Everybody at Uni seems to be reading this for one class or the other.
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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Everybody at Uni seems to be reading this for one class or the other.
Just read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Highly recommended.
I really enjoyed "The story of B"
Finished The Pillars of the Earth earlier this week, found it remarkably absorbing!! William Hamleigh stood out in the story for me, I don't think I've hated a fictional character as much as him!
Provided a remarkable insight to the era, and I couldn't put it down, despite it being pretty lengthy.
I'm a few hundred pages into the sequel World Without End - but it's got a lot to live up to!
Provided a remarkable insight to the era, and I couldn't put it down, despite it being pretty lengthy.
I'm a few hundred pages into the sequel World Without End - but it's got a lot to live up to!
I wasn't really sure what to make of it, I enjoyed half of it but it seemed to suddenly rush a conclusion and meandered in the middle.
Now I'm on Pelecanos's 'The Turnaround' which is excellent so far. His last few have been exceptional.
World Without End is good too.
POTE is a wonderful read - I think you'll find a few recommendations for it if you go back through this thread.
Did you ever finish that miniseries?
Yes. Really enjoyed it. Wasn't as good as the book, but was never going to be.
Not sure how you feel about it right now, but don't give up on World Without End. Reading Pillars for so long and watching the characters grow up before your eyes, you can get very attached to them and find it difficult to get into these new characters, but if you stick with it, I think you'll like these characters just as much eventually.
A miniseries of that length might be good enough to capture most other books, but probably not one the size of Pillars. But I guess I would like to see one for WWE too.
Yeah, I'd agree with that. The ending was definitely a bit rushed and a tad anti-climactic. Read some interesting notes on the themes of the book here, you might want to check this out.
Just bought The Finkler Question - will start reading it in the morning. Way too tired now.
I've been ridiculously busy with work lately, but i'm probably about half way through now.
You're 100% right, as a reader you do become very attached to the characters in POTE, because it covers a huge period of their lives.
When I picked up World Without End, and realised it was set a few hundred years later, I was immediately disappointed that Aliena, Jack, Prior Philip wouldn't be in the story. Having said that, World Without End is turning in to a good read also.
Have you seen the TV series of POTE? Is it worth picking up on DVD?! I'd be interested to see how my image of the Priory and Kingsbridge in general fits with the programme.
Livvie and I both watched it. She posted her thoughts a few posts up from here. I thought it was okay but was never going to live up to the books. I was secretly hoping that with an 8 episode miniseries they could avoid cutting out too much stuff and changing the plot around, but looks like they were forced to do that anyways.
Edit: But to actually answer your question I think they did a fairly good job of bringing the setting to life.
The Trial next. Then some books recommended by my 'niggas' Pogue, Brophs, Frosty et al. Dwayne actually recommended Twilight.
Dilip Hiro - After Empire: The Birth of a Multipolar World is a great book.
Franz Kafka?.... if so, fantastic book
Yeah it is. Did you see the movie by chance? It's good. I read that Orson Welles felt it was his best.
You may be right...... however I remember reading a quote from Joseph Cotten which I cannot find right now, but its definitely out there that goes something along the lines of..
"Alfred Hitchcock reckons his best movie was Shadow of a doubt, Carol Reed reckons his best movie was The Third Man and Orson Wells reckons his best movie was Citizen Kane and I was in all three movies"
I've started The Trial. It's got a few lesbian vampire scenes!
A Question of Upbringing, the first book in Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.
Long time since I read that. It's a bit variable, the first couple are very good and the war period ones, but it loses the plot towards the end (Powell/Jenkins is just out of step with the modern world).
Anyone else read the Pirates! series by Gideon Defoe?
They're fantastic.
They're fantastic.
Ol' Kafka really knew his audience, didn't he?
Ahhh to be fair, the women were throwing themselves at Josef K, as if they were whores. Close enough, surely?
Read Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' recently. Fairly challenging read, and can be a little overwhelming/potentially tedious in places for those not so interested in Indian culture and history, but superb plot, lots of clever political and social allegories, good characters and an amazing writing style (even if it takes a bit of getting used to). Definitely recommended.
I need some more recommendations...preferably books without orcs and magic potions
Heart of Darkness, the best short novel in the language.
Any genre in particular outside of orcs and potions?
This is pretty random considering your last book was a Kafka but have you read 'Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole? It's a classic in every sense - extremely funny, tragic at times and possibly one of the best lead characters in all literature in Ignatius J Reilly. Well worth a read.
Not a bad recommendation. I did have to restart a couple times because Reilly just annoyed the shit out of me at first, because I couldn't possibly stand to be around someone like that in real life. But then I realized that I watch plenty of tv shows where the characters are just despicable people and I find them hilarious (It's Always Sunny for example) so if you reapproach the book from that perspective, I think it's much more enjoyable. Definitely glad I decided to finish it.
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. He's not a role model in any sense but he is such a original and ultimately compelling character that he grows on you as the book moves on. I actually felt quite sad reading the book despite its comic core knowing that JK Toole put so much of himself in this one character - his inability to relate to his surroundings or people in general, and what must have caused him to kill himself so soon after finishing his masterpiece.
Have I mentioned "The Angels Game" by Zafón yet? Another gothic-esque book set in Barcelona in the early 20th century from him and the prequel to "The Shadow of the Wind".
Brilliant book.
Brilliant book.
That's on my reading list, funnily enough.
Noted. I'm reading The Castle at moment, reckon I'll have it completed by next day or so. As side from the Penal Colony I don't think I've got anything else by Kafka on my reading list. Here's what I'm planning to read after my current book.... Notes from the Underground, Iliad, Heart of Darkness and Plato's Republic, off the top of my head.
Anything really. I've been reading a lot of classics lately but I'm not too fussed.
Have you read Lee Child? His last ten books have been cracking. I just read GONE TOMORROW and it is pretty good as well.
Another author is Matthew Reilly - try Ice Station, Temple, Contest etc. They are all good books.
I hope they're not teen novels, R2.
I've finished The Castle. It's about an outsider who's about to start a new job in a parochial village run by an authority based at the Castle. K, the protagonist, descends into futile fight against the local authority when he realises his job is non existent. The novel is not as good as The Trial...but it was a good read nonetheless despite being frustrating and at some points positively tedious, especially the last third of the book. Like all Kafka's novels there's a sense of hopelessness which perhaps echoed his own life or at least as he saw it. The Castle clearly wasn't completed...and when it ended mid sentence I thought...huh, is this a joke Kafka?!!! I suspect we can blame him dying before he had the chance to complete The Castle - but I shall absolve him of all blame and blame God instead. Kafka certainly had issues.
I really don't think they are. They are pretty good. They are exactly adult books either. I used to work at Barnes and Noble bookstores. My manager there, who was around 40 I think, suggested me these books and they did not disappoint. They are just regular fiction novels who anyone can read.
I've read 20 odd pages from Notes from the Underground... and I can't be arsed with it anymore. Stick with it or not?
Yes, it's excellent.
I'm currently reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. After a slow and at one point a little over the top start it's been an excellent read so far. I suppose Dan Brown probably read this as some point and decided to write a rubbish version of it and ended up with The Da Vinci Code.
There's an online book club reading this book currently that works as a decent companion to get more out of the book. The Rose in Winter
There's an online book club reading this book currently that works as a decent companion to get more out of the book. The Rose in Winter