I'm very sorry to interrupt your conversation but had to say as you hadn't already read that book, I thought you should as it's brilliant. Obviously the choice is yours.
Dr Wu,
I have to be a bit careful here. I don't mean the hard line MGTOW as depicted on their websites.
I mean that Count Vronsky sets out to seduce her. and she is attracted to him. But she is married to Karenin. And has a son.
But when they finally do the deed, she turns around and tells him that he has ruined her life.
She got what she wanted, but because of her position in Russian society she became an outcast. And it led to her suicide.
So the MGTOW view would be that she trapped him. And it led to the ruin of both their lives.
I have to be a bit careful here. I don't mean the hard line MGTOW as depicted on their websites.
I mean that Count Vronsky sets out to seduce her. and she is attracted to him. But she is married to Karenin. And has a son.
But when they finally do the deed, she turns around and tells him that he has ruined her life.
She got what she wanted, but because of her position in Russian society she became an outcast. And it led to her suicide.
So the MGTOW view would be that she trapped him. And it led to the ruin of both their lives.
By the way, it was because of mentioning MGTOW that I got kicked of Alien Hub. Apparently I was trying to start a cult.
So much for free speech.
HAL.
So much for free speech.
HAL.
Not much of a fan of Russin lit...I read Crime and Punishment many years ago and that put me off those books...but I'll consider it ( it is a classic and considered one of the best written). I have read Dickens, Orwell, Henry James, Joyce, Hardy ,etc. I'm a fan of Brit lit.
I tend to like to read books with an edge...well written psychological thrillers, or complex novels with an esoteric theme. An example is The Magus by Fowles... straight ahead novel of a young Brit teacher near Greece but takes an esoteric./strange turn midway through.
I don't like all Russian literature. I like Anna Karenina, Dr. Zhivago & Anton Chekhov's short stories. I don't like War & Peace or Crime & Punishment. I like British literature too. I like the works of Austen, Bronte, Chaucer, Defoe, Dickens, Eliot & Hardy etc.
I've never tried to read thrillers.
Dr Wu,
'War and Peace', and 'Crime and Punishment' are very different from Anna Karenina.
Reading Anna Karenina is like following the intertwined lives of the characters, who are all related in some way. It really is very goo. Right from the first chapter that sets the scene.
'War and Peace', and 'Crime and Punishment' are very different from Anna Karenina.
Reading Anna Karenina is like following the intertwined lives of the characters, who are all related in some way. It really is very goo. Right from the first chapter that sets the scene.
Dr Wu,
..Were you promoting MGTOW or just wanting to start a thread on it or what?..
I'll come back to this shortly. Got to go get a pizza.
..Were you promoting MGTOW or just wanting to start a thread on it or what?..
I'll come back to this shortly. Got to go get a pizza.
I have read everyone on your list many years ago....rarely read classic lit anymore...I am into 'weird' novels and literature these days.
Being an old guy I have read many books over the last 50 years. I also read sci-fi and some magical realism and fantasy.
I read a lot of classic literature though I do read some modern literature as well as non-fiction books. I write a lot as well as reading.
Dr Wu,
What is the first book in Iain M Banks 'Culture' series ?
I am currently reading 'The Hydrogen Sonata'.
I find it is vaguely (the Culture concept) similar to Asimov's 'Foundation'.
What is the first book in Iain M Banks 'Culture' series ?
I am currently reading 'The Hydrogen Sonata'.
I find it is vaguely (the Culture concept) similar to Asimov's 'Foundation'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series
Consider Phlebas is the first......Sonata is a good one ,but I like all of them.
And I would also say that The Culture has similar themes to Foundation of an advanced civilization and it's politics.
I enjoyed the Culture books more than Foundation ,and there are more books in the Culture series. Some are cerebral while others have 'spies' and alien conflicts. I also really like the huge AI ships that essentially police The Culture.
Thanks, Wu.
I have 'Consider Phlebas' Maybe I should have re-read it before diving into 'The Hydrogen Sonata'. Also got 'Surface Detail'. Seems that ever since I complained to the library they are sending me all the Banks sci-fi.
I didn't get on too well with the Foundation series. Something a bit, I don't know, 'off', about it.
But I did like Asimov's 'Caves of Steel' trilogy.
The conversations between the AI ships is a nice touch. Not so sure about the four armed heroin though.
I have 'Consider Phlebas' Maybe I should have re-read it before diving into 'The Hydrogen Sonata'. Also got 'Surface Detail'. Seems that ever since I complained to the library they are sending me all the Banks sci-fi.
I didn't get on too well with the Foundation series. Something a bit, I don't know, 'off', about it.
But I did like Asimov's 'Caves of Steel' trilogy.
The conversations between the AI ships is a nice touch. Not so sure about the four armed heroin though.
I read them in order starting a few years back but I think they can stand alone, But usually it helps to read a 'series' in order.
I have read a good deal of sci-fi over the years..all of the well known writers as well as many others...The Culture series is one of my favorites. Banks is a very good writer and more 'literate' than other sci-fi authors (he also writes dramatic fiction...I'm getting ready to read The Crow Road).,, and that's not dissing anyone btw.
I tend to like the more 'cerebral' sci-fi'. When young I did read more action-adventure type stuff but now older I prefer the thinking stuff more.
A few I liked over the years, but there are so many....
Sci-fi:
Dune- Herbert
Neuromancer-Gibson
Ubik- PKDick
Ringworld-Niven
Childhoods End-Clarke
Solaris-Lem
Mote In Gods Eye-Pournelle
Fantasy:
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel- S Clark
Neverwhere- Gaiman
American Gods
The Little Country- De Lint
The Magicians-Grossman
Dark Tower- King
Amber Series- Zelazny
Just the tip of the iceberg,,,,
:)