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    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2011
    I've not read it but it has been highly recommended to me. 70 pages mean nothing Thor, it can take a while to really get into someone elses style.
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2011
    Cornell Woolrich's "Night and Fear" is a collection of his short stories. He was one of the better noir fiction writers of all time. Highly recommend his material.
    Tom
    listen to more classical music!
  1. Started reading "The Biggest Twitch" which documents Alan Davies and Ruth Miller's year long attempt to beat the world record for the number of species of bird seen in 12 months.

    Leaving their jobs and selling their house to fund the project they spent the year travelling around the world, using local knowledge to break the record with over 4,000 species seen.

    Alan and Ruth were our guides a few weeks back when we went birding across North Wales.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 15th 2011
    How much time do they have left Alan?
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
  2. Obviously I didn't explain myself clearly enough! The completed the trip a year or two back. And they broke the record by some significant margin.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    • CommentAuthorTimmer
    • CommentTimeJul 15th 2011
    I wonder which country yielded the most species? As a concentrated smaller country I'd be willing to bet on Costa Rica!?
    On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt
  3. Timmer wrote
    I wonder which country yielded the most species? As a concentrated smaller country I'd be willing to bet on Costa Rica!?

    I'll let you know when I've read through it.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeJul 15th 2011
    Timmer wrote
    I wonder which country yielded the most species? As a concentrated smaller country I'd be willing to bet on Costa Rica!?


    I'll second that guess.
    Costa Rica has the most diverse biosphere in the world!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeJul 17th 2011
    More noir this time by Jim Thompson in a book called The Killer Inside Me. Thompson is best known for his novel to a film called The Getaway.
    Tom
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeAug 13th 2011
    Took me a month, but I finished Conn Igulden's 500+ pages of THE TREES OF THE HILL. It was okay, but a little repetitative in that it was basically one bloody battle after the other. This was the third in his trilogy on Genghis Khan, and I'm not too sure I'm gonna visit his previous two. I might check out his books on the Roman empire, though. As the back of the book says, it really feels like a Hollywood epic is unfolding in front of your eyes, down to very filmic conventions.

    I'm continuing the journey on my own bookshelf. Next up is J.D. Salinger's classic THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. I read this about 14 years ago, but thought I'd revisit it now. I remember liking it then, in all its whimsical language (written almost stream-of-consciousness in the style of a teenager). Is there a film adaptation of this? I'd like to check it out after I've read it.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeAug 31st 2011
    Just finished CATCHER IN THE RYE for a second time, and it's still as great as I remembered it to be. It's whimsical, of course (to depict the mind of a teenager just before a mental breakdown) but it never loses you in all its stream-of-consciousness. You want to read on and on.

    It's also very filmical, in a sense. I can see it play out in front of my inner eye. It's a shame it can never be adapted, though, because in the hands of some capable film artist, it could be great. Of course, in the hands of someone less, it could be a disaster.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorStavroula
    • CommentTimeAug 31st 2011 edited
    Thor wrote

    It's also very filmical, in a sense. I can see it play out in front of my inner eye. It's a shame it can never be adapted, though, because in the hands of some capable film artist, it could be great. Of course, in the hands of someone less, it could be a disaster.


    Funny you should mentioned the filmical sense of the book. These were the exact words my modern literature unicersity prof had used when we worked on the book. I loved it exactly for that. because I was able to "see"it so clearly in my mind's eye.
    Whatever you gaze rests on,do not use your vision, but the eyes of your soul...She knows better...
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeSep 1st 2011 edited
    Moving along my book shelf, there aren't many more fiction books I haven't read by now. Before I start delving into my non-fiction literature from the days of studies, I think I want to revisit George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM again. I read it last while in high school, which is quite a few years ago.

    I usually hate anthropomorphization of animals in feature films, but literature is more feasible, I guess. Plus, it's all meant to be a political parable anyway.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeSep 1st 2011
    I just picked up a new Cussler book called Dark Kingdom
    Tom
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeSep 7th 2011 edited
    That was relatively quick. Finished ANIMAL FARM. It's such a sad story, and you really root for animals like Benjamin or Boxer to save the day. But it's not very engrossing, prose-wise. It's told pretty straightforward (like a fairy tale, which of course is intended), and doesn't leave much room for descriptions and character depth. But then it's all political satire anyway, and you spend most of the time thinking what kind of reference to communism (or other revolutions gone wrong) the plot points are referring to.

    From what I understand, there are two film adaptations -- one animated with a great score by Richard Harvey and one live action Hallmark film. The ending is so downbeat, I'm not sure I want to check them out.

    Moving along my bookshelf, the next is Tennessee Williams' THE GLASS MENAGERIE. I read this when I studied English back in 1997, but haven't returned to it since. I'll see if it holds up.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeSep 7th 2011
    Still reading Perry Mason
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    Already finished THE GLASS MENAGERIE. It's an excellent play (and the film adaptation ain't shabby either) with tons of Williams nerve throughout.

    Now venturing into my non-fiction material.

    First out is INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS (a Norwegian book), which was the curriculum of a university course I had to take in 1996 in order to study English afterwards. It's almost 400 pages, so it will take me a while - exploring everything from morphology, grammar, phonetics or sociocultural aspects. But I've always been interested in languages, and it's somehow more rewarding to "refresh my knowledge" now when it's not on any obligatory curriculum. It's not as boring as it probably sounds.

    I have a hundred years of education, and I should really do some periodical maintenance to keep all those years worthwhile.
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    Thor wrote
    Already finished THE GLASS MENAGERIE. It's an excellent play (and the film adaptation ain't shabby either) with tons of Williams nerve throughout.

    Now venturing into my non-fiction material.

    First out is INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS (a Norwegian book), which was the curriculum of a university course I had to take in 1996 in order to study English afterwards. It's almost 400 pages, so it will take me a while - exploring everything from morphology, grammar, phonetics or sociocultural aspects. But I've always been interested in languages, and it's somehow more rewarding to "refresh my knowledge" now when it's not on any obligatory curriculum. It's not as boring as it probably sounds.

    How do you feel about the readers from Amazon etc

    I have a hundred years of education, and I should really do some periodical maintenance to keep all those years worthwhile.
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    sdtom wrote
    How do you feel about the readers from Amazon etc


    I'm not quite sure what you mean by that? Are you talking about the user reviews?
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    I'm talking about the reader you can buy that allows downloads of material.
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    sdtom wrote
    I'm talking about the reader you can buy that allows downloads of material.


    Ah. Kindle or something, isn't that the name of it?

    No, I haven't tried that. I still prefer good, ol' fashioned, physical books with pages! smile
    I am extremely serious.
  4. Yeah, the name is Kindle.

    I should get something like that, because that's the only way to allow me to read some old books I can't borrow from the library. Dealing with the 17th century makes me need to read publications from before World War I even.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    For purposes like those, eReaders can carry a great benefit (especially the B/W readers like Kindle).
    For any other purposes I would not recommend eReaders per se.

    My iPad, while eminently suitable to reading comics, is far less effective as a book reader, yielding a headache after about two-three hours of reading. Clearly resolutions need to improve even more drastically still before colour eReaders will be able to properly replace the written page.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorsdtom
    • CommentTimeSep 9th 2011
    I tried the Kindle and returned it. Too old fashion I guess as I prefer turning the pages
    listen to more classical music!
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011 edited
    Took me a month, but finished INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS. Some parts are quite interesting -- sociolinguistics, diachronic linguistics and certain parts of phonetics (esp. the way you vocalize). But morphology is bad, and syntax is pure horror! I was definitely haunted by ghosts of the past as I read it, from a time I had to memorize the gazillion terms.

    Now I'm off to the far more riveting UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH GRAMMAR, PART 1! smile
    I am extremely serious.
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      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011
    Thor wrote
    ...and syntax is pure horror!...


    I think for those who's primary language is not English, syntax is a bitch. Then again I find non-English syntax very confusing - I'm the worse linguist on this planet.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011
    Teach you, I will! Yes, yes!
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorSteven
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011
    Okay, apart from you.
    You're the Ming The Merciless of language.
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      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011
    I like to play with things a while.
    Before illiteration.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
  5. Recently found out my favorite author, Vince Flynn, had to delay his new book from November 1st to sometime next February because his stage III metastatic prostate cancer has worsened. Sad news...he is only in his 40s:

    www.vinceflynn.com/Vince_Statement.html


    He is quite the success story being he is dyslexic and had to self-publish his first novel. Don't know if anyone else really knows who he is, but he is popular around here being he is from Minnesota. There are plans to make some of his books into movies. I believe CBS films has the rights and it sounds like possibly Edward Zwick may direct one. Don't know who would score it then. Zimmer? Horner?

    I've also been reading a lot of Brad Thor (he is similar to Vince Flynn as he writes political/spy thrillers). He is a lot more outspoken poiltcally, which could turn some people off.