I picked up a copy of Blood Meridian today at lunch. The language has a tough rhythm but I'm getting the hang of it.
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
- Start date
I'm on a big Stephen King kick at the moment. having never read any of his stuff before.
Have read:
Mr Mercedes
Finders Keepers
The Stand
11/23/63
And I'm about 300 pages away from the end of IT.
He's fecking brilliant.
Going to take a break from King for a book or two now before I have a crack at The Shining, and am probably going to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, which I picked up last week.
Oh, and my toilet reading is currently Notes From a Big Country by Bill Bryson, which is very enjoyable and can be read in nice, toilet break sized er...chunks.
Have read:
Mr Mercedes
Finders Keepers
The Stand
11/23/63
And I'm about 300 pages away from the end of IT.
He's fecking brilliant.
Going to take a break from King for a book or two now before I have a crack at The Shining, and am probably going to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, which I picked up last week.
Oh, and my toilet reading is currently Notes From a Big Country by Bill Bryson, which is very enjoyable and can be read in nice, toilet break sized er...chunks.
You're in for a hell of a ride.
You won't regret it.
I finished Swann's Way a few weeks back but I couldnt really get into it at all. Not sure why. I just couldnt get into it!
Just finished Peter Clines - The Fold and it was really interesting......until around halfway and it went downhill real quick, just went in a direction I really had no interest in after a promising first half.
Did you try Karl Ove's books?
You might appreciate this: I met a black guy named 'Jonathan Bailey' in Atlanta of all places! One of my friend finds it amusing and that's it.
Reading some James Oswald crime fiction. A slow burner but very enjoyable, as it's refreshingly free of the usual detective-novel clichés (i.e. the hero's not an alcoholic with a tortured past who's targeted by a brilliant serial killer who nevertheless leaves clues all over the shop like your average twat would.)
I decided to delve into a new fantasy universe, and picked the All Souls trilogy almost by happenstance after seeing the very decent ratings all three books had received on GoodReads.
Nearing the end of A Discovery of Witches, and I certainly won't be proceeding to the next one no matter what the ending is like. It reads like house wife litterature; the "romance" aspects of it are absolute horrifying, and make me cringe in my chair. Was hoping for Game of Thrones, instead I got a mix of Twilight and 50 Shades. (Disclaimer: I haven't actually read any of those two, so the comparison may or may not be apt.)
Nearing the end of A Discovery of Witches, and I certainly won't be proceeding to the next one no matter what the ending is like. It reads like house wife litterature; the "romance" aspects of it are absolute horrifying, and make me cringe in my chair. Was hoping for Game of Thrones, instead I got a mix of Twilight and 50 Shades. (Disclaimer: I haven't actually read any of those two, so the comparison may or may not be apt.)
GR can be a decent way to judge a novel, but not by the average mark. I am pretty sure nearly every well-known books have more than 3.50 (like 50 shades, Da vinci code, Twilight...) because most of the reviewers seem to see only 4 or 5 stars as options, or maybe they only want to give shining stars to not hurt the authors. I usually browse the first page because the critical reviewers usually end up there. So seeing at least three 1 star review may show a quality problem.
I tried A Discovery of Witches, gave up after 100 pages because absolutely nothing happens even if it isn't badly written like 50 shades (also gave up that one bc it was badly written and seem more like a fantasy of the author than a fiction).
60/100. Some of them I will never recommend them. Three of them were probably abridged books for children.
I have started The Martian. I am disappointed even if I liked at first the survival side. The characters seem so far quite stereotypical, it made me think of these patriotic movies with lot of these "big" feelings but not really subtle.
I also started Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb and I feel kind of cheating by reading some short works by Balzac like Le Colonel Chabert. But I will try to follow Rastignac.
Last edited:
No I haven't are they similar to Proust?
Might have to explain that one to me...
O'Connor is from Atlanta and her most famous story(A good Man is Hard to Find) has a character called Jonathan Bailey. This one is as white as they come.
Explicitly autobiographical and more relatable than Proust imo.
I'll give him a go so. Ta.
This thread on the front of the forum looks like the 500K thread.
Yeah, you're right, lesson learned I suppose. I do seem to have an extremely hard time finding properly developed fantasy books (or series of books) based on synopses and reviews, because I hardly ever find that they managed to describe the book in a way that appeals to me. So instead of giving it a go, I rather just end up thinking "well that sounds terribly boring" and skip it. So this was sort of a departion from the norm for me.
As for the book, I agree that the author spends a lot of time setting the scene, in terms of establishing the world and developing the characters. With the A Song of Ice and Fire books reasonbly fresh in my mind, that doesn't really bother me that much however, and I quite like the author's style of writing. The story actually becomes quite interesting, in my opinion, around the middle of the book, after the introduction of a reasonably interesting support cast. As I said though, it's the damned romance aspect of it which kills it for me, and it seems to penetrate (no pun intended) the protagonist's every other reflection.
Nice call. At first I thought the overly technical nature of the book was what kept me from enjoying it as much as I could. But, upon some more reflection after finishing it, I think my main issue with it was that it feels like a story that you've read and seen hundreds of times already, and if you strip away technical aspect you're left with the same characters that all those stories contain. Perfect for the big screen, I suppose, and I'm sure it'll make a big splash when it hits the silver screen in October.
I've just started Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and so far its excellent.
I was going to go for a John Irving book but became distracted by Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, which is a very fun and nostalgic book.
I picked up four new books at the weekend as well.
Futebol by Alex Bellos
At Home by Bill Bryson
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Metamorphosis by Kafka
I picked up four new books at the weekend as well.
Futebol by Alex Bellos
At Home by Bill Bryson
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Metamorphosis by Kafka
Today I finished 600 Hours of Edward. It was a fun little book, quite refreshing to read actually with its concise and to the point style.
Not sure what I'll go at next. Contemplating The Kingkiller Chronicle. Seems like something I might enjoy, based on the reviews I've looked at. Anyone here read the series, or just the first book?
Not sure what I'll go at next. Contemplating The Kingkiller Chronicle. Seems like something I might enjoy, based on the reviews I've looked at. Anyone here read the series, or just the first book?
I'm re-reading Thomas Harris' Hannibal at the moment, and finding it incredible that such a talented author could produce something so disappointingly poor. Amidst some interesting and finely-written passages, there's a great deal of sheer awfulness (not least the ludicrous conclusion) and black comedy so self-indulgent and obvious that the in-joke can barely be funny even to its author. Astonishing stuff from the man behind The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon; it's as if Harris became truly tired of his own creations.
You do know the story behind its creation, right? Assuming so from the 'in-joke' reference, but not quite sure.
(Personally I think it's a brilliant book from start to finish. Does exactly what he meant it to do.)
Currently reading: Suspended Sentences by Patrick Modiano
No, I don't know of it, mate. Like to know though, if you'd be so kind.
I just don't think Hannibal approaches the quality of his other novels, tbh. I loved the Florentine history stuff though.
What are you into? I have some good suggestions if yo narrow down.
Was in Barcelona for a short break and managed to read The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick and reread The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway.
TMITHC was different to how I expected it, mainly because it focused on the smaller players, the average man (and woman) and how losing WWII affected them. Changes in culture and everyday life etc. The horrors that the Reich have committed and plan to commit are only briefly mentioned yet still terrifyingly evil. And the 'Grasshopper' book, essentially a book within a book, explaining to these characters what would have happened if the US and Britain had won the war, is a fascinating concept for both the readers and the characters of the book.
Old Man and the Sea - I was one of the only guys amongst my classmates who really enjoyed it when we read it in college. Still think it's a great novella, without really being able to tell you why. I guess Santiago's pride, determination and honour against such a worthy, beautiful opponent is just compellingly readable for me.
TMITHC was different to how I expected it, mainly because it focused on the smaller players, the average man (and woman) and how losing WWII affected them. Changes in culture and everyday life etc. The horrors that the Reich have committed and plan to commit are only briefly mentioned yet still terrifyingly evil. And the 'Grasshopper' book, essentially a book within a book, explaining to these characters what would have happened if the US and Britain had won the war, is a fascinating concept for both the readers and the characters of the book.
Old Man and the Sea - I was one of the only guys amongst my classmates who really enjoyed it when we read it in college. Still think it's a great novella, without really being able to tell you why. I guess Santiago's pride, determination and honour against such a worthy, beautiful opponent is just compellingly readable for me.
Anyone read Englischer Fusssball : A German's View of our Beautiful Game by Raphael Honigstein?
Can anyone recommend which Murakami novel is good to begin with? Haven't read any of his stuff.
I'm half way through Norwegian Wood, it's pretty interesting and feels as if its going to be quite tragic if you like that sort of thing.
I started with Sputnik Sweetheart but Norwegian Wood is more straightforward. I think any place is a good place.
Cheers, looks good!
Great read. Have you read any of his other books? If not, try "the World according to Garp" too.
Just finished Blood Meridian. My God, what an ordeal. The judge has to be one of my favourite characters ever, so blackly comic 
.
If I have one gripe it's that the endless descriptions of deserts, especially in the first half were grating. The language he used occasionally made my brain switch off. Got better as it went though (those particular passages, everything else was brilliant from the get go).
.If I have one gripe it's that the endless descriptions of deserts, especially in the first half were grating. The language he used occasionally made my brain switch off. Got better as it went though (those particular passages, everything else was brilliant from the get go).
Norwegian Wood is pretty good, but a bit different from the rest of his novels. You might like that one, but not the rest and vice versa.
Halfway through Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. Pretty good, that man can really write. Shame many people consider him a two trick pony.
Just finished Blood Meridian. My God, what an ordeal. The judge has to be one of my favourite characters ever, so blackly comic
I'm surprised you found The Judge to be a (darkly) comic character, Archie - I must've missed that, as I found him very unsettling even aside from his violence. Maybe I'm reading it wrongly.
Of the rest, what would be a good place to start?
I'd say Kafka on the Shore. It's a good representative of his work, and you don't have to commit to a back breaking three volume work, like 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Some of his earlier stories are much shorter, but not nearly as good IMO. If you don't mind a 400-500 page novel, the I'd go for Kafka. It's a pretty easy read, so don't be put off by the number of pages.
Thanks, sounds good, I'm just finishing up Umberto Eco The Name of the Rose now, will try get my hands on this or Norwegian Wood next.
Been sitting on my shelf for ages, still haven't gotten to it? Any good?