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AndrewGaspar

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I Just Read a Book... For Pleasure

I can't remember the last time when I sat down and read through a whole book for the heck of it. On Friday, my friends and I were browsing in a Barnes and Noble next to the restaurant we were at because one of us had to wait for a parent to pick him. At B&N, books are sometimes placed on the sides of shelves just to kind of advertise them, probably to dumb asses like us who wouldn't look at the actual shelves for books. On this shelf-siding, a number of interesting books were displayed.

The most immediately important book on that shelf was The Alphabet of Manliness. One of us owned a copy of the book, and it actually is quite hilarious. The other notable book was The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, who also authored World War Z, a novel I have not yet read about an eventual zombie apocalypse. There were two copies, which my friend and I bought, mostly for the lolz. Well, yesterday morning, I started reading it. I read for extended periods of time on and off for the next two days, and, I have to say, I'm impressed. The book seemingly "accurately" describes what an ordinary citizen should do in-case of a Solanum (the virus which causes death and reanimation) outbreak. It also describes zombie physiology and past zombie outbreaks. While the entire work is obviously fiction, Max Brooks is able to turn an impossible situation into a likely disaster.

While this book may not be the most literary of novels, I have been inspired to actively read again, something I have not done since Junior High. After I post this blog, I'm off to start reading the Lord of the Rings again. You may wonder why I would possibly need to read a thousand page epic again. Frankly, when I first read them, I stumbled through them due to my lack of comprehension when I was 12 or whatever. Hopefully by now I can read them and thoroughly interpret and enjoy them.

My only regret is that I didn't play any Dead Space... Ah, well. That can wait for another day.

19 Comments

19 Comments

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BoG

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Edited By BoG
jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
I've been wanting to read that. I'm just finishing up Crime & Punishment, so that would be a good one to read next.
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jakob187

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Edited By jakob187

I've read Crime and Punishment, and it's a damn great book as well.  Karamazov just felt a bit more resonant and attaching to me.


deathfury said:
"The Necronominicon is great, its a big collection of story's written by H.P Lovecraft, its horror and suspense, but the story's are awesome."
That's kind of underselling the Necronomicon a bit, but it is technically true.  I love the people that think it's a book of real life incantations and evil!  lol  They always offer a guaranteed laugh.

Kombat said:
"AndrewGaspar said:
"jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
Sounds to Russian (and thus RED) for my tastes. ;-)

Never heard of those, though. Maybe I'll eventually get around to them."
World War Z is way, way better than the Zombie Survival Guide.  Make sure you read it as well."
Karamazov isn't a Red book.  It's classic literature that should be essential reading for everyone.  As for World War Z, I've been wanting to read it, but I never get around to doing it.  They are finally making a movie of it, but I'm not sure how I feel about the handling of it.  I mean, the concept art so far looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but Marc Forster (the dood that did Quantum of Solace and Finding Neverland) is directing.  =  /  Both of those movies are only okay, and from what I'm to understand, World War Z is a pretty damn amazing book...so it seems like a bad combo.
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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

Well, I can't wait to get to that part, lol. Don't tell what happens! 

That scene was very Sin City-esque right? The shadow and the blood....I didn't realize it was Snyder's film. By the way, I thought 300 was "meh" so this comes as a big surprise that Snyder is capable of making a great comic book film. On par or better than Sin City in my opinion.

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AndrewGaspar

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Edited By AndrewGaspar
RHCPfan24 said:
"Well, I haven't had time to read the book beforehand, but I did read the first chapter and immediately noted the similarities. It is great. The movie does it justice, from my judgment at least. "
Agreed. I didn't like some of the changes they made...

*SPOILER*

I didn't like how they had Rorschach send the meat cleaver into that dude's head. Way different from the comic book.
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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

Well, I haven't had time to read the book beforehand, but I did read the first chapter and immediately noted the similarities. It is great. The movie does it justice, from my judgment at least.

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AndrewGaspar

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Edited By AndrewGaspar
RHCPfan24 said:
"I'm reading Watchmen. Yeah, I am original, I know. Well, I just got back from the movie and I thought it was fucking amazing so now maybe I should read it and appreciate it even more, right? So far, it is a great book, or graphic novel, whatever you want to call it."
Wrong order, dude. ;-) I read the Watchmen about a month ago. I didn't even think about the fact that the movie was coming out. My friend just recommended it.
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Edited By RHCPfan24

I'm reading Watchmen. Yeah, I am original, I know. Well, I just got back from the movie and I thought it was fucking amazing so now maybe I should read it and appreciate it even more, right? So far, it is a great book, or graphic novel, whatever you want to call it.

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AndrewGaspar

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Edited By AndrewGaspar

I read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for an independent reading assignment for school and it really hit hard. It just made you realize where we're headed as a society.

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Gizmo

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Edited By Gizmo

I'm reading Duma Key at the moment, kinda makes me wish Stephen King would co-write an episode of Lost.

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Optiow

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Edited By Optiow

You need to read more often.
I suggest the authers Simon Scarrow and Bernard cornwell, their books are a good read and very bloody and violent, the way i like them.

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Edited By Pibo47
jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
You should read crime and punishment. THAT is a good book.
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zitosilva

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Edited By zitosilva
jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
Oh yeah, Jakob speaks undeniable truths!
But I'd take Crime and Punishment over Brothers Karamazov any day.
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joey

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Edited By joey

Another good book is "How to survive a robot uprising"

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the8bitNacho

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Edited By the8bitNacho
AndrewGaspar said:
"jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
Sounds to Russian (and thus RED) for my tastes. ;-)

Never heard of those, though. Maybe I'll eventually get around to them."
World War Z is way, way better than the Zombie Survival Guide.  Make sure you read it as well.
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deathfury

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Edited By deathfury

The Necronominicon is great, its a big collection of story's written by H.P Lovecraft, its horror and suspense, but the story's are awesome.

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AndrewGaspar

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Edited By AndrewGaspar
jakob187 said:
"I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.
Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
"
Sounds too Russian (and thus RED) for my tastes. ;-)

Never heard of those, though. Maybe I'll eventually get around to them.
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jakob187

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Edited By jakob187

I would suggest that you read The Brothers Karamazov.  THAT is an amazing book, sir.  Plus, if you can read that, then you can read just about anything.

Except Palahniuk's "Rant".  That's a tough fucking book to follow.  Written very oddly.
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deactivated-61665c8292280

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I got to meet Max Brooks once.  He was heading to Chicago and stopped in my Barnes and Noble (at which I'm a manager) for coffee.  It was pretty awesome. 

You should read World War Z.  It blows the Survival Guide out of the water.

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AndrewGaspar

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Edited By AndrewGaspar

I can't remember the last time when I sat down and read through a whole book for the heck of it. On Friday, my friends and I were browsing in a Barnes and Noble next to the restaurant we were at because one of us had to wait for a parent to pick him. At B&N, books are sometimes placed on the sides of shelves just to kind of advertise them, probably to dumb asses like us who wouldn't look at the actual shelves for books. On this shelf-siding, a number of interesting books were displayed.

The most immediately important book on that shelf was The Alphabet of Manliness. One of us owned a copy of the book, and it actually is quite hilarious. The other notable book was The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, who also authored World War Z, a novel I have not yet read about an eventual zombie apocalypse. There were two copies, which my friend and I bought, mostly for the lolz. Well, yesterday morning, I started reading it. I read for extended periods of time on and off for the next two days, and, I have to say, I'm impressed. The book seemingly "accurately" describes what an ordinary citizen should do in-case of a Solanum (the virus which causes death and reanimation) outbreak. It also describes zombie physiology and past zombie outbreaks. While the entire work is obviously fiction, Max Brooks is able to turn an impossible situation into a likely disaster.

While this book may not be the most literary of novels, I have been inspired to actively read again, something I have not done since Junior High. After I post this blog, I'm off to start reading the Lord of the Rings again. You may wonder why I would possibly need to read a thousand page epic again. Frankly, when I first read them, I stumbled through them due to my lack of comprehension when I was 12 or whatever. Hopefully by now I can read them and thoroughly interpret and enjoy them.

My only regret is that I didn't play any Dead Space... Ah, well. That can wait for another day.