Now Reading

  On 5/2/2013 at 11:56 AM, Ron Manager said:

 

  On 5/2/2013 at 8:49 AM, Iain C said:

Very little, I used to know the basics - word order, a few conjugations and declensions, but my vocab was never very good.

 

I know Greek is supposed to be harder, but I'm really focused on it at the moment - I just find it a more beautiful language, I've more interest in reading ancient Greek texts, and the alphabet itself is exciting. Hoping to start some evening classes later in the year.

 

Right now I know about 20 verbs, maybe 20 nouns, present tense verb conjugations and the first and second declensions in singular and plural. I'm sure it's going to get a lot more complicated very quickly.

 

Incidentally though, this book is very good and the exercises have made me pretty confident in what I already know.

 

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well at least with that familiarity with inflected language you know what you're in for. i probably have about as much Greek as you, but i read Latin for my studies/work, and it has to be said that reading ancient texts in the original is one of the most satisfying literary experiences one can have. many Latin and Greek authors are simply untranslatable. it takes an awful lot of work to get to the stage where you can read and fully grasp the originals, but it is so worth it! it truly boggles my mind how talented Latin authors like Virgil and Tacitus were.

 

anyway, i meant it when i wished you good luck - learning so many conjugations and declensions is incredibly dull and puts so many people off, but if you stick with it, there are some wonderful rewards to be had.

 

τους λογους μανθανομεν, brother.

Why don't you just use google translate like what I do?

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It doesn't do ancient Greek and, to paraphrase Blur, modern Greek is rubbish.

an excerpt (the story's prelude) can be found at http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/04/from-the-mouth-of-the-whale-excerpt

i'm only about 20 pages in so far, but it's interesting and pretty nice, and a bit poetic (a plus in my opinion). it's good so far though.

Slowly but surely buying back from charity shops all the stephen king books I got rid of when I moved out of my parents years ago. They are my comfort blankets. Reading one between each book in my 'to read' pile.

Want to read Infinite Jest but my girlfriend won't let me until she's read it, and she's already given up once.....

  On 4/22/2013 at 7:58 PM, hello spiral said:

Just finished:

 

 

 

Now reading:

 

both wicked books, i found this book will change your life very enlightening and could relate with the character in some ways (which is a bad thing, but i think we all can)

i just finished hackney that rose empire, superb book

about to finish:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirens_of_Titan

then its:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6577631-empire-of-illusion

Yeah, not sure how I felt about the Homes when I finished it. I kinda get the feeling I'd like it more if it was a neglected and unheard of book, but I don't really get it's popularity (oh, it's a Richard & Judy choice, duh!)

It's well written, in that I empathised with the stinking rich main character despite myself. But I'm not really sure what the author's intentions were.

And she is trying to say something with this book as the structure is pleasingly open ended and wonky, I'm just not sure what.

Just finished this:

Was wary due to the favorable quotes from the Telegraph and Mail (shudder) on the cover. Also, there's a gimmick GOING on inside where seemingly RANDOM words are CAPITALISED.

Never mind all that though as this was incredibly enjoyable and entertaining read.

Darkly funny, cartoonishly satiric, cynical and misanthropically angry.

reading diiiis

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/jonathan-moses/byron-brewdog-and-recuperation-of-radical-aesthetics

also lol

https://www.facebook.com/yuppiesout

good stuff

Reading this:

Inexplicably gave up reading this halfway through a few years back so thought I'd give it another go.

Inexplicably because I can remember enjoying it and large parts of it are very clear in my mind. For some reason I just....stopped reading it.

  On 5/14/2013 at 5:40 PM, Reinehr said:

Reading this:

 

 

 

 

Nice. Bet it's a tear-jerker though.

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Just started Thoreau's Walden

Not yet at a level where I can easily understand even the most basic stories in the book, but with a lot of effort I can tease the meaning out. I'm getting better though, and it provides an incentive to improve. Because Greek stuff is really cool.

I haven't read anything in a long time but I'm looking to start again soon. Some books I read last summer

Recommended:

The House on the Borderland (it's short and excellent, I read the whole thing during a plane ride), The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness is his best work probably), The Road, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Chekhov's Complete Short Stories, Solaris, Cryptonomicon (I can see a lot of watmmers liking this), Snow Crash, A Hero of Our Time (any Russian literature is obviously good)

Not Recommended (shit):

Nation (Terry Prachett blows, sorry), Tao Te Ching, Infinite Jest

  On 5/2/2013 at 10:54 PM, hello spiral said:

Want to read Infinite Jest but my girlfriend won't let me until she's read it, and she's already given up once.....

don't even bother.

tao te ching "not recommended" lol

Going to read Of Mice and Men, because it never came up in my school curriculum and I thought I should. I know it's supposed to be sad and stuff. Probably not ready for it...

Loops. A fine book about the history of electronic music. Recommended.

just started cormac mccarthey boarder trilogy :O atm its looking like it might get pretty gay

I assume by ":O atm" you mean ass-to-mouth?

kaufmann & baird's philosophic classics series

raymound roussel - locus solus

robert walser - jakob von gunten

  On 5/18/2013 at 6:52 PM, Alcofribas said:

tao te ching "not recommended" lol

+1

These just dropped in the mail

  On 5/16/2013 at 8:17 PM, goffer said:

Just started Thoreau's Walden

You're in for a treat! I found his style of writing something I had to gradually get used to, but when the meandering intertwining thoughts and ideas really hit their stride he really creates some great scathing, soaring and hilarious passages. Also, I highly recommend reading this outdoors for full effect (in a beautiful place out in the country)

I decided to become (and now am) a landscape architect after reading that book.