What are you reading at the moment?

Twisted, you have to watch out with reading. It can suck you in, and before you know it, you are addicted.

I had a roomate that never read and acted very proud of the fact. Then he got interested in Chinese mythology. For about a month he was reading stories off the internet in just about all of his free time. Boy, we teased him about that.

Right now I am reading an older series I read when I was little called the Earthsea trilogy. It's fantasy, but it brings back memories.
 
Yeah, it's weird. I never read before. Well, only for school but that was mandatory and i mostly bluffed my way through that as well.

I always thought reading was a waste of time and an activity that was too passive. I would rather create something new myself.
But now i'm finding out how wrong i was. It's actually very inspiring to read and i think it even influences my general behavior.
 
You and me both Twisted.

I only read Stephen King or fantasy novels throughout school.
I graduate college and find myself reading almost all my old course work material, ahem ... related to Japan that is, and classic novels I should've read in high school.

I managed a Dickens novel .... ugh ... I'm glad I didn't read it in high school. What boring trudgery!

Although, last year I had a blast with some Russian authors! War and Peace was absolutely fantastic and friggin long too!

@ bluff
In the use we had Cliff Notes (a summarized version normally for course work) back in the days before the internet.

@ age
My mother used to let me read comics all day. And then one day I was reading "Pet Cemetary", by Stephen King.

I guess it's an age thing. You come across reading on your own, no teacher, or the matter of fact, anybody will get you to read. You pick up a book one day and years later realize that you were a fool for not doing so sooner.
 
What really got me hooked on reading was my fifth grade teacher reading the Chronicles of Narnia out loud in class to us durring lunch. I have read all the time since then. Its like a little vacation that lets you get away for a while!
 
I've just started to read Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights", once again. I love these spooky Yorkshire moors.
 
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A wonderful series that I enjoyed very much and had some impact on my relgious thinking patterns. haha, I borrowed them from the church!
 
National Geographic Magazine. It's my favorite! The articles are well-written, and I just love the pictures...those photographers must be spider-man of some sort in order to take them.
 
well im reading don quixote, congo and samurai deeper kyo v2 nearly finished with congo and have about 12 chapters left in don quixote. manga books usually only take a day to read. another book i really like is romance of the three kingdoms, very detailed and long. its weird that playing a video game (dynasty warriors) got me to read a 2300+ page novel.
 
I'm currently making my way through William Gibson's Neuromancer.
 
I'm reading one of my most loved books once again (i read it about 2 to 3 years last times). Its called "sテ、mtliche erzテ、hungen" by Jorge Luis Borges. which means "collected short stories".

Borges (1899-1986) was an argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer, whose tales of fantasy and dreamworlds are classics of 20th-century world literature.

His stories are so awesome, the way he writes and describes. He shifts from fantasy to historical topics, mixes them up with surrealistic themes and poetry.

here are two quotes, so you have a tiny glimpse at his writing style:

"Almost instantly, I understood: 'The garden of forking paths' was the chaotic novel; the phrase 'the various futures (not to all)' suggested to me the forking in time, not in space. A broad rereading of the work confirmed the theory. In all fictional works, each time a man is confronted with several alternatives, he chooses one and eliminates the others; in the fiction of Ts'ui Pテェn, he chooses - simultaneously - all of them. In this way, he creates diverse futures, diverse time which themselves also proliferate and fork." (from 'The Garden of Forking Paths')

"A librarian wearing dark glasses asked him: 'What are you looking for?' Hladik answered: 'I am looking for God.' The librarian said to him: 'God is in one of the letters on one of the pages of one of the four hundred thousand volumes of the Clementine. My fathers and the fathers of my fathers have searched for this letter; I have grown blind seeking it.'" (from 'The Secret Miracle')
 
well... i'm doing my honours degree in Japanese Studies right now so i have piles of readings to go through every week for discussions during tutorials. Aside from that, i'm reading "The Japanese Experience" by Hatje Cantz... (featuring works by contemporary artists like Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara) as well as "The Rebel" by Albert Camus...
 
The current issue of the National Geographic Magazine features slavery in the 21st century. A very interesting, eye-opening article with shocking information. I'm inspired to work in the United Nations once I graduate; I want to save the world. Hunger and Slavery the two issues I hope to work on when I join the organization. The recent bombing in Iraq did not shaken my determination to save the world. On the contrary, I'm more excited to fulfil my life-long dream. And yes, I do see myself being blasted into pieces and possibly stuck in that rubble many years later.
 
Up to my ears in books about European Security. I dont think any normal person would think "Enhanced Cooperation in Article 26 and the Treaty of Nice" or reading about the "German French Codeclaration of December 1st 1998" in french would is very intersting. Im writing a manuscript to be published so all I see is European, All I hear is European and all I write is european as well.

I also indulging in some Grahme Greene to keep me sane.
 
Textbooks. Plain and simple. Many of which i'm pretty sure most of you would find quite boring. I get assigned readings of 300 pages + per week so needless to say I don't have the luxury to read as often as i'd like between work, school, and everything else. I still find time to browse The Financial Times of which I subscribe to, but little else. 8-(
 
I'm currently listening to/reading two books. I'm listening to the recorded version of I'll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates, and I'm reading The Anatomy of Dependence: The Key Analysis of Japanese Behavior by Takeo Doi. A very dear friend of mine sent it to me, thinking it might help me to better understand the Japanese mentality.
 
The 4th time Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa!!!!
Damn I love this guy!! (this book^^) 👍

And my "Langenscheid Japanese"....
 
Originally posted by kirei_na_me
I'm reading The Anatomy of Dependence: The Key Analysis of Japanese Behavior by Takeo Doi. A very dear friend of mine sent it to me, thinking it might help me to better understand the Japanese mentality.

Another excellent of these Nihonjinron offerings is Japanese Patterns of Behavior by Takie Sugiyama Lebra. I'm currently a few pages into Kawabata's Snow Country and just beginning to appreciate how barren and soulless is the tone of the English translation by comparision.....
 
I just started reading "The Vampire LESTAT", one of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.
 
The Janson Directive by Robert Ludlum. He's one of my favorite authors. I've even been on job interviews where the attorney and I will sit there discussing our favorite Ludlum novels! 😄

Of course, I was reading The Prometheus Deception when 9/11 occurred, so that was a little strange, to say the least!! :o
 
"introduction to prehistory". a rather old book, but I need to read it for university.
that reminds me:
is anyone of you into Japanese prehistory?
 
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.

So far, its great. :)

I used to read Sandman, through a friend of mine that used to import comic books and graphic novels written by Gaiman, and eventually I did got Death's High Cost of Living and I liked very much. Writting books I think its a new thing for Gaiman, but so far I've read a few chapters and I am enjoying it.
 
I am now reading The Dark Side of Japanese Business, which is very interesting if you've ever been around someone who works for a Japanese business or if you have worked for a Japanese business/company/whatever yourself. It's 3 short stories, and they're indeed very intriguing.
 
'Count Zero' by William Gibson, the follow up to his brilliant 'Neuromancer'.
 
Back
Top Bottom