Posts from Literature.

Actually, there are different kinds of classics. Who would have thought that Poe's stories would become classics? Agatha Christie... And Clark and Sheckley are definitely considered classics now.

Well, Zhenya, of course :D For us, it's a classic now. But once, they were read as contemporaries. Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm very interested in modern literature. At least, not as much as I am in the literature that has already become a classic. I guess I'm like a true historian, who "isn't very interested in the present" and who prefers to "delve into the past" :)

I don't like reading in public places; for this, I have Sudoku. I solve Sudoku everywhere, at any time of day, and in any quantity xD.

And lately, I've started reading on my way to university or home. I used to think it was impossible... that you couldn't concentrate. Now, I don't care; I can concentrate perfectly, whether I want to or not. There's so little time anyway. And now, almost an extra hour appears :D

I remembered another great author I read recently. I don't remember the last name exactly, but I think it was Bäster, also one of the classics. He has a series of books, and each story is based on some invention or ability of a person from the future. For example, in the book "Tiger, Tiger," the story is based on a person inventing teleportation, and in the book "The Man Without a Face," the character tries to commit a murder, but the problem is that people have developed the ability to read minds. I really liked it.

Does anyone read Robert Asprin anymore? "Myth"?

I've read the entire series by R. Asprin, "Another Glorious Myth" :smile54:
If we're talking about classics... well, for example, I love "War and Peace"; I've read it cover to cover twice... :) A MASTERPIECE!!!

Actually, my mom and I have a whole room in our house dedicated to books :smile16:

Since so many book lovers have gathered, why not discuss Russian classics? For example, Dostoevsky and his *Crime and Punishment*.

Hmm... among the classics, Dostoevsky is definitely worth reading, as is Tolstoy's "Peter the First," and also Yanka Kolas and Yakub Kolas – there are many others, and we are proud of these works.

It's nice to meet fellow fans of good fantasy. I like the following books; at least, I haven't found anything better.
1. Isaac Asimov – the first three parts of the "Foundation" cycle. They are usually published as one book.
2. Roger Zelazny. His works heavily depend on the translator; a talentless translator can ruin the book. Perhaps the best are "Lord of Light," "Jack of Shadows," "This Immortal," "Night in October," "Island of the Dead," and possibly the first part of "The Chronicles of Amber."
3. Glen Cook – "The Black Company." I've only read the first 9 parts so far, as well as "Raid," "The Dragon Never Sleeps," and "Sweet Silver Blues."
4. Fred Saberhagen: the "Berserker" cycle.
5. Dan Simmons: "Hyperion." The sequel, "Endymion," is a bit weaker.
6. Harry Turtledove: "The Toxic Waste Dump."
7. Philip José Farmer: "The Riverworld."

I recommend these books – I don't think you'll regret it. They will be interesting for fans of both action-packed stories and serious fantasy and style.

I am very disappointed with modern Russian fantasy. Those who are promoted and whose works are adapted into films – they kill faith in fantasy and in intelligent humanity.
I don't think everything is so bad; I liked, for example:
A. Boryansky: "Gnaeus Gildenhom Arthur Green."
V. Zvyagintsev: "Local Battles."
A. Gromov: "Soft Landing," "Minuet of Saint Vitus."

I've read several books of modern Russian science fiction.
"The Executioner of Time" - by someone there...
"Death or Glory" - also by someone there...
and so on.
In general, they are terrible books. Everywhere there are some cheap writerly pretensions, some nonsense. The second book is just awful. The author writes in the style of a "worn-out space bun," inserting completely inappropriate phrases from the lexicon of "real men," while the entire story told in the book is complete nonsense. The funniest thing is that, in addition to all this, the book is also written in the style of a blockbuster, which could easily be made into a movie, that is, some aliens, a bunch of alien races with idiotic names and qualities, almost all of which are taken from other science fiction books/movies, it's awful. Various pompous statements like "No, Roma! We need to get Mishka Zislis out of this hell! Get the blaster!" evoke nothing but laughter through tears.
In general, my attitude towards "modern Russian science fiction" is extremely negative.

Read Mikhail Uspensky: "Where We Are Not," "Time Itself," "Who to Send After Death."
Read Kirill Yeskov's take on The Lord of the Rings, but the same events are told from the perspective of the dark side. It's also interesting.

In general, my attitude towards "modern Russian science fiction" is extremely negative.

Read Andrey Belyanin and change your mind!

In light of recent (or already past?) events, I read the book "I Am Legend." It's truly a great read. I recommend it to everyone, especially to Lokken; it will likely trigger another bout of depression and reflections on the "stupid majority."

Was a movie based on it made recently? The movie is good.

I read the entire series by R. Asprin, "Another Fine Myth" :smile54:
If we're talking about classics... well, for example, I love "War and Peace"; I've read it twice from cover to cover... :) It's a MASTERPIECE!!!

Oh, yes. Asprin is interesting, but... unfortunately, I was disappointed towards the end of the series... It feels like the last books are just a commercial project; the first 2-5 are the best.
And I'm currently struggling with "War and Peace" in school! I can't read it; I fall asleep on the first page!(((I'm going to ruin all my literature grades... And it's all because of the great Tolstoy... grrrr... :smile19: :smile26:

And I've read a lot of Dan Simmons. "Hyperion" is a great book!) Also, "The Fall of Hyperion" and "Endymion":) It's written amazingly well, in different literary genres, although the book itself belongs to the fantasy genre. I recommend it;)

Was a movie based on it recently made? It's a good movie.

If you watch the movie BEFORE reading the book, it's a good movie. If you watch it after, you don't even want to comment...
I watched it before, so the movie is decent, but the book and the movie have ABSOLUTELY different ideas, so fans of the book didn't like the movie...
But the movie is still good :)

I'm reading Shukshina and laughing at every story. I recommend it to you too.

Asprin is great, but... He suffered the same fate as all other authors who write long series – it's impossible to make such a huge work consistently interesting. The same goes for Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. But the first books are very good. I read Hyperion, but I didn't read The Fall... It's not bad, but it didn't inspire much enthusiasm.