Read Lionel Asbo awhile ago wasn't a bad read, an interesting observation of the chav/celebrity culture of our society.
Books The BOOK thread
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Reading The Iceman by Philip Carlo. The biography of mob hitman and serial killer Richard Kuklinski. It's not very well written, but the things Kuklinski supposedly did are horrific.
Currently reading the Steve Jobs biography. Very well written to keep you interested, even though I have just about covered a couple of chapters only.
I just finished it a couple days ago, thought it was boring and overrated. Maybe even kinda terrible. Madonna and Will Smith clearly knows nothing about good literature.
Might be an unfair comparison but to me it was like an A Prayer for Owen Meany for Dummies. Different type of books but John Irving did the destiny and God thing much, much better. Then again, Owen Meany is my favourite book so maybe I subconsciously decided to dislike The Alchemist when I decided the themes were a little similar.
Have you read it yet? What did you think?
No I haven't gotten down to reading it yet. I have some other books to finish up then I'll give it a go. I'll let you know what I think when I've read it.
I read A Prayer for Owen Meany a long time ago, I dont remember much about it other than I enjoyed it a lot. I read Garp at around the same time and I loved that as well.
Hopefully you'll like it. I really thought I would because I don't mind clichés and spiritual ramblings (I adore the shit out of Life of Pi) and I'm not a fussy reader (gimme romance, passionate lovers and broken hearts, cowboys and maidens, all the usual crap us girls like - I'm so here for that). I looked forward to reading it for ages and now I'm glad I only spent a day on it.
I struggled the first time I read it, took me almost two months to finish the first 300 pages
The second and third time were much easier, but the ending is always so sudden to me </3. It's the only John Irving book I've read, but I've got The Cider House Rules and The Hotel New Hampshire already so I might pick them off the shelf and get to reading them soon. Currently reading Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and am loving it so far.
Yeah, I plan to read that book after Midnight Tides and before The Bonehunters and then I've been told Esselmont's Return of the Crimson Guard comes after that one and before Reaper's Gale. It is a difficult one to follow and I haven't made so many notes on a book since my A Level English days but it's totally worth it.
I think just Night of Knives makes a big difference in rest of serues. RoTCG and Stoneweilder were pretty much standalone novels with minimal impact to the rest of the series.
I got frustrated on the character introduction and lack of background....and finally realized just to carry on with the flow and it gets partly explained at the end.
I've been ridiculed for reading murakami on here before. Haven't read that one but I thoroughly enjoyed The Wind-up Bird Chronicles and Kafka On The Shore.
Halfway through the second book of the Millennium trilogy The Girl Who Played With Fire. Fantastic series so far. Thoroughly engaging and thrilling. Book one was good but book two is building up to be even better.
I'm considering taking a break from the trilogy after this book. I have a few to-read-books on my list, perhaps people here can provide recommendations:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Breakfast of Champions
The World According to Garp
Rebecca
I'm considering taking a break from the trilogy after this book. I have a few to-read-books on my list, perhaps people here can provide recommendations:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Breakfast of Champions
The World According to Garp
Rebecca
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it has to be one of the most beautiful books there are. Slow-paced, comfortable read, kinda sad. Wish I'd read it sooner.
Just finished A Game of Thrones and loved it! To save me having to wade through the GOT thread can someone please put my mind at ease ref the TV show. Now I've finished the first book, is it safe for me to watch the first season of the TV show without ruining the second book? Is it a series per book?
Cheers
Cheers
Just started this at the weekend and even 50 pages in it's just grabbed me like no other book has for a long time. Really looking forward to getting proper stuck into it.
The first book and the first season of the show runs hand in hand. After that it gets complicated.
The second season of the show contains one or two things from the third book, but most of the contents of the third book is split into seasons three and four of the tv show.
Is it as complicated as the tv series? I can't get my head round the sheer number of characters, the family dynamics and some of the names.
A bit more complicated, but much easier to follow as you read it in your own tempo, it's better explained who's who and it's all in writing.
Hmm..
Although I feel that the 2 books from SOIAF series are better than their TV adaptations, I feel like as a TV show it's by far the best fantasy series to have been created.
But as a book, I was disappointed in comparison to others.
The problem for me is, imagine that the TV show was produced in the same format as the book. At the start of the episode, you see a character name, and the whole of that episode is centered on that person and their perspective of the world around them.
So you turn it on, and you see 'Sansa Stark' - feck sake.. an hour of Sansa Stark and her boring self-centered look on the goings on of the world. Next episode, you see 'Ned Stark' - fantastic, I love Ned.. but oh, the first half of the episode is just hashing out his take on what happened in Sansa's episode.
I dunno, I felt like it was cliche and not very imaginative for a fantasy read.. it's basically a medieval story with a tiny bit of supernatural goings on thrown in for the sake of making it a fantasy.
However, I must credit it's vast character building and the politics of the world. They're written well.. The characters are well developed, but sometimes incredibly annoying. The politics are great though, something that the book does far better than the TV series.
Let's be honest though, despite my issues with it, it's a huge fan favourite - and most people adore it. I'd definitely tell people they need to try it, and recommend giving it a shot - but I couldn't almost guarantee that you'd love it like I can others, simply because I didn't think it was all that great myself.
Although I feel that the 2 books from SOIAF series are better than their TV adaptations, I feel like as a TV show it's by far the best fantasy series to have been created.
But as a book, I was disappointed in comparison to others.
The problem for me is, imagine that the TV show was produced in the same format as the book. At the start of the episode, you see a character name, and the whole of that episode is centered on that person and their perspective of the world around them.
So you turn it on, and you see 'Sansa Stark' - feck sake.. an hour of Sansa Stark and her boring self-centered look on the goings on of the world. Next episode, you see 'Ned Stark' - fantastic, I love Ned.. but oh, the first half of the episode is just hashing out his take on what happened in Sansa's episode.
I dunno, I felt like it was cliche and not very imaginative for a fantasy read.. it's basically a medieval story with a tiny bit of supernatural goings on thrown in for the sake of making it a fantasy.
However, I must credit it's vast character building and the politics of the world. They're written well.. The characters are well developed, but sometimes incredibly annoying. The politics are great though, something that the book does far better than the TV series.
Let's be honest though, despite my issues with it, it's a huge fan favourite - and most people adore it. I'd definitely tell people they need to try it, and recommend giving it a shot - but I couldn't almost guarantee that you'd love it like I can others, simply because I didn't think it was all that great myself.
Started on Dan Brown's Inferno.
Really enjoying The Book of Joby http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/878037.The_Book_of_Joby
The Book of Joby
by Mark J. Ferrari
The Book of Joby is an epic fantasy complete in one volume.
Lucifer and the Creator have entered, yet again, into a wager they've made many times before, but this time, the existence of creation itself is balanced on the outcome. Born in California during the twilight years of a weary millennium, nine year old Joby Peterson dreams of blazing like a bonfire against the gathering darkness of his times, like a knight of the Round Table. Instead, he is subjected to a life of crippling self-doubt and relentless mediocrity inflicted by an enemy he did nothing to earn and cannot begin to comprehend.
Though imperiled themselves, the angels are forbidden to intervene. Left to struggle with their own loyalties and the question of obedience, they watch Lucifer work virtually unhindered to turn Joby's heart of gold into ash and stone while God sits by, seemingly unconcerned.
And so when he is grown to manhood, Joby's once luminous love of life seems altogether lost, and Lucifer's victory assured. What hope remains lies hidden in the beauty, warmth, and innocence of a forgotten seaside village whose odd inhabitants seem to defy the modern world's most inflexible assumptions, and in the hearts of Joby's long lost youthful love and her emotionally wounded son. But the ravenous forces of destruction that follow Joby into this concealed paradise plan to use these same things to bring him and his world to ruin.
As the final struggle unfolds, one question occupies every mind in heaven and in hell. Which will prove stronger, love or rage?
The Book of Joby
by Mark J. Ferrari
The Book of Joby is an epic fantasy complete in one volume.
Lucifer and the Creator have entered, yet again, into a wager they've made many times before, but this time, the existence of creation itself is balanced on the outcome. Born in California during the twilight years of a weary millennium, nine year old Joby Peterson dreams of blazing like a bonfire against the gathering darkness of his times, like a knight of the Round Table. Instead, he is subjected to a life of crippling self-doubt and relentless mediocrity inflicted by an enemy he did nothing to earn and cannot begin to comprehend.
Though imperiled themselves, the angels are forbidden to intervene. Left to struggle with their own loyalties and the question of obedience, they watch Lucifer work virtually unhindered to turn Joby's heart of gold into ash and stone while God sits by, seemingly unconcerned.
And so when he is grown to manhood, Joby's once luminous love of life seems altogether lost, and Lucifer's victory assured. What hope remains lies hidden in the beauty, warmth, and innocence of a forgotten seaside village whose odd inhabitants seem to defy the modern world's most inflexible assumptions, and in the hearts of Joby's long lost youthful love and her emotionally wounded son. But the ravenous forces of destruction that follow Joby into this concealed paradise plan to use these same things to bring him and his world to ruin.
As the final struggle unfolds, one question occupies every mind in heaven and in hell. Which will prove stronger, love or rage?
Just kinda sad?
Either way, great book.
I am reading The unbearable lightness of being; it's a fun read, and it frequently reminds me of Camus' Stranger.
Gimme a break, I haven't read it in a while.
But I don't know, I've read it twice and I've been caught up with the strengths of the female characters more than anything. It is sad, but sadness was not the primary emotion I was left with once I finished it. Kinda sad, mostly other things. Should be read. Yeah?Gimme a break, I haven't read it in a while.
The book evokes a lot of emotions, yes. I found it terribly saddening. I am from Nepal and my family was poor. As we moved along the wealth ladder, I experienced a change in people's attitude towards me. I frequently juxtapose my relatively well-off teenage years, and my past. It's very depressing. Poverty is horrifying and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Even when we were poor, we were well off than most Nepalese people-- the shape poverty takes in Nepalese streets, or anywhere, is ugly and disgusting.
The other themes also triggered a lot of sadness. I find existence tedious, and reading slow paced books highlights the tedium of life.
The books deals with other things I identify with: immigration, education, and pragmatism to name three. Moving to the US has been great for me, but my parents had to work really hard to make it happen. They've also worked really hard so their children have a better life.
And I attend a school very similar to University of Michigan. I had to laugh at that.
In the end, it was a satisfying read. But reading it was a very sad process.
Are you a girl btw?I wish my grandmother could read English novels. She'd enjoy this book a lot.
Wow, deeper connection to and greater understanding of the book than I have. As a girl who can't relate to many (if any, really) of the themes other than being a woman, I read it from the only perspective I knew, and it was still a very special book to me.
You've kind of blown me away with your story though, I don't know what to say? I'm glad I didn't joke that you were just a wuss for finding it more than "kinda sad" as I first wrote before I posted my reply
I think it's fantastic that a book can mean so much and so many different things to different people. You're also the first man I've ever come across who's read it, which makes you totally awesomeYes. I wish he'd stick to writing about greater authors (he's frequently excellent in this sphere).
Somehow, despite all he represents, I find it impossible to hate a man who's so lost in grief:
Wow, deeper connection to and greater understanding of the book than I have. As a girl who can't relate to many (if any, really) of the themes other than being a woman, I read it from the only perspective I knew, and it was still a very special book to me.
You've kind of blown me away with your story though, I don't know what to say? I'm glad I didn't joke that you were just a wuss for finding it more than "kinda sad" as I first wrote before I posted my reply
The book is seriously good. I could draw more parallels between the book and my life, but I don't think a public forum is appropriate.
A very well read friend recommended the book. She has an alcoholic mother; I wonder what she thinks of the book. (If you're wondering, I'll let you know next month!)
Ordered Swag, kalooki Nights, Infinite Jest and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Looking forward to some good reading.
Looking forward to some good reading.
Ah Infinite Jest. Great choice.
DFW is a amazing; I quit reading Infinite Jest after a while,but the parts I read were damn good. Have you read any other DFW?
Haven't, actually. Someone recommended it to me.
Finished The Damned Utd, thought it was a cracking read and loved the way that the story shifted back and forth between when Cloughie was at Derby and then at Leeds so that when he was coming to the end of his tenure at Leeds the Derby story had him just about to take up his position at Leeds, very cleverly done. Think I'll give the movie a go now anyone know if it is any good?
I am currently reading The Ocean at the end of the Lane and so far it is excellent.
The Ocean at the end of the Lane was a great read but far too short
I've got an article he wrote for Harper's about cruises if anyone wants it. It's in PDF and is fantastic. I'm not sure I could read Infinite Jest though. His writing is so dense and that book is so long...
I'd go for it!
I'd also recommend John Krasinski "Brief interviews..Men." The Office's cast is DFW obsessed. The movie is quite good.
Working on The Corner by David Simon - basically the template for The Wire (along with his earlier book Homicide.) So far, it's very good (and depressing.)
Why is the book thread no longer a sticky? c'mon Livvie sort it out please
Finished Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian at the weekend. I can't stop thinking about it. A fantastic book. I've seen The Road and No Country For Old Men, but now considering checking out the novels, I really like McCarthy's style of writing.
Now I need a new book to read, any recommendations? All suggestions welcome.
Now I need a new book to read, any recommendations? All suggestions welcome.