Grade the last book you read.

[captainofbeef]

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
3/10
I'm not going to get into all the problems I have with this book because I could probably right a novel about all my disagreements. Let's just say that I disagree with about everything C.S. Lewis writes in this book. None of it is relevant to the modern way of life or the modern thinker. Just close-minded, theistic ramblings about non-existent entities. Well written, yes, and a quick read. But otherwise, a waste of my time.

[captainofbeef]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
9/10
Another allegorical religious/spiritual book. However, this allegory is less thinly veiled and much more intelligently written (at least in my opinion). Hesse's vision of the journey of another Buddha is very entertaining while also exploring his views on how to attain wisdom.

[captainofbeef]

Portnoy's Complaint by Phillip Roth
5/10
Another book which I struggle to understand. Just seems like a unstructured bunch of ramblings thrown together into a 275 page book. The prose gets tedious after about 100 pages and any novelty the book has in the beginning quickly wears off. Clearly must have been revolutionary when it was written, Roth's work has not aged well.

[captainofbeef]

Triple by Ken Follett
7/10
An interesting and fast paced political thriller. Nothing more and nothing less. Good to pass the time with.

[captainofbeef]

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
8/10
Very interesting book that covers many subjects. Some I agree with, some I sorta agree, others I disagree with completely. Friedman tends to exaggerate some of his claims but overall most of what he writes is backed up factually. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in advancement of technology.

[captainofbeef]

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
4/10
Intensely boring book detailing one psychologist's personal experiences in Nazi concentration camps and the psych theories he derived from the experiences. Totally disagree on many of his points, a bit too faith/religious based for me. His incredibly dry prose doesn't help matters any either.

[ie]

Went to the library the other day and picked up two serials to read for a little bit to waste some time.

Afterlife - Part 1 of 3 - 7/10
Well, it is "interestly dark alternate view of where everyone goes when they die. It's a bleak, bland seemingly pointless place protected by Guardians who fend off demons." Well, yes.

Hellblazer: Joyride - 8/10

Seemingly random stories in the life of John Constantine. A bit too British at times, but not too bad overall.

[PTAhole]

If you want some good Hellblazer, check out anything written by Garth Ennis. Some of the Warren Ellis stuff is alright and Andy Diggle's been doing a pretty good job.

Prose
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon- 10/10
Life of Pi by Yann Martel- 8/10
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury- 9/10

Comics
Vagabond Vol. 1 by Takehiko Inoue- 10/10
The King by Rich Koslowski- 9/10
Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson- 10/10
Tricked by Alex Robinson- 10/10
Alex Robinson's Lower Regions by Alex Robinson- 8/10
Too Cool to be Forgotten by Alex Robinson- 10/10
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly- 10/10
Cowa! by Akira Toriyama- 9/10

[ie]

I actually, oddly enough, liked the movie better than the comics. I have to remain a horrible person, you know.

[PTAhole]

Yes, you are totally a horrible person. Heh.
Is the Andy Diggle stuff all you've read? If so, you may benefit from reading some of the other stuff I recommended above. I don't care that much, I didn't think the movie was as bad as some people thought it was, but I do like the comics a lot better.

[ie]

Pretty much. Haven't read more than a panel or two of anything else.

I like the movie better because I think blonde-haired badasses aren't quite as believable as black-haired badasses. That speak American. In America.

[captainofbeef]

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
9/10
Very direct and to the point. This is the way a book of political ideology should be written.

[captainofbeef]

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
8.5/10
Classic piece of gothic fiction. Wilde crafts an excellent story and develops his characters well. He wastes a bit too much time during the middle section describing Gray's exploits. Nevertheless, this is definitely a must-read.

[captainofbeef]

Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy
9.5/10
A near-perfect ending to an excellent trilogy. McCarthy fleshes out his characters and landscapes like no other. The book is very well paced and the story seems to come alive as you read the book. My only gripe is the epilogue which felt a bit tacked on. But this and the other two installments of the "Border Trilogy" are must-reads.

[ie]

Jaws: The Novel - 6/10 (via RYM)

I read most of Jaws in one sitting. From page 102 to 274. I started out maybe a year ago, and was rather bored with the whole thing. If I were to be very brash (and pretended to have an idea of an author's character from one book), I'd say that while Benchley does have technical knowledge, he's probably never held a conversation in his life. The fucker can't write two characters talking at all. Talk about stilted dialogue. Now, I don't have marriage-talk experience, but I don't see people actually talking like that, regardless of if it's racist 1970s or closet-racist 2000s. That was one thing I noticed a lot previous to my epic reading session, that it was really "of the times," but let's get to the matter at hand.

I went to the library with nothing else to do, sat down with my MP3 player, and plowed through that book in about three or four hours. (No pages-per-hour averages, please, since I haven't read fiction in a while, besides some music reviews.) Now, I didn't actually finish reading it, since the library was closing, but I've seen the movie. Which isn't a very good excuse, since the novel is only barely related to the movie. Sure, you have the same characters and roughly the same events, but the novel has people fucking. That didn't happen in the Jaws I saw, and I didn't see it growing up. How better to show that your shark character is sexy beast of perfection than actually including sex? And since shark on shark action doesn't even register in my mind, I doubt it'd appeal to a mass audience, so it needs to be silly sex straight out of a pulpy dime novel. Which normally I don't mind, but I don't know, if I'm going to get the impression I need to be hot and bothered by a book, it should at least be a sleazy book.

Okay, finished the book. First thing, the novel is still too technical, or up its own ass trying to impress Quint-esque people around the world, since I don't think cleat or transom (Transformer?) were ever explained. Also, here's an actual quote from the novel: "At first, the cage annoyed him. It confined him, restricted him, prevented him from enjoying the grace of underwater movement. But then he remembered why he was there, and he was grateful. " See? Stuff like that was lame, but the book overall had more good than bad to it. Just needed a lot of refining, which is just what happened.

[PTAhole]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman-- Pretty great, probably his best work overall since American Gods.

Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman-- Very funny, honest memoir. I laughed out loud many times.

[captainofbeef]

The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
8/10
Not as good as his other works, a bit dryer and harder to get into. But still, a rewarding book that really evokes great landscapes and has a great ending.

The Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan
10/10
An excellent lecture by Sagan on religion and using science to disprove religion. I don't agree with all of his points but many of his arguments are very well spelled out and hard to argue with. The question and answer session at the end of the book is very good as well.

[ie]

Ever read Sagan's Contact?

My brother is a big fan of it, because of how much more in-depth it goes on various topics than the movie.

[captainofbeef]

No, I have not but I plan on picking it up soon...

[mixed]

After Dark - Haruki Murakami

Murakamis shortest and emptiest work to date. Sure, it references jazz and cats and earlobes, but it's strung together by a thin plot with many unexplained occurances. Plus loads of boring dialogues about boring, wimpy characters. It's as if Murakami just thought he'd mash everything people like about his work into one short ride. Bad result, no magic here.

3/10

Plus points....Murakamis usual magnetic and engaging prose style.

[captainofbeef]

Contact by Carl Sagan
8/10
I prefer the non-fiction writing of Sagan to the fiction writing of Sagan but this book is still very good. The main characters are fleshed out well and the story is entertaining. It may be a bit too technical for its own good at times and the plot often isn't defined well enough, but its still worth the read for sci-fi fans.

[ie]

Wolverine: Election Day (paperback novel) - 4/10


Do I really need to say anything after seeing the cover? Well, I think it was probably written in about a week, total, because everything goes by but there is absolutely no attention to detail. Or detail at all. Contemporary, political, and random themes are just thrown in and the result is subpar. It was kind of fun, but not worth checking out. I figured I'd give everyone the head's up on this because there's a new Wolverine movie, so they might see this.




Silver Surfer: Requiem is a thousand times better anyways, and is even in comic book format. (4000/10 condensed down to 10/10)

[captainofbeef]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
7/10
Long, sprawling and exhausting, Wallace's book is a joy at times and pure hell at others. Still, its worth the read if only for the moments of pure brilliance contained in the work.

[captainofbeef]

The Trial by Franz Kafka
9/10
Excellent for an unfinished novel. The book's story is so affecting even though it is completely ambiguous and I am still not certain what it is truly about. If Kafka had finished the work, it would truly be a masterpiece.

[captainofbeef]

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
10/10
The pinnacle of literature. That is all that needs to be said. Read this book. Now.

[captainofbeef]

Ulysses by James Joyce
8/10
Most literary critics would fall over dead if they saw the grade I give this book. It is unanimously regarded as the best book of all time among the intellectual crowd and it isn't easy to argue that point. Joyce's grasp of the English language is nearly flawless and the shifting styles presented in the book are impressive to read. But the book is incredibly difficult to read and it is often not possible to understand what is actually happening in the book. The plot is incomprehensible and Joyce makes no attempt to have it any other way. Maybe if I tried to read it again, I would understand. But I have a feeling that it won't ever happen.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
10/10
I flew through this book. The story is gripping and the drawing is incredible. Infinitely better than the film adaptation. Anyone who liked the movie should do themselves a favor and check out the graphic novel. You won't regret it.

[captainofbeef]

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
7/10
This posthumous collection of short stories from Vonnegut is hit and miss as are most posthumous collections. Some of the stories and the final speech he wrote for Butler University are excellent. However, some of the war memoirs feel like rehashes of Slaughterhouse-Five. However, it is an enjoyable collection and hardcore Vonnegut fans will enjoy it.

[captainofbeef]

^No, I haven't read that but it definitely seems like the next logical step after Ulysses.

God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
9/10
Hitchens is brutal on religion in a way that Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett combined cannot achieve. However, his humor keeps this book from becoming a mere onslaught of attacks. The first two-thirds is flawless and engaging. Hitchens clearly peters out in the final few chapters and the afterword seems tacked on. But for fans of Hitchens, the book is a must read.

[captainofbeef]

The Plague by Albert Camus
10/10
Really an amazing novel. Camus paints such a vivid picture of the town of Oran, the disease striking the citizens, and the citizens themselves. I can't tell you how many passages really stuck out for me. Might be one of my favorite books of all time.

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
10/10
The ultimate political novel. Warren's soft biography of Huey Long is a classic and I am glad that I finally got around to reading it.

[captainofbeef]

World Without End by Ken Follett
7/10
Another fast paced, plot twisting medieval novel from Follett. This doesn't quite reach the greatness of Pillars of the Earth, but it isn't too shabby either. Good for a quick, mindless read.