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+1 hagakure is a great read( and ghost dog a great movie). My favorite hagakure quote:
"Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, "form is emptiness." That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, "Emptiness is form." One should not think that these are two separate things."

Reading this at the moment


And Gantz Book 24 I think...


I just bought this book last week. Next on the reading list.



My most anticipated book to film is Pattern Recognition by William Gibson.

Satanic Verses is great! Probably in my Top 5, if not Top 3.

Really Satanic Verses?
his others are better.

I love:
The Monk - One of the very first Gothic novels written by a 19 year old, as filthy and deprived as you can get, a pious monks decent into madness and destruction. Genius!

The Idiot - Dostoevsky, nuff said really, a fantastic exploration of society, and the mind. I'm forced to use genius again, but in a slightly different more serious context. Better than Crime and Punishment, Notes is quite good too... actually, just read Dostoevsky.

Diceman - Fight Clubesque and you really seriously get lost in the mess... suddenly it starts to seem like a good idea. Which is scary. One of those books you see someone reading on the tube and you wanna go tell them to put it down before they do something stupid.

Actually I really dislike fiction... but for some reason those are my top 3 all time.

The two books I read most recently are Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer and What is the What by Dave Eggers. It was accidental but they both really have a beautiful common theme. Both books look through the respective tragedies (9/11 and Sudan) respectively, and find the beauty and humor in life that arises in spite of and even because of these tragedies.

backtrack wrote:Really Satanic Verses?
his others are better.

Satanic Verses and The Moor's Last Sigh are my two favorite Rushdie books, sometimes I think the latter is my favorite but I can't really say for sure that it is. Would need to read them back to back to make that determination.

---NT--- wrote:Satanic Verses and The Moor's Last Sigh are my two favorite Rushdie books, sometimes I think the latter is my favorite but I can't really say for sure that it is. Would need to read them back to back to make that determination.

Fair enough, just never really heard anyone rave about him properly.

Love almost everything by Neal Stephenson, and McCarthy's The Road is on top of my to-be-read stack too (with Jonathan Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close up next after that). Best I've read in the last couple of months was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Not exactly an original plot, and it's largely about a boy and his dog(s), but it's beautifully written. You learn a lot about canine behavior along the way too.

What's the consensus on Jared Diamond's Collapse? I thought his Guns, Germs and Steel was brilliant - One of the most thought-provoking books I can recall, and a fun read too.

Edgar Sawtelle total spoiler (in white type - highlight to see it, but not unless/until you've read the book, because this will completely spoil it) - Although I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out to me after I finished it, the plot is pretty much exactly the plot of Hamlet - Even the names are close: Uncle Claude = uncle Claudius, etc.

I've intended to read this for a long time. I will definitely grab it on my next trip to the library.

---NT--- wrote:Satanic Verses is great! Probably in my Top 5, if not Top 3.

Miami - that's a great way to post spoilers!!! Thanks for that!

currently reading Ghost Road Blues by jonathan Maberry... fan-fucking-tastic! 340 pages in, not one boring moment, and the best part is that it's the first book of a trilogy!
Just picked up Desolation Jones trade paperback. I'm a huge Fell and Warren Ellis fan so I'll fly through this tonight!

Gil's All-Fright Diner. A light read, but lots of fun. Total horror/comedy pulp trash, but too much fun to pass up. A werewolf, a vampire, a pick-up truck and an all-night diner with a walking-dead problem. Recommended.

^That'll be on my next order with Amazon.

Joe wrote:^That'll be on my next order with Amazon.

You won't be sorry. I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but I actually chuckled hard enough at parts to wake my wife up while reading in bed.

deadboy wrote:currently reading Ghost Road Blues by jonathan Maberry... fan-fucking-tastic! 340 pages in, not one boring moment, and the best part is that it's the first book of a trilogy!
Just picked up Desolation Jones trade paperback. I'm a huge Fell and Warren Ellis fan so I'll fly through this tonight!

This is a great series. The first is definitely the best installment, but all are pretty good. Can't wait to see what he does next.

Kevlo, what do you think of Snuff? I've been debating buying it or not. Chuck P used to be an automatic purchase but his last few books haven't been that great...so I'm on the fence.

So far it's pretty decent...I'm about halfway thru. It's good bathroom reading, short chapters.

The Hagakure is a must read, if you haven't read it yet. I re-read it every year. it's just little snippets and blurbs on the way of the samurai, if you've ever seen the film Ghost Dog, it's the book they quote in there.

At the time the movie came out it was hard to find. I just picked it up and can't wait to start on my way!

Kafka got nothin' on Tyler Knox! This one may be my book of the year.

Just finished Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
Almost done with Watchmen.
Are there any other graphic novels people can recommend?

Joe wrote:Just finished Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
Almost done with Watchmen.
Are there any other graphic novels people can recommend?

The entire "Sandman" series by Neil Gaiman, though it's pretty involving (multiple volumes) and kinda goth, it's still amazing. But you gotta read it in order, no skipping.

"From Hell" is one of my favorites if you want to delve deeper into Alan Moores stuff, but it's not hero-related.

"Bone" by Jeff Smith is a goodun, pretty lengthy and a bit more G/PG than the aforementioned also not hero-related but it's really fun.

"Red Rocket 7" by Mike Allred is amazing if you're a fan of both rock music history and sci-fi.

I hesitate on suggesting hero comics to people the same reason I don't like suggesting music, I know what I like but I'm not sure what others like.

BloodDrinker6969 wrote:The entire "Sandman" series by Neil Gaiman, though it's pretty involving (multiple volumes) and kinda goth, it's still amazing. But you gotta read it in order, no skipping.

"Bone" by Jeff Smith is a goodun, pretty lengthy and a bit more G/PG than the aforementioned also not hero-related but it's really fun.

These two are favorites of mine.
I'll check out the other suggestions.

I'm a fan of the Criminal Macabre/Cal McDonald graphic novels.

I would recommend the Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Moebius. Also if you like Frank Miller I would recommend Hard Boiled or Big Guy and Rusty the Boy robot. Both have awesome art by Geoff Darrow.

Lone Wolf and Cub

Brian Michael Bendis' Torso

Akira (the film doesn't come close to how good the book is)

Ex Machina

UnderBeit wrote:I'm a fan of the Criminal Macabre/Cal McDonald graphic novels.

Really? I hate Niles, I've bitched about him before. I hate him because I like how his stories START but than once the end shows up it feels rushed. Like "Story begins...plot develops....more secrets....a climax SHOULD be here but screw it, END!"

I just want the stories to finish properly, I always think that what must be going on is he's a slow writer and can't meet his deadlines so rushes some last minute crap just to meet it. I guess what frustrates me is I ALMOST like him, I WANT to like him, the potentials there, but I don't.

Joe wrote:Are there any other graphic novels people can recommend?

Try Frank Miller's RONIN if you haven't already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronin_(DC_Comics)


Also, Matt Wagner's "Mage" is in graphic novel form.
The 1st series was "The Hero Discovered", I haven't finished the "Hero Defined" yet.
http://www.annotatedmage.net/