Thursday, May 28, 2009

about Books

First, I have to comment on one more Movie before we move on to the next subject... 'Star Trek' I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about it, a few months ago. But after seeing a couple previews and finding out more about who was in the cast and all that, I went with more anticipation than reservation... I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. I have seen a fair amount of the original show 'Star Trek', and watched 'The Next Generation' quite regularly, so I would classify myself as a fan, but not a "Trekkie". I really don't have much criticism of it, except I suppose with the character of "Spock" I think that it did take away a bit from the stoic, logicality and, obviously, played up his ability for emotion. But seeing as he is half human, and that being part of the reason he went to 'Star Fleet' I guess it makes sense. (Yikes, I might be sounding to trekish)

Time to move on. :)

Books: I've been reading quite a lot, up until about a month ago, when I seem to have gotten really busy... During that time (starting mid August I suppose) I read all seven installments of 'Harry Potter' for the first time... They are captivating books, very well written and very well thought out... I like how the author (J. K. Rowling) tied everything in, and created such a fantastical world, right under our very noses... I know there's some controversy as to wether they are sutible for children, and yes, there is quite a bit of magic... but I think that if kids (or adults for that matter) are able to read Tolkien's 'Hobbit' and 'Rings', and Lewis' 'Narnia' and hopefully are able to distinguish between reality and fantasy, then there are many good things that can be taken from these books. My Opinion.

Following that I read 'The Dragon King Trilogy' by Stephen Lawhead, being such a fan of everything else he's written, I had to read this series. It's pretty good. Not as good as most of his other stuff, but even if this is his worst (and worst is such a bad sounding word) it's still very good. It's just that once you've read 'The Song of Albion Trilogy' and his 'Pendragon Cycle' it's hard to top those.

Oh! Did I mention that I finished reading 'The Once and Future King'? What an amazing book, I can't remember when I read and finished it... but it did take me quite a few months... partly because of the amount of time I devoted to reading, and partly because of the book (I did find it a bit hard to get through certain parts) but it was well worth the effort. Absolutely loved it!
Thanks go to Katie Woo, I believe, for recommending. Thanks!

Let's see... what else?

Ah Yes! 'The Count Of Monte Cristo' is my most recent book read, and another awesome book as well. Already a big fan of Dumas with 'The Three Musketeers' I've wanted to read it for quite awhile, and am so happy that I finally did. I think the thanks for recommendation goes to my sister Mary for this one. I remember she read it years ago and told me how good it was. Thanks!

But alas, all good things must come to an end (so they say) and as this bit of my blog must, so too does my extra reading time...

I'm now back to my regular pace and am currently reading 'The Princess Bride' which, one chapter in, is already a favorite. I've seen the Movie many times, and we have all heard it quoted time and again, so it's nice to read it and see what all the fuss is about :) We'll see. I'll let you all know what I think when I'm finished.

Other Books I'm in the process of reading:

'A Tale of Two Cities' I've been working on this for a few months, and have actually tried at a couple different times over the last few years... but other "funner" reads seem to keep popping up. I will finish it.

'Atlas Shrugged' just barely started this, it's a giant read, and will take me quite awhile I'm sure. But it does seem very interesting.


If you have any recommendations, feel free. I love good books.

Thanks for reading. Keep reading, this (if you like) and other great works.

Education isn't something that can be given to anyone, it's only something that can be given to oneself. - 'I just made it up... But it is true, no?

Peace.

- Matti

3 comments:

Becky said...

Have you read Lawhead's Byzantium? It's the only one of his I've read, but I read it over and over.
If you liked Harry Potter, try The Golden Compass. To me, it was "edge of my seat" writing, and it is ideologically interesting.
I'm sure you've noticed that Magneto is reading The Once and Future King in his prison cell in X-Men. That's what made me want to read it, but I haven't yet.

Matti said...

Yeah, I really like Byzantium a lot too. If you liked that, You'd really like the Song of Albion.
I read all three golden compass books, and they were very interesting. I always enjoy when authors give a different take on reality... alternate realities, time travel and the effects thereof, etc. That's also one of the reasons I like the new Star Trek, so many things can change when you start changing the past.

Sarah said...

Matt, you might like Cormac McCarthy's books. The Border Trilogy is all about cowboys (with kind of realistic, dark, soul searching plots) and The Road is very very bleak ad very mythical. But my favorite so far is Blood Meridian, also about cowboys and Indians but very other-worldly.