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What are you reading Chapter 4

#2,141
RayWithFlats said:
The Mars trilogy is very interesting but I found it needs plenty of attention, I had a lot going on at work when I was reading them and I don’t feel I did them justice reading just a few pages at a time. He’s a very intelligent, creative writer but he tends to go off on tangents every now and then. Just a heads up, but if you’re a big Tolkien fan then you’re already the type of reader who’ll get the best of it. Enjoy!
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...and now I'm even more intrigued! This was originally suggested to me by a good friend of mine who is one of the few people I know in real life who has similar reading interests, though he didn't liken it to Tolkien. So it seems this should go high on my list!
 
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#2,142
kleinenenten said:
...and now I'm even more intrigued! This was originally suggested to me by a good friend of mine who is one of the few people I know in real life who has similar reading interests, though he didn't liken it to Tolkien. So it seems this should go high on my list!
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I don’t think they’re similar in content but in style they are both pretty dense with a lot of threads going on at once, there’s less backstory in the Mars trilogy to begin with but it refers back to earlier events as it carries on and creates a world as it goes. I think they are both authors who have a lot of outside interests that they bring to their writing, Tolkien’s linguistic studies and Robinson’s political and environmental theories.
 
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#2,144
Been a busy week or so... Read plenty! Here's what I've been up to:

LOTS of Tolkien:
Smith Of Wootton Major
Farmer Giles of Ham
Sir Gawain & The Green Knight
Pearl
Sir Orfeo
Adventures of Tom Bombadil
On Fairy Stories
Beren & Luthien (Just started this one tonight)

Other stuff:
Le Morte d'Arthur
Canterbury Tales
Various Greek Myths

I've also been seeking out various other mediums to compare with some of my favorite stories. I'm currently watching a 1973 version of "Sir Gawain & The Green Knight", and likely another version tomorrow, from 1984 (I think?). Either way, it's the same director, apparently. And then, I'll watch "The Green Knight" from 2021. All of this really makes me think I need to get a second version of it in writing...

In addition to that, I've also added two films to my Beowulf "collection". I think this puts me at 11 (maybe 13?) total versions, print and filmed media both included. As far as visual media goes, I now have 4, with "Outlander" starring Jim Caviezel being a decent sci-fi movie based on it. I'm interested in "Beowulf" - the Christopher Lambert film that is ALSO a sci-fi version of the tale that I just acquired. The other new one into the collection is Gerard Butler's "Beowulf & Grendel". For whatever reason, it seems that the mid to late 2000's (the "aughts"?) had PLENTY of Beowulf, as it seems many of the visual adaptations came out from 2005-2009.

Anyway, it's been a great time reading/watching some of my favorite stories. I haven't played bass much, but I'm enjoying my time, which is what really matters.
 
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#2,145
Ming Furniture-In The Light of Chinese Architecture.jpg
 
#2,148
Just finished a modern translation of Le Morte D'Arthur by Malory. A bit dull at first, but certainly picks up pace after the first hundred pages or so. Just past the halfway point is where it gets into the most familiar Arthur territory. It also made me re-read the Fall of Arthur by Tolkien, since I'd read that years ago but never actually read Arthurian mythology prior. Who would have thought that background info would have helped!

Anyway, I'm going to continue this binge I think, and read the Mabinogion next. I didn't realize it was Arthurian, but I'm digging the theme overall, so I think I'll have to add some more medieval texts to my list.
 
#2,150
I'm on to The Mabinogion, a collection of Celtic Mythology which apparently contains some of the earliest references to King Arthur, and apparently a very different take on the character than the one most people are familiar with. Haven't gotten to that yet, but we'll see how I like this book. So far, it's been a middling read in my mythology adventure.
 
#2,159
I just finished The Hound of the Baskervilles, the original novel-length Sherlock Holmes story. I'm not much of one for mysteries, but really the old Sherlock Holmes stories were more "adventures" than the subsequent genre. I found myself enjoying it.

CORRECTION: the SECOND novel-length Sherlock Holmes story. I had assumed A Study in Scarlet was a short story like the others in the anthology I'm using, and was wondering why it wasn't included. Apparently it's a novel in its own right, while the anthology I have is only of Holmes stories published in the Strand magazine.
 
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