Books The BOOK thread

Stick said:
I'm currently reading Anthony Horowitz' The Word Is Murder which I think is great. I really like his style of writing in the Magpie Murders and will read more of his books after these.
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Sorry for the near two year bump but did you get into any more of Horowitz's work after? I thought Magpie Murders was great and am about 3/4 ways through The Word is Murder and really liking it. Well constructed mysteries, easy to read and not too taxing.

So looking to continue wit more of his stuff but don't know which of his James Bond / Sherlock Holmes or his own stuff is worth checking next.
 
Jippy said:
I'll defo give get another of his to read soon- which would you favour out of the two? Reading Blood Meridian has been a bit of a style jump from Vonnegut to say the least.
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Sorry but I'll chuck another Vonnegut into the mix - Cat's Cradle is superb and personally I rate it higher than the two mentioned there. Although Slaughterhouse 5 especially is essential reading.
 
GBBQ said:
Sorry for the near two year bump but did you get into any more of Horowitz's work after? I thought Magpie Murders was great and am about 3/4 ways through The Word is Murder and really liking it. Well constructed mysteries, easy to read and not too taxing.

So looking to continue wit more of his stuff but don't know which of his James Bond / Sherlock Holmes or his own stuff is worth checking next.
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No worries. I stopped at those two but really enjoyed them. I actually got sidetracked into a Truman Capote/Stig Larsson wormhole!! I will try a few more over the next few months and let you know what I think.
 
Jippy said:
I'll defo give get another of his to read soon- which would you favour out of the two? Reading Blood Meridian has been a bit of a style jump from Vonnegut to say the least.
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As @Nickosaur says I think Slaugherhouse V is probably he next one to read. I hadnt heard of Cats Cradle so I think that will be next for me. Bluebeard is probably a good follow up novel.
 
Nickosaur said:
Sorry but I'll chuck another Vonnegut into the mix - Cat's Cradle is superb and personally I rate it higher than the two mentioned there. Although Slaughterhouse 5 especially is essential reading.
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Stick said:
As @Nickosaur says I think Slaugherhouse V is probably he next one to read. I hadnt heard of Cats Cradle so I think that will be next for me. Bluebeard is probably a good follow up novel.
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Thanks both, have ordered both, so can choose when they get here.
 
Has anyone read Orhan Pamuk's Snow?
Loved My Name is Red and was thinking of reading more Pamuk. A mate said Snow is his 2nd best after My Name.
 
Suv666 said:
Has anyone read Orhan Pamuk's Snow?
Loved My Name is Red and was thinking of reading more Pamuk. A mate said Snow is his 2nd best after My Name.
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I read about 2/3s of it while I was on a train to Kars, where the novel is set. Never finished it, one of very few books I’ve given up on. Can’t really pinpoint why, the story and setting is interesting enough, probably more to do with where my head was at that moment than anything especially wrong with the book.

Haven’t read any other fiction of his, but I loved Istanbul, his memoirs of living in the city.
 
I finished Our Oriental Heritage. 3 stars. Now I'm reading The Wise Man's Fear. Passable but I'm only halfway through.
 
Finished The Red Dragon last night. Excellent read. Dolarhyde’a backstory was well done I thought. Like Will Graham a lot too but am I right in saying he isn’t in any of the other books?

Next read is White American Youth: My Descent into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement and How I Got Out. Saw a Ted Talk with this guy and looks to be a fascinating read.

 
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esmufc07 said:
Like Will Graham a lot too but am I right in saying he isn’t in any of the other books?
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I *think* you're right, mate. He's merely mentioned in passing, as it were.
 
Read Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin, and The Pearl by John Steinbeck last week, both very short books you can read in one or two sittings.

Fever Dream is fecking bizarre, unsettling, really liked it. The Pearl is well written but ultimately a bit meh.
 
Reading Bohemian Rhapsody a biography by Lesley-Ann Jones I found in The Works store.

It seems extremely well researched with no apparent bias.
 
I just finished Blood Meridian this evening. Great book, but not sure about the ending.

It feels like it drifts a bit after Glanton is killed and then they're all suddenly really paranoid about the others whacking them.
Also a bit odd the judge almost becomes a mythical character at the end and does he kill the kid?
Great read though- massively bleak, but without being heavy going. The depiction of the Indians is hellish, but so is the whole world he depicts tbf.
 
Also a bit odd the judge almost becomes a mythical character at the end
I felt that way about the Judge from the beginning - he's surely meant to represent, well, everything from Pan to what might be crudely called 'the spirit of evil/chaos'.
Curiously, I thought that the most chilling thing in the novel was an entirely bloodless, non-violent scene: the way he tried to erase history by scrubbing out marks and inscriptions left by past races. This, to me, even goes beyond the Judge's stated ambition - to be a 'suzerain' - and epitomises the boundless, insane, frequently destructive pride and vanity of mankind. For some uncanny reason, to read of such naked egotism scared me; his actions were an offence against the family of Man (which, granted, he doesn't seem to belong to anyway).
 
SteveJ said:
Also a bit odd the judge almost becomes a mythical character at the end
I felt that way about the Judge from the beginning - he's surely meant to represent, well, everything from Pan to what might be crudely called 'the spirit of evil/chaos'.
Curiously, I thought that the most chilling thing in the novel was an entirely bloodless, non-violent scene: the way he tried to erase history by scrubbing out marks and inscriptions left by past races. This, to me, even goes beyond the Judge's stated ambition - to be a 'suzerain' - and epitomises the boundless, insane, frequently destructive pride and vanity of mankind. For some uncanny reason, to read of such naked egotism scared me; his actions were an offence against the family of Man (which, granted, he doesn't seem to belong to anyway).
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Ah, very interesting points, I'd forgotten about him erasing the inscriptions specifically, but was similarly somewhat taken aback by the way he catalogued then destroyed artefacts.
It felt too simple for him to be merely the devil and he seems slightly removed from a lot of the actual violence. More a kind of philosophical embodiment of man's depravity.
Not sure why he's giant, hairless and nude a lot, but facinating character all the same.
 
It felt too simple for him to be merely the devil and he seems slightly removed from a lot of the actual violence.
Perhaps the character is a variation on Mephistopheles, mate? A tempter, a wilfully malign influence on flawed people?
 
Currently reading the autobiography of Malcolm X. Not a big fan of autobiographies but this is a brilliant read.
 
2cents said:
I read about 2/3s of it while I was on a train to Kars, where the novel is set. Never finished it, one of very few books I’ve given up on. Can’t really pinpoint why, the story and setting is interesting enough, probably more to do with where my head was at that moment than anything especially wrong with the book.

Haven’t read any other fiction of his, but I loved Istanbul, his memoirs of living in the city.
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Read a few reviews online and many held the same views. I reckon I'll try some other book of his. On a tight budget and cannot afford to buy books which I might end up abandoning.
 
On my more humble 2020 schedule I finished
Your Face Tomorrow Vol2: Dance and Dream by Javier Marias

Even better than the first volume and definitely showcases why Marias is a master of the psychological novel style. He is more accessible than Can Xue and Krasznahorkai, my other two recent favorites.
 
I just finished The First Phone Calls from Heaven by Mitch Albom. Not one I would have chosen myself but not a bad story in all. I'm now onto The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
On my more humble 2020 schedule I finished
Your Face Tomorrow Vol2: Dance and Dream by Javier Marias

Even better than the first volume and definitely showcases why Marias is a master of the psychological novel style. He is more accessible than Can Xue and Krasznahorkai, my other two recent favorites.
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I've got Volume 1 scheduled to read next month. Can't wait, been on my list for so long.

I don't read a lot of non fiction, but i'm currently reading Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. I travelled around Latin America for six months and a number of people recommended this book for me. Really well written but also incredibly depressing.
 
Nickosaur said:
I've got Volume 1 scheduled to read next month. Can't wait, been on my list for so long.

I don't read a lot of non fiction, but i'm currently reading Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano. I travelled around Latin America for six months and a number of people recommended this book for me. Really well written but also incredibly depressing.
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Ah please post ypur thoughts. I've only read Football in Sun and Shadow by him and it was some outstanding writing.
 
To Kill A Mockingbird was fantastic. Definitely a book I will read again. The humour throughout was well done and Atticus Finch is my new hero.
 
Currently reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Enjoying it but it's a tad depressing.
 
Middlemarch. Almost as good the 1994 tv adaptation. ;)
 
esmufc07 said:
I got to about 60 pages in and I just couldn’t get into it! A book usually has to grip me fairly quickly otherwise I tend to lose interest. I’ll revisit it at some point.

Moved onto ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.
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I would definitely revisit it if I were you. I can't recall what the first 60 pages contain. It was probably background on the family and the town but once you start reading more about Perry Smith and getting the connection that Capote made with him it becomes a compelling read.
 
What are people's favourite shortish books? Less than 200 pages say. I like having a few like that to move onto when reading a much bigger/more dense book.
 
I just finished The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. I really liked the style but christ it's a bit bleak. I've moved not to Finding Chika by Mitch Albom. I think I may need to read something lighter after this one!
 
Freak said:
Just finished The Water Dancer. It's pretty good.

Is the Witcher books worth a go?
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Read the first two, pretty good. They are a collection of short stories think the main story kicks in after the 3rd book.
 
Finished The Plotters by Un-Su Kim
A really fun fast paced thriller that I found immensely enjoyable.
 
How do people rate Ian McEwan. I just read The Child in Time. His descriptions are extremely vivid and he captures the minutiae of people's mannerisms and just the day to day drudgery of life, but I'm less enamoured with how he crafts plots.
I read Atonement a while back to, but tbh I can't remember how I felt about it in any great detail. The Cement Garden is also on my shelf but as yet unread.
 
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