Yes, folks, the following is the synopsis of a real book; this is not a joke:
Guardian said:
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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Yes, folks, the following is the synopsis of a real book; this is not a joke:
Laugh all you want, but ima readin'it!
Thanks for the recommendation man, both books are great, the first one is especially haunting.
Both books are geat, intriguing reads. 8/10
No problem, mate, glad you enjoyed them.
The Girl With All The Gifts
Quite a page turner this one. Post apocalyptic zombie thriller that obviously draws on all the usual tropes but still manages to feel quite fresh. The characters are engaging and the chapters are brief which is just the way I like it.
Don't make the mistake I did of finding out half way through it's being made into a film. It kind of ruined it for me when the cast (some of them awful choices too) for that meshed into my brain and forced out the ones I'd created for myself.
Reading this one now after finishing the Passage trilogy.
About 1\3 through it, really good so far. Highly recommended. It is no "The Stand" or "The Passage", but it is one of the best zombie \ survival \ doomsday books out there, no doubt.
Can anyone recommend any legal thrillers? I've read all the Mickey Haller books by Michael Connelly and love them.
I'm not a big fan of John Grisham.
I'm not a big fan of John Grisham.
I just finished Stoner by John Williams. It was brilliant. Basically a book based on a mans life but the writing is amazing. Loved it.
I went on a huge binge of Kawabata and read Snow Country and Beauty & Sadness over two days. Both wonderful, lyrical - almost sparse at times - which I found gave a lot of space for interpretation and emotion which he conveys incredibly well. It's insight into Japan, formality, relationships and I suppose time and distance. The translation by Hibbett is excellent.
Recently finished The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac and Island by Aldous Huxley.
The Dharma Bums was a fun read. Kerouac is Kerouac, so you kind of know what to expect after On the Road, so I kind of liken it to the new Star Wars movie -- even if it's almost the same story with different characters, there's enough to it that you don't explicitly notice it as you're reading it.
Island I was fairly disappointed with. Admittedly, I didn't read too much about it before beginning, but I was expecting far more in the way of character and plot development akin to Brave New World. Instead, you'd have a 50 page chapter that consisted entirely of one conversation sat around a table. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a philosophy book right now, even if Utopian fantasy is something I'm generally interested in.
The Dharma Bums was a fun read. Kerouac is Kerouac, so you kind of know what to expect after On the Road, so I kind of liken it to the new Star Wars movie -- even if it's almost the same story with different characters, there's enough to it that you don't explicitly notice it as you're reading it.
Island I was fairly disappointed with. Admittedly, I didn't read too much about it before beginning, but I was expecting far more in the way of character and plot development akin to Brave New World. Instead, you'd have a 50 page chapter that consisted entirely of one conversation sat around a table. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a philosophy book right now, even if Utopian fantasy is something I'm generally interested in.
Always interesting, this list from 2015, even if you might not agree with the choices ~
The 100 Best Novels written in English:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list
The 100 Best Novels written in English:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list
Currently reading Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, been meaning to for a while.
Jesus, the comments section is smug.
Well it is the Guardian, chief.
Anyone read something called the Cairo-trilogy on here? I just discovered these existed, and apparently are quite famous.
Yes, by Naguib Mahfouz, only Arab Nobel Prize winner for literature. One of my very favourite set of novels, they tell the story of three generations of a Cairo family during the interwar period.
Cheers, that sounds promising. I´ll read these soon then probably
Great, just a slight heads up, it may help to have some basic knowledge of modern Egyptian history, but definitely not essential.
Red Riding Trilogy: 1974
By David Peace
Blurb ahoy:
6.5/10
By David Peace
Blurb ahoy:
Spoiler ahead: It's a poor man's Ellroy, tbh, and suffers because rough-and-ready Brit grime can't compete with L.A. for dark glamour and mystery. That might sound like an unfair criticism but, bloody hell, the key to this story is...a shopping centre development. Besides, there are ludicrous scenes all over the place. Tense story but, really, that's only because of the borrowed Ellroy prose style.
6.5/10
I bought Island recently, it's pretty far down my list but I'll try and read it by the end of the year.
I read The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, non-fiction works by Huxley on his use of mescalin and views on mysticism. An intellectual take on a lot of things I would have previously dismissed out of hand.
Just read Buddy Boys (recommended down in the newbs). I thought it was a great read. It's about corrupt cops in a precinct in Brooklyn during the late 80's.
Highly recommend if that's your thing.
Highly recommend if that's your thing.
Spin
Wow, just wow. Absolute quality book, in fact one of the better SciFi books I have ever read. It centers around a pair of three friends that grow up together, and how "The Spin" affects them growing up, form their careers and the planet and people in general.
"The Spin" is a big dome that one day encloses the earth, effectively altering the timeline so when 40 years has passed inside the dome surrounding earth 4 billion years has passed outside of it. This leaves open some interesting possibilities like terraforming and populating Mars, but should they really do it? And has this happened to any other civilisation out there?
Absolute pageturner and extremely well written. Most often when I read books like this I get bored by the little sidestories since I just want to know about the mysteries, but the way it is written you genuinely care and want to know about the main characters in the book.
9/10 book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910863.Spin?ac=1&from_search=true
Wow, just wow. Absolute quality book, in fact one of the better SciFi books I have ever read. It centers around a pair of three friends that grow up together, and how "The Spin" affects them growing up, form their careers and the planet and people in general.
"The Spin" is a big dome that one day encloses the earth, effectively altering the timeline so when 40 years has passed inside the dome surrounding earth 4 billion years has passed outside of it. This leaves open some interesting possibilities like terraforming and populating Mars, but should they really do it? And has this happened to any other civilisation out there?
Absolute pageturner and extremely well written. Most often when I read books like this I get bored by the little sidestories since I just want to know about the mysteries, but the way it is written you genuinely care and want to know about the main characters in the book.
9/10 book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910863.Spin?ac=1&from_search=true
My very humble recommendation: Defending Jacob by William Landay
Thank you mate. I've read that one. Great ending I thought.
Currently struggling through Crime and Punishment. It's pretty heavy going to be honest.
Whereabouts in it are you? I found much of the first half to be a slog, but became incredibly invested in it as it progressed.
That's good to know ta. I'm only about 10% in.
Yeah, it does take a while to get into it. I'd say that once I was past the first few chapters enough I was interested enough to keep going, but once I got to about the halfway point I really started to enjoy it.
I started it last July and read maybe about 40% or so over a month. Then I picked it up again from there in November and read the rest of it in a week or so.
Not a guarantee you'll enjoy it, but it does get better.
Yeah it's a bit daunting with all the Russian names ( why do they say first and second names by the way?), I got it for free on Kindle reader and it was always a book I wanted to read so I shall persevere.
Yeah, the names complicated me a bit...they essentially seem to sometimes refer to characters by both names (I think), but then most of those characters also have nicknames/other names by which they are referred...although most of those nicknames are still very long and very Russian.
It does get easier as it goes on though when you get a clearer idea of who the important, central characters are to the plot, and who matters most.
Deception point and inferno both awesome Dan brown books
For some reason I rarely read books by female authors. Read this on holiday and it's a fantastic page turner. The alcoholic protagonist adds a lot of intrigue to the story.
Oh god.
Pick up The Idiot if you want an easier to read, and arguably better, Dostoevsky novel. Crime and Punishment is spectacular, though. One of the forerunners in modern psychological narratives - paved the way for a lot of expressionism and modernism which followed in the next century with Joyce, O'Neill, and the likes.
Anybody here fans of William Faulkner?
I'm a big Hemingway fan, but have all of his major novels, so I decided to read some stuff by his major rival... Faulkner.
Currently willing my way through Absalom, Absalom
I'm a big Hemingway fan, but have all of his major novels, so I decided to read some stuff by his major rival... Faulkner.
Currently willing my way through Absalom, Absalom
Only read As I Lay Dying, which I loved. Just ordered Absalom, Absalom off Amazon funnily enough.
Absalom is a great story, but it is not an easy read, but you're familiar with Faulkner's style since you've ready As I Lay Dying. The plus side is, once you've read it, you'll feel like you can read and understand just about anything.
I frequently had to reread whole sections of As I Lay Dying to make sure I'd understood what the feck was going on. It's tough but I think eventually it just clicks, and when it does, it's beautiful stuff.
Same here with Absalom. Faulkner includes a timeline and map at the back of the book to help out though!
Finished The Shining this week and now halfway through The End of the World Runner's Club - good British post apocalyptic book so far.