My father has taste

[salinea]

I lend my father the first three volumes of Steven Brust' Dragaera series, and he loved it.

I lend him Barbara Hambly's Dragonbane, he loved it.

I lend him Master and Commander (after seeing him watching the movie and telling him it was adapted from a book), he loved it.

I lend him Lies of Locke Lamora, he didn't like it. *snickers*

Otherwise, he also likes the Miles Vorkosigan series, Ian Banks, A Song of Ice and Fire, To say nothing nothing of the dog, Dan Simmons, and Walter Jon Williams. (And Hikaru No Go, but that's because he's a go nerd).

Conclusion: my father rocks.

I plan to buy the Bakker books to give it to him, and I'm waiting for all three Abercrombie books to be out before I lend them to him (he had too much trouble remembering who was who when he read Feast For Crows the poor dear ^^).

I lend Dorothy Sayers' Strong Poison to my mother and she didn't even read it :(

Comments

[after-nightfall.livejournal.com]

Ahh, lucky you! I wish I could get my father to read ANY old thing! He used to like fantasy-ish literature, too. He'd never tell me why he stopped reading either.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

That's sad, that he stopped :( does he read anything now? Both my parents are big readers and have always been, besides the fact that I got into SF/F by snagging books out of his library so it's always something we can share even when we have different tastes.

Do you know what kind of fantasy he used to like?

[after-nightfall.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if it was up to him, I'd never have been the reader I am. Not that I needed that much encouragement, really, and at least he didn't berate me about it, or hide and destroy my books, like some of my other relatives did. He used to be a big fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov and (you will NOT believe this) Marcel Proust - at least these are ancient books of his that I remember seeing, and a literal ton of old comics.

But now... I did ask him, but he'd never give me a straight answer. Only that "he used to read, but not anymore". Makes me sad, to think of his life without books. And my mum, although she used to be a real reader, has turned to populist "sociology" and conspiracy theory books and flatly refuses to read anything that could even remotely betermed fantasy, saying that fairytales are for children. *sigh* And my sister adores Atlas Shrugged. I feel so misunderstood by my family. ;-)

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

My dad and I share books a lot, although we do have pretty different tastes. I bet he'd like Bujold, and he loves Martin and Lynch and Simmons. Bakker, probably not. I think I'm going to rec Altered Carbon to him next.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he has great taste as well! Bujold is remarkably appreciable by lots of people with different tastes given how well rounded those books are.

Bakker's a difficult one, but my dad likes both Hyperion and Dune, so I think he would dig the complicatedness of the setting and intrigues. I'm not sure what he'll think of the philosophical content though. Watch and see.

I don't know Altered Carbon, whose book is that, what's it about?

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

My son is my premier source, next to the LJ flist, for leads to good reads, movies, and TV. I know I can trust his taste every time. He's the one who got me started on Buffy and Veronica Mars, but I introduced him to Tolkien (at the age of 6.)

But my favorite bad family reaction to a reading recommendation was my brother-in-law, who objected to something one of us suggested because it was written in first-person POV. Now that is weird.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

finally a good reason to breed! XD

It's part of the cycle of life, I guess ;)

who objected to something one of us suggested because it was written in first-person POV. Now that is weird.
Objection on moral grounds? O_o;; Weird. Lots of people don't like reading 1st person in general, but objecting to someone else's reading it, that is odd...

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

No, he's just one of those who doesn't like reading it--a taste I'd never encountered before.

[ann1962]

finally a good reason to breed! XD

LOL Very true! One of the supreme joys of my life was watching my children learn to read, and now they recc stuff to me as well. Both of my kids have great taste in books. I trust their instincts.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

That must be great, watching children grow, get their taste in literature and getting back to you with recs ♥ Do they have specific tastes?

[ann1962]

They both love scifi and fantasy. Scarlet just read The Warrior series and absolutely loves it. She most recently was checking out the manga series made from them, but can't remember if she bought it or not. Viper prefers non-fic but that dovetails into stories after he learns the facts. He was so excited once when I showed him the scifi section at the bookstore and he couldn't believe there was so much scifi. His eyes glowed.

[darksumomo.livejournal.com]

My daughter recs books to me as well. The last one was Snowcrash. I rather enjoyed that one.

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

My dad used to read fantasy, but there was almost no overlap between his authors and mine, something my mother still can't grasp. Dad liked his fantasy rather... simpler.

He didn't like LLL, yet you claim he has taste? :p

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

it was part of my point, since I wasn't crazy about it either (even if he was even more negative :p)

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

Everyone is entitled to an occasional lapse of taste. ;)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

The word is overhyped. They're not bad, they're just not the second coming of literature. Slightly above Novik at least. But needs to work on characterization. The Blade Itself was much better for comparison :p

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

The First Law books are certainly better. But I've always enjoyed the Gentlemen Bastards for being what they are - adventure books, not Great Literature.

I find GRRM has left me spoiled when it comes to characterisation. So few authors are so consistently good at it as he is.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

The First Law books are certainly better.
But weren't even half as hyped on the board.

They are good adventure, I have to agree. Decent plotting and very adequate setting for the plot. I wasn't asking of GRRM level in characterization, I just wanted to actually be moved when half the cast of character was killed.

Agreeing that GRRM has spoiled us all ;)

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

True. But then Rothfuss has been hyped to heck on the board, and I can't see any reason why. Hype is temporary, class permanent, to paraphrase the old football saying. ;)

And I've been pimping the Abercrombie books every chance I get!

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to read After They Were Hanged or whatever's the title! Very promising author ^^

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

The Last Argument Of Kings. Due in March.

You know what we need? Some First Law icons. ;)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

make a quote list and I'll go to work on it. I do remember a few swell ones.

I meant to do some KJ Parker ones too, she has some jewels of black humour.

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

Well, you can start with 'You have to be realistic about these things', and move on to 'still alive!'. 'Body found floating by the docks' would also make a good one... :p

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

*makes notes*

I think "You have to be realistic..." would be better with some examples of the lines leading to them.

"Still alive" just rocks as is ^^ I'll have to rainbownize it.

[the-corbie.livejournal.com]

I think the 'realistic' line works as is. But YMMV. :)

I've nearly finished my first reread of the series, and I think I have figured out a lot of the hidden twists and mysteries. I'd brag but there are spoilers. :D

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

My mom won't read things I give her, either. I wanted her to read Middlesex, and she wouldn't take my copy. Instead she wound up reading it with my aunt's book group, and, no surprise, really liked it! My dad will take recs, but he didn't like Master and Commander. :( He prefers Hornblower, which he read in childhood. I think he'd already read some of the Vorkosigan series when I recommended it to him.

You know who really rocks is my SON. He gets all the jokes in every book. He's writing Winnie the Pooh fan fic now. <3

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yeah. To be fair she's afraid to read in English, and I couldn't find those books in translation. But she's always more difficult even though she reads a lot (and lots of investigation novels).

I need to look up Hornblower I think ;) I was surprised my dad liked Master and Commander to be honest, it's not the kind of things he usually reads! But he seems very enthousiasmed and can't wait to get Post-Captain heeh.

Your son's so cute, Winnie fanfic, that rocks ♥

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

I know I brag about him constantly, and I'm completely responsible for this Piglet-centric fan fiction, because I love Winnie the Pooh and I taught him about fan fic. He wants to write! He can barely form some of the letters. Piglet Pounces, he says is going to be the third book--he can't make a G and he adds extra lines to the E because that's the style at daycare.

It is sooooo excellent.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

You're lucky! My dad occasionally reads Robert Ludlum type books but I can sometimes get him to read some slightly more literary thrillers. My mom rarely reads but when she does she reads obsessively and won't put the book down for days. It was a scary time when they both got into the Da Vinci Code - I think I actually hung up during a conversation when they both got on the line to discuss the Knights Templar.

My brother used to read only non-fiction on war but as he's gotten older his tastes are getting closer to mine and he reads more fantasy and lit. - we actually have discussions on books! He's very into Harry Potter.

It was a bit lonely for me growing up, I was always encouraged to read, but I was the only one in my family who was into books.