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What are you reading? II

Finished The Psychopath Test
Reading Bewitching Season and rereading AF: The Atlantis Complex.
._.
 
ultraviolet said:
I get that feel! I think it's because it's romanticised up to eleven. Like the novel is supposed to be kind of a romance epic but supposedly Hazel is meant to challenge that a little but she only kinda sorta does? It's hard because Hazel is the narrator so.
I mean there's also the fact that more or less the entire storyline is one big suspension of disbelief (augustus what are you even doing) but eh. I'm forgiving.
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Late reply! but. As well as being creepy, I think the writing is really, really awful. It's that kind of thing where all the characters speak perfect, overly-witty dialogue constantly, and then there's hipster-capitalisation about twice a page (sometimes that can be fun! I mean things like "this was supposed to be a Good Day" but you just really shouldn't overdo it). Most of all it's just really self-congratulating. There's constantly stuff like "but (that book the protagonist likes a lot) isn't a ~cancer book, because cancer books suck". The implication throughout the entire thing is that this cancer book (TFiOS) is different and has all these Truths and cleverness and ~realism except it really just doesn't. I can accept that people as creepy as Augustus exist, though.

But yeah, basically Augustus is a gross, horrible person. When your protagonist constantly goes on about a very-hard-to-like character (who you really aren't supposed to dislike, even if that's what Green likes to pretend) it's going to be pretty hard to keep it from becoming totally unreadable. Even, say, Harry Potter is at least borderline because it's nice imagining the story from someone else's viewpoint in that, which would be impossible here.


ummmmm I guess I went on a bit sorry if you really like it I guess!

Anyway! Right now I'm with Ship of Destiny, Robin Hobb. This series is kind of odd. This is the final book and things are simultaneously more interesting (dragons! and ships! slaves! really interesting ideas!) and less interesting (suddenly the protagonists are the only good people around, Malta's development).
 
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I have just rushed through Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel, which put all other historical novels to shame.
 
I'm trying (read: failing) to finish the translation of The Inferno by Dante that I was given as a present by my secondary school English teacher so I can work on reading Watchmen before I have to return it to the library and Jane Eyre for my English course. Then I need to hammer away at The Republic by Plato for philosophy and then I can probably find some time to finish The Colour Out of Space by Lovecraft and The Fault In Our Stars.
 
Jennifer Government (decent book)
In The Path of Falling Objects (slow and repetitive)
The Final Hour (fast-paced, but repetitive)
 
Cirrus said:
Late reply! but. As well as being creepy, I think the writing is really, really awful. It's that kind of thing where all the characters speak perfect, overly-witty dialogue constantly, and then there's hipster-capitalisation about twice a page (sometimes that can be fun! I mean things like "this was supposed to be a Good Day" but you just really shouldn't overdo it). Most of all it's just really self-congratulating. There's constantly stuff like "but (that book the protagonist likes a lot) isn't a ~cancer book, because cancer books suck". The implication throughout the entire thing is that this cancer book (TFiOS) is different and has all these Truths and cleverness and ~realism except it really just doesn't. I can accept that people as creepy as Augustus exist, though.

But yeah, basically Augustus is a gross, horrible person. When your protagonist constantly goes on about a very-hard-to-like character (who you really aren't supposed to dislike, even if that's what Green likes to pretend) it's going to be pretty hard to keep it from becoming totally unreadable. Even, say, Harry Potter is at least borderline because it's nice imagining the story from someone else's viewpoint in that, which would be impossible here.
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No I totally get where you're coming from! I dunno, I don't think I ever really took the characters really seriously or kind of thought of them as believable, real people? Like I totally get that pretty much all the dialogue is kind of overdone (it's like everyone's living in the same universe as Juno), and Augustus is... what even the hell is Augustus! I found him really fun to read, but I do agree that he kind of is holy fuck creepy. I feel like Green kind of writes the characters for the story, rather than writes the story about the characters, if that makes sense? Like the whole story is a very oversaturated, dramatic narrative, and Hazel is maybe the least super-dramatic character in there (instead she's super-cynical and sarcastic), and the book kind of builds up to the end point without ever really slowing down or anything ever, so for me it kind of felt unreal? And I enjoyed it because of that, it was kind of like the characters were from a weird dream or something I remembered that happened to someone else, I guess? And at times it felt really obvious what kind of emotional response Green was trying to draw out and yeah, I dunno. I do agree that it is quite self-congratulating, especially if you were around for the hype that surrounded it.
Looking for Alaska is slightly less 'DRAMA!!', but Green does write his teenagers as all being smart-asses (I don't mind because I love reading snappy dialogue), so if you didn't enjoy that you probably won't enjoy Alaska. Also kind of unfortunate female characters, which is a shame.
 
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (really like this book, even though it is demented at times)

Hopefully will be able to reread the Leviathan trilogy! Phenomenal series if you are into steampunk!
 
Scootaloo said:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (really like this book, even though it is demented at times)

Hopefully will be able to reread the Leviathan trilogy! Phenomenal series if you are into steampunk!
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ugh can i just

just

clap for your reading choices

Leviathan is so cool! Fantastic illustrations, giant military sky-whales against less giant robots... I love love love love that series. It's pretty similar in tone to Airborn by Kenneth Opal, have you read that series?
 
Teh Ebil Snorlax said:
I'm trying (read: failing) to finish the translation of The Inferno by Dante that I was given as a present by my secondary school English teacher so I can work on reading Watchmen before I have to return it to the library and Jane Eyre for my English course. Then I need to hammer away at The Republic by Plato for philosophy and then I can probably find some time to finish The Colour Out of Space by Lovecraft and The Fault In Our Stars.
Click to expand...

You can add The Handmaid's Tale and The Butcher Boy to my English reading and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy to my philosophy reading and I still haven't finished Dante.
 
Blastoise Fortooate said:
ugh can i just

just

clap for your reading choices

Leviathan is so cool! Fantastic illustrations, giant military sky-whales against less giant robots... I love love love love that series. It's pretty similar in tone to Airborn by Kenneth Opal, have you read that series?
Click to expand...

Thank you! It's about time someone else other than me has read Leviathan!
And I haven't read Airborn, but I can see if my school/local library has it!
 
Scootaloo said:
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (really like this book, even though it is demented at times)
Click to expand...

Amazing book. Also, have you ever read Everlost/Everwild by him? Two also amazing books. Also, if you see Everfound, it's likely to be good as well. (Though I'm not sure if it's out yet.)
 
Dar said:
Amazing book. Also, have you ever read Everlost/Everwild by him? Two also amazing books. Also, if you see Everfound, it's likely to be good as well. (Though I'm not sure if it's out yet.)
Click to expand...

I'm really anxious to read those, but the sequel to Unwind is out now, so
 
John dies at the end by David Wong. Probably one of the funniest books I've read in a long time.
 
well i am sort of rotating books:
pokemon diamond pearl and platinum manga series
becoming Naomi Leon-Pam Munoz Ryan
& Gossamer- Louis Lowry
 
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