The "What are you reading?" thread

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Nicotti
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by Nicotti »

Seveneves by Neil Stephenson is really good.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by YOU@CITY »

That's strange , I just googled 'pretentious threads' and for some reason I got a link for this thread ? Weird
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by slow_walker »

Nicotti wrote:Seveneves by Neil Stephenson is really good.
Less than an hour ago I was at a library book sale and actually saw this book, read the back of it, carried it around for a minute and then put it back down.

:(
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Re: RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

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YOU@CITY wrote:That's strange , I just googled 'pretentious threads' and for some reason I got a link for this thread ? Weird
Reading is pretentious. Attention everyone: Stop reading. It makes you look dumb and stuff.
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

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slow_walker wrote:
Nicotti wrote:Seveneves by Neil Stephenson is really good.
Less than an hour ago I was at a library book sale and actually saw this book, read the back of it, carried it around for a minute and then put it back down.

:(
I recommend the book on tape. The book itself is 800+ pages. The readers for the book on tape are very good.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by slow_walker »

I actually do not do well with audio tapes. After a few minutes my mind wanders and they become background noise like a radio and then I stop really hearing the words. So actual reading is best for me.
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

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I like audio when driving long distances.
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by Virtus »

Yesterday I finished the book Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur Clark. Great science fiction book!
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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by SubLunar »

I don't normally read stuff like this but my lady started reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series and she thought I'd like it.

I obliged and so far I have to admit the first book, The Gunslinger, has been pretty good overall.

The problem I have with fiction is that, for one, I'm not learning anything useful. The other problem is I'm constantly running into parts that I would change or omit. This book has no shortage of such issues. But it's not bad.
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Re: RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

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SubLunar wrote:I don't normally read stuff like this but my lady started reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series and she thought I'd like it.

I obliged and so far I have to admit the first book, The Gunslinger, has been pretty good overall.

The problem I have with fiction is that, for one, I'm not learning anything useful. The other problem is I'm constantly running into parts that I would change or omit. This book has no shortage of such issues. But it's not bad.
The series isn't bad through book three. Later books disappoint.
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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by SubLunar »

I still haven't finished the Stephen King's Dark Tower books. I like a good epic so I plan on finishing but too much drawn out fiction wears on me after a while..


I recently stumbled across some stories of Otto Skorzeny and his legendary raid in which he personally piloted a glider to the mountaintop prison where Benito Mussolini was being held prisoner and from which they successfully rescued him. So I was intrigued.

Otto Skorzeny was an Austrian who was involved with the widely popular reunification of Austria with Germany following the collapse of the Habsburg/Austria-Hungarian Empires, the unfairness of Versailles Treaty, the attempts by Communist Party members to stage a false vote to force the formation of a communist state in Austria and the resultant unrest that all of this caused. Since the National Socialist Party was aligned with the interests of Austria at the time, Otto joined and eventually reached the status of Commander of an SS Panzer Brigade. He became a legendary fighter and commando warfare specialist, respected by foreign nations and after the war even worked with Mossad in carrying out operations against Nazi War Criminals. He himself was never convicted of any war crimes. The allies tried charging him of war crimes for impersonating US Military by leading a group of Germans in US uniforms behind Allied military lines and generally causing confusion. Engaging in warfare while wearing enemy uniform was a crime but they weren't found to have exchanged fire while in disguise, but most importantly, the US was guilty of doing the same. So he was left in an internment camp for a while afterwards and subsequently escaped.

At any rate, this dude's got a pretty interesting life story. I found a copy of his book online and while there's some formatting issues it's pretty easy to follow. It helps to know some background but he provides a very good insight into why the movement to unify Austria and Germany and frankly all other Germanic peoples was so popular at the time. And from there it goes on to describe some of the raids he was involved with. Pretty interesting so far.
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Re: The "What are you reading?" thread

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My father's side of the family immigrated to the US from Prussia around 1900.
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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

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My mom's side came from Germany in the 1800's, offhand I don't know exact date. My grandfather fought the Japanese in the Pacific theater of WWII at around 18 years old and, as part of the 5th Marine Division, was among the first to land on Iwo Jima. He won a medal and was promoted for general badassery there. He brought home an Arisaka rifle and it, and presumably his uniform and everything else, can still be found in my grandmother's attic. Other of his relics can still be found hanging on her walls. I only knew him briefly before he died when I was around 10 but the experience formed within me a close connection to the war, knowing someone who had personally participated, and perhaps that is why I've always found WWII to be among the most interesting subjects.

I'm over a hundred pages in now and this is definitely a good book. I don't think I ever rknew before that the Russians, due to ongoing treasonous German generals in some of the highest ranks, knew of Operation Barbarossa in minute detail over a year before it was to begin. Furthermore, the US sent a LOT of money, equipment and training to Soviet Russia in the months prior in preparation. All this and the Germans were still able to get within sight of Moscow, despite the fact that they had little to no supplies or reinforcements while Russian troops were constantly reinforced by fresh soldiers and equipment-the Germans still managed to push through. Furthermore, the general in charge of preparations was proven to be sabotaging the efforts and purposely didn't provide winter clothing and supplies to the men on the front. In addition, Russia's scorched earth policy was due directly to the fact that Operation Barbarossa included occupying the farm and industrial lands along the way. The Russians knew this and thus burned everything.

While it's understandable that many in the German ranks didn't like Hitler, most notably Admiral Canaris, they were too cowardly to risk their own lives to kill him or have him killed. Canaris was there from the beginning and at one point I think he was 3rd most powerful man in Germany and he knew of the mass execution of Jews as early as 1939. He could have stopped Hitler very early on. But instead of risking his own life to kill Hitler, he sacrificed the lives of many thousands of Germans and Russians over the years by purposely sabotaging their efforts and leaking sensitive information which directly lead to their deaths, all the while the concentration camps only got worse. It's a shame someone like Canaris didn't use the opportunities he had at the time to stop Hitler and keep these things from going on as long as they had.
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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

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Have you seen "Enemy at the Gates"? Great depiction of the Battle of Stalingrad and the way Russian soldiers were treated. My family came from Germany as well. Darn shame they Americanized the name to such an extent that the honorific "von" was dropped. I'd love to be able to sign documents "BROUSER von Lastname." First guy over the big pond was born in Switzerland, but lived most of his life just northwest of Wiesbaden. Came over in 1707. Damn French and their 30 Years War.
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RE: The "What are you reading?" thread

Post by SubLunar »

Yeah it's been a while but I remember liking that movie.
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