Book Club

[oneworldlyguy]

What a better way to improve our writing than through reading,
So let's start a place for us to chat about the books that are on our minds.

I see that the book that I started to talk about was I'll received (and I agree that it is shit) sorry I haven't thoroughly read every forum to know what is and isn't out there-- so tell me instead what are the good ones? The can't miss books?

Please add or modify your responses but it you are going to talk about. As a helpful tool, maybe we should put the name of the book you are writing about in the subject line!
Thanks

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, lord. Did you not read in on the forum enough to know that 50 Shades of Grey has already been stomped, rumbled, discussed more eloquently than it was ever written, castigated, plummetted, and had several stakes driven through its heart here already?

(Or perhaps is this a joke post?)

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I'm just waiting for LC to rise to the bait.

If you are reading this now LC, control yourself, Man!

 

[sr71plt]

I think that 50 Shades of Grey's most distinctive feature might prove to be that it is the fungus that swallowed the universe.

 

[Stella_Omega]

<snip>

I've been listening to it while on a road trip and I have to admit, I'm really disappointed. I could elaborate...

There are at least three threads one the books in this forum, and several more in the BDSM talk/cafe forums. You'll find responses from just about every poster that comes here. Over and over and over, some of us.

 

[TartfromHell]

damn, and i was thinking this might be a good thread! i've purposely avoided 50 something or another ...

in the spirit of trying to turn this thread around, i think it would be interesting to hear what books have inspired others ...

one of my favourite authors is gabriel garcia marquez. i think i've read One Hundred Years of Solitude at least a dozen times, but it still captivates me to this day.

 

[LadyVer]

Good idea, TFH.

 

[TartfromHell]

Good idea, TFH.

thanks Lady what's one of your favourite novels?

 

[Handley_Page]

In my own case, probably "Good Omens" (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)

 

[LadyVer]

thanks Lady what's one of your favourite novels?

I'm pretty eclectic. My fave genre is medieval HF. But the books that made most impression on me are those by Pat Conroy. To Kill a Mockingbird and A Beautiful Mind as well.

 

[oneworldlyguy]

The say Hind Sight is 20/20 and I definitely wish I had read those other forums... Its been like listening to nails on a chalkboard and I needed someone else to reinforce how bad it was...

So let's move to better books! I also read most of 100 years of solitude before leaving it on a bus but I did really like it!

How are his other books, Tart?

And to atone for me mistake in listening, I will recommend the book I am reading now that is AMAZINGLY written, which is Lolita. Anyone read that? I would love to talk about the writing and characters in there!

 

[PennLady]

In my own case, probably "Good Omens" (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)

I love this one! I love to grab it off the shelf and open it to a random page and start reading.

Another favorite of mine is Michael Moorcock's Elric saga, and at the other end of the spectrum, Pride & Prejudice.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think that 50 Shades of Grey's most distinctive feature might prove to be that it is the fungus that swallowed the universe.

Oh well this is just fucking great!

Not only is 50 shades the biggest fucking pile of regurgitated Twilight fanfic/Harlequin pablum ever put forth....

But it has now forced me to completely agree with Pilot, not once, but twice in this thread.

It is a fungus (although harvested properly even fungus has some redeeming value) and For the love of Christ isn't there enough threads about this drivel?


There Cruel you happy now?

 

[TxRad]

I've tried using a book for a club but I've never found one with a long enough handle to give the right leverage needed.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

damn, and i was thinking this might be a good thread! i've purposely avoided 50 something or another ...

in the spirit of trying to turn this thread around, i think it would be interesting to hear what books have inspired others ...

one of my favourite authors is gabriel garcia marquez. i think i've read One Hundred Years of Solitude at least a dozen times, but it still captivates me to this day.

It is a good thread. STELLA has control issues that go wayyyyy back.

 

[lovecraft68]

I still think after all these years the Exorcist is my favorite.

Yes it is filled with profanity and a lot of blasphemous language and some sick sexual innuendo from the demon.

But beneath that this book is a powerful story of faith. Merrin foresaw that he was going to die. That God had him pegged for a "suicide mission" but he willingly went forth anyway to save the soul of a child he never met.

Karras faith was in the shitter. he could have been a psychologist, but chose the priesthood. His mother lived in a slum and they couldn't afford medical care for her. She makes the remark(delirious) that if he were a doctor he would have had the money.

He's guilt riddled and had enough of the church. he still thinks Regan is sick not possessed. The Demon saw the future to and saw itself possessing Karras. The ultimate blow to the faithful, possess a priest and let him kill the girl.

In the end Karras faith won out and he kills himself and the demon with him.

For all its negativity and people just saying "she fucked herself with a cross" and pea soup vomit. The book was an amazing story and the "good guys" win.

 

[oneworldlyguy]

Really interesting LC... I love it when people give me a new perspective on something. I might have to go back to this one!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I still think after all these years the Exorcist is my favorite.

Yes it is filled with profanity and a lot of blasphemous language and some sick sexual innuendo from the demon.

But beneath that this book is a powerful story of faith. Merrin foresaw that he was going to die. That God had him pegged for a "suicide mission" but he willingly went forth anyway to save the soul of a child he never met.

Karras faith was in the shitter. he could have been a psychologist, but chose the priesthood. His mother lived in a slum and they couldn't afford medical care for her. She makes the remark(delirious) that if he were a doctor he would have had the money.

He's guilt riddled and had enough of the church. he still thinks Regan is sick not possessed. The Demon saw the future to and saw itself possessing Karras. The ultimate blow to the faithful, possess a priest and let him kill the girl.

In the end Karras faith won out and he kills himself and the demon with him.

For all its negativity and people just saying "she fucked herself with a cross" and pea soup vomit. The book was an amazing story and the "good guys" win.

The EXORCIST sux.

 

[TxRad]

oneworldlyguy,

Let me introduce you to our (The AH) own personal forum troll, JBJ.

He likes to poke people he don't like, which is most everyone, with what he thinks are sharp sticks.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

damn, and i was thinking this might be a good thread! i've purposely avoided 50 something or another ...

in the spirit of trying to turn this thread around, i think it would be interesting to hear what books have inspired others ...

one of my favourite authors is gabriel garcia marquez. i think i've read One Hundred Years of Solitude at least a dozen times, but it still captivates me to this day.

For many years that was my favorite novel, which was required reading in a college literature class. It was my introduction to the style known as "magic realism." I have tried to push that book on almost everyone I know who loves to read books. A few years later I discovered "Autumn of the Patriarch," and I enjoyed that one even more. I even went so far as to copy Garcia Marquez' writing style. Eventually I was forced to cut back on the more obvious and outrageous excesses of his that I was mimicking, but to this day he is one of my inspirations.

 

[Redkate]

I still think after all these years the Exorcist is my favorite.

Yes it is filled with profanity and a lot of blasphemous language and some sick sexual innuendo from the demon.

But beneath that this book is a powerful story of faith. Merrin foresaw that he was going to die. That God had him pegged for a "suicide mission" but he willingly went forth anyway to save the soul of a child he never met.

Karras faith was in the shitter. he could have been a psychologist, but chose the priesthood. His mother lived in a slum and they couldn't afford medical care for her. She makes the remark(delirious) that if he were a doctor he would have had the money.

He's guilt riddled and had enough of the church. he still thinks Regan is sick not possessed. The Demon saw the future to and saw itself possessing Karras. The ultimate blow to the faithful, possess a priest and let him kill the girl.

In the end Karras faith won out and he kills himself and the demon with him.

For all its negativity and people just saying "she fucked herself with a cross" and pea soup vomit. The book was an amazing story and the "good guys" win.

I've had this book downloaded into my iBooks but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. You've just gotten me very excited and inspired to read it. Thanks

 

[Cruel2BKind]

There Cruel you happy now?

Oh yes my powers of clairvoyance have now been proven valid.


And as far as my favorite author, does anybody need to ask at this point? I think I'm pretty influenced by Stephen King, but I write mainly romances. And I like that this site forces me to write happy endings. Because I LIKE happy endings, but the first stories I wrote were predisposed to sad ones.

I wrote a short story a while ago called 'The Angel', and I tried to submit it to nonerotic. I figured that the age of the main character wouldn't matter if it was nonerotic, but I was wrong. He was seven at the beginning of the story and twelve at the climax. In NE that doesn't fly. But it also got rejected for being a snuff story. It was pretty dark.

I think that SK inspires me because like the filmmaker Don Bluth, I put my characters through so much emotional and physical hell before they can reach the required happy ending (seriously, I think that Bluth's gameplan was just to torture the shit out of the kids watching his movie and then slap a happy ending onto the movie and everything is okay).

 

[desertslave]

I still think after all these years the Exorcist is my favorite.

<snip>
For all its negativity and people just saying "she fucked herself with a cross" and pea soup vomit. The book was an amazing story and the "good guys" win.

I've been a horror reader for years (but don't like most horror movies, go figure) and The Exorcist is easily one of my favorites, as well. I was only 14 when I read it, but it chilled me and impressed me with the skill of the writing. Not to mention we had squirrels in our attic at the time.

One of my other favorite go-to books(s) is/are The Chronicles of Amber. Zelazny awed me for years with his imagination and his storytelling craft.

I cheerfully admit that I'm a hack reader. I love a good romp, so I've always preferred fantasy and sci-fi to almost every other genre, except maybe a nice solid history novelization (Sharon Kay Penman is one of my favorites there).

 

[oneworldlyguy]

Thanks Tx for the introduction- seeings how I am clearly new to this area of the forum.

It is great that people slave different ideas. I am hearto learn about books that I did not know- I was even hoping to find something redeeming about the 50 Shades book (though I do feel glad to know it's not just me being snobby)

I do wish (albeit naively) that people could be constructive if they are representing different ideas- I have never (for example) been a Stephen King fan- (I like his writing but I've never been a horror story reader) so the thread has already proved helpful to me!

So let the trolls roam- I have broad shoulders.

 

[sr71plt]

I haven't found anything yet that beats To Kill a Mocking Bird. I've also always put Michener's The Source near the top. Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet has given me a writing technique plan I often try to write to. Graham Greene's whole body of work has floated at the top for me, and it was a sad day when I'd tracked the last one of his down and read it. Ann Patchett's Bel Canto keeps coming back and haunting me.