posted January 02, 2014 02:18 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by socialgraffiti:
Oh wow, I'll have to check those out sometime I've always despised the 2D good and bad archetypes and your description makes them sound very compelling.

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In that case I'd recommend Thornhold by Elaine Cunningham (which your library might have and can probably ILL, Inter Library Loan, it for you if they don't, you might need to know the ISBN, "978-0786911776"). It helps to be familiar with the series and yet I think this is a book you can still appreciate even if you're not...and most people who read it don't know who to hate more, the righteous paladins or the evil secret society (ETA: just remembered, one reader thought the evil society was vile and yet the brutal massacre they unleashed on the paladins as just, she cheered when the primary villain, a son of a paladin, ripped out the heart of his father to throw it into the fire). Oh! One of my favorite lines from that book!

"A paladin may well be the finest, purest example of what a man can be — the epitome of all that is noble. And a paladin mounted for battle on his war charger, filled with holy zeal and absolute courage, might well be the most inspiring sight that many mortals could hope to see. He can, and does, accomplish much good. But a hundred paladins, a thousand? United in purpose, single-minded and driven by their sense of duty? I tell you truly, Uncle, I can think of no better definition of terror."

That novel also reminded me of what CS Lewis once said: "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

posted January 02, 2014 05:31 AM            

Books that makes you think, wonder, encourages or inspires you. Books you can learn from or teaches you something about life, people and the world around us.

I also like graphic novels/cartoons/comics. It's like it just adds something to the written words when there's pictures w it.

Having said that I just love to read, so favorites hmm. Just hand me something or anything and i'll give it a try. I like reading magazines/newspapers while eating

I have Mercury in Aquarius in the 7th house, but mostly Squares to it though:

posted January 02, 2014 11:08 AM            

Also, anything by Charles Bukowski.

posted January 02, 2014 11:11 AM            

Merc in Gemini

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Want To Ask Any Question About Bible Prophecy? Go For it. It is Free, of course.

posted January 02, 2014 05:28 PM            

And this are my fav's:

- J.R.R. Tolkien - LOTR
- anything by Roald Dahl
- Oscar Wilde - House of Pomegranates
- Sergej Dovlatov - A Foreign Woman, Suitcase
- Khaled Hosseini - Thousand Splendid Suns
- Naomi Klein - Shock Doctrine
- Jose Saramago - Essay on Blindness
- Ildefonso Falcones - La catedral del mar

This is what first comes to mind. I used to read lots of novels, now I much prefer non fiction, books on sociology, philosophy, ethnology etc.

posted January 02, 2014 09:06 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
In that case I'd recommend Thornhold by Elaine Cunningham (which your library might have and can probably ILL, Inter Library Loan, it for you if they don't, you might need to know the ISBN, "978-0786911776"). It helps to be familiar with the series and yet I think this is a book you can still appreciate even if you're not...and most people who read it don't know who to hate more, the righteous paladins or the evil secret society (ETA: just remembered, one reader thought the evil society was vile and yet the brutal massacre they unleashed on the paladins as just, she cheered when the primary villain, a son of a paladin, ripped out the heart of his father to throw it into the fire). Oh! One of my favorite lines from that book!

"A paladin may well be the finest, purest example of what a man can be — the epitome of all that is noble. And a paladin mounted for battle on his war charger, filled with holy zeal and absolute courage, might well be the most inspiring sight that many mortals could hope to see. He can, and does, accomplish much good. But a hundred paladins, a thousand? United in purpose, single-minded and driven by their sense of duty? I tell you truly, Uncle, I can think of no better definition of terror."

That novel also reminded me of what CS Lewis once said: "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

And I also thought I'd mention one of the books I didn't mention as almost no one would've heard of it: The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. The movie made from it remains faithful to the book but downplays her sympathetic villainy (for example, in the book Rynn intentionally locks the landlady into a cellar and gasses her to death, and I must say I thought she did the right thing, whereas in the movie the landlady accidentally kills herself trying to run out of the cellar). I found her so inspiring as a teen myself that when I changed my name I made "Rynn" (actually "Rhynn" to give it some individuality) my new middle name, and I also got into Emily Dickinson and Chopin because of the character.

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Oh my gosh, thanks so much! LOVE books that aren't very well-known. I'll have to get my hands on it once I find the time. Both Cunningham's quote and Lewis' quote sound very Voltaire-esque, especially from his book Candide, not sure if you've read it.
There's one quote by him, although I'm pretty sure it's not from Candide but he says:

posted January 04, 2014 12:58 PM            

I also really like zombie/doomsday type novels; no matter how poorly written or trashy.

posted January 05, 2014 03:49 PM            

Mercury Pisces 1st house sextile Uranus + Neptune, trine pluto (scorpio) & quintile Saturn, conjunct Ascendant