What are you currently reading?

Started by facehugger, April 07, 2007, 12:36:10 AM

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Harvested Sorrow

Quote from: jwinter on June 11, 2007, 12:36:50 PM
Been reading a lot with eReader for my Palm Tungsten E2.  There's nothing quite so amusing as reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on a small, digital, hand-held device -- now if I could just find a "Don't Panic" sticker... ;D

Besides that, I've recently been perusing Don Quixote, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, and Christopher Hitchens' God is not Great, all on the Palm.  I've always been curious about ebooks, and I have to say that it's a nifty concept.  The screen is nice and clear, customizable fonts & colors, provides it's own light, easy to use, and I can carry 1,000 books in my shirt pocket.  It's even got a built-in dictionary, so I can click on a word and look it up.  I've had it almost 2 months, and the "geek's latest toy" fascination still hasn't worn off -- this one's a keeper, I think.  And it plays solitaire too. 

That Palm Tungsten sounds pretty interesting.  Does it hold that many (roughly) books without an add-on to provide it with more memory?

bwv 1080

Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2007, 12:09:11 PM
Well, Steve, you might just as well ask how a publication could be "informal talks" . . . .

I have meditated on that and gained enlightenment (or maybe it was just a headache)

Does Dharma Bums qualify as a Zen book?  That one is good (or at least my wife sez so)

маразм1

Bukowski--what a pervert. 

My favorite is his poem about sleeping with an old lady who had a "nice and young ass".  And then they fell asleep and "she slept without taking out her teeth"  Great!!


Scriptavolant

Daniel Dennett's, Breaking the spell.

jwinter

Quote from: Harvested Sorrow on June 11, 2007, 01:03:12 PM
That Palm Tungsten sounds pretty interesting.  Does it hold that many (roughly) books without an add-on to provide it with more memory?

It has a slot for a SD card, like they use in digital cameras, etc.  The hard drive itself is only about 35 MB (it only needs to hold my calendar and some basic palm software, so it's not even 1/2 full on mine), but my SD card is 1 GB (cost around $20).  You can swap the cards in and out very easily, so I have one just for photos, one for MP3s (it comes with RealPlayer), one for books & games, etc. (one random warning, I tried a 2GB SD card, and it wouldn't read it, so apparently 1GB is as high as it'll go -- which is still ridiculously huge for palm software).  The 1,000 books estimate is actually kinda low -- most books in PDB format are maybe 150 - 300 kb, to get to even 1 MB you need pictures or something huge like Gibbon or Shakespeare's complete works.  The biggest book I've ever seen is my Webster's 2nd International unabridged dictionary (the really hackin' huge one) which is 37 MB and that's with search software & whatnot.  Project Gutenburg has enough free text files to keep me amused for eons. 

Anyhoo, I've been quite pleased with mine -- well worth checking out if you're in the market for a new PDA ;D
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

sidoze

finally about to start Laszlo Krasznahorkai's The Melancholy of Resistance. This is the book on which Bela Tarr based Werckmeister Harmonies. 314 pages without a single paragraph that I can see and sentences that run on and on and on. Looks like he's trying to outdo Marquez.


Haffner

Arnold Schoenberg's Journey (Allen Shawn)


I have a feeling that Dminor would really like this book.

George

Quote from: Haffner on June 13, 2007, 08:23:05 AM
Arnold Schoenberg's Journey (Allen Shawn)


I have a feeling that Dminor would really like this book.

I have that one. I haven't cracked it open yet.  :-\

dtwilbanks

SUMMER OF NIGHT by Dan Simmons. A coming-of-age horror novel.

WEIRDMONGER by DF Lewis. A collection of this British author's strange, little stories.

Various trade paperbacks of superhero comics.

Haffner

Quote from: George on June 13, 2007, 09:03:39 AM
I have that one. I haven't cracked it open yet.  :-\





I can tell that it's not exactly much of a "beach book". But that's perfect for me! I was completely floored by "Pierrot Lunaire" this week, and I guess there's some really good writing on that subject in this book.

George, did you ever check out the Charles Rosen book, "Arnold Schoenberg"? If this current Schoenberg book I'm reading is anywhere near as good as that one, I'm in for a great time!

George

Quote from: Haffner on June 13, 2007, 09:13:43 AM
I can tell that it's not exactly much of a "beach book". But that's perfect for me! I was completely floored by "Pierrot Lunaire" this week, and I guess there's some really good writing on that subject in this book.

George, did you ever check out the Charles Rosen book, "Arnold Schoenberg"? If this current Schoenberg book I'm reading is anywhere near as good as that one, I'm in for a great time!

No I haven't read the Rosen book, though I almost bought his late sonatas last night.

Kullervo

Alban Berg by Willi Reich

A fascinating portrait of Berg the man and the composer. The personal letters by Berg are especially interesting.

Mozart

#292
I'm reading Albert Camus' The Stranger. I read it 3 years ago in school but didn't pay much attention to it. The character is really interesting. His girlfriend asks him if he loves her and he says the question is irrevelant, and he supposes that he doesn't. Haha I loved it!

Scriptavolant

Edgar Allan Poe's complete poems:

But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight,
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud;
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained.

Bonehelm

Neither here nor there: travels in Europe - Bill Bryson.

It's hilarious how he disses Europeans.

Kullervo

Quote from: Scriptavolant on June 18, 2007, 05:54:57 PM
Edgar Allan Poe's complete poems:

But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight,
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud;
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained.


I love Poe. I even love his early short stories, despite their occasionally flatulent prose and arcane references.

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Scriptavolant

Quote from: Kullervo on June 18, 2007, 10:11:03 PM
I love Poe. I even love his early short stories, despite their occasionally flatulent prose and arcane references.

I appreciate the way he depictes and create such mysterious and uncanny landscapes. His landscapes portraits, in some of his poems, are higly visionary and primordially mournful.

Haffner

Quote from: Scriptavolant on June 19, 2007, 09:39:29 AM
I appreciate the way he depictes and create such mysterious and uncanny landscapes. His landscapes portraits, in some of his poems, are higly visionary and primordially mournful.




I agree, though it's easy for me to agree with anyone whom has such a cool "Shining" avatar, Scriptavolant


(Vote Jack for King!)

karlhenning

Quote from: Arthur, King of the BritonsYou don't vote for kings.