What was the last book you read?

[Charha]

...I was reading on a train when I got to a part about colonoscopy that went wrong causing some kid's bowel to be punctured in twelve places (it was just mentioned, not in detail or anything). I started feeling physically sick, got the cold sweat, dizziness, nausea, and everything. I had to stumble and bumble to the train's toilet to hurl. That was great and not embarrasing at all, thanks Ben! I used to get the same kind of sensations during some of the health classes at school so I think there's something profoundly wrong with me. I probably wouldn't make a very good doctor, at least.

Thanks for the warning! I love books about morbid stuff like germs and mutations, but I'm a serious hypochondriac. I always diagnose myself with some new exotic disease when I read about them in a book or in the internet. Also, as a kid I used to read these dusty old books on medicine and diseases that had grainy black and white pictures of children with rickets and polio and all sorts of tumors they hardly knew how to deal with back in the 40s. I always had to wash my hands afterwards, thinking I might actually catch something from the images... :B

[Mox]

...I was reading on a train when I got to a part about colonoscopy that went wrong causing some kid's bowel to be punctured in twelve places (it was just mentioned, not in detail or anything). I started feeling physically sick, got the cold sweat, dizziness, nausea, and everything. I had to stumble and bumble to the train's toilet to hurl. That was great and not embarrasing at all, thanks Ben! I used to get the same kind of sensations during some of the health classes at school so I think there's something profoundly wrong with me. I probably wouldn't make a very good doctor, at least.

Thanks for the warning! I love books about morbid stuff like germs and mutations, but I'm a serious hypochondriac. I always diagnose myself with some new exotic disease when I read about them in a book or in the internet. Also, as a kid I used to read these dusty old books on medicine and diseases that had grainy black and white pictures of children with rickets and polio and all sorts of tumors they hardly knew how to deal with back in the 40s. I always had to wash my hands afterwards, thinking I might actually catch something from the images... :B

Try Frank Schatzings "the swarm", absolutely loved that book

[Boern]

Read a classic they said. It will be fun they said. So I did. I read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

The story is based in Colonised Africa where Marlow, our protagonist, signs up as a river-steamboat captain for an ivory trading company. He gets a task to steamboat himself, a few pilgrims, and a bunch of cannibals (his trusty crew) up the Congo river to the Inner Station which is handled by a man called Mr. Kurtz. Marlow starts hearing amazing things about this Mr. Kurtz. Stories of his speeches and intelligence reach almost godlike heights. As a reader, I was starting to get really HYPED to meet this character. This teasing went on most of the book, too. So, up the river we go and people die and things happen but finally we get to meet Mr. Kurtz! Oh, the book is almost over but surely he still has some really amazing and enlightening things to say, right right? WRONG! He's being a silly old man for a while and then he dies of illness without saying a single coherent thing. Shit! Talk about anti-climax. Somehow Marlow is still greatly impressed and seems to be convinced of Kurtz's greatness. Why? Some readers seem to think that the two of them had some super significant conversations which aren't mentioned in the book at all. 'Kay, I guess I'll just roll with that... I must say, I didn't mind the ending of the story though.

It's one of those books which are a bit overly symbolic for my poor noggin. There appears to be this subplot of Mr. Kurtz first being a pure minded idealist when he arrives to Africa, but then realising his powers over the locals, who consider him a god, he starts exploiting them and stealing their ivory to raise his status within the trading company. A journey to his Heart of Darkness, dun dun dunn! Well, it's only vaguely hinted at so maybe that's not it at all. Damn if I know! I still liked reading it, though. I had the Finnish translation of the book and it was full of neat metaphors which didn't really make sense at all, but then again, kind of did. It was like reading a good hundred page long poem. There is has some barbarian versus civilized society themes going on too which are always nice and controversial.

"The horror! The horror!" Indeed.

[Ares]

Oh gosh, I've been wanting to read that forever. Thanks for the heads up / review.

[Andoriel]

I have recently read heart of darkness, mostly because i was forced to. I generally don't like books with no solutions. I think the main point behind heart of darkness was that humans consist of layers and those layers are made out of our life experiences(how the world effects us). When you peal away those layers, there is nothing inside and we are hollow.
Currently reading the "book thief". Honestly I thought it was going to be another "number of the starts" where someone is victimized by the nazis because of her [insert ethnicity]. Didn't turned out that way, the main characters family was prosecuted because they were communist even before Nazis went after jews . The whole book is written from Deaths narrative so that also adds some flavor to it.

[Ricardus]

I have been reading/following the recent Tekstone takeover attempt, and to be honest, is turning out to be worse than a stupid mexican novell... lol Hoorayyyy

[TrevorTeragrim]

Hoi! That was rather harsh about those Tekstone fellows, but surely that's just you teasing playfully! Right?

Anywhooo, last book I read was The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. Boy, that guy sure can throw some villains you love to hate at you. Couldn't put it down. Really reminds you that there isn't a single person that's truly "good" or "evil". That we've all done bad or heartless things, intentionally or no.

Durzo Blint, or one of his many other names. What a person. Kind yet ruthless. Demented but also capable beautiful acts of mercy. I'm not good at reviewing books, but the characters- no, people in this book are fully dysfunctional individuals. You understand their motivations, whether simple or convoluted. A wonderful fantasy world that just makes the air about you feel dirty as you imagine its realistically cruel world.

[Boern]

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: The "Good Parts" Version Abridged by William Goldman.

Absolutely loved it. It has everything that an over the top adventure story should have: A silly, overly complicated, larger than life love affair (why can't love ever be simple?), dashing heroes, moustache twirlingly evil villains, epiicchh dueeels, revenge, a damsel who never ceases to be in distress, monsters and torture! ...all wrapped up in a hilarious satiric package. The story has so many twists and turns which would have made me groan in pain had they been in some other book, but they're just perfectly crazy to fit in The Princess Bride. One might say that twists are... wait for it... inconceivable. Yeah, I went there.

I love me some laconic wittiness and there is an abundance of that. There's also this other aspect of the book that had me quite confused for a while and made me feel quite stupid (more than usual) after realising what was going in. Love it when that happens. So, if you like adventures and fun, go grab this book NOW. I heard the movie is alright too but I haven't seen it. I'm not old, you see.

[Mox]

Saw that movie, loved it.
ill go read the book soon

[Mike]

Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babington Macaulay (as made famous by Tom Cruise in Oblivion)

Horatius conveys more heroism in its few pages then all of David Gemmell's fantasy novels, and I consider him to be a master of the art. Powerful stuff.

Virginia is a poem that was captured in prose by Steven Saylor in his epic Roma. I can't decide which is better.