Yes - they were broadcast here last summer, called Case Histories. We'd read Book 4 beforehand, so were quite interested in the series. Part of this book was covered in that series. Each book has a series of interwoven threads that eventually come together, so ideal for a TV series adaption. I know it is going off track from books, but if you get the chance to watch the Danish series The Killing, it is brilliant, but subtitled, with justified rave reviews.
The Robert Jordan blurb is interesting. I made it through most of the Wheel of Time, but felt like he was starting to make it last as long as possible, with a few of the last few novels moving the plot little for 600 or more page of writing. I'm not sure if I will read the remaining two books or whatever it is now. A dark joke seems to be that the series outlasted him or that in a book jacket flap, it claimed that he would keep writing until they nailed the lid on his coffin, which happened in a very loosely true manner.
Anyway, Terry Goodkind would be another rec for epic fantasy, though I think his series gets tired, as would Terry Brooks who steals well from Tolkien. Margaret Weis & Tracey Hickman did well back in the day. Raymond Feist and David Eddings too
I read through the Goodkind Sword of Truth series. The first three or four were good, different than the usual fantasy. After that, they were the fantasy version of John Galt Speaks from Atlas Shrugged. That in and of itself was not a problem, but too much "let's stop and talk philosophy" for 100 pages.
I did read alot of Feist quite a few years ago, I recall the first few being enjoyable, but the plot was too obviously D&D for me. (Insert Hickman and Weiss or Eddings into that last prejudiced line and it still works!)
@plong42: All good reasons why I probably don't read much fantasy or sci-fi anymore. Goodkind especially tried to make his villains as evil as possible by piling on as many bad attributes as he could think up.
Well, I just finished the Severian series. It took quite a while to fully win me over, but when I finished I wanted to start again at the beginning. Very clever.
The ones on there that catch my eye are the Tangerine Dream albums. Also, the Zao album, Liberate te ex inferis, is the one that was nagging at the corners of my memory when I first read your post - I knew that I had a CD in the house that was based on the Inferno, and that's the one:
ETA, come to think of it, play the Zao and then the Tavener and it might well feel like a progression from inferno to paradiso. Not sure I have any albums that well embody purgatorio (I tend to get rid of those...)
As it happens, the first album on the 3rd part of my classical history series for MusicIsGood will be Dante & the Troubadours - the troubadours in question being ones that he wrote about - eg, Bertran de Born can be found in the 8th circle of Hell.
I would not want to be forced to carry my own head around like a lantern. That seems harsh.
Been awhile since I've read The Divine Comedy, but as I recall it's actually a somewhat enjoyable read. Much more so, for me at least, than Paradise Lost which I can't even get started on.
@Doofy: I'm reading the Mandelbaum translation. It seems like he is trying to keep the Terza rima form.
@Nereffid: We actually looked at some Troubadour lyrics and poems before moving to Dante. It especially makes sense with his hybrid poem/prose The New Life.
Good to see Ian Rankin on this thread. He is one of my favourite authors. The problem is that I have read all his Rebus books! My next book will be his latest. I bought it for my wife for Christmas, so I had to let her read it first - she is a Rankin fan too.
greg: I was looking for something "Scottish," something contemporary, when I found a little write-up on Rankin in a DailyKos diary. Good stuff--reminds me a lot of the classic crime fiction about mid 20th century LA.
CBOO: Rilke is my go-to when it comes to visceral, emotive poetry. Of course, he's one of the two poets I've read in the German language (the other being Heine), so I feel invested in his work.
@BT - yes, the Rebus books are great, lot of edge to them and you never know the final twists until you get to the end. Ian Rankin does not even know the end himself when he starts writing a crime novel! I can thoroughly recommend the series if you like that kind of novel. Try to read in order of publication ( Black and Blue was fairly early) as the main character Rebus develops considerably. Sadly he had to be 'retired' as the fictional character reached the normal police retirement age. There have been two attempts to turn into a TV series, but neither are as good as the books IMO. Many claim that Ian Rankin is the best contemporary crime writer working in the UK now - I certainly concur with that.
Well, 1Q84 turned to be much better than I feared, but not all I hoped. I'd still recommend it, but a firm editor could have cut it from 925 pages to 825 or maybe even 725 with no significant loss in the story and a big gain in readability. Murakami is very imaginative and has a lot to say, but his style is pedestrian. That could be the fault of the translators, but I don't think so. I got really tired of reading what clothes his characters were wearing, with frequent dropping of designers' names. And it's not a good sign if an author makes the plot clear to readers by having his characters engage in lengthy internal dialogues in which they try to figure out what's going on.
I'm unfamiliar with Murakami, but that graph has me intrigued. Especially if there is a book that includes a dissociative female with large breasts dreaming about cats baking a pie made of ears while listening to Mingus.
Finally got through the Marx book. It was excellent, but I do so much reading during the day that a 600 page book in my free time takes awhile.
I finished VALIS over the weekend - it grew on me quite a bit from when I last commented. That happens to me a lot - almost always really. It takes me a while to get into any particular thing I'm reading. Especially if it's the first time through.
At Elwood; he mentioned Thomas Disch at one point; I'd never heard of him before, but was looking some stuff up based on the reference; it was interesting to see him pop up here too.
Has anyone else read Peter Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction series? I'm a little over half way through the first one and ambivalent about whether to continue. It started off promising with interesting world-building and multiple plot lines and quite interesting characters. But mid-way it seems to have descended into extended doses of pointless sex described in tabloid language, Satanic cults, and sadistic violence. Kind of like Alastair Reynolds but with a lot more focus on genitals and ritual murders. If anyone has read it, tell me, is this what I am in for for the next three volumes if I persevere? Does it get better or should I get out while the going is good?
Comments
Anyway, Terry Goodkind would be another rec for epic fantasy, though I think his series gets tired, as would Terry Brooks who steals well from Tolkien. Margaret Weis & Tracey Hickman did well back in the day. Raymond Feist and David Eddings too
I did read alot of Feist quite a few years ago, I recall the first few being enjoyable, but the plot was too obviously D&D for me. (Insert Hickman and Weiss or Eddings into that last prejudiced line and it still works!)
This is OT, but any music suggestions either about it or Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven?
Someone must have written music for the Divine Comedy over these past 700 years.
ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Symphony
ETA: there's also a pretty long list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri_and_the_Divine_Comedy_in_popular_culture#Music[/url]
The ones on there that catch my eye are the Tangerine Dream albums. Also, the Zao album, Liberate te ex inferis, is the one that was nagging at the corners of my memory when I first read your post - I knew that I had a CD in the house that was based on the Inferno, and that's the one:
ETA, come to think of it, play the Zao and then the Tavener and it might well feel like a progression from inferno to paradiso. Not sure I have any albums that well embody purgatorio (I tend to get rid of those...)
Been awhile since I've read The Divine Comedy, but as I recall it's actually a somewhat enjoyable read. Much more so, for me at least, than Paradise Lost which I can't even get started on.
Craig
I took a Dante class in grad school...you really need a 'Virgil' to guide you through it. Can't tell your Guelphs and Ghibellines without a scorecard.
I never got any traction on Paradise Lost until I listened to an audiobook...this one, in fact.
@Doofy: I'm reading the Mandelbaum translation. It seems like he is trying to keep the Terza rima form.
@Nereffid: We actually looked at some Troubadour lyrics and poems before moving to Dante. It especially makes sense with his hybrid poem/prose The New Life.
Hardly in the same league, but an interesting juxtaposition nonetheless.
My late father-in-law's copy...enjoying his copious, if at times inscrutable, notes and underscores.
Surprised to see the gaudy used prices on this book...he had the whole set, no doubt similarly annotated!
And as I often do on Valentine's Day, I read some of:
I'm not sure where I'm going next, though the pile of "Fachbücher" is rather tall.
CBOO: Rilke is my go-to when it comes to visceral, emotive poetry. Of course, he's one of the two poets I've read in the German language (the other being Heine), so I feel invested in his work.
Solid read so far, written as a journal that is loosely chronicling the main characters grip on reality and his circumstances.
btw, if there are any Good Reads members here, look me up as elwoodicious, am forever looking to add to my to-read piles.
I like to think of her as a more concise Zola.
Accurate except that omits "breasts".
Finally got through the Marx book. It was excellent, but I do so much reading during the day that a 600 page book in my free time takes awhile.
Now starting:
Craig
At Elwood; he mentioned Thomas Disch at one point; I'd never heard of him before, but was looking some stuff up based on the reference; it was interesting to see him pop up here too.