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So tonight, I just finished "The Chris Farley Show"...and damn. It was definitely worth the money I spent on it. Very good biography of him. It tells about his obvious addiction to drugs and alcohol and how well he could hide it to those around him. Talked about how we got clean and sober for a good 2 years before relapsing to alcohol. I must say, I loved this book. The very last chapter was the hardest to read. I got a bit teary eyed (no tears though, I was expecting it with all the reviews I was reading). I definitely recommend you pick up this book if you love Chris Farley or want to know anything about it.

 

My new favorite biography, I loved it even more than "Slash".

 

Alright I'm gonna get it, thank you

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It's not new and not exactly "NBA" related but, "Hoop Dreams" was a good book. It follows the lives of two high school all-stars as they try to work their way out of where they live now and into the NBA. It's a true story.

Or you can just watch the 3 hour documentary Hoop Dreams, one of the best documentaries ever

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Wheel of Time: New Spring by Robert Jordan.

 

I've heard a lot of good things about this book. Its no Harry Potter but from what I read, its a top 3-5 fantasy book. New Spring is the prequel to the first book and so far its pretty good.

 

Anyone know any good 'dark humor' type books?

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Les Miserables

 

I'm halfway through after starting last summer and ditching it for a while. The book is loooooong.

 

And unbearably depressing. The book's characters literally gained nothing out of their experiences. Although Hugo, the author may have been one of the first writers to go away from the Victorian novel style where everything works out for everyone to the newer post-modern style of writing, where frustration and depression (for both characters and readers, alike) are they keys. He did give way for many good authors during the early parts of the 20th century, though; James Joyce, Virginia Woolf among others.

 

 

I'm currently trying to get through J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I have to read it, along with some other novels for a course in university next year. Good book so far although it is difficult to keep up with names, locations etc so I bought a companion book which explains every place and name mentioned. I'm 450 pages through, nearly at the end of Book II (There are six all up).

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And unbearably depressing. The book's characters literally gained nothing out of their experiences. Although Hugo, the author may have been one of the first writers to go away from the Victorian novel style where everything works out for everyone to the newer post-modern style of writing, where frustration and depression (for both characters and readers, alike) are they keys. He did give way for many good authors during the early parts of the 20th century, though; James Joyce, Virginia Woolf among others.

 

 

I'm currently trying to get through J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I have to read it, along with some other novels for a course in university next year. Good book so far although it is difficult to keep up with names, locations etc so I bought a companion book which explains every place and name mentioned. I'm 450 pages through, nearly at the end of Book II (There are six all up).

 

With a title translated as "The Miserables," you can expect a depressing work. I can take the dreariness for a few reasons. One, the depth in which Hugo delves into the human condition is masterful. Every action, every thought has context within it, whether social, political, or personal to the characters. Nothing is left unexamined. Considering it's a 1500-page work, that's incredible.

 

Secondly, suffering, and the desire to overcome it, is one of the most fascinating and appealing themes a narrative can offer because we all know what it's like to suffer and we all pull for characters to overcome.

 

Finally, the constant desire to do good is greater than the sad fact that nothing good happens to Valjean, Cosette, or Fantine. They're such pure-hearted characters, you always want to read if they can overcome Javert and the cruel tendrils of blind justice. Just that theme alone of such a pure concept (justice) carried blindly to its extreme and becoming, in a way, the very thing it sets out to try and punish (evil)---it's one of the great themes literature can offer.

 

If the books are anywhere as good as the movies, I'm sure you'll love LOTR. I'm with you on the names. My favorite novel series is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but slogging through names like Zaphod Beeblebrox was rough!

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With a title translated as "The Miserables," you can expect a depressing work. I can take the dreariness for a few reasons. One, the depth in which Hugo delves into the human condition is masterful. Every action, every thought has context within it, whether social, political, or personal to the characters. Nothing is left unexamined. Considering it's a 1500-page work, that's incredible.

 

Secondly, suffering, and the desire to overcome it, is one of the most fascinating and appealing themes a narrative can offer because we all know what it's like to suffer and we all pull for characters to overcome.

 

Finally, the constant desire to do good is greater than the sad fact that nothing good happens to Valjean, Cosette, or Fantine. They're such pure-hearted characters, you always want to read if they can overcome Javert and the cruel tendrils of blind justice. Just that theme alone of such a pure concept (justice) carried blindly to its extreme and becoming, in a way, the very thing it sets out to try and punish (evil)---it's one of the great themes literature can offer.

 

And they're exactly the reasons it annoyed and frustrated me. You would think for a book so full of thought and detail, something.. anything good would come of it. But it's just a very real, very frank description of what usually does happen in the given circumstances that the characters were caught in. I don't know, when I pick up a book, I expect it to be a fictional work about the hero prevailing with the usual 'unexpected' twists and wonderful insight. But, I just can't get into a book which such metaphorical and deeply thought provoking content only to have it end in disaster for all involved within. That's why I never finished Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 which seemed to get further away from the objective then from when it began or many other post-modern novels.

 

If the books are anywhere as good as the movies, I'm sure you'll love LOTR. I'm with you on the names. My favorite novel series is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but slogging through names like Zaphod Beeblebrox was rough!

 

I'm nearly at the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring and it's been an exhausting trip, to be honest. I do find it interesting, but the names are just everywhere. Sometimes I read so fast that I literally find my mind unable to keep up with what I'm reading, often having to go back to fully understand. It is a great book, though. I intend on reading The Hobbit which was kind of a lead-up to the Lord of the Rings (big emphasis on 'kind of' as its only resemblance is Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey) and also The Silmarillion. They're apparently the best of the Tolkien novels.

 

As for the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, would you recommend it to read? I never thought it even had a series, to be quite honest. I have to pick a speculative fiction (Sci-Fi) novel to read and discuss in one of our classes. I might do it if you can convince me that it's worth a look at, haha.

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I never read for something other than school mandated, but I picked up The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Not very far into it, but it's definably an interesting read. If you liked Spike Lee's movie adaptation, you'll like the book.

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