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  The Lovely Bones

  So, to kick things off, who's read The Lovely Bones? I picked it up at Whitcoulls last week solely on the basis that if Peter Jackson is making the movie, I wanna read the book first.

  I'm halfway through, its an enjoyable enough read, but anytime I stop to think about it, its just a bit too metaphysically optimistic. The family left behind parts are a good portrait of a family coping with a tragedy, but the 'dead girl watching from heaven' bits grate against my rationalistness. And I can sense a tidy wrapping up of loose ends in the offing.

  Whatchoo reckon?

  J

  Jeremy A started this discussion 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Andrew S 

  I have not read it yet. I got the audio book out for the commute and my wife, upon seeing it, said it was 'just horrible'. I might give it a go (after I've listened to LOTR), but it probably will depend on what the others here say about it and the size of my 'to be read pile'

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Eddie C 

  Andrew S - yes, the most depressing thing about joining this site and (finally) cataloguing my whole collection was seeing how many books I own but have yet to read. Book buying moratorium until my "to read" pile is in single digits, I think!

  As for the Lovely Bones, I quiet enjoyed it but thought that Neil Jordan's Shade did a similar thing in a more interesting manner.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Jeremy A 

  I've been eating into my unread pile lately, so I've been popping into bookshops as I pass with a view to replenishing it. I've found myself disappointed with their range. Maybe cause I tend towards the Sci Fi/Fantasy/Horror genres, as opposed to the multitudinous chick lit and thriller genres. I was in Paper Plus today, the SF/F/H section was one bookcase, 2 feet wide, about 6 shelves, a full one and one half of which were taken up with multiple copies of the Harry Potter septilogy.
  I also read a lot of e-books on my Pocket PC, at least online the selection is aimed a lot more at my (geek) demographic. The free library at www.baen.com is a source of hours and hours of reading pleasure - maybe not literature, but good variety within its genre limits.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Mike C 

  Jeremy, sounds like it might also be worth your while checking out www.tor.com... they have been giving away an eBook every month or so for the past while... often older sci fi but some goodies in there... I've downloaded a few but yet to read them, I still prefer the paper versions!

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Andrew S 

  The last discussion on books in PA blew out the "to read" pile to damn near triple digits I think (thanks soooo much Emma). Just beacuse I have not purchased them doesn't mean I can't put them in the pile.

  I don't think I have paid retail for a book for ages, a few of the second hand books shops here have a good range, and if you get to know the owners they will put stuff aside for you. There is also this website http://www.bookzone.co.nz/ that imports books from the US at a reasonable cost if you must have the latest ones.

  The Baen site is good, some would qualify as literature (IMHO), but other stuff is just plain pulp. I always get a laugh out of reading John Ringo trying to align reality with his worldview.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Eddie C 

  Heh, on that note - has anyone seen the "OH JOHN RINGO NO" meme? This had me laughing for a long long time. http://hradzka.livejournal.com/194753.html [NSFW if your work is a wee bit sensitive]

  Also, Jeremy, the SF section in Borders is large, and they provide most excellent email discount vouchers. I've got a lot of stuff from them, none of it at full price.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Andrew S 

  Access to http://hradzka.livejournal.com/194753.html has been blocked by WebMarshal™

  WARNING - based on a content scan of this URL, it is suspected this site may contain offensive material.

  Your company's web gateway has been configured to control access to this site.
  Contact your local I.T. Department or System Administrator if you need access for business purposes.

  Note: Information about this download has been recorded.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Mike C 

  lol. You are being watched :-)

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Eddie C 

  I DID warn you :P.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Andrew S 

  It is sad that they are a wee bit sensitive.
  But the really sad thing is it took me about 25 seconds to bypass this and read the review, I mean where is the challenge in that? If you're going to block something you block it with a vengence, not some namby pamby wet bus ticket system I can get past with one arm behind my back.

  Totally agree with the review though, heh, the 'ringoverse' indeed.

  posted 12 months ago. ( reply )

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  Emma H 

  Heh, to complete the derailment of Jeremy's thread, I read the series John Ringo did with David Weber... Is it just a girl thing, or are their 120-page battles incredibly boring? The rest of the writing's not bad but I do need to skip those bits before my brain dribbles out my ear.

  posted 11 months ago. ( reply )

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  Eddie C 

  John ringo / david weber battle scenes are the military scifi equivalent of Ayn Rand's 30 page objectivist monologues.

  Which is to say, yes, I agree with you.

  posted 11 months ago. ( reply )

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  Andrew S 

  Its more a hijacking then a derailment

  Never having read Ayn Rand (in the TBR pile) I can't say if I agree or not, but I like the battle scenes - David Drake and S.M Stirling are favourites of mine. I suspect that the length is due to the writers having to either gloss over the battle or deal with all the interrelated details occuring in a short amount of time; anything between the two is likely to be confusing or ring false to the reader. Its like the old rhyme 'for want of a nail a shoe was lost...' if they don't supply the details the naritive won't hang together.

  A lot of what Weber does is the interrelationships of people, politics and physics, world building based on a few basic ideas eg the honorverse and his new series Off Armageddon Reef etc (feudalism and religion switching to renaissance) a lot of which deals with resources (constraints and utilisation by different parties). Ringo is more action focused, what people do when faced by X, he freely admits to using plot devices like alien prayer for technology and preventing the invaders from taking advantage of the gravity well (we take off and nuke them from orbit, its the only way to be sure) to suit his story.

  posted 11 months ago. ( reply )

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  Maureen J 

  Lovely Bones - hmmm - a bit soppy - I actually preferred Sebold's autobiography Lucky more. But it is an interesting read and the mother is done well I think.

  posted 11 months ago. ( reply )

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