What book are you reading?

[_NOBODY_]

Oh my WORD.
You are serious.
Good to find you lot. @RescueRanger @_NOBODY_ @Shanlung

I finally received my copy of The North Water. This is the novel what the novel is about:

"The North Water" by Ian McGuire is a historical novel set in the 19th century. The story follows a whaling expedition to the Arctic and revolves around the crew of a whaling ship named the Volunteer. The narrative unfolds against the harsh backdrop of the Arctic environment, exploring themes of survival, morality, and the darker aspects of human nature. The novel delves into the complexities of the characters' relationships and the challenges they face in the unforgiving Arctic landscape. McGuire's writing combines elements of adventure, suspense, and psychological depth, creating a gripping and atmospheric tale.

I am excited to read this after I finish Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.






@RescueRanger @Nilgiri @Shanlung

 

[Joe Shearer]

Holysh*t! That's incredible. You're on a whole other level.

Bugger's good.
Ask him about birds, and about sailing.
Dunno what he's doing here, but let's hold on tight to him.

 

[dexter]

A review of the Book "Islam and Politics" by Mufti Taqi Usmani.

 

[Jamie]

Also, why are you ordering this book from Pakistan? Aren't you residing in China?

I will keep the warning in mind while reading it
Also, Here on holidays, and it’s pretty difficult to find English books in China. Mostly Chinese translated. Still find it difficult to read chinese with all the characters to memorize but there are some really interesting books I see in bookstores there that peak my interest, maybe I should take the time to learn more Chinese characters. :3

 

[Joe Shearer]

A review of the Book "Islam and Politics" by Mufti Taqi Usmani.

Interesting.
I haven't seen the video. Any price indicated?

 

[Joe Shearer]

I will keep the warning in mind while reading it
Also, Here on holidays, and it’s pretty difficult to find English books in China. Mostly Chinese translated. Still find it difficult to read chinese with all the characters to memorize but there are some really interesting books I see in bookstores there that peak my interest, maybe I should take the time to learn more Chinese characters. :3

1. Have you tried Amazon? Do they deliver? I buy most on Amazon, ever since my health restricted my running around, or getting to my favourite bookshop, where they ENCOURAGE me to browse, but I buy COD after a bad experience recently. THAT works.
2. For getting into Chinese, why don't you talk to Nilgiri? How he made his way in might be useful to hear.

 

[_NOBODY_]

I will keep the warning in mind while reading it
Also, Here on holidays, and it’s pretty difficult to find English books in China. Mostly Chinese translated. Still find it difficult to read chinese with all the characters to memorize but there are some really interesting books I see in bookstores there that peak my interest, maybe I should take the time to learn more Chinese characters. :3

You will find English versions of the books on Alibaba.

 

[VersusChristi]

Nassim Nocholas Taleb : Incerto (4 books actually, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/INO/incerto/)


One of the most fun book I have ever read:


Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War (Not as good as it could have been, too simplistic)


(Just started reading it, its fun!)


Some of old Soviet books
My old time favourite : Sadriddin Aini, Bukhara : Reminiscences


My childhood favourite and still a book I read from time to time.
Obruchev, Plutonia

 

[Joe Shearer]

Nassim Nocholas Taleb : Incerto (4 books actually, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/INO/incerto/)
View attachment 10770

One of the most fun book I have ever read:
View attachment 10772

Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War (Not as good as it could have been, too simplistic)
View attachment 10773

(Just started reading it, its fun!)
View attachment 10774

Some of old Soviet books
My old time favourite : Sadriddin Aini, Bukhara : Reminiscences
View attachment 10776

My childhood favourite and still a book I read from time to time.
Obruchev, Plutonia

View attachment 10777

Have you read the John Carter novels?

 

[VersusChristi]

Have you read the John Carter novels?

I am not really a very avid reader. Just pickup stuff here and there. So, no, not really.

 

[Nilgiri]

I finally received my copy of The North Water. This is the novel what the novel is about:

"The North Water" by Ian McGuire is a historical novel set in the 19th century. The story follows a whaling expedition to the Arctic and revolves around the crew of a whaling ship named the Volunteer. The narrative unfolds against the harsh backdrop of the Arctic environment, exploring themes of survival, morality, and the darker aspects of human nature. The novel delves into the complexities of the characters' relationships and the challenges they face in the unforgiving Arctic landscape. McGuire's writing combines elements of adventure, suspense, and psychological depth, creating a gripping and atmospheric tale.

I am excited to read this after I finish Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.

View attachment 10741
View attachment 10742
View attachment 10743
View attachment 10744

@RescueRanger @Nilgiri @Shanlung

Let us know what you think of it.

When these stories take a more concentrated form w.r.t a character is when they really retain in my memory with time.

Like comparing and contrasting the broodiness of Ahab vs Nemo among other similarities and differences. Though nemo in the end is a far more complicated character overall.

Whaling has a disturbing history to get into, but it was gentrified when I first came across it in song as young kid....that I still know so well with its catchy tune...

Strike up the band. Here comes a sailor,
Cash in his hand, just off a whaler.
Stand in a row. Don't let him go.
Jack's a cinch, but every inch a sailor.

It was from collection of Max Fleischer "sing along" cartoon shorts we had on VHS.

In school, my Pakistani mate would annoy me a ton with another song on that collection.... "mama's little baby loves shortenin shortenin.....mama's little baby loves shortenin bread"

He would sing that again and again (especially one year we shared a table at class) and annoy the hell out of me lol.

Only much later in life I would realise the max fleischer shorts were some of his early work (pre dating popeye which he is most known for).... and the jack the sailor song was actually much older one he augmented with animation....

I found an old recording of it and was happily surprised the ending chord of the song is exact one that max then took as the starting chord of popeye the sailor theme haha. I was a big fan of popeye as a kid...this connection was fun to stumble into later in life.

 

[Nilgiri]

I will keep the warning in mind while reading it
Also, Here on holidays, and it’s pretty difficult to find English books in China. Mostly Chinese translated. Still find it difficult to read chinese with all the characters to memorize but there are some really interesting books I see in bookstores there that peak my interest, maybe I should take the time to learn more Chinese characters. :3

2. For getting into Chinese, why don't you talk to Nilgiri? How he made his way in might be useful to hear.

There's really no easy route to learning Chinese characters heh (later in life when language becomes harder).

Just have to launch into it, immerse and memorise the most frequent used ones (certain patterns are there that will help once you delve in), i.e corpus 1.0.

Leave the less-used ones (corpus 2.0 etc) for later and basically find the style of learning that works for you.

Keep practicing recognizing/reading what you do know and inferring meaning from the rest (Chinese grammar is very easy). Then work on directly addressing those gaps next with more time later. Basically a pyramid base and then higher levels on top.

You will see why alphabet system is really quite superior in end (IMO) heh....also why Japanese and Koreans fairly quickly "alphabatised" what they could with Chinese writing for their own scripts and the pressing needs of syllable flexibility there.

Literary Chinese is also going to be somewhat different to spoken vernaculars (though vernaculars have inevitably found their way into direct writing with time as well). But this is common feature in many languages many are used to anyway.

 

[Developereo]

(Just started reading it, its fun!)
View attachment 10774

That is my all time favorite fantasy book series. I read it as a teenager and have reread the whole series at least four or five times since.

Ursula LeGuin had a very strong ideological bent which I missed as a teenage reader but noticed only upon rereading after I became aware of her ideology. I agree with her that most other English language fantasy literature is basically medieval England with a dragon or two thrown in. Earthsea is delightfully different.

P.S. I also love her writing purely from a stylistic point of view. In reading her work you realize how a single word -- just one word -- can turn an ordinary sentence into a timeless work of art that conveys more emotion than a two hour movie.

 

[VersusChristi]

That is my all time favorite fantasy book series. I read it as a teenager and have reread the whole series at least four or five times since.

Ursula LeGuin had a very strong ideological bent which I missed as a teenage reader but noticed only upon rereading after I became aware of her ideology. I agree with her that most other English language fantasy literature is basically medieval England with a dragon or two thrown in. Earthsea is delightfully different.

P.S. I also love her writing purely from a stylistic point of view. In reading her work you realize how a single word -- just one word -- can turn an ordinary sentence into a timeless work of art that conveys more emotion than a two hour movie.

Yes, she is exceptional. I was introduced to her work from a Miyazaki movie, later I realized that Miyazaki butchered her story. Tehanu's tale is much much richer in the book.

 

[Developereo]

Yes, she is exceptional. I was introduced to her work from a Miyazaki movie, later I realized that Miyazaki butchered her story.

She hated both movie adaptations of Earthsea, both the Japanese and the Hollywood one.

Tehanu's tale is much much richer in the book.

The movies butchered not just the story, which is usual for movies anyway, but also her ideological message, about which she felt very passionate.