Taijitu
Forum Meta => Archive => Arts and Entertainment Archive => Topic started by: Allama on August 28, 2007, 05:19:21 PM
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If you're browsing the bookstore, what sections do you usually browse first? Longest? In your collection, which is represented most heavily?
I have to admit to having a nearly unhealthy attachment to fantasy novels, though I also love to read and collect "straight" sci-fi novels, poetry collections, philosophy books, and anthropological studies (mostly cultural).
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I can't help gaping at Allama's post.
I might as well not post, as my tastes are so similar to Allama's, although I am developing a taste for older epics.
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Unless I'm looking for a specific book, I normally head straight to the sci-fi section and stay there, although I occasionally browse through fantasy or general humour. Some smaller bookshops have a box of cheaper, unsellable books, which is fun to look through for bargains. I tend to avoid the 'bestseller' shelves; the most popular books are invariably awful.
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I go for gothic novels and others of that sort. Usually the wierder (with out getting all sci-fi), the better.
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Well i have a personal collection and a bigger 'family' collection that I've inherited. In the personal is the ones I've actually read, as a reading book, not research...although most of them are research. I've philosophy ones, fantasy ones (probably the biggest), history of design, graphic design, industrial design, theory of design, Greatest Portuguese literature (romance and poetry), old classics (included in philosophy), etc. In my bigger one, i have 2 most common genders, Art and Philosophy. Oh yeah, that's why I'm weird.
So my personal one has fantasy books (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Portuguese lord or the rings style, Eragon too, Júlio Verne, etc.)
oh, my personal collection has HUGE collection of comics, Corto Maltese (Hugo Pratt is my favorite drawer/style), Tintin, what you call Smurfs, we call Estrumpfes, Asterix, and other European comics.
When i go to a library, I'm normally looking for a specific book, but i can wander around a library trying to find an expensive Taschen or something like that, normally directed to Design.
The best book I've bought like that (not sure if it's Taschen), was a HUGE book about Hokusai, his whole life and art.
I normally hear about a book from friends or TV or radio, and then i go check if it's fine, my mom does that work for me, buys allot of books and i read half or a third or less of what she reads.
I don't like to read sci-fi at some point, unless the whole point of the story isn't being sci-fi...allot of sci-fi books only focus on being in outer space and weird technical stuff and things like that. I rather movies for that...if it's more complex, fine. (I mean, a large number maybe even majority of sci-fi aren't complex in my opinion)
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Most-browsed sections and most-represented in my home library - Fantasy hands down.
Second-most browsed is a tie between bestselling fiction, how-to books, and.... surprise surprise - cookbooks, heavy on the baking! Bet you'd never have guessed that one.
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Well I tend to browse a bit everywhere, but like any good nerd I head straight to the Science Fiction/Fantasy section first. Then usually hit the fiction section. Then after that I am pretty much everywhere else, but usually hit the History section next.
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I have to admit fantasy/sci-fi novels aren't my thing, though I'm sure there are some around I'd enjoy. Maybe I'll ask some of you for some good titles to start out with sometime.
I read both fiction and non-fiction - on the non-fiction side, mainly histories.
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i guess fantasy is the most common...?
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i like books on history and alternate reality. i think its kinda cool when a writer goes "What if this happened later, or that never happened"
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either cultural anthropology, science, bioethics or philosophy. somewhat hard scifi and RPG books.
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I always head straight for history, nonfiction,and then the classics.I'm a boring wretch, I know so sorry :'( ...I like language books too....I never get around to learning them thoroughly but it is fun knowing some words and phrases in all different languages
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Fantasy, military history, and European history.
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whole European history?
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Well, I suppose I should have said Medieval European and Classical History (Greece and Rome).
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I like pre-classical, it's interesting specially because most of the things are theories. Basis come from ancient texts including the bible, very interesting, you should try that. And I'm good in medieval and post-medieval culture history, specially concerning the catholic influence, christianicism, romanic, gothic, and that sort.
This brings a good window that i haven't yet referenced to, pre-classical base allot on classic texts, specially from philosophers, that's a good literature gender, understand what they understood about the history of their time.
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This brings a good window that i haven't yet referenced to, pre-classical base allot on classic texts, specially from philosophers, that's a good literature gender, understand what they understood about the history of their time.
This brings up a good point. Classical literature and even nearly-modern writings make a great many cultural allusions, especially to Greco-Roman myths, history, and philosophy. It's odd how that's more-or-less dropped out of literature over the past 100 years or so after enduring for so long. It's no longer assumed that the "educated" (i.e. those in Western cultures who would almost certainly have learned the Latin language and attendant culture as a part of their teachings) know much of anything about ancient Greece or Rome, for a number of reasons, so it has less relevance in the eyes of modern readers.
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This brings up a good point. Classical literature and even nearly-modern writings make a great many cultural allusions, especially to Greco-Roman myths, history, and philosophy. It's odd how that's more-or-less dropped out of literature over the past 100 years or so after enduring for so long. It's no longer assumed that the "educated" (i.e. those in Western cultures who would almost certainly have learned the Latin language and attendant culture as a part of their teachings) know much of anything about ancient Greece or Rome, for a number of reasons, so it has less relevance in the eyes of modern readers.
This is because books became common enough for everyone to read and because the technological progress shifted the priorities people have for education, I guess. I like Sci-Fis, and I like to read books about computers. I have a number of 'normal' novels of different sorts as well.
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This is because books became common enough for everyone to read and because the technological progress shifted the priorities people have for education, I guess.
Precisely! The "educated" man of old is now the average Joe-on-the-street, and our priorities for education itself have shifted to appeal to a broader audience and to our modern technology and culture. These days, more or less no one (speaking in very broad terms, of course) gives half a crap about Ancient Greece or believes it has any relevance to our daily lives, so we don't teach much about it.
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My fave genre is Thiller or Sci Fi
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Allama that's not at all correct. Maybe it's true in USA but we learn the greek epics in school, mainly because there's a very important Portuguese epic about our discoveries that we need to study later on, but anyway we get to learn those things. Well as many say, US 12th grade is equivalent to our 9th, if so might explain why you don't get the greek epics in school. There's not much point bounding US history onto it, but in literature is always nice, and important to understand literature genres. Dante is also another important one that we studied...the rest is given by philosophy subject, comes after the 9th grade.
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I apologize if I was unclear; I was speaking from within the context of my own culture, intending to reference only the United States. As I have not lived in any other country, I would not presume to speak for them. A few classes study The Illiad (usually if students choose to take Latin, which many schools here do not offer these days) and high school literature courses often include The Odyssey. This, of course, is an extremely small portion of Greek writings and leaves the philosophy and much of the mythology for which the culture was and remains known completely out of the curriculum.
Also, I would like to add that slurring our education was unnecessary. I know it is considered sub-par compared to many other nations and I am inclined to agree, but I feel your comment was irrelevant and mildly confrontational. You have been civil thus far, so I ask that you continue to do so. No harm done, and no ill will borne. :)
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I tend to head to the fantasy area first the sci-fi, after that history.
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Excellent choices, Miller! You should go post some of your favorite books. ;)
Lately I've been gravitating towards the cooking section a lot more than I used to; I believe my yen for tasty dishes has begun to overcome my distaste for lengthy food preparation by myself. Asian and Italian cuisine have been catching my eye, primarily.
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I'd like to learn how to cook decently. I can make ready to eat stuff, sandwiches. The only recipes I know are a few I took from my parents, and as good as it is, I can't eat lamb fried with tomatoes and onions every day.
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sorry I sometimes get carried away. But yes, well, classical literature, specially allegorical, can still be put in service nowadays, because the moral values and the actual concept of allegory continues in effect against facts of our society. Many of those texts we have in school are compared to nowadays situations. We have excellent Portuguese literature from medieval times and illuminism (How you call this period? the spelling cow doesn't seem to have viable alternatives), and all that genders with allegorical context, it's very important that we establish a connection to modern days, and our modern literature actually in a modernization of what the old one was. It's rare to have brilliant writers nowadays, but they are still out there, 1 in each era at least, we have few pre-revolution ones, allot of good ones after the revolution, and basically very few since then. But we have good ones from other countries writing in Portuguese like Jorge Amado (Brasil), and others from ex-Portuguese colonies.