why they're people, not animals.

[black bart]

The Famous Five Books by Enid Blyton...I loved those books when I was a kid.

Apparently she is the 6th most translated author worldwide!!!!

Her books were incredibly 'English' with lashings of Ginger Beer and a girl called George and her dog Timmy who woofed in approval of their adventures.

I don't think she liked foreigners much.

[daftbeaker]

I wasn't aware we had foreigners back then. The BNP have been trying to inform me that we only got immigrants in the 60s

Anyway, I'm about a 3rd of the way through Watchmen, finally got it from Amazon after hearing the film hype and it was recommended by a friend. Just got to the bit where Rorschach has been arrested. I'm not normally a fan of comic books but Watchmen is pretty good. No spoilers please, it'll take me a day or so to finish it.

[Capellini]

That's funny, I read the HDM series at 28 and thought that it was something that would really appeal to a 13 year old. My reaction was that the first book was excellent, but the second two so horrific as to make it the second biggest literary disappointment of my life.

Nothing like a guy acting like the discovery that organized religion is bad is somehow new to make me feel annoyed and patronized.

thats what i meant. i meant that it might not be so amazing to me now that im 18, when i enjoyed them immensely at 12, 13 and 14 (i read them three times in as many years, it didnt take me 3 years to read them once). I'm scared to read them now, because it might seem ridiculous to me. but you never know.

I dont think it was patronising. If you read them as a young teenager it really uses fantasy to bring that message across to you, and it doesnt feel patronising. if you read it at 28, of course it'll feel patronising.

I'm saying I found them patronizing at 28. I imagine only the most precocious and worldly 12 year old on the planet would have found them patronizing.

Oh, and the mulefa arent ridiculous. they're so very different from human beings, but sentient, which shows us the idea of seeking to understand those who seem very alien to us, and that being human doesn't make you a person. You need to have a brain and use it, like they do. that's why they're people, not animals.

And there were plenty of ways to make that point without using a set of ridiculous creatures, the existence of which defies the most basic principles of evolution. They were also completely random and out of place with the larger story. To me they felt like some silly idea the author has always had, and if he didn't stick them in somewhere, no one would ever know about them, and wouldn't that be tragic?

Besides, we've got creatures on this planet that seem alien to us but are in fact eerily similar and bring up very deep questions about what humanity is. We call them apes.