Books!

[Pulsar_t]

Cheers dsheinem! I was going to get started on Slavoj Žižek's On Practice and Contradiction so I'll certainly be reading his extract first haha

[dsheinem]

I think next year I plan to attack this thread as aggressively as I attack the "Games Beaten" thread annually.

I used to be a voracious reader, but since my job consists of reading things all day (and since I read several books a night to my children), I do not do nearly as much recreational reading as I did when I was younger.

I am going to try to remedy that in 2015 by linking some recreational reading to my gaming. For example, I am finishing up a collection of H.P. Lovecraft's work, and I plan to follow up the book with Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox). I hope to do the somethign similar by reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged before playing through Bioshock (PS3), and I plan on reading Arthur Waley's Monkey: A Folk Novel of China before playing through several video games based on the The Journey to the West. (I am thinking Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (Wii), Enslaved (PS3), and Saint (Wii)...and, if I am still up for it, Monkey Hero (PS1), Monkey Magic (PS1), and SonSon (ARCADE).)

I, too, have found that I was a much more engaged and prolific recreational reader in the first 20 years of my life than I have been for the past 15, during which time I have had to do a lot of long reading for professional reasons. I sort of like the idea you have here with the games and the books working together, and I, too, am slowly working my way through this complete Lovecraft volume. Maybe I can catch up on the Cthulu stuff with you - when do you expect you will be finishing the book?

My advice: skip the Rand

I added one more book to my list of 2014 titles on the last page - a very solid book that I read over the past two days and that made me think a lot. For now, it has made deliberate, regular walking a new priority in my life. I strongly recommend it:

[Pulsar_t]

dsheinem I think you'll find this article interesting as well http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27186709

[dsheinem]

dsheinem I think you'll find this article interesting as well http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27186709

I did, thanks. To wit, the ideas at the end are emphasized (among others) in that book I mentioned:

Boil down the books on walking and you're left with some key tips:
-Walk further and with no fixed route
-Stop texting and mapping
-Don't soundtrack your walks
-Go alone
-Find walkable places
-Walk mindfully

Then you may get the rewards. "Being out on your own, being free and anonymous, you discover the people around you," says Solnit.

[Ack]

I hate to say that HP Lovecraft slows all of us down, but...HP Lovecraft slows all of us down. I did not finish many books at all this year, part of which was due to working my way through a Lovecraft collection as well, usually only reading a single story or poem at a time.

Eldritch Tales

That said, off the top of my head I did read a couple:

Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History by Matthew White
Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre

I also spent a significant amount of time watching films, writing, and reading articles, though I will attempt to read more books next year. Currently I'm reading Anne Applebaum's Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956.

[Opa Opa]

So far this month...

The House on the Borderland - by William Hope Hodgson

Supposedly this is one of the writers that inspired such authors as H.P. Lovecraft. If you're into weird, horror-esque stories then you'd probably like this. Although, House on the Borderland does really, really drag towards then end when one of the events is going on.

Time of Contempt - Andrzej Sapkowski

I'm really cooling on the whole 'Witcher saga'. The overarching story is basically a political struggle amongst the various kingdoms. If you want to read any of the Witcher novels, read The Last Wish and call it a day. I can't really recommend the others in the series just due to how boring it can be at times.

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Remarque

This novel follows a German soldier during World War I. The author, being a veteran of that same war, doesn't spare any details of the horrors faced in trench warfare. The characters frequently reflect upon events, asking themselves "what is the meaning of the war". Remarque really humanizes the 'other side' when the protagonist faces the enemy in combat or in prison camps. Great novel; highly recommended.

[Ack]

So far this month...

The House on the Borderland - by William Hope Hodgson

Supposedly this is one of the writers that inspired such authors as H.P. Lovecraft. If you're into weird, horror-esque stories then you'd probably like this. Although, House on the Borderland does really, really drag towards then end when one of the events is going on.

If you enjoyed this, I would suggest checking out The Boats of the "Glen Carrig," another of Hodgson's books. It has a similar archaic style but goes by a bit quicker than House on the Borderland. I haven't attempted The Night Land yet, so I couldn't tell you how it compares unfortunately.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I, too, have found that I was a much more engaged and prolific recreational reader in the first 20 years of my life than I have been for the past 15, during which time I have had to do a lot of long reading for professional reasons. I sort of like the idea you have here with the games and the books working together, and I, too, am slowly working my way through this complete Lovecraft volume. Maybe I can catch up on the Cthulu stuff with you - when do you expect you will be finishing the book?

I finished the volume last week, but it was by no means all of Lovecraft's writings. It did, however contain his most famous work (i.e., At The Mountains of Madness, The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time, among others), and I enjoyed it immensely. I am now playing through The Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (which is excellent, BTW), and I think that I appreciate the game's art direction, mechanics, plot, references, and setting much more becuase of my recent familiarity with H.P. Lovecraft's writings. (I strongly encourage anyone thinking of playing the game to read both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Shadow Out of Time.)

In any event, I am enjoying H.P. Lovecraft's work immensely at the moment, and I am more than happy to discuss it. My experience with the book and the game also has me excited to engage in more reading/video gaming cross-overs this year, and I expect that it will motivate me to do more recreational reading in 2015.

My advice: skip the Rand

Don't get me wrong. I am not a huge fan of her work. There are a lot of people who take her "objectivist" philosophy very seriously, however, and I do not feel I am wholly qualified to argue against it unless I have read Atlas Shrugged. Moreover, I have read that Bioshock is an incredibly intelligent critique of "objectivist" philosophy, and I think that reading Atlas Shrugged before playing the game will help me to appreciate it.

[dsheinem]

ah, yes. reading it before Bioshock is a good idea...missed that!

[dsheinem]

So far this month...

You read all three of those in six days? Or were they mostly started in 2014? Just curious...