TSF Book Club
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<p>I watched touching the void on sunday morning , I read the book over the weekend. Watching the movie and reading the book made me wonder aspect of mountaineering is enjoyable? Beck Wethers who suffered horribly on that trip is a motivational speaker now <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html'>http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html</a></p>
<p>I read into the wild and where men win glory by Krakauer too, I'm not sure I believe 100% of into the wild and it was a bit average but where men win glory was a superb read although thats probably got traces of bullshit too.</p>
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<p>That film looks good, there was an earlier film thats rubbish and puts a decent amount of blame on Rob Hall <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Thin_Air:_Death_on_Everest'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Thin_Air:_Death_on_Everest</a></p> -
<p>Yeah, Beck Wethers story was the one that put me off going anywhere near a fricking mountain.</p>
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<p>Into The Wild is the one where Krakaur has got a lot of (deserved) shit for flat out making it up in the most sensationalist way he could - helped by the "no one knows!" element. Its a shame as he carved out a nice nieche writing that stuff. </p> -
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<p>Did you read Anathem? I love his stuff but I've never been so bored in my life so I've steered clear of Seveneves. Normally with his books they just fly past, but jeysus Anathem was a slog. </p>
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<p>Yeah Gollum, it was hard work alright. I've been a fan since Snow Crash and generally look out for his books. So Anathem was a bit of a shock, way too dense and obscure, not at all like the Baroque Cycle books. I'm honestly not sure if I'd have bought Seveneves after that but Mrs JC got me it for my birthday. I picked it up on Saturday pm and finished it yesterday. Give it a shot.</p> -
<p>Cheers JC, sold then.</p>
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<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://deadline.com/2015/08/emperor-julius-caesar-marcus-brutus-lionsgate-conn-iggulden-1201506981/'>http://deadline.com/2015/08/emperor-julius-caesar-marcus-brutus-lionsgate-conn-iggulden-1201506981/</a></p>
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<p>As there's a lot of fans of this in this thread -</p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:12pt;">EXCLUSIVE</span></strong><span style="font-size:12pt;">: Move over, Katniss. Lionsgateâ€
s Summit Entertainment has found its next franchise hero: Julius Caesar. The company, whose franchise fare has included <em>Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games</em> and <em>Divergent</em>, has signed on with White Horse Pictures to co-produce <em>Emperor</em>, the first in what could be a trilogy of films about the rise of Julius Caesar and his best friend and eventual mortal enemy Marcus Brutus.<em><strong> Emperor will be based on the first two books written by Iggulden — The Gates Of Rome and The Field Of Swords</strong> — </em>that establish the relationship between Caesar (the great military leader) and Marcus (the great fighter) from boyhood. The books cover their rise to the top of the Roman Empire, and the political and romantic entanglements that culminate in that fatal encounter on the floor of the Roman Senate. The final novel covers the revenge taken on Caesarâ€s murderers by Octavius and Mark Antony.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">In the first film, Julius and Marcus bond at boyhood and grow into warriors who become politically ambitious and powerful enough to be regarded as threats by the establishment. <em>Emperor</em> becomes the first film for Nigel Sinclair and Guy East since they formed White Horse Pictures. They began work on the film several years ago when they ran Exclusive Media Group, and Sinclair will produce with Hollywood Gang Productions†Gianni Nunnari and Atmosphere Entertainmentâ€s Mark Canton, and Matt Jackson. East and William Broyles Jr will be exec producers with Tony To and Alex Brunner.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">A script is in by Broyles (<em>Cast Away</em> and <em>Apollo 13</em>), Stephen Harrigan (Hallmarkâ€s <em>Cleopatra</em>), Burr Steers (<em>Pride, Prejudice And Zombies</em>) and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers (<em>The Grey</em>). The fact-based tale has the kind of sexuality, political intrigue, battles and thirst for power evident in a series like HBOâ€s <em>Game Of Thrones</em>. It is high priority for Lionsgate/Summit, and they will search for a director straight away.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> “Weâ€re looking forward to working with an incredible creative team on <em>Emperor</em>, a great property based on a unique and compelling series of books,†said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger after confirming the deal. “A fresh and inventive coming-of-age story about the young Julius Caesar and Brutus set amidst the drama, intrigue and passions of ancient Rome, we believe that <em>Emperor</em> will be a big, crowd-pleasing motion picture event for global audiences. It marks an exciting addition to a slate already loaded with franchises, potential franchises and other star-driven tentpole films.â€</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">Said Sinclair: “Weâ€re thrilled to be working with Lionsgate on an epic motion picture event with the potential to create a new multi-picture franchise, and weâ€re delighted to have Mark, Gianni and Matt bringing to the film their experience in creating sweeping historical sagas of vision and scope.â€</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:12pt;">Said Canton and Nunnari, who worked together on<em> 300</em>: “Combining the sweep of <em>300</em> with the intrigue of <em>Game of Thrones</em>, this is the part of the story of the mighty Julius Caesar that nobody knows – his emergence alongside Brutus as young powerhouses in Rome, a fresh and contemporary retelling of their rivalries, passions and jealousies, captured in a movie with breath-taking action, spectacular visual effects and epic scope.â€</span></p> -
<p>Hhmmm, sounded great until the "combing the sweep of 300 with the intrigue of Game of Thrones", I'd like to have seen an adaptation of Igguldens Conqueror series, which I expect is less likely now since the Marco Polo series.</p>
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<p>I don't think so, but I haven't read the 3rd installment, yeah that aspect was quite good, Prince Harry in the SAS, the ships AI in the voice of Posh.</p>
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<p>Julius Caesar was never Emperor of Rome [/pedant]</p>
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<p>I guess Dictator for life isn't as catchy a title</p>
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<p>Wasn't Brutus considerably older than him also? so they couldnt have been childhood friends.</p> -
<p>Brutus was a Barber!</p>
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<p>Wasn't Brutus considerably older than him also? so they couldnt have been childhood friends.</p>
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<p>My uni days are a long time ago, but my recollection is Caesar was the older of the two.</p>
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<p>Brutus was a supporter of Pompey - I'm sure theres a familial connection - and only joined Caesars circle after Phaarsalus.</p>
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<p>So he was an opponent of Caesar except for the last few year of JC's life.</p>
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<p>Our popular understanding of this period of Roman history is largely down to Shakespeare et tu Brute etc and he's not the most accurate source</p> -
<p>Back to Krakauer... I have read numerous difficult accounts of what happened up there in 96 and there is nothing to suggest that he made up any of the actual events. There is obviously a little guesswork in places because the only people at certain places at certain times didn't live to tell their tale. Any controversy on this book was mainly around his opinion on Boukreev's behaviour during the night. He criticised Boukreev after guessing his original acts were 'selfish', while Boukreev himself (and others) say there was logic in the way he acted.</p>
<p>Either way the book itself is a great read.</p>
<p>Quite a bit of the background shots for that movie were shot at the same time as Mrs C was doing her Everest Base Camp trek last year and she spent a few days walking with some of the crew and the consultant climbers from NZ. Her party was used a few times to be 'extras' or appear as the 1996 team walking in the distance. Needless to say we are hoping the shots get past the cutting room.</p>
<p>The main actors and close up filming was done in Europe, much like the way the recent Ed Hillary movie was shot mainly on Aorangi.</p> -
<p>Eighth Air forth by Donald L Miller,</p>
<p>Really well written , finishes up asking whether or not the bombing was worth the human cost on both sides. He covers a lot of stuff like the allies sent economists to interview various Germans after the war and to see if it was all worth while, the germans tried their own kamikaze attics and it was pretty cool reading about Jimmy Stewart actually going into combat. </p> -
<p>I started the Tyler Hamilton book yesterday, and I've damn near finished it, what a great story! It's a frankly amazing confession of a double life under extreme pressure. It's obviously a lot less shocking to read now after the Lance thing was all confessed, but in 2012 it would have been a startling admission, and look in to cycling, and Armstrong's character. </p>
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<p>He certainly doesn't hold anything back</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="540173" data-time="1447031194"><p>
I <strong>started the Tyler Hamilton book yesterday, and I've damn near finished it</strong>, what a great story! It's a frankly amazing confession of a double life under extreme pressure. It's obviously a lot less shocking to read now after the Lance thing was all confessed, but in 2012 it would have been a startling admission, and look in to cycling, and Armstrong's character. <br><br>
He certainly doesn't hold anything back</p></blockquote>
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<p>finished it. Great story. Glad i had the latest edition that had the additional chapter on the Armstrong confession, it tied it up nicely.</p>
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<p>It's a sad story really, these guys bust their ass to make it, get given a choice, dope or go home, so they dope, everyone does it, and then, invariably, they get caught, and end up with nothing to show for a lot of effort. I hope it's different now. </p> -
I mentioned it on the app thread but it should go here. The unabridged audio book of World war z is fantastic, for those unaware it has bugger all to do with the movie, its a series of interviews with various people around the world about their experiences during the zombie war. There are a few big name actors doing the voices including Mark Hamil, Alan Alda..and more that slip my mind. Must be at least 5 hours long, perfect if you have a long drive coming up and as they are interviews it really suits the audio book format. I've put it on a couple time with family and mates who were super dubious about it but the gripping story soon makes everyone a fan.
