Books The BOOK thread

Recently read the Autobiography of Boris Becker.

Simply the best autobio i've read. I don't think you would even need to particularly like tennis to enjoy the book as it is exactly as a autobiography should be, he is honest to an unsettling degree about his life and it's a refreshing read as far as the genre goes.
 
FranklyVulgar said:
Recently read the Autobiography of Boris Becker.

Simply the best autobio i've read. I don't think you would even need to particularly like tennis to enjoy the book as it is exactly as a autobiography should be, he is honest to an unsettling degree about his life and it's a refreshing read as far as the genre goes.
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Lance Armstrong's bio is like that.
 
The Road

Fantastic post-apocalyptical tale from the writer of No Country For Old Men. Don't expect to be uplifted. 9.5/10
 
Livvie said:
The characters in POTE are so real - you really hate the bad guys. I did skip the technical stuff I have to admit, but there wasn't too much of it and it didn't hinder the plot. Great book.

And there's a follow up, World Without End, which also grips you.
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Just started it, another 1000 pager, hope it's just as enjoyable as POTE. I actually had the luck to stumble across a program on National Geographic the same day I finished the book. The topic? Cathedrals in the 11th century and I got a good view of the flying buttresses, no credits to Jack though. Coincidence or a mission from God? :wenger:
 
Don't like Ken Follett at all. Pillars of the Earth was the third and last book I read by him and was as bad as The Third Twin and Code to Zero. Terrible writer in my opinion.

Am currently reading The Master and the Margarita. Been a great read so far. I think I'd like to learn Russian just so I can read Dostoevsky, Pastnernak, Tolstoy, Chekov, Bulgakov, etc without the need for translation.
 
mehro said:
Don't like Ken Follett at all. Pillars of the Earth was the third and last book I read by him and was as bad as The Third Twin and Code to Zero. Terrible writer in my opinion.

Am currently reading The Master and the Margarita. Been a great read so far. I think I'd like to learn Russian just so I can read Dostoevsky, Pastnernak, Tolstoy, Chekov, Bulgakov, etc without the need for translation.
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He's no Dostoveskij, but POTE was quite good actually. Why didn't you like it?
 
Day of The Triffids - John Wyndham

Great book. Thats all ye need to know really
 
Simon Adebesi said:
Seriously, if you enjoy it then try one of the others I mentioned some time. If you are interested in theological matters then The Name of the Rose is very good. Its the same kind of thing as with the physics in Foucaults - not essential to the plot but ubiquitous, so it helps if you find it interesting. With Baudolino it is more medieval history and crusades. I find those subjects more interesting that physics, which is the main reasons I enjoyed those books a lot more.
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I struggled through the last third of the book, but managed to finish it somehow. No more Eco for me for a while .. will probably give 'Name of the Rose' a try next, since I've heard most people say good things about it and more importantly because it is supposedly an easier read than Foucault's Pendulum.

Just started reading Richard Dawkin's - 'The God Delusion'. Interesting read this.
 
The_Red_Hope said:
I struggled through the last third of the book, but managed to finish it somehow. No more Eco for me for a while .. will probably give 'Name of the Rose' a try next, since I've heard most people say good things about it and more importantly because it is supposedly an easier read than Foucault's Pendulum.

Just started reading Richard Dawkin's - 'The God Delusion'. Interesting read this.
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Yeah, I also read that. That is a really good read - surprisingly easy going considering the subject matter. I found it articulated a lot of things I had already thought about myself - obviously in a far more informed and articulate way though. It gave some definition and structure to my general beliefs about atheism.

In fact I started a thread about it soon after joining the cafe, which was when I read it.
 
I've recently bought/been given a shit load of books, must be about 20 of them lying round my room at the minute, really wish I could just focus on one but I end up reading loads at the same time. Doesn't help that I've got to try to focus on WW1 texts for college atm. Not bad though, some of the war stuff is brilliant.
 
Done with 'The God Delusion'. Sure was an interesting read .. definitely altered my world-view significantly. In the mood to read a classic now ... Its either going to be Doestoevsky's - 'The Brothers Karamazov' or Dickens' - 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Any ideas which one I should start with ?

I read the first book of 'A Tale of Two Cities' and got a little bored by it.
 
The_Red_Hope said:
Done with 'The God Delusion'. Sure was an interesting read .. definitely altered my world-view significantly. In the mood to read a classic now ... Its either going to be Doestoevsky's - 'The Brothers Karamazov' or Dickens' - 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Any ideas which one I should start with ?

I read the first book of 'A Tale of Two Cities' and got a little bored by it.
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The Brothers Karazamov.

Fine book.
 
redspoony said:
The Brothers Karazamov.

Fine book.
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Good one actually.

I would recommend Crime and Punishment of Dostoievsky as well.
And recently done with El Aleph - Jorge Luis Borges, which is extremely good.

And if I can recommendate any of you a great mexican book it would have to be Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo.
 
Lizard King said:
I only bought it because it gave birth to the title for the Doors song "End Of The Night". It was a favourite of Jim Morrison's and I have learnt over the years that he has good taste :)
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Brilliant book, but don't expect it to put you in a good mood;) Still it's one of the better I've read, there are few books I bother to read again, but this is one I'll read at least one more time.
 
Decided to skip on some heavy reading for a while and read something more 'entertaining'. Finished a short story anthology by Edgar Allan Poe. Included all his most famous stories - 'Masque of the Red Death, 'Fall of the House of Usher', 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' etc etc. He really is the master of horror.

Now reading Robert E Howards Conan books ... old school classic sword and sourcery tales. Uncomplicated and full of fun.
 
Red Norse said:
Brilliant book, but don't expect it to put you in a good mood;) Still it's one of the better I've read, there are few books I bother to read again, but this is one I'll read at least one more time.
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Sounds good man, you can tell just from looking at the cover that it's not going to be a hugely uplifting book.

I'm going to start it once I've finished Kerouac - Dharma Bums (now that is a book that can put you in a pleasant mood). In fact I might go to bed and read it for an hour now, I've only got about 80 pages left.
 
Just finished 'Great Gatsby' well because... you have to read it at some point. Was okay.

Now i'm torn between Joyces 'Portrait of an artist as a young man.' Or Wiliam S Burroughs 'Naked Lunch.' Both of which are staring at me from the desk.

Suggestions welcome, even if time tramples a response into futility.
 
Went to Manchester Central Library today and came away with:

The Subterraneans - Jack Kerouac
American Scream (The Bill Hicks Story) - Cynthia True
Beat Generation - Jack Kerouac
Nietzsche A Very Short Introduction - Michael Tanner (It's only a pocket sized thing but I thought I'd get it, also loaned one about Buddhism as Kerouac's book Dharma Bums got me interested in reading more about it.

Not bad for a science student, although I'm a wannabe 50s beatnik who lives in LA :(
 
Lizard King said:
Not bad for a science student, although I'm a wannabe 50s beatnik who lives in LA :(
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Tell me about it man,

After On the road, and a few William S Burroughs novels I feel I came in a few generations too late.
 
A Song of Ice and Fire are probably the greatest fantasy books I've ever read. I'm not a massive fan of fantasy books myself, but they're just magnificent, so dark, gritty and with some of the greatest characters imaginable.

Apologies if these have been mentioned before, this thread is huge.
 
Simon Adebesi said:
The naughty noughties eh?

Well, the 90s were a brilliant decade to be a teenager in, is my opinion. The 90s were like the 60s with bigger balls.
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Nothing tops the 60s we had the mini skirt, free love, we won the World Cup and United won the European cup, Woodstock, Apollo 11, oh and the mini skirt, etc etc. :drool:
 
ERICSAGOD said:
Nothing tops the 60s we had the mini skirt, free love, we won the World Cup and United won the European cup, Woodstock, Apollo 11, oh and the mini skirt, etc etc. :drool:
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The 60s was very pioneering, Ill give you that. Just seems like the 90s took what was best from the 60s and took it to another level. Despite the 60s being the decade that paved the way for great things, looking back on it it seems to me that that is all it really was: paving the way. It was still actually quite conservative and very innocent.

But what the feck do I know, I wasnt around in the 60s.
 
cina said:
A Song of Ice and Fire are probably the greatest fantasy books I've ever read. I'm not a massive fan of fantasy books myself, but they're just magnificent, so dark, gritty and with some of the greatest characters imaginable.

Apologies if these have been mentioned before, this thread is huge.
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George RR Martin will die before he finishes the series I reckon. Book 5 has been 6 months away from completion for 3 years.
 
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