Whatcha reading redux.

Everything cultural, pop or otherwise. Books, movies, music, comics, poetry, random cultural geekery.
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Aegis
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:57 pm

Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Aegis »

CByrneIV wrote:
Aegis wrote:Just finished S. M. Stirling's "A Taint in the Blood,"
Yaknow, that's one of the books I'm reading right now, and I'm having a hard time getting into it.
Yeah, it's not as good as the other stuff of his I've read. Seems more forced, with a definite case of "look at all the little details the author knows (or at least took a wiki-wander through the related subjects)!" Which IS present in all his other stuff, but not so blatantly. Thoroughly meh.
Chicks dig fixed bayonets
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Dub_James
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Dub_James »

Just finished The Hot Gate. Not the book most people might expect, but a very good look inside culture clashes, and the best way to deal with them when something critical is on the line.

looking forward to the next one, as well as the last two Aldenata books (if they ever get released)

And, of course, MH:Alpha later this year :twisted:
Oh, the heads that turn
Make my back burn
And those heads that turn
Make my back, make my back burn

-She Sells Sanctuary
The Cult
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308Mike
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

JAG2955 wrote:I'm trying to read "Dune". I keep on starting it, and I've never made it the whole way through.
You DO realize that you're supposed to continue reading from where you LEFT OFF when you stopped last time, right?? It's really not necessary (or recommended) to start from the beginning every time. It's no wonder you haven't been able to make it through the book. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ;) ;) ;) ;)

However, you're farther than I am. I've never even started the book. I enjoyed the original movie (not the most recent remake), and although I enjoyed the movie (and have watched it many times), I wonder if reading the book will ruin the movie for me. Have you gotten far enough in the book that you feel one or the other is better (assuming you've seen the movie)?
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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randy
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by randy »

The original (mid-80's) movie didn't look or feel much like the book to me, the "weirding modules" was a BS way to using technology to substitute for the superior training and techniques of the Fremen under the tutelage of the Atreides, and the ending was pure BULLSHIT! that had nothing to do with the book.

The Sci-Fi channel mini-series did a better job of the look and feel IMHO, and of course went in to more detail.

Basically if you combined elements of both you'd be a lot closer to the book (and a better movie IMHO).

I find it interesting that you enjoyed the movie without reading the book, as my impression and discussion with folks at the theater was that if you hadn't read the book you'd be pretty lost as far as following the movie was concerned.
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
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Rich
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Rich »

Read Dune a long time ago, and enjoyed it. IT.

I started the first sequel, read a few pages and put the book down, never to open it again. It felt to me to be too much of a "let's make more money" type of sequel.

Kind of like one of Saberhagen's Berserker paperback books, where he refought the Battle of Midway and didn't bother to rename the ships.

(At least I think it was Midway.)
A weak government usually remains a servant of citizens, while a strong government usually becomes the master of its subjects.
- paraphrased from several sources

A choice, not an echo. - Goldwater campaign, 1964
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JAG2955
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by JAG2955 »

308Mike wrote:
JAG2955 wrote:I'm trying to read "Dune". I keep on starting it, and I've never made it the whole way through.
You DO realize that you're supposed to continue reading from where you LEFT OFF when you stopped last time, right?? It's really not necessary (or recommended) to start from the beginning every time. It's no wonder you haven't been able to make it through the book. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ;) ;) ;) ;)

However, you're farther than I am. I've never even started the book. I enjoyed the original movie (not the most recent remake), and although I enjoyed the movie (and have watched it many times), I wonder if reading the book will ruin the movie for me. Have you gotten far enough in the book that you feel one or the other is better (assuming you've seen the movie)?
I made a lot of progress while out in San Diego. I liked the original movie when I first saw it, but I think that I might like the remake better. I don't think that the book is that much better than the movie so far. I grabbed this copy of Dune off of the free shelf in MWR in Al Asad as we were getting ready to head back to the states. Another guy was reading his copy, and he let me in on the secret that a lot of the Fremen culture is based off of Arabs.
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308Mike
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

randy wrote:I find it interesting that you enjoyed the movie without reading the book, as my impression and discussion with folks at the theater was that if you hadn't read the book you'd be pretty lost as far as following the movie was concerned.
I didn't find the movie that hard to follow, although others I spoke to did, and it seemed they had much more problems and dislikes if they'd read the book than if they hadn't. I had no trouble following the movie, perhaps because I picked up on the subtleties of the movie which might have been far easier to identify in the book, and I didn't try to read too much into the movie other than taking much of certain things at face value (rather than trying to interpret it).

Unfortunately, one of the major problems with books is that there's NO WAY to create the same images each person has in their own minds regarding what they've read. It's an almost NO-WIN situation. The most you could hope for is to match the majority of people's perceptions and hope you get most of them right - the rest are going to be disillusioned or not happy with the way things occurred - which is something I never had to deal with having only seen the movie.

Certainly there were things in the movie which made little sense to me and if I read the book would have been very clear. So in those instances, I simply filed them away for future reference to see if they were cleared up and many of them were (but not all). Overall, I found the movie to be enjoyable and certainly one which you need to put aside reality and simply enjoy the movie. Once you've done that and can not be too critical, I found the movie entertaining enough that I bought the DVD.

I was VERY disappointed in the remake and have NO desire to buy the new one - it lacks imagination, even though the sci-fi film technical skills are better - the material isn't better nor is it presented better.

YMMV
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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workinwifdakids
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by workinwifdakids »

I'm halfway through Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid by Doctor Forgey. I picked it up because Aesop recommended it in his post that was turned into a Wiki here.

And, just arrived from our friends Mr. Barnes and Mr. Noble, I'll be starting Fry the Brain: The Art of Urban Sniping and its Role in Modern Guerrilla Warfare. Yes, everyone who orders this book is probably put on a watch list. Fortunately for them, posting here made it easy!
:D
And may I say, from a moral point of view, I think there can be no justification for shoving snack cakes up your action.
--Weetabix
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308Mike
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

workinwifdakids wrote:I'm halfway through Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid by Doctor Forgey. I picked it up because Aesop recommended it in his post that was turned into a Wiki here.

And, just arrived from our friends Mr. Barnes and Mr. Noble, I'll be starting Fry the Brain: The Art of Urban Sniping and its Role in Modern Guerrilla Warfare. Yes, everyone who orders this book is probably put on a watch list. Fortunately for them, posting here made it easy!
:D

If you like books in that vein, I suggest Ed Kugler's: Dead Center, Charles Henderson's Marine Sniper (about Carlos Hathcock - HIGHLY recommended), Hogs in the Shadows Hogs in the Shadows, and Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper, which tells of Coughlan's battles with the brass to let him run mobile sniper teams and take the fight to the enemy - much of what's going on now using his tactics and mobility plans - Coughlan's changed the face of modern US military sniping, demonstrating he CAN change the outcome of a battle with just a handful of trained and motivated people who are taking out the enemy's key people, leaving them in total disarray.

What he and his people did in Iraq proved that they could and did provide a force multiplier to the US commander - *IF* they chose to use them instead of relying on traditional doctrine.

I can only say that I'm DAMN glad Coughlan's on OUR side - otherwise he'd have left a LOT of our folks in prayer and at funerals.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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Denis
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Denis »

308Mike wrote:If you like books in that vein...
Have a look at these threads here too:

SeekHer's sniper book list

Suarez on the guerilla sniper and again
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