Question What are you reading?

[1987VCRProductions]

I'm reading George Orwell's "1984".

---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:59 PM ----------

I'm reading George Orwell's "1984".

That, and I'm also reading "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, "Failure is Not an Option" by Gene Kranz, "Vixen 03" by Clive Cussler, and "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne. In short, I'm way behind on my reading.

 

[Spaced]

I picked up a small H.G Wells novel in a dusty little bookshop in London today. Was pleasantly surprised to find my home town as the main setting for this short science fiction story.

'Argonauts of the air', A cautionary tale to the early days of flight c.1895. It's about the maiden flight of a steam powered aeroplane launched from giant iron structures in my home town of Worcester Park. A pleasant, leafy commuter town on the borders of south-west London/Surrey. I know Wells was a resident here for a time and I was always disappointed we weren't mentioned in 'War of the Worlds', the Martians having landed just up the road. But this isn't a bad consolation.

Got ten minutes?
http://www.telelib.com/authors/W/WellsHerbertGeorge/prose/plattnerstory/argonautsair.html


(and I'm grumpy that the forum spell-checker has suggested I've misspelled aeroplane.......... there, It's done it again!)

 

[Ripley]

Cormack McCarthy's "no country for old men".

 

[Quick_Nick]

Cormack McCarthy's "no country for old men".

I chose that book for a school assignment a couple years ago. To my surprise, this is one book that ACTUALLY matches the movie 100% as far as I could tell. (it had been a while since I saw the movie, but it seemed to play out exactly the same in the same detail)

 

[Mister Mxyzptlk]

Ender's Game, Sarum, and Howard Hughes: Hell's Angel.

 

[Staiduk]

Since this is the latest in a running post, I hope it will not be considered a 'necropost'; since the topic is an open discussion of books people like to read. After all; I only logged onto this forum less than a week ago and would like to contribute.

While my main interest in reading is science fiction, in the last two years I have been getting away from that genre, and have been focusing on mystery instead. I love the works of Agatha Christie; much is made of her labyrinthine plots; of the 60 or so novels of hers I've read; I think I've only beaten her (i.e. figured out the crime) twice. But the true joy of Christie is her subtle, understated humour. She reminds me of Poe - great suspense and tension; balanced by that oh-so-English understated ironic comedy.
Lately, my most recent love is Janet Evanovich; and her hilariously inept and sexy Jersey-girl-turned-bounty hunter; Stephanie Plum. I'm currently reading her first novel; 'One For The Money'. I've read it at least a dozen times and haven't yet gotten enough.

As I come close to finishing my first mystery novel; I find myself placing my writing against the great mystery authors both past and present. I faint with embarrassment when I compare my stories to those of these magnificent writers. Kylie Wilson (my detective) often seems a shallow and 2D character compared to Holmes, Poirot or - nowadays - the delectable Plum.

Cheers!

 

[Codz]

I recently started Footfall; fantastic invasion story! By the way, it's never a necropost as long as it contributes to the topic's discussion.

 

[Izack]

As Codz said, it is no necropost if it contributes. It is nice to find a writer here; we have a group for the subject, though it is inactive. Please feel free to contribution there, as well, if you would care to.

 

[Staiduk]

it's never a necropost as long as it contributes to the topic's discussion.

(In Peter Lorre's voice) Ohh...itss not a necro? How niccccce...So nice to sssee that what iss dead can live again... Ha ha. Ha ha ha! HAHAHAHAHA!!!
(Woman screams, blood flies everywhere)
Ahh, my beauty - it ssseems they will accept you...

Ahem. Where was I?
Sorry - spent the evening watching zombie films. Hmmm.... (pushes entrails off the remote as I change channels) Maybe Oprah's on...
:thumbup:

 

[Pablo49]

House of Leaves, book one of my 50/50

 

[Will]

Ok here goes (again). The list is somewhat longer this time....

Archaeology: A very Brief Introduction
Physical Principals of the Quantum Theory
The Meaning of it All
Oxford Companion to Cosmology
Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman?
Quantum
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations
Apollo 13
17 Equations that Changed the World
The Infinity Puzzle
The Ideas of Particle Physics,
Orbital Mechanics,
Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol 1
Haynes Boeing 747 manual
Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals

I tend to try and read many books at once hence I am usually part way through loads of books instead of having finished some and reading one or two others :facepalm: :thumbup:

 

[Ghostrider]

As I come close to finishing my first mystery novel; I find myself placing my writing against the great mystery authors both past and present. I faint with embarrassment when I compare my stories to those of these magnificent writers. Kylie Wilson (my detective) often seems a shallow and 2D character compared to Holmes, Poirot or - nowadays - the delectable Plum.

Well, happens to anyone who confronts him/herself to the giants. Being humble is not a bad trait.

But don't underestimate yourself: Holmes and Poirot are themselves characters who defy believability - you can't identify with them and that's why you have Watson and Hastings. I always found Miss Marple and Father Brown more three-dimensional and believable.

What's important with a character is how believable he/she is within the context of the fictional world and much the reader will like (or dislike) him or her. You can even have completely dislikable heroes as long as they interest the reader. It's not even bad if the characters starts out shallow and then develops.

Out of curiosity, is your novel a classic whodunnit or a procedural?

 

[TMac3000]

You can even have completely dislikable heroes as long as they interest the reader. It's not even bad if the characters starts out shallow and then develops.

Very true:yes:
Solid Snake was one of the biggest good-guy buttholes in history.
Others: Master Chief, Batman, Ironman, MGS's Colonel Campbell...the dark hero is a very popular staple in all kinds of fiction. The cognitive dissonance creates an interesting challenge for the reader

 

[Gumok]

Miloš Zeman: Jak jsem se mýlil v politice (How I Was Wrong in Politics)

 

[Izack]

Very true:yes:
Solid Snake was one of the biggest good-guy buttholes in history.
Others: Master Chief, Batman, Ironman, MGS's Colonel Campbell...the dark hero is a very popular staple in all kinds of fiction. The cognitive dissonance creates an interesting challenge for the reader

It's not just dark heroes he's talking about, it's dislikeable ones. Master Chief, Batman, etc. are really likeable characters to their intended audiences: they're cool, they're quiet, they're badass. When I think of characters I hate as a person but love as a character, it's ones like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. He's not a butthole, he's a downright bastard. (Though he is badass. ) And yet he draws the reader's sympathy (well, at least mine) at least to a small extent right to the end of the story. I started that book thinking "well, I suppose for context I have to read this" and ended thinking simply: "God damn."

Bouncing to the other end of the spectrum, you have, say, a cowardly or weak character. Off the top of my head, Shinji Ikari in Evangelion (not a book, a TV series / manga / really terrible film series. He's a weak little runt who can't stand up for himself, yet (at least for some people) totally believable; too realistic for comfort in the genre, even.

:rant:

 

[Staiduk]

Out of curiosity, is your novel a classic whodunnit or a procedural?

Both. It's a classic whodunit in terms of plot and structure and a 'closed box' murder mystery at that. It takes place on a luxury liner about halfway between Earth and Mars. It's also very procedural; Wilson is a veteran police officer working undercover aboard Princess Astoria and conducts her investigation in a very rigorous, precise manner. I tried to keep away from a CSI mentality and maintain the whodunit feel but as a 20-year police investigator; Wilson has a lot of experience at her disposal - in her case; mostly in her choice of tactics when interviewing witnesses and suspects. She also has communication with her Section office, computer access and a besotted security guard to help her (though he could have a different agenda...)

Sooner or later I'm gonna have to start asking math questions about flight times, etc. but I'm not sure if I'm going to bother, other than the usual 'is this possible' questions - I want the focus to be on the mystery; not the science. :thumbup:
Cheers!

 

[TMac3000]

Bouncing to the other end of the spectrum, you have, say, a cowardly or weak character. Off the top of my head, Shinji Ikari in Evangelion (not a book, a TV series / manga / really terrible film series. He's a weak little runt who can't stand up for himself, yet (at least for some people) totally believable; too realistic for comfort in the genre, even.:rant:

I'm not sure I have such a problem with Shinji. I mean, if you had his upbringing, and had to do his job, how tough would you be?

Shinji was the wrong guy for the right job. He should have been doing payroll or taxes, like me:lol:

 

[Ghostrider]

Bouncing to the other end of the spectrum, you have, say, a cowardly or weak character. Off the top of my head, Shinji Ikari in Evangelion (not a book, a TV series / manga / really terrible film series. He's a weak little runt who can't stand up for himself, yet (at least for some people) totally believable; too realistic for comfort in the genre, even.
:rant:

Not to mention monsters like Vic Mackey from The Shield. He's a brutal, corrupt, dishonest cop who steals from pushers and murders people. He also happens to be a very loving father. His need for money is understatable, he also gets results, but he's not a likeable character by any means. It also happens that he's too believable for comfort. Kudos to Michael Chiklis for bringing such a character to life.

Then you have Gregory House (not a detective but close) whose levels of arseholiness are simply mindboggling. He also happens to be based on Sherlock Holmes, another guy who didn't care if you liked him or not.

And there are borderline cases like Rick Castle, who's also a candidate for the coveted title of His Mostly Serene Arseholiness: he's an immature man-child who barges his way into Kate Beckett's circle (I might mention that Stana Katic can arrest me whenever she wants to) by using his friendship with the mayor and forces her team to look out for him beside doing their job. Of course, he happens to be useful to the police and he's a good father when he needs to be (otherwise he has mothered by his teenage daughter) so he does have more positive qualities than negative. You still want to slap him with a rotten fish, however.

Finally you have characters who are designed to be appealing but end up being dart target materials, like the Tandy Whiz Kids. Seriously, I'd like to go all Jack Bauer on crack on Alec and Shanna. With a blowtorch and pliers.

From a writer's POV it's easy to make a character unlikeable if you try to make it likeable. You know you've got it right when the character ends up writing himself and manages to surprise even you.

 

[Graham2001]

"Runway Zero-Eight" by Arthur Hailey & John Castle.

"I'll tell you" said Baird. "It means this. Out of a total field of fifty-six our one chance of survival depends on their being a person aboard this airplane who is not only qualified to land it but who didn't have fish for dinner tonight"

Runway Zero-Eight, chaper 4 "0220-0245", pg 61

A TV script first filmed by Canadian Television (With James Doohan as the hero :thumbup: ) in 1956. Filmed as "Zero Hour" in 1957, novelized in 1958.

Cannibalised to provide plot points for "Airport'75" and finally recycled in the disaster movie parody "Flying High!" (aka Airplane!) in the 1980's.

 

[Allan]

Hello again everyone, I just finished a sci-fi book I downloaded from Amazon for .99 and immediately thought of the folks at Orbiter.

The Martian by Andy Weir

The story is mostly in journal entry form as the main character uses what materials were left behind by man and his knowledge to survive, alone, on the Red Planet. It is packed with science (chemistry, math, physics, botany, and astronomy) and some well-timed humor. Its a great story (not mine) that I thoroughly enjoyed and I know my Orbiter friends will fully appreciate.