Advanced' Writing Forums

Writing is one of the most openly accessible forms of art. It is not the preserve of the rich or so-called cultured, you do not have to travel half way around the world to glimpse a masterpiece, it is no further away than your local library or bookstore, and in e-format can be accessed by anyone, anywhere.

We are shaped as artists, not only by what is in the depths of our imagination, but by everything around us, and as writers not insignificantly by what we read.

So, what did you read today?

(This isn't your all favourite book of all time, this is what you are reading now, what is shaping who you are as an artist... And let's exclude W1K entries you have just voted on, and newspapers etc.)

I'll start it off...

I've just finished reading Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata.

Even in translation, the words held an elegant poignancy. Fully deserving of it's critical acclaim.

I just finished Machine Crusade by Frank Herbert's son (I can't think of his name off the top of my head). It's the second in a series of prequels to the classic Dune.

I'm reading, for the umpteenth time, Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Of course I also re-read I Claudius first.

I try to read for at least an hour every day, for me it is one of the greatest pleasures.

There's good and bad in having an hour commute on a train to work every day. The bad news - yeah, an hour commute on a train every day. The good news - lots of reading time. I just finished The Year of the Flood by Margaret Attwood. Now reading a book about Frank Lloyd Wright called Loving Frank.

Just picked up Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Haven't read it since the fourth grade, and am looking forward to it.

I just started re-reading Dune. It seems light after 6 volumes by Tolkien.

Just finished a rash of Dean Koontz books - Relentless, Velocity, Seize the Night and Brother Odd

mennufer said 8 months ago 9/22/2011 12:39:32 PM EDT

I just started Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. So far it's darker than his other books. He has two other series; the Tuesday Next novels feature literary crime (i.e., in the first book, someone kidnaps a character out of Jane Eyre), and the Nursery Crime novels are about crimes involving nursery tale characters. In the first book of that series, The Big Over Easy, Inspector Jack Spratt investigates the murder of Humpty Dumpty.

I heartily recommend Fforde. Just remember to read his books in series order, otherwise you will be horribly confused.

Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock, and Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko (I love reading!).

Try "Intensity." His best work, in my opinion.

Got that. If his pyramid theories are correct then wow!

Read that too. Very good

mennufer said 8 months ago 9/22/2011 2:38:42 PM EDT

I have not read the book. A quick internet search, however, tells me that he is most likely full of crap, for two reasons: (1) The theories in his book are farfetched and have absolutely no scientific basis; (2) He doesn't seem to care that his theories are farfetched and have absolutely no scientific basis.

Again, I haven't read the book, so I can't do a point-by-point refutation of his theories. I am basing my skepticism solely on the research I have done for my graduate degree in Egyptology (with a focus on prehistory).

One of my favourite books!

I've just finished reading Ink by Hal Duncan

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I meant more of his observations/measurements of the pyramids themselves (if they are correct)

mennufer said 8 months ago 9/22/2011 2:51:23 PM EDT

I don't know why, but I liked Day Watch better than Night Watch.

mennufer said 8 months ago 9/22/2011 2:59:49 PM EDT

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Yeah, I'd have to look into it, which means not only reading the book, but also reading criticisms of the book, other research on the pyramids, and probably also going to visit the pyramids myself (I am currently accepting donations for this last task).

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I loved all of the trilogy, and the Last Watch, I can't actually remember which storyline belongs to which book, so couldn't say which one I liked best! Maybe it is my Russian heritage that makes me love all things Russian.

I read Vellum a while ago - I really appreciated the non-linearity and textual fragmentation.

How was Ink?

MsgtBob, mennufer and suomigirl - Have any of you seen the Night Watch and Day Watch films? And if so, how would you rate them in comparison with the books?

Wow... of all the degrees an all the world! :) My undergraduate degree was Egyptology...

I'm feeling a mini-meet in Cairo coming on! :)

I think I would have appreciated the films a lot more if I had not read the books first.

Akhenatenator,

I could have guessed by the

of some of your text entries that you would appreciate Hal Duncan's work. Ink is in the same vein as Vellum, well worth a read unless you like a clear point of view!

mennufer said 8 months ago 9/22/2011 4:42:10 PM EDT

Last week, I finished Retromancer, by Robert Rankin. Has anyone else ever read his books? He's a British author, which means that not only has no one else in the US ever heard of him, but also that it's a pain in the rear to find him in the library. :/

"On Negotiating" by Mark H. McCormack. I love anything that gives insights into how people think--people are such a mystery.

Also "Cascade Point and other stories," a collection of short sci-fi stories by Timothy Zahn. And then I will have run out of Zahn books to read. :(

Both those books require some sink-in time after each chapter/story, so I switch back-and-forth between them on my exercise bike. They don't seem to interfere with each other. It's sort of like how you can take different classes at the same time, but to try and one (like calculus) for 10 hours a day to get through it faster simply will not work. Your brain must chew on it over a longer time span.

[Edited by User on 9/22/2011 4:46:46 PM]