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I am about to start Zadie Smith's NW. Anybody hear anything good or bad about it?
 
Just finished this
I love Joe R Lansdale.


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NCCUknow said:
I am about to start Zadie Smith's NW. Anybody hear anything good or bad about it?

She's never done too much for me. White Teeth and her book of essays had their moments. The other two books were very mediocre.

Also, I saw her read in Durham and she wasn't nearly as hot as her book cover. She looked less like a half-black Fiona Apple and more like a writer.
 
I just got Justin Cronin's new book "The Twelve" in the other day. I haven't started it, and it will take me half a year to read because I'm a painfully slow reader. Anyone here read it yet? Close to as good as "The Passage?"
 
Epilogue away from end of A Storm of Swords (3rd book in Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin, better known as A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series). Really good. High quality writing and incredible attention to detail. I've noticed some formulaic stuff, like how he starts each chapter at a point in time, then uses flashbacks to cover stuff he's skipped chronologically. He does this in almost every chapter. But my tendency to be disappointed w/ formulas doesn't really apply when it's so highbrow, so it's more an "I feel ya" thing w/ the author than disdain (like w/ stupid James Patterson).

I also noticed overuse of the word "niggardly." He never used it in the first 2 books of the series, but used it about 3 times in this book, in different chapters, w/ different characters. It's not the kind of word you forget b/c of its coincidental resemblance to THAT word. It's as if he just learned or remembered this word. I don't like that.

He writes consecutive chapters from the povs of different characters -- about 9 or so in this book -- in no discernible, regimented order that I've noticed. Something I really like w/in this format is that each character makes decisions that seem logical in isolation, but b/c of the last chapter you read or the next chapter you will read, you recognize how the decisions contribute to some overall "oh so close," "ships passing in the night" quality that is agonizing for the reader, but acceptable, too. Do this poorly and you come off like some contrived soap opera crap. Martin does it pretty brilliantly, though.
 
Dattier said:
He writes consecutive chapters from the povs of different characters -- about 9 or so in this book -- in no discernible, regimented order that I've noticed. Something I really like w/in this format is that each character makes decisions that seem logical in isolation, but b/c of the last chapter you read or the next chapter you will read, you recognize how the decisions contribute to some overall "oh so close," "ships passing in the night" quality that is agonizing for the reader, but acceptable, too. Do this poorly and you come off like some contrived soap opera crap. Martin does it pretty brilliantly, though.

If you liked that as a plot feature, you'd love Cloud Atlas if you haven't read it already.
 
Dattier said:
Epilogue away from end of A Storm of Swords (3rd book in Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin, better known as A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series). Really good. High quality writing and incredible attention to detail. I've noticed some formulaic stuff, like how he starts each chapter at a point in time, then uses flashbacks to cover stuff he's skipped chronologically. He does this in almost every chapter. But my tendency to be disappointed w/ formulas doesn't really apply when it's so highbrow, so it's more an "I feel ya" thing w/ the author than disdain (like w/ stupid James Patterson).

I also noticed overuse of the word "niggardly." He never used it in the first 2 books of the series, but used it about 3 times in this book, in different chapters, w/ different characters. It's not the kind of word you forget b/c of its coincidental resemblance to THAT word. It's as if he just learned or remembered this word. I don't like that.

He writes consecutive chapters from the povs of different characters -- about 9 or so in this book -- in no discernible, regimented order that I've noticed. Something I really like w/in this format is that each character makes decisions that seem logical in isolation, but b/c of the last chapter you read or the next chapter you will read, you recognize how the decisions contribute to some overall "oh so close," "ships passing in the night" quality that is agonizing for the reader, but acceptable, too. Do this poorly and you come off like some contrived soap opera crap. Martin does it pretty brilliantly, though.


He's certainly the best of the fantasy fiction writers, but even he falters at times. The last one or two in the series haven't been up to the standard set by the first few. I guess when it's like ten years between books, you sort of lose focus.
 
It's hard to maintain quality over great length. Reading 1Q84 still. In it's three volume form, it's 1155 pages. I am on page 950 or so. In the last 100 pages or so he's sort of gone a little adrift. Still pretty fucking good though.
 
Topher said:
JohaadDBC said:
Enders game? Worthwhile?
I love it but I read it when I was a teenager
That's what I'm worried about. I remember hearing someone on here say it was great, and then someone else told me today that if I liked Hunger Games, I'd love this. I guess hunger games is a teen book too.
 
It's a teen book in the sense that its not overly complex and centers around a child but its really good.
 
deepdarkblue said:
He's certainly the best of the fantasy fiction writers, but even he falters at times. The last one or two in the series haven't been up to the standard set by the first few. I guess when it's like ten years between books, you sort of lose focus.

The last two books were sort of a let down. They seemed to drag on, and there was little conclusions to the events that have been building up. He's going to have to absolutely cram a bunch of stuff in the next two. The conflicts that have been building up never happened, and I was annoyed by that. Also, the last two books are practically during the same time period, so reading the second book didn't advance you along the timeline. I still loved reading them.
 
'Shadowplayers' a book about Factory Records/Tony Wilson/Joy Division/New Order. A fun read about a pretty interesting music scene.
 
Dattier said:
Epilogue away from end of A Storm of Swords (3rd book in Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin, better known as A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series). Really good. High quality writing and incredible attention to detail. I've noticed some formulaic stuff, like how he starts each chapter at a point in time, then uses flashbacks to cover stuff he's skipped chronologically. He does this in almost every chapter. But my tendency to be disappointed w/ formulas doesn't really apply when it's so highbrow, so it's more an "I feel ya" thing w/ the author than disdain (like w/ stupid James Patterson).

I also noticed overuse of the word "niggardly." He never used it in the first 2 books of the series, but used it about 3 times in this book, in different chapters, w/ different characters. It's not the kind of word you forget b/c of its coincidental resemblance to THAT word. It's as if he just learned or remembered this word. I don't like that.

He writes consecutive chapters from the povs of different characters -- about 9 or so in this book -- in no discernible, regimented order that I've noticed. Something I really like w/in this format is that each character makes decisions that seem logical in isolation, but b/c of the last chapter you read or the next chapter you will read, you recognize how the decisions contribute to some overall "oh so close," "ships passing in the night" quality that is agonizing for the reader, but acceptable, too. Do this poorly and you come off like some contrived soap opera crap. Martin does it pretty brilliantly, though.

Swords is the best of the 5 books out. You will not be able to put it down. I believe I read it in something like 4 days. Get ready though because Crows slows down substantially. The last 200 pages of Crows are amazing, but everything before that can be a difficult read at times.

Dragons is similar to Crows except I hate Dany's chapters.
 
deepdarkblue said:
Dattier said:
Epilogue away from end of A Storm of Swords (3rd book in Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin, better known as A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series). Really good. High quality writing and incredible attention to detail. I've noticed some formulaic stuff, like how he starts each chapter at a point in time, then uses flashbacks to cover stuff he's skipped chronologically. He does this in almost every chapter. But my tendency to be disappointed w/ formulas doesn't really apply when it's so highbrow, so it's more an "I feel ya" thing w/ the author than disdain (like w/ stupid James Patterson).

I also noticed overuse of the word "niggardly." He never used it in the first 2 books of the series, but used it about 3 times in this book, in different chapters, w/ different characters. It's not the kind of word you forget b/c of its coincidental resemblance to THAT word. It's as if he just learned or remembered this word. I don't like that.

He writes consecutive chapters from the povs of different characters -- about 9 or so in this book -- in no discernible, regimented order that I've noticed. Something I really like w/in this format is that each character makes decisions that seem logical in isolation, but b/c of the last chapter you read or the next chapter you will read, you recognize how the decisions contribute to some overall "oh so close," "ships passing in the night" quality that is agonizing for the reader, but acceptable, too. Do this poorly and you come off like some contrived soap opera crap. Martin does it pretty brilliantly, though.


He's certainly the best of the fantasy fiction writers, but even he falters at times. The last one or two in the series haven't been up to the standard set by the first few. I guess when it's like ten years between books, you sort of lose focus.

I feel like the last 2 were a huge set up for what is to come. Both of them ended with me on the edge of my seat. Hopefully Winds of Winter is more like Kings and Swords.
 
WarDamnKC said:
Swords is the best of the 5 books out. You will not be able to put it down. I believe I read it in something like 4 days. Get ready though because Crows slows down substantially. The last 200 pages of Crows are amazing, but everything before that can be a difficult read at times.

Dragons is similar to Crows except I hate Dany's chapters.
It was really rough getting through that book in a reasonable timeframe. Like, you knew it was going to get awesome, but it kept waiting and waiting.
 
It was brutal. I don't know about you, but I love the Greyjoy/Iron Islander chapters. There is always some very important story line occurring in them.

I just wish Dany would die.
 
WarDamnKC said:
It was brutal. I don't know about you, but I love the Greyjoy/Iron Islander chapters. There is always some very important story line occurring in them.

I just wish Dany would die.
I feel like if you're going to reference a character in this series, you should use the spoiler button to say they're still alive.
On that note, I love the misery that Theon has found himself in. Fucking hate that dude, but love where the story took him.
 

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