[Letmebefrank]

I absolutely love the Wheel of Time, despite it's faults and the drawn out middle section, it is my all time favorite fantasy series. I've read the full series 3 times and the Jordan-written books 4 times. I'm reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen right now and I'm on book 8. It's a great series but it just doesn't grab my brain like WoT does.

 

[KoshNaranek]

When I was a much younger fellow I was much intrigued by Tolkein and the Trilogy. My remembrance is that the stories started as tales read to his children and that he used to speak at great link with C. S. Lewis and others, at a pub as I recall, about the stories and the publishing of these stories. To my great relief they were published and I think I've read them and The Hobbitt 4 times over the years.

Speaking of Name of the Wind, I hope Rothfuss publishes a conclusion before he passes on, or me for that matter. It appears he may have A Wheel to Time problem(death before the last book) or Game of Thrones issue(writer's block). I guess I can watch the HBO version of the conclusion next year. LOL

The pub in question is the Eagle and the Child in Oxford.
The booth they used to inhabit is in in the back, just before the entrance to the annex. The annex was not present in Tolkien's time. I have a photo of the booth on my computer at home. I took the photo in 2007.

 

[Paladin79]

Very cool, the most famous author from my part of the US is probably Kurt Vonnegut, I have read most all of his works. And so it goes.

I do believe I read that his grandfather invented the push bar to unlock doors, a quick method of leaving commercial buildings. He did this after people died in an industrial fire and the exits did not allow for easy egress.

 

[Oklahoma]

I absolutely love the Wheel of Time, despite it's faults and the drawn out middle section, it is my all time favorite fantasy series. I've read the full series 3 times and the Jordan-written books 4 times. I'm reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen right now and I'm on book 8. It's a great series but it just doesn't grab my brain like WoT does.

Nice. I have read Wheel of Time a few times as well. Have had a hard time getting into the Malazan series. More to do with available time than book quality. I am right now rereading Raymond E. Feist and am about a quarter of the way through all 37 or something books.

 

[US Blues]

It has been years since I read LOTR but I do recall it has one of the best examples ever of deus ex machina with the eagle rescue.

An eagle rescue happens once in 'The Hobbit,' and twice in 'LOTR.' The presence of Eagles in the Battle of the Five Armies goes under a separate category.

 

[Paladin79]

The term started with Greek plays and is like a divine intervention, the exact translation is god from a machine because they would hoist this holy apparition up to appear behind the actors. It has come to mean most anytime something unexpected happens that is generally good to the best of my recollection.

If anyone has specific books of fiction they like, please PM me. I am always looking for something new to read but generally I do not do long series unless they are a series of books by Raymond Chandler, Patricia Highsmith, etc. Best if they are stand alone and not the middle of a series for book clubs sake lol. Some of my favorites include things like The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I have read a lot of Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy, Don Delillo, Michael Chabon, David Foster Wallace, etc.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

The term started with Greek plays and is like a divine intervention, the exact translation is god from a machine because they would hoist this holy apparition up to appear behind the actors. It has come to mean most anytime something unexpected happens that is generally good to the best of my recollection.

If anyone has specific books of fiction they like, please PM me. I am always looking for something new to read but generally I do not do long series unless they are a series of books by Raymond Chandler, Patricia Highsmith, etc. Best if they are stand alone and not the middle of a series for book clubs sake lol. Some of my favorites include things like The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I have read a lot of Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy, Don Delillo, Michael Chabon, David Foster Wallace, etc.

"Adults In The Room" by Yanis Varoufakis. A European horror story.

Deus Ex Machina (makeena) is Latin for "god out of a machine", the (Greek) invention of an unrelated (to the story line) plot-turn that immediately ends a non-feasible telling.

 

[Paladin79]

mille grazie Pietro.

I hope my translation of deus ex machina and explanation was similar to yours, I like the fact they actually hoisted the divinity into place and thus the machine. Other favorites are words like sincerely from sine cera, (without wax) and the word rostrum, (whose latin translation is beak).

Anyway I will look for that book. You might enjoy A Gentleman in Moscow, it has a cat in it and it involves a gentleman from Russian aristocracy, a lovely story of grace and breeding in the face of political upheaval. Ok back to talk of Schiit products when possible, sorry to digress.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

I hope my translation of deus ex machina and explanation was similar to yours,

Yes it is.
FYI, the book I mentioned is the story of real European financial meddling. No fiction there. (Alas).

 

[Paladin79]

i know, but it seemed interesting, it took me all of five seconds to own it. Modern technology lol.

I am in a true crime book club as well, a book American Kingpin about the founder of the silk road is fascinating, and ongoing. I do read non-fiction.

 

[RCBinTN]

Well, I know what SNAFU means. A frequent happening at my old company

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Serious Non Audible Fake Utilities.

 

[Paladin79]

The words I gave have meanings unlike their translations but when you know they story behind them, they make perfect sense. Sincerely, sine cera (without wax), if a sculptor had cracks in a piece of art he might fill them in with marble chips and wax to help the appearance. To be sincere is to be without such faults. Rostrum from beak. Prows of warships would have a carved head and naval generals would display such things behind them as they gave speeches to show off their military might. The beaks finally came to mean a platform from which one gave speeches.

 

[RCBinTN]

The pub in question is the Eagle and the Child in Oxford.
The booth they used to inhabit is in in the back, just before the entrance to the annex. The annex was not present in Tolkien's time. I have a photo of the booth on my computer at home. I took the photo in 2007.

Appears to be a decent place to hang out and get some fish or bangers.

 

[BagelJoe]

The term started with Greek plays and is like a divine intervention, the exact translation is god from a machine because they would hoist this holy apparition up to appear behind the actors. It has come to mean most anytime something unexpected happens that is generally good to the best of my recollection.

If anyone has specific books of fiction they like, please PM me. I am always looking for something new to read but generally I do not do long series unless they are a series of books by Raymond Chandler, Patricia Highsmith, etc. Best if they are stand alone and not the middle of a series for book clubs sake lol. Some of my favorites include things like The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I have read a lot of Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy, Don Delillo, Michael Chabon, David Foster Wallace, etc.

Nice to see you're into easy reading on the beach. Read some of each but cannot get past the first chapters of "Infinite Jest".