The Book Thread - What You're Reading & Everything Book Related

[Doctor John]

Reading whilst stoned, and reading whilst not stoned...

Reading whilst stoned, and reading whilst not stoned...

I'm a bit amazed at some of the responses here...... as I find it very very difficult to read in the evening whilst stoned, and, I find I read the same paragraph ningt after ninght after night...... and still can't remember it!

Its kind of a bit better with shorter type things, such as a magazine..... but good articles are not easy to find.....

So, my night time fiction reading does not really happen.... used to love a good cyber-punk novel......... but the day is different: I've become a student, at 56, of Alcohol and Drug Studies, so there is a LOT of stuff to read, and make sense of, which rules out a toke during the process........
and of the many many books I have read during the past couple of years, there are two which I would like to recommend - as they are both well worth reading........

"The globalisation of addiction: a study in poverty of the spirit" by Bruce Alexander, and

"Saying YES: in defence of drug use" by Jacob Sullum.

If you want to understand the issues involved with licit and illicit drug use, you could not do better than read these two........ believe me.

 

[medi-useA]

I've been a bookworm all my life...there, I've said it! hehehe

Stephen Donaldson's 'Gap' series is an awesome read and worth the effort.

Anything by Timothy Zahn is also worth a look-in...I got for my B/Day recently volume 1 of a 2 volume set, the complete Ray Bradbury...6"+ thick!...now, where're my glasses?...


muA

edit->

I'm a bit amazed at some of the responses here...... as I find it very very difficult to read in the evening whilst stoned, and, I find I read the same paragraph ningt after ninght after night......

get the AudioBook 'IceStation' by Matthew Riley...you'll grow to love the 'ScareCrow'...hehehe

muA

 

[TrichyTrichy]

Che Guevara-The Motorcycle diaries

 

[Jones]

.

 

[Molson]

I truly believe that reading, and reading as much as you can, broadens your perspectives and makes you more knowledge.

I used to read while stoned, usually before I went to bed, but the next morning I'd wake up and completely forget what the 20 pages I read the night before were about. The amount of info I retained was close to zip.

Just finished up the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. In the middle of books right now. But, the next one on my list is The Omnivore's Dilemma.

 

[severian]

I've been a bookworm all my life...there, I've said it! hehehe

Stephen Donaldson's 'Gap' series is an awesome read and worth the effort.

Anything by Timothy Zahn is also worth a look-in...I got for my B/Day

muA

I love Zahn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquerors_Trilogy Conquerors Trilogy was sweet.

Anybody read Gene Wolfe?

 

[moth]

Reading is Great

 

[medi-useA]

grew up reading gene wolf...Katherine kurtz's Deryni series are also great..Severian, did you ever read the COBRA or BLACKCOLLAR books?..now they are books that would make great films!

muA

 

[LiLWaynE]

who needs stupid books, they are for petty crooks

 

[aiu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvs2g5Nj0NI

"Im sitting there eating and reading a book..."

At the moment im reading Mario Vargas Llosa's The War of the End of the World, althought i have read it before. I guess i need to try some of his other books too. Need to find my library card to get something new to read.

 

[medi-useA]

who needs stupid books, they are for petty crooks

A comment I would expect from a bored ignorant teenager, not from someone who's been an ICMag member 2 years with 2 thou posts and an ICMag Donor!

Reading is one of the things that gives the imagination exercise!
The wonderful tales of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' are enchanting and point out the follies of man with allegories based on the English White Men who still ruled india @ the time. Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan stories transported millions of young teenagers minds to other worlds and other times as did Robert Howard with his Conan and Kull stories...The Star Wars Novels of Timothy Zahn...They paved the way for the 300+ star wars novels that exist today by taking the concept of Jedi and their ethical code and the concept of a galaxy recovering from war and terror { reminds me of the COBRA series...and I first started reading that when it was first published in, I think, Analog.} and the sense of an overwelming everlooming enemy.

What about the tales of Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm? The tale of the tree little pigs...you know, 3 houses straw sticks and brick...the moral? Do it Right Do it Once!

Oh, the wonders of the mind that you never get to experience because you are too narrow minded to THINK!

Isaac Asimov wrote 300+ books...textbooks you would have used in school if you're an American!...hundreds of short stories and novels...Many of them are credited with laying a foundation for modern robotics!...He wrote a 2 volume guide to the bible...many mystery stories and novels..science text books and many STORIES! His work questioned human nature and that which separates us from beast and machine...
The scientific advances of the 20th century were predicted in the writings of Jules Verne 100 years or more from their first physical manifestation!
Leonardo Da Vinci would never have had the chance to do what he did without reading, writing and BOOKREADING!

If you were just joking, please forgive the rant...if you're not joking....


muA

 

[danny karey]

Great expectations by dickens.......... Amazing book, but I think dickens was a little messed in the head, poor pip.

I love reading, ive also been reading Freemasonary and the birth of modern science,Turning the hiram key(about the mason's), and bloodline of the holy grail, the making of the dead sea scrolls.

What got me into the masons was that my grandfather was a freemason and belonged to a masonic lodge. I know people think there all evil, and run the world...but thats very, very far from the truth.

I read sombody wrote in a thread here that the free masons were the new world order and there gonna take over the world.........That was the best laugh Ive had in awhile.

Sorry to ramble

Danny

 

[Corpsey]

i read Kurt Vonnegut's 'sirens of titan' twice this past year. Its 50 years old this year, and i still cant believe it, it reads pretty modern. And its very entertaining. check it outtt

 

[severian]

grew up reading gene wolf...Katherine kurtz's Deryni series are also great..Severian, did you ever read the COBRA or BLACKCOLLAR books?..now they are books that would make great films!

muA

Doesn't ring a bell. But I have read so many books over the years that I have definitely forgotten more than I remember.

This especially sucks when you are on page 25 and you realize it's the second time around.

When I get to 50 posts I have a cool avatar from Gene Wolf's torturer series.

 

[medi-useA]

Doesn't ring a bell. But I have read so many books over the years that I have definitely forgotten more than I remember.

This especially sucks when you are on page 25 and you realize it's the second time around.

When I get to 50 posts I have a cool avatar from Gene Wolf's torturer series.

Cobra and Blackcollar {and the sequel books} are stories that deal with the concept of the super soldier.
Cobra goes the tech route
Blackcollar goes high tech genetic and mental control techniques.

Typical of Zahn, they are well plotted and fast paced.
Some elements dealt with in the novels are things similar to 'viet. vets. syndrome'. Morality of war and actions.

C.O.B.R.A.
Computer Operated Battle Reflex Armament.
Bones reinforced with metal amalgam covering, Muscle&Ligaments Strengthened and enhanced strength with servo motors @ joints.
Anti-Armour laser in right calf, firing out of right heel.
Small spot-weld lasers in little fingers both hands...
Audio/visual communications/overlay built in
Tiny computer controlling it all is implanted in skull near base of brain and hardwired into the brain and nervous system.

Cobra follows a young man from enlistment through training and through the war...deals with the aftermath...and then with the solution worked out...


muA

 

[hippie_lettuce]

I just finished reading Thomas King's "Green Grass, Running Water" for my Native American Lit. class. Very good book, I'm glad it was required.

 

[medi-useA]

I just finished reading Thomas King's "Green Grass, Running Water" for my Native American Lit. class. Very good book, I'm glad it was required.

What's it about?...I will google/wikki it, and find out, just wanted a description and opinion...

muA

 

[LiLWaynE]

Weezer
Troublemaker lyrics

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/weezer/troublemaker.html

CHECK IT OUT BROTHER! I HAD A FEELING SOMEONE WOULD TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY...

A comment I would expect from a bored ignorant teenager, not from someone who's been an ICMag member 2 years with 2 thou posts and an ICMag Donor!

Reading is one of the things that gives the imagination exercise!
The wonderful tales of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' are enchanting and point out the follies of man with allegories based on the English White Men who still ruled india @ the time. Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan stories transported millions of young teenagers minds to other worlds and other times as did Robert Howard with his Conan and Kull stories...The Star Wars Novels of Timothy Zahn...They paved the way for the 300+ star wars novels that exist today by taking the concept of Jedi and their ethical code and the concept of a galaxy recovering from war and terror { reminds me of the COBRA series...and I first started reading that when it was first published in, I think, Analog.} and the sense of an overwelming everlooming enemy.

What about the tales of Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm? The tale of the tree little pigs...you know, 3 houses straw sticks and brick...the moral? Do it Right Do it Once!

Oh, the wonders of the mind that you never get to experience because you are too narrow minded to THINK!

Isaac Asimov wrote 300+ books...textbooks you would have used in school if you're an American!...hundreds of short stories and novels...Many of them are credited with laying a foundation for modern robotics!...He wrote a 2 volume guide to the bible...many mystery stories and novels..science text books and many STORIES! His work questioned human nature and that which separates us from beast and machine...
The scientific advances of the 20th century were predicted in the writings of Jules Verne 100 years or more from their first physical manifestation!
Leonardo Da Vinci would never have had the chance to do what he did without reading, writing and BOOKREADING!

If you were just joking, please forgive the rant...if you're not joking....


muA

pretty interesting to see how deeply you feel about books though my friend... without books, where would any of us be?

 

[B. Self Reliant]

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

This book was great. As a vet it interested me to no end and answered many questions most combat vets have. Even if you're not a combat vet, it's a great book that explains in detail the effects of training large portions of the population to go to war and kill. Everything from why certain people get PTSD and others don't to how society pays a huge price for decades after a war is over. One of the most interesting books I've ever read.

 

[TrichyTrichy]