Reading is good for you

[Vincent Chase]

Reading, it's something we all need to know how to do, and something that's also fun to do. You know, a good way to tell if someone can be hypnotized is if they can easily lose themselves in a book. I have to do a little bit of reading for school (I'm first year), but I like to do a lot of it in my free time, when I'm bored and have nothing to do. To me, an ideal day is spent sitting in front of the pool reading Tolstoy with beer and cigarettes at the ready. I really don't like being confined indoors to read, as I find it hard to get comfortable. I have a chair back at my house that would be perfect to read in, but the room's lighting is terrible.

My favorite types of books above all else are the long, classical reads of the 18th and 19th centuries. Authors like Goethe, Dostoyevsky, Voltaire and Tolstoy are my favorites. My favorite book of all time (so far...) has been Tolstoy's War & Peace. Some people say it's dry, but the characters really come to life in the descriptions, and I have yet to read another book in my life that has given me such sharp mental imagery. I knew after a few books of the sixteen what Peter Krilovich looked like, a big, muscular Russian with dark hair and intelligent eyes. I was aware of the use of repetition of features, so you have an idea what makes each character special. Helen's shoulders (Very tragic character, like Helen of Troy, coincidentally...), Natasha's hands, Old Prince Bolkonsky's grey hair and on and on and on. I also related the character of Peter Krilovich back to myself because of his constant questioning of a higher meaning and what constitutes a good life (a lot like Konstantin Levin, a character from a later work of Tolstoy's, Anna Karenina, another excellent read). If you can handle 1216 pages of pretty heavy dialogue, the occasional chapter dedicated to philosophy, epic battles and heady, hallucinogenic character descriptions that will set your mind on fire, then pick it up. Anna Karenina is somewhat similar, although having no focus on war or philosophy, and clocks in at a meager 812 pages. Of course you have to remember some versions have more or less pages than others.

As I said my favorite place to read is out by the pool. When I'm not at school and living at home, I live in an enchanted forest in Canada, and we have about an acre, mostly grass, but we have a pool. I like to sit out there on days when I'm not working and read while getting a sick California tan and hanging out. Sometimes I get into the pool, but only about each hour. My mom has a nice hammock that she hasn't taken to her new house, I sit in that. There's a mini fridge in the pool house, I keep it full of drinks, and a CD player should I want music. The phone stays in the house so it's ringing can go unheard. Someone in my family could die in a car accident and I wouldn't know for 6 hours on a day like that.

And of course there are some places I can't stand to read. My bed is pretty small so I don't like sitting on it. I don't like reading in Libraries, ironically enough, and I hate, hate reading in the car/on the bus. I usually start feeling woozy and get motion sickness after a few pages. In spite of this, I still read often in those first two places.

And finally, does reading make the mind quicker? Maybe not exactly in that effect, but it certainly does something good to your brain. I think really quickly after I read, for some reason. If I read 120 pages of a book the effect can last for a few days, I love it. Of course if you read too much your brain overheats because it is trying to think of too many things, which is why you can't cram before exams, or else you burn yourself out.

Discuss.

Sir JNX I know you're here!

*don't use cutesy abbreviations; spell out the word*

[Starslasher]

Yes. Reading is good four you.

But i didn't take up reading until 2 years ago. The only other reading i did after that was reading PS Magazines and MAD. All hail MAD, our leading humour magazine. Oh and i did read the Harry Potter books.

I was caught up with the Lord of the Rings buzz and decided to read the books. It was a bit hard at the begginning, but i was able to read it better as i continued. I also read the Silmarillion, a "prequel" to the LOTR. It was a very interesting book, as it was about the mythology surrounding Middle-Earth. It revolves around the Simarils, these jewels, but at the end it gets to the rings we all know about. But it's pretty much for LOTR fans.

I then read other fantasy novels. I started off with David Eddings and his Belgariad. I enjoyed it, despite the fact that about 99% of the main characters in the story had a streak of annoying and dull-witted sarcasm. Then i read the sequel, the Mallorean. About the same as the other. Then i read a different series, the Elenium and its sequel the Tamuli. I read also Regina's Song, a book that was not fantasy but a mystery novel. But it wasn't that much of one, i'm afraid. And i amd reading his new series The Dreamers, but only the first two books The Elder Gods and The Treasured One, as the third has yet to be made yet. In all of his books, the main characters are generally smarter and stronger than the antagonists, and they are very sarcastic. There's always a "Be Nice," statement in all of his books. It's like his signature words.

I then read Ian Irvine's Tale of the Mirror. It was a good read from the Aussie author. The setting cannot be truly defined from our time. What i mean is that you can't say that it takes place in the medieval times, or the industrial revolution, or whatever. And the characters get put through a lot of crap, as they are beaten, burned, slashed, frozen and even put into a cage haunted by prision ghosts after being tortured. And i hope to for the final book of the Well of Echoes series to come out.

Besides readin those fantasy novels, i also read Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa. This 900 page masterpiece is truly one of my favorie novels ever made. The characters are well defined, the situations tangle in together nicely, and there was a happy ending. Yay. The villain there, Kojiro Sasaki, is in a calibre of his own. And i hear that you can play him in Onimusha: Blade Warriors, as well was Miyamoto Musashi himself!

And I also read the "All Men are Brothers" novel, which Suikoden is based on. I needed the Stars of Destiny List to keep track of the characters, since there are that many. And i even needed to list down other characters as well. It's a 72-chaptered, 1260-paged wonder.

And i want to read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, translated.

One more series worth reading are the Tales of the Otori, a series of three books: Across of Nightingale Floor, Grass for his Pillow and Brilliance of the Moon. Just try to find it, okay?
_________________
Guardian of Greenhill & Devoted Protector of Oulan



Bork! Bork! Bork!

[Deleted User 1]

I LOVE reading. Everyone knows me as the book nerd because you can always catch me with a book. I would say it's like my reality away from reality if that makes sense. It really does take me to another place. I get so into my reading.

I also have really bad motion sickness (ie: I get nauseous riding on a swing for a couple of minutes.) But I always try to sneak some in on the bus or car at least until I feel like hurling. And I always read before I go to bed no matter how tired I am.

I have a lot of favorite books and don't really have any favorite genres. Well maybe fantasy. And romance haha :) . Oh! And I also read manga. I don't know if that counts.

I always wanted to read Musashi! It would be nice to get a backround on him. Those series you mentioned Starslasher sound interesting. I think I'll give them a try!

Enchanted forest in Canada? Haha![/b]

[Trevoke]

Books.. I have three all-time overall favorite books, ... Make that a number that I can't be bothered to count.

In the same category, the first three are : The Little Prince by Antoine de St-Exupery, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (?) and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Those three books contain more truths about life than you could imagine possible. The first two were written by aviators back when the discovery of the skies was still happening; it looks like something happened to the guys who went up there.. Because what they wrote is pure genius.
I also like other works by St-Exupery, like Night Flight but don't read it if you have a tendency to get depressed.
Paulo Coelho has a beautiful, elegant yet simple writing style, and draws you very easily in the book. If I pick up a book that he wrote, I will finish it within the day.

Other important books ... White Fang by Jack London was my favorite book for a long time. The story is absolutely fantastic. I read it several times and it never lost its magic.

In the series of books I liked and have read and that everyone should read, there are The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi - I won't go into it here; Dante's Divine Comedy, Machiavelli's The Prince, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, and the Bible.

I have read a book that depicts the story of Miyamoto Musashi; it was two parts, called "The stone and the sword", and "The perfect light". Those are my translations, as I read them in French.
I absolutely loved it.
_________________
There are weapons you cannot hold in your hand.
You can only hold them in your mind.
-- Bene Gesserit Teaching

[Marshmallow]

There's a tie for my two favorite series ever: the recently completed Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card. I especially like the descriptions of the various worlds in both series.

I've also read Outlaws of the Marsh, however I'm still not finished, and it's a very confusing read.

I also like stand alone books, one of my favorites being Neuromancer by William Gibson, and another being Battle Royale.

[Starslasher]

Heh, well, it's good to know that there are more people into books than there are at my Uni. And also into Musashi.

Do any of you enjoy Tom Clancy-ish political/spy/military/espionage books? I tried to, but it was just too boring.

Bakc when i was like 15 year old, I tried reading books of the previously mentioned genre. I started with Icon by Fredrick Forsythe. It was interesting enough in the begginning, but it didn't get exciting at the end. But it was an interesting, although unoriginal, idea for Russia to try to revive the Soviet Union.

Then there was Shadow of Steel by Dale Brown. Only good thing in there was the smut in the middle, I'll admit. It was a dirty book in hiding I tell you!

And then i tried reading Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October. It he was who started me on reading these spy bestsellers, after his name appeared in "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six", which i immensly enjoyed with my friends in the mid and late 90's. The Hunt would have probably been better in the movie, but i feared that it would be about as boring as the book was. I managed to finish it at least, which i can't say the same for Red Storm Rising. I thought i would like it, but i lost interest after reading less than 200 pages through the book. It now lies on my desk collecting dust for the past 4 or 5 years. Now, instead of Rainbow Six, i play CS.
_________________
Guardian of Greenhill & Devoted Protector of Oulan



Bork! Bork! Bork!

[Deleted User 1]

[Lunarblade]

I don't like reading so much as I do writing (I always seem to think I could do better, even when I can't! :shock: ), but some of my favorite books include:

"The Prince"
"The Art of War"
"The Odyssey"
"The Iliad"
"Gilgamesh"

etc. Mostly older stuff...I don't get much into newer fantasy novels anymore, they're too contrived....although the "A Song of Ice and Fire" and "The Prince of Nothing" series look pretty promising.
_________________

[Milan Fiori]

Go Marshy! I'm just finishing the Dark Tower series after like 3 years of reading it on and off and I must say it's one of the best series I've ever ready. As reading is concerned I spend my entire day reading because I'm a GM of a MUD game called Alliance of Heroes and play several others. And when I'm not playing I'm most likely reading a fantasy novel or playing an RPG on one of my many systems.

My favorite author is probably Terry Brook's with his Shannarah Series though Stephen King's The Dark Tower series is slowly pushing it aside. I have several friends who are writeres who haven't published anything famous yet but their stories are some of the best I've ever read, and of course me being IN the stories helps their case a little. :D Then of course there's here were reading material is abudent! I could probably make a decent writer if it wasn't for the fact that I can't seem to convey my thoughts in the words that I want so my writing always turns out far from how I imagined it and always bad, which detered me from writing at all. Heh probably why I failed Highschool English three times.
_________________
Be awed by our prowess!

[Vincent Chase]

StarSlasher Sez:

[Noot]

I enjoy reading, but I usually stick to the authors I'm familiar with. I only have to like one book to persuade me to buy that author's entire collection, hehe.

Obviously The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book. I'm reading it right now for the 21st time actually (and just finished Book III, beginning The Taming of Smeagol). I love it for various reasons, but I feel sorta upset that my own Middle-Earth in my head will forever be replaced with Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth. I've also read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion about 7 times each.

Before my friend got me turned on to fantasy, I was (and still am) a HUUUGE Michael Cricthon fan. I mean, Jurassic Park is such a fantastic book (and I think it's 10x better than the movie, as good as the movie is). His other great works include Sphere (which was a subpar movie), Timeline (the movie I refuse to watch, it just looks bad), and Prey (which will be the next movie adaptation). After I finish The Lord of the Rings I'm going to read his newest book State of Fear.

I also like R.A. Salvatore. His Demon Wars Trilogy was awesome (if a bit cliche at times) as was the Dark Elf Trilogy (about the origins of the Drow Ranger Drizzt). Lately though, he's just churning out book after book and it's becoming repetitive garbage. I'm starting to think he's a hack.

I'm also a fan of books written by comedians, particularly George Carlin (Brain Droppings, Napalm & Silly Putty, and When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops?). I read these as transition books between large novels (and also because Carlin is a flagging genius).
_________________
~~Harmonian Tenhei Star~~

It's hard to bargle naudle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.

[Marth]

*Edit: Stop trying to cause arguements*

I read the call of the wild where dogs kill each other and a Super Killer Doggy named Pike owns the World and snaps other dogs necks.
_________________
grammatically challenged; grasslands special member
I'm Special.. Styx Rules!!

[Sage]

[Axiose]

I've read a fair few books the last year. Or re-read them actually.

Philip Pullman's: His Dark Materials trilogy (Norther Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), which is such a deep and moving story which is suprisingly easy to get into. Especially if you're open minded to religious views. They're currently trying to make the movie of his books, but have cleverly decided to remove all references of God and the Church - bucnh of geniuses, to keep everyone happy, they removed the main plot of the story.

Anyway, I'm reading Brian "8-Bit Theatre" Clevinger's: Nuklear Age which is unbelieveably funny if you like his style of humour. A similar style of humour is Incompetence written by one of the writers of Red Dwarf (if any of you know it? I don't know if it ever came to the US) - Rob Grant, about a Europe in the future where it's compulsory to be an idiot. The one man detective Harry Salt is trying to find a seemingly intelligent serial killer in a Europe that has now become "The United States of Europe" and has made quite a few strange laws such as "Being arrested for selling carrots that are the wrong shade of orange".

I'm a big fan of Garth Nix's writing. Notabley his Old Kingdom saga (as you might tell from my title). Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. Two more books following on in the story are due to be released soon. Another book by Mr Nix is Shade's Children which is a very dark tale of a post-apocolyptic world where children are not allowed to live beyond 14, and are brutually cut up to be turned into "machines" by these mysterious people.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is a story of a boy with autism (cannot spell that word) who goes on a journey to discover who killed his neighbours dog. It's told from the boy's point of view and really is a interesting book to read.

I must have read Paradise Lost so many times I can't recall. I've only read Paradise Regained twice, as it never grabbed my attention or wonder as much as Paradise Lost. I'm not a relgious person, but I greatly enjoy reading books about God and the different takes for the falling from Heaven (angels) and Eden (humans). Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday and Drowned Wednesday (more to follow in the obvious pattern) are sort-of "young adult" books written by Garth Nix about the Kingdom of Heaven - fairly warped, but humorous never the less.

A short story by Aldous Huxley called Jacob's Hands is a pretty good read if you like his other works, most notabley Brave New World.

Edit: My spelling is going downhill faster than Luca's career as King...
_________________

[Axiose] [Fliktor]

[Marshmallow]

Heh, I remember wanting to read Shade's Children back in sixth grade, but I never got the chance, and then I slowly forgot about it. I think I might go and pick it up now.