What were the last three books you read?
Anonymous
Cinderella, Snow White, The Three little pigs. Then she fell a sleep and I came here to read poetry.
Sometimes the title of the book doesnt has the essence from what its about, but if you ask someone else what they are reading or are going to, only if you read it, you can tell a bit what this person likes.
The last three, lets see:
- Anne Rice: Interview with the vampire, The vampire Lestat and Queen of the Dammed
- Patrick Süskind: Perfume
Sadly nothing more, havent had time since I've been working on my thesis :/
The last three, lets see:
- Anne Rice: Interview with the vampire, The vampire Lestat and Queen of the Dammed
- Patrick Süskind: Perfume
Sadly nothing more, havent had time since I've been working on my thesis :/
The last three books I had time to read were:
1. Dante's Divine Comedy
(I read this as one long read instead of considering it as three separate parts. That way, I was able to take it in as a whole. I read the version that has English on one page and the original Italian on the opposite page. I actually noticed one or two tiny mistakes the translator has made on a couple pages, but that is to be expected with a work of such great magnitude as the Divine Comedy. Most people would never notice those mistakes at all.)
Note: reading Dante's epic made me appreciate playing the video game adaptation of Dante's Inferno that much more. Though the choice of having the game take place during the Crusades seemed jarring to me at first after reading the original tale, it grew on me as I played it. The final battle was... apocalyptic. Being a video game, it needed such a battle, but I laughed at how it transpired given how passive Dante was in comparsion, in the original story. But I suppose it is truly the difference between portraying a man as a knight (in the game) instead of as a poet.
2. The Mask of Apollo by Mary Renault
(I enjoyed this story very much. It was the tale of Nikeratos, an actor in Ancient Greece who journeyed throughout the land and became involved in political intrigues concerning the differnce between two men and their styles of rule. Dion was a fellow who was striving to bring about a more democratic style of regime in the city-state of Syracuse during a time when it was ruled by Dionysius the Younger, the young heir to the local tyrant's current regime. The philosophy of Plato plays a large part in the story, and Dionysius the Younger actually is quite fond of Plato's philosophies and seeks to create the ideal Republic in spite of Dion's wish for a pure Democracy to rule there instead. At the end, there is an unexpected twist involving Alexander the Great that really took me by surpise when I read this novel. Nikeratos was a very openly gay character, but I like the classy way they portrayed him: as a human being, first and foremost. It was very easy to want to see him make it through his journey, and one could even relate to him as a person throughout. A very human book, and a *very* excellent work of historical fiction.)
3. I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod
(Here is a refreshingly unique take on the typical vampire tale. Strahd is not a young man when he becomes one of the undead. He is an older man, though not an old man. He is not turned because he is bitten... he is turned because he is cursed. Because he has embraced darkness so entirely that it has changed him for all of time. Changed him, and literally shifted his entire land into a puragatory-like domain of dread known as Ravenloft. From which he rules eternally, unable to escape his curse or his fate. But he did not embrace evil out of evil itself! Rather, it was due to his infatuation with a woman named Tatyana whom he came to love quite obsessively. She, however, was beloved of Strahd's younger brother, Sergei. And in order to win her heart, Strahd was determined to regain and preserve his own lost youth, at any cost. In that pursuit, he makes a literal blood pact with Death in which he becomes a vampire. Strahd's murder of his own brother causes Tatyana to flee Strahd in horror. She leaps from the walls of Strahd's castle, to her death. This event causes the land itself to become cursed, shifting it into another plane of existence. One reserved for those who are truly damned. The story ends with Strahd thus trapped, unable to leave Ravenloft but free to rule it as he sees fit. His only slim ray of hope is that one day he will meet Tatyana's reincarnation and that she will release him from his immortal torment. All in all, an excellent horror story that thankfully is not just a rehash of Dracula!)
1. Dante's Divine Comedy
(I read this as one long read instead of considering it as three separate parts. That way, I was able to take it in as a whole. I read the version that has English on one page and the original Italian on the opposite page. I actually noticed one or two tiny mistakes the translator has made on a couple pages, but that is to be expected with a work of such great magnitude as the Divine Comedy. Most people would never notice those mistakes at all.)
Note: reading Dante's epic made me appreciate playing the video game adaptation of Dante's Inferno that much more. Though the choice of having the game take place during the Crusades seemed jarring to me at first after reading the original tale, it grew on me as I played it. The final battle was... apocalyptic. Being a video game, it needed such a battle, but I laughed at how it transpired given how passive Dante was in comparsion, in the original story. But I suppose it is truly the difference between portraying a man as a knight (in the game) instead of as a poet.
2. The Mask of Apollo by Mary Renault
(I enjoyed this story very much. It was the tale of Nikeratos, an actor in Ancient Greece who journeyed throughout the land and became involved in political intrigues concerning the differnce between two men and their styles of rule. Dion was a fellow who was striving to bring about a more democratic style of regime in the city-state of Syracuse during a time when it was ruled by Dionysius the Younger, the young heir to the local tyrant's current regime. The philosophy of Plato plays a large part in the story, and Dionysius the Younger actually is quite fond of Plato's philosophies and seeks to create the ideal Republic in spite of Dion's wish for a pure Democracy to rule there instead. At the end, there is an unexpected twist involving Alexander the Great that really took me by surpise when I read this novel. Nikeratos was a very openly gay character, but I like the classy way they portrayed him: as a human being, first and foremost. It was very easy to want to see him make it through his journey, and one could even relate to him as a person throughout. A very human book, and a *very* excellent work of historical fiction.)
3. I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N. Elrod
(Here is a refreshingly unique take on the typical vampire tale. Strahd is not a young man when he becomes one of the undead. He is an older man, though not an old man. He is not turned because he is bitten... he is turned because he is cursed. Because he has embraced darkness so entirely that it has changed him for all of time. Changed him, and literally shifted his entire land into a puragatory-like domain of dread known as Ravenloft. From which he rules eternally, unable to escape his curse or his fate. But he did not embrace evil out of evil itself! Rather, it was due to his infatuation with a woman named Tatyana whom he came to love quite obsessively. She, however, was beloved of Strahd's younger brother, Sergei. And in order to win her heart, Strahd was determined to regain and preserve his own lost youth, at any cost. In that pursuit, he makes a literal blood pact with Death in which he becomes a vampire. Strahd's murder of his own brother causes Tatyana to flee Strahd in horror. She leaps from the walls of Strahd's castle, to her death. This event causes the land itself to become cursed, shifting it into another plane of existence. One reserved for those who are truly damned. The story ends with Strahd thus trapped, unable to leave Ravenloft but free to rule it as he sees fit. His only slim ray of hope is that one day he will meet Tatyana's reincarnation and that she will release him from his immortal torment. All in all, an excellent horror story that thankfully is not just a rehash of Dracula!)
Here is a link to an esnips page that has I, Strahd for download absolutely free. It is in .pdf format, and seems to be complete:
http://www.esnips.com/displayimage.php?pid=12870181
Now if you want a physical copy, I have often seen it for sale at Amazon.com both new and used. Some further information:
There is actually an entire series of Ravenloft novels that each feature different gothic horror villains as the main character. Each novel is penned by a different author too. Knight of the Black Rose by James Lowder is another excellent one! It is about a Death Knight named Lord Soth, who is a rival lord of Ravenloft from a domain that borders on Strahd's lands. Ravenloft is one of the more interesting dark fantasy / gothic horror series I have read over the years. It has its' roots in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, but I think that these novels really transcend that setting and stand out as works of art quite on their own. While not on the same humanistic level of Anne Rice's creations, the dark lords and ladies of Ravenloft have a charm all their own that will grow on the reader who ventures into their realm. Once you read these novels, you will be hooked.
Here is a link to I, Strahd on Amazon.com for you:
http://www.amazon.com/Strahd-Memoirs-Vampire-Ravenloft-Books/dp/1560766700
And here is a link to Knight of the Black Rose, too:
http://www.amazon.com/Knight-Black-Rose-Ravenloft-Terror/dp/1560761563/ref=pd_sim_b_2
Amazon's prices for older, out of print books are usually very reasonable, I have found. They have a lot of things even Barnes and Noble cannot seem to easily get too. Happy reading!
http://www.esnips.com/displayimage.php?pid=12870181
Now if you want a physical copy, I have often seen it for sale at Amazon.com both new and used. Some further information:
There is actually an entire series of Ravenloft novels that each feature different gothic horror villains as the main character. Each novel is penned by a different author too. Knight of the Black Rose by James Lowder is another excellent one! It is about a Death Knight named Lord Soth, who is a rival lord of Ravenloft from a domain that borders on Strahd's lands. Ravenloft is one of the more interesting dark fantasy / gothic horror series I have read over the years. It has its' roots in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, but I think that these novels really transcend that setting and stand out as works of art quite on their own. While not on the same humanistic level of Anne Rice's creations, the dark lords and ladies of Ravenloft have a charm all their own that will grow on the reader who ventures into their realm. Once you read these novels, you will be hooked.
Here is a link to I, Strahd on Amazon.com for you:
http://www.amazon.com/Strahd-Memoirs-Vampire-Ravenloft-Books/dp/1560766700
And here is a link to Knight of the Black Rose, too:
http://www.amazon.com/Knight-Black-Rose-Ravenloft-Terror/dp/1560761563/ref=pd_sim_b_2
Amazon's prices for older, out of print books are usually very reasonable, I have found. They have a lot of things even Barnes and Noble cannot seem to easily get too. Happy reading!
