Book Club: "The Diceman" - Luke Rhinehart / "Fooled by Randomness" - Nicholas T

Lao Lao

hotspur wrote: »

.

(I will be recommending a tiny book by a Simpsons writer)

There goes one of my suggestions :rolleyes:

ditpoker

despite asking several cousins of mine i cant find it on audiobook. i'm out.

although mickste did mention World War Z to me and Lloyd and a few of my cousins had that on audio... so thats a recommendation rate there!

NickyOD

Nice idea. Have the diceman book, will bump it to the top of the queue now.

AdMMM

I'll order this now. Have to second "A Brave New World" as well though.

Lafortezza

I like hotspurs idea about having a bit more of a structure. Personally I will probably just scan this thread for recommended titles and read whatever I buy at my own pace. There's a good sticky of recommended books in the Literature forum, here.
There's also been a couple of threads of books suggestions on 2+2, one, two, three. Very USA biased obv but I've picked up a few recommended books after a quick scan of them on Amazon.

fatguy

I would suggest that the people who've already read The Dice Man should vote on the second book.

YULETIRED

fatguy wrote: »

I would suggest that the people who've already read The Dice Man should vote on the second book.

Good point, the Black and Tans by Richard Bennet was enjoyable, a well known book that was excellent is Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafron. Q&A was good also , Slumdog Millionaire was based on this book.

lafortezza

lafortezza wrote: »

I like hotspurs idea about having a bit more of a structure.

I agree. Perhaps we should select 5 posters who will rotate the selection.

For example; Poster 1 chooses 1 month then Poster 2 the next. Everyone agrees on the posters and it's their choice then.

eagle eye

I don't know if I really want to get involved in this, I read an awful lot but don't usually bother discussing anything much. I will however keep an eye on whats been read, I have a nice selection of audio books and ebooks from cousins. Not a real fan of the audio books myself, I like the actual reading of them maybe ever moreso than the content sometimes.

LuckyLloyd

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Samoa Joe

My 5 choices

James Frey - Bright shiny morning
James Frey - A million little pieces
Yann Martel - Life of Pi
Howard Marks - Mr.Nice
David Peace - The damned Utd

When buying books I normally go to play.com and click on the new and used price you normally get it cheaper there than the price listed on play and the delivery is free.

TommyGunne

The Diceman is a quality book. Really interesting, and there a lot of small details in it that I really like in terms of accuracy to detail and insight. Really cleverly written. Its actually the origins of VanDice's SN also.

Would really like to read A Brave New World as well, so I'd third that. I'd second Life of Pi also as an interesting read, as I would Mr. Nice (not as good, but an OK light read.)

If anyone here hasn't read Fooled by Randomness, I would highly recommend it. Inverting the Pyramid is great for anyone interested in soccer, but not really suitable here. Can't really fault any of the more modern classics like Catcher in the Rye, The Sound and The Fury, Catch22 (lots of meh reviews, but I like it), Keep The Aspidistras Flying (my fave Orwell book, and there's a lot of competition!) etc etc etc. My favourite book of all time is actually a book of short stories though, called "For Esme - With Love and Squalor", by Salinger. Would highly recommend.

Also, I wish there was a possibility of a veto, as I'd veto any Malcolm Gladwell selection.

Sirtoyou

pgodkin wrote: »

Do audio books count???? :P



**note** i cant read

You got a link for the software that transfers boards to audio please?:D

zuroph

I'd like to recommend this one

Wreck

How much do we get if we win? And who are we shipping the $$$ too?

LuckyLloyd

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Tight Ted

I dunno if anyone else has recommended it, but you just HAVE to read atomised by Michel Houellebecq. Best book I've ever read, it'll change your life.

Icarus152

Wreck wrote: »

How much do we get if we win? And who are we shipping the $$$ too?

If we win the competion we should give the money to a boards charitee.

Wreck

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

What?

ah it was just a (bad) joke.

BobSloane

Nice idea. Although I read only 1-2 books per year I look forward to giving this a go(and probably bumping the diceman thread around next January:rolleyes:)

Lol at reading two books per month. I mentioned it to the dog as a joke and he hasn't stopped barking since

thenutpeddler

I met this session musician who played with Thin Lizzy a few years back in a radio studio. He did the circuit telling old stories from the road.

He had this one about phil lynnott, on a european tour. The Dice Man had a cult following at the time and on this tour Phil lived his life by the roll of a dice. He listed out 6 options from the mundane to the absolute bizzare and did what ever the dice told him.

I got the book the next day. Have to say it's a very interesting concept, especially if you are into psychology but I was very dissapointed in the end. I'll wait for you all to read it before spoiling anything.

a147pro

hmmm... this book was given to me in a swap with someone on holidays. I made it through around 12 pages before realising it was complete crap. they later confessed to have hated it too. the key may have been in that the blurb had FHM describing the author as the 'novelist of the century', which can't be a good thing.

that said, I rarely read more that the first quarter to third of any book so presumably other people may enjoy it

djsctt

a147pro wrote: »

hmmm... this book was given to me in a swap with someone on holidays. I made it through around 12 pages before realising it was complete crap. they later confessed to have hated it too. the key may have been in that the blurb had FHM describing the author as the 'novelist of the century', which can't be a good thing.

that said, I rarely read more that the first quarter to third of any book so presumably other people may enjoy it

You're a month too early with your review

thenutpeddler

I have a copy of this book if anyone wants it

Hectorjelly

My Recomendations

One

Money, by Martin Amis




Two

Post Office, by Charles Bukowski



Three

Dispatches, by Michael Herr

RasTa

My three

CourierCollie

TommyGunne wrote: »

The Diceman is a quality book. Really interesting, and there a lot of small details in it that I really like in terms of accuracy to detail and insight. Really cleverly written. Its actually the origins of VanDice's SN also.

Would really like to read A Brave New World as well

When I first read it ( about 20 years ago) I found it quite interesting and eh, profound. Reread it last year an I was like meh. Gonna give it another go, but I'm convinced there's nothing clever about it. The only real interest is in if you're ready to go with it.

+1 on Brave New World. Well worth a reread, and nice and short too.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

zuroph wrote: »

I'd like to recommend this one

I love this book so much.

Killme00

My recommendations:

Midnight Cowboy - James Leo Herlihy

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star - Paul Theroux

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Ive just ordered Diceman and to whoever suggested Aldous Huxley - A Brave New World...i salute you sir in the name of our ford

BobSloane

Killme00 wrote: »

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

I think this is my favourite ever book. I LoLed alot