Finished Carrie yesterday. Decent novel, not too long either. Isn't really a horror in the traditional sense, but a good overall read.
Books The BOOK thread
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Finished Norwegian Wood. Well written but ultimately a very dull, coming of age story. Bizzare that this is the book that made Murakami famous as even by his own admission it's not his best work.
Started reading The Trial by Franz Kafka last night. Wow. Only a chapter in but I can't stop thinking about it.
It's resonates so much with modern society and the idea of trial by social media. I genuinely can't wait to get home and carry on with it.
Started reading The Trial by Franz Kafka last night. Wow. Only a chapter in but I can't stop thinking about it.
It's resonates so much with modern society and the idea of trial by social media. I genuinely can't wait to get home and carry on with it.
Finished The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar.
It's a excellent book about a middleclass Parsi woman (Sera) and her elderly servant/housemaid (Bhima), and the unspoken class divisions that exist between them. It's about their lives and the secrets they keep from all but one another. It's a really nice book (and I think the author has recently written a sequel). It's described as a book of Indian Apartheid which I think is quite apt.
It's a excellent book about a middleclass Parsi woman (Sera) and her elderly servant/housemaid (Bhima), and the unspoken class divisions that exist between them. It's about their lives and the secrets they keep from all but one another. It's a really nice book (and I think the author has recently written a sequel). It's described as a book of Indian Apartheid which I think is quite apt.
Struggling with the Black Swan. The author must think that he is a genius, everyone else is an idiot, and he is showing that of with every line of his writing.
Agreed. It's much less interesting than his other books. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki is a return to the same style but I found it a much better book overall.
On Haruki - I'm still reading IQ84 and enjoying it more than I did at the beginning. I'm a bit so-so about the Aomane parts but the Tengo parts are great.
I actually had Colorless lined up as my next read but Norwegian Wood put me off starting it.
I plan to get 1Q84 soonish. Rereading 1984 for the hundredth time currently.
Reading Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. Incredibly fascinating.
So I finished Books 1+2 of 1Q84 yesterday. As a novel, it's all over the place and far too long with lots of repetitive passages that have way too much description of subjective events. Somebody on Reddit described it aptly by saying it's like a book Murakami wrote only because he didn't have an editor breathing down his neck to tell him to rein it in. Hundreds of pages could be cut without losing the point of the book.
However despite this, I can't deny it's provocative and I'm intrigued by the story so I'll no doubt read part 3 at some stage. It's basically everything I like and hate about Murakami in one simply easy-to-throw 800 page novel.
It's also amazing how fecking bad he is at writing sex scenes. One part describes a woman's pubic hair as having telepathic qualities
However despite this, I can't deny it's provocative and I'm intrigued by the story so I'll no doubt read part 3 at some stage. It's basically everything I like and hate about Murakami in one simply easy-to-throw 800 page novel.
It's also amazing how fecking bad he is at writing sex scenes. One part describes a woman's pubic hair as having telepathic qualities
Speaking of sex scenes, I read Philip Roth's The Humbling yesterday. It's short at a very spaced out 138 pages, so good to read in one go.
It's fairly enjoyable, intriguing, darkly comic at times and tautly written -unlike Dickens' David Copperfield, which I was reading before it. It's only the second Roth book I've read, after Portnoy's Complaint, and he isn't shy about graphic sex scenes or language to the point of being lurid or grubby at times - it's a bit odd to think about 76 old authors writing about threesomes with strap-ons, but his writing is so elegant it lifts him above accusations of being a dirty old man I think.
It's fairly enjoyable, intriguing, darkly comic at times and tautly written -unlike Dickens' David Copperfield, which I was reading before it. It's only the second Roth book I've read, after Portnoy's Complaint, and he isn't shy about graphic sex scenes or language to the point of being lurid or grubby at times - it's a bit odd to think about 76 old authors writing about threesomes with strap-ons, but his writing is so elegant it lifts him above accusations of being a dirty old man I think.
Anyone know if there's an English translation of Renzaburo Shibata's 'Nemuri Kyoshiro - Record of an Outlaw.' I can only find Japanese language versions.
TIL that David Eddings (author of a kid-friendly series of fantasy books I read when I was a child) went to jail for child abuse. Apparently he kept his adopted son in a cage and his wife was caught beating the child with a belt.
This is the sort of thing that colours memories of childhood favourites. Yikes.
This is the sort of thing that colours memories of childhood favourites. Yikes.
I'm about 4 chapters into this one. It was slow going at first but it's beginning to pick up. I bought the book purely based on this recommendation so thanks mate.
Cheers! Let me know what you think while you get further in. I'm really happy others have picked up some of my favorite books.
Keep them coming, particularly ones in the up to 250 page range. I've got a load of 500+ pagers on my shelf and like to intersperse them with shorter books.
Maybe this year will finally be the year I read all of Kafka's books, I only read The Castle (I think is the English title).
I'm reading The Big Short at the mo and finding it fascinating. Any recs for other similar business/finance type books?
I don't read many of those anymore but The Misbehavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence by Benoit Mandelbrot (chaos theory pioneer) was really awesome when I read it.
A classic: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-137-52574-1
One closer to behavioral economics: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691142333/animal-spirits
This one is a bit cool as well: https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Between-Dog-Wolf-Transforms/dp/0143123408
Animal Spirits is a classic, definitely recommend that (and anything by Akerloff really)
There have been periodic requests for this, but can anyone recommend any decent books c200 pages?
I'm in the final furlong of reading David Copperfield (feck me it's long) and have mainly 400-600 pagers on the shelf. I'd like some shorter books to mix it up a bit.
Thanks.
I'm in the final furlong of reading David Copperfield (feck me it's long) and have mainly 400-600 pagers on the shelf. I'd like some shorter books to mix it up a bit.
Thanks.
I don't read many in that range, sorry for not replying to your earlier post. I can do a few around 275-300 though!
Just check some lists like this one though most of the first books are old:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/under-200-pages
I liked We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Coraline
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/under-200-pages
I liked We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Coraline
200-300 is fine too, thanks.
Brilliant, thanks. We Have Always Lived in the Castle has been on a couple of lists I've seen now, same with Susan, so I'll try both of them, thanks.
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin is under 300 and a fantastic blend of Cormac McCarthy with the HBO show Carnivale. I can't recommend it enough.
There, There by Tommy Orange is sure to be a classic about life as Native Americans in Oakland in the 21st century., it was nominated for all the most prestigious awards.
Anything by Elmore Leonard is worth a read, a fantastic writer, fun novels, and usually under 300.
If you're looking for something experimental, Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu plays a lot with the 2nd person voice and was a hit for literary critics.
Brilliant, thank you. They all really good and will have a look at the Charles Yu one.
Interesting shout on Elmore Leonard- not read anything of his in years, maybe I should revisit.
I’ve just finished watching Justified, which was based on 1 or 2 of Elmore Leonard’s books. I’ve never read any myself - what would you recommend to read? I’m more interested in the Old West feel as opposed to the crime aspects (as I know he crosses both genres). Any particular recommendations?
Some amazing books in there, Things fall apart, call of the wild, the little prince all fantastic.
King's Ransom by Ed McBain. One of the best 87th Precinct novels - so good Kurosawa adopted it for 'High and Low.' Also Raymond Chandler's 'The Long Goodbye.'
Hombre for sure. I've read more of his crime stuff than old west, but that one is a classic of the genre and well worth the read.
Anyone read the Jack West Jr series of books by Matthew Reilly? Started with the Seven Ancient Wonders.
Absolutely all over the place but I find them a great way to pass some time for some fast paced entertainment.
Used to be my go to book to start a holiday from about 15 years ago I guess.
Got the last 2 left.
Absolutely all over the place but I find them a great way to pass some time for some fast paced entertainment.
Used to be my go to book to start a holiday from about 15 years ago I guess.
Got the last 2 left.
Yes read them a few years back and agree with what you said. All over the place but they are really entertaining books.
That's a pretty good one.
I decided to start the year by reading through the unread 87th Precinct novels I have on my Kindle. About to finish So Long as You Both Shall Live. I like how he changed up things in the more recent novels, trying different approaches to his stories. They may not always work but it keeps the series feeling fresh.
That said I know this story from the Columbo episode adapted from it.
Reading Murder Machine about the Roy De Meo crew of mafia serial killers in the 70s and 80s. Was already familiar with the story (I read Roy’s son’s book years ago) but never really grasped how insane they all were.
Going on a vacation. Need a recommendation. Either an autobiographical book, or an engaging fiction. Any business book is great too. I have picked ip Gene, why the west has won etc from here.
i picked up Half Life last summer at an airport. An interesting book about Maria Currie. Half of the book is historical the othet half is a fiction that discusses what would have been had she not been so bold in her scientific pursuits. Good read
i picked up Half Life last summer at an airport. An interesting book about Maria Currie. Half of the book is historical the othet half is a fiction that discusses what would have been had she not been so bold in her scientific pursuits. Good read
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Can someone recommend me a book that is in the same vein as The Thing or Invasion Of The Body Snatchers? I need something that people will recognize and is about an other-worldly entity taking over a human's body. Thank you!
The Midwich Cuckoos is a kind of twist on that, but not exactly identical.