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Old 01-15-2015, 11:24 PM   #81
Valandil
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Start of this week I picked up The Virginian, by Owen Wister. About a fourth of the way in, and I'm enjoying it.

I believe this is considered the first "Western" novel.
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Old 04-08-2015, 10:33 AM   #82
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Recently finished "The Name of the Wind" and the second book in the trilogy.

Now I'm gnawing my fingernails to nubs waiting for the next book. I can't believe it's not coming out till NO ONE EVEN KNOWS WHEN. AAAAAAAARGH.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-.../dp/0756404746

If you haven't read it, I can highly, highly recommend it. One of the best-written fantasy novels I think I've ever read, and his command of the English language is impressive... without throwing in 10 million words you've never seen before, he makes poetry out of the story. I think his writing style is incredible.
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Old 04-16-2015, 01:34 PM   #83
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WOWWWW. So I'm reading Dragon Flight from the Pern series and I have to keep reminding myself it was written in a different time with a different world in mind... the female protagonist and male protagonist are killing my modern sensibilities of what I expect for female leads.

So far there's been a lot of the female getting hysterical and the man shaking her physically till she calms down, the woman is constantly undermined and shown to be a fool by the much wiser and better man, and every time she does something brave or clever he smiles and "indulges" her... even when she discovers something totally unique and new to them, he ends up getting the credit for it by virtue of determining how to use her discovery strategically.

It was disappointing because in the beginning of the story she was a very strong, clever lead and it feels like she's lost most of her fire.

Also the sexual themes are... disturbing. He apparently hurts her the first time they have sex pretty badly, and then he's just like, "well I'm great in bed and trying to be gentle now, so I'm sure she'll come around."

Yikes. I'm enjoying the book for its good parts, but with all the PC training we go through and with all the new, strong female leads I've gotten used to experiencing in my fantasy stories... this is really something else.
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Old 10-07-2015, 02:01 PM   #84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Valandil View Post
Start of this week I picked up The Virginian, by Owen Wister. About a fourth of the way in, and I'm enjoying it.

I believe this is considered the first "Western" novel.
Only if you disallow Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales." But, admittedly, they are a totally different ethos than The Virginian and Zane Grey.

Quote:
WOWWWW. So I'm reading Dragon Flight from the Pern series and I have to keep reminding myself it was written in a different time with a different world in mind... the female protagonist and male protagonist are killing my modern sensibilities of what I expect for female leads.
]Don't worry about little Lessa. She gets her own back and then some. One of the strongest female leads in a SciFi (Anne McCaffrey's work is *not* fantasy, worse luck) that I know of. By The White Dragon she has become downright scary. Don't forget that she had been beaten and scorned while she was "undercover" at Ruatha Hold, so she starts out less than assertive.
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Old 10-07-2015, 04:41 PM   #85
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I'm re-reading CS Lewis' Till We Have Faces. An obscure little story, but really great. It had a profound influence on my thinking.
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Old 10-08-2015, 03:53 PM   #86
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Oh, I love Till We have faces! One of my best online friends used top use it as a siggy quote. You know, the one about, "Are the gods then not just?" "Oh, no, child, what would become of us if they were?"

Susie
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Old 10-10-2015, 08:59 AM   #87
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Originally Posted by Attalus View Post
Only if you disallow Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales." But, admittedly, they are a totally different ethos than The Virginian and Zane Grey.
:
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Yes - I consider "Western" to be from what is now about the western US, with "Leatherstocking Tales" (all of which I read some years back) to be more "Frontier". If that makes sense to others. Have only read one Zane Grey book, and that was way long ago!!!
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Old 11-03-2015, 04:46 PM   #88
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Ooh, if you read just one Zane Gray, let it be Riders of the Purple Sage



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“Faërie contains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons; it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted.” - JRRT. "On Faerie-Stories"
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Old 11-03-2015, 09:42 PM   #89
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I prefer Max Brand, myself, the Sackett yarns in particular.
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Old 11-05-2015, 12:12 PM   #90
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So, how come I don't see any of those in your library? I'd like to read one, see how they stack up
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Old 11-13-2015, 09:19 AM   #91
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Currently re-reading Bryony and Roses by Ursula Vernon.(It's a short e-book so it's easier to read at the moment, little time for anything else.)

I've always liked her art, but her writing is getting very good too. And the main character is a gardener of which there is rather a dearth of in stories, I find.
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Old 12-10-2015, 11:10 PM   #92
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if you count fairy books yes i have i read about good fairy and bad fairy
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Old 08-24-2018, 08:24 AM   #93
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Reading John Adams by David McCullough. Very, very good. Enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone. It raises Adams very much in my esteem. Unfortunately, it lowers some of the other characters around him. Hard to believe the shenanigans that used to go on in American politics!!!
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Old 08-25-2018, 03:16 AM   #94
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Am currently reading Peter Aykroyd's History of England III: Civil War, Barry Cunliffe's Britain Begins, the first book of three about the history of Scania, the southernmost province of Sweden and the real history of the Vikings.
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Old 09-08-2020, 05:46 PM   #95
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I have gotten myself into online book clubs. I would love to join or start an IRL one, but during the pandemic is probably not the best time to do that. I'm currently reading for September:

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: I'm loving this! I've been thinking a lot lately about purity culture and how I always thought I had to be perfect and innocent and pure like May Welland, but so far I am loving Ellen Olenska!

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: This is awesome too, it's kind of a retelling of the old story. It's modern, but it reads more like the classics like The Iliad, which also incidentally I am reading concurrently because I felt like I was missing out on context without having read it.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: I actually just started this one today so no real opinion yet. This particular club doesn't have discussion until the end of the month so I've been taking my time with it.

Last month I read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, very interesting.
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Old 06-27-2022, 11:36 AM   #96
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I'm reading fantasy this year. I have been working on writing fantasy so I'm reading a lot to kinda see what's out there (plus I like it, obvs).

Currently reading: Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

Read earlier this year:
Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
Ruin of Kings - Jenn Lyons
Fifth Seasons - N.K. Jemison
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan
Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness
Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern
A Marvelous Light - Freya Marske
Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

That's a lot when I have to type it out, hehe. There were a few I enjoyed a lot, but my favorite has got to be Assassin's Apprentice! It's the only one (and a lot of them are parts of series) that I feel driven to read the next books of, but I have been giving it a break before I dive into the next one.
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