I'm reading A Preferred Blur, one of Henry Rollins travel diaries. I find Rollins an engaging speaker but his diary is depressing as all hell. Full of self loathing and misanthropy. Bloke needs a hug.
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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Finally read a Steinbeck novel, upon reddit recommendation I went for East of Eden.
Really enjoyed it and now I'm even more pissed off my English group at school was the only one to read A Midsummers Night Dream instead of Mice and Men.
Really enjoyed it and now I'm even more pissed off my English group at school was the only one to read A Midsummers Night Dream instead of Mice and Men.
Just started the Game trilogy by de la Motte. First 100 pages suggest it will be a decent, but a bit "brain-dead", read
Currently reading The Mixer by Michael Cox. Effectively, it is a study of the evolution of tactics in the Premier League. Very good thus far.
And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails
An excellent work that goes along with my dream to one day write a book telling the history of the United States by telling the history of American whiskey
An excellent work that goes along with my dream to one day write a book telling the history of the United States by telling the history of American whiskey
That's the most convoluted way to excuse alcoholism I've ever heard.
Do read Of Mice and Men; it's a brilliant, heart-wrenching story. But you also need to read Grapes of Wrath eventually. Arguably the greatest American novel, in my humble opinion.
I will do mate, I intend to read all his novels as his writing is so poetic.
Try Tortilla Flats, it's totally different from the ones mentioned and very good too.
Cool, I haven't heard of that one. I will check it out.
I just read The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horrowitz. Thought it was very good.
Anyone here read Rushdie's Midnight's Children? It's one I've had on my list for a while and I've started it...but despite being someone who doesn't really 'struggle' with a text I'm kind of struggling to get into it. It's undoubtedly quite well-written and very, very detailed/complex, so it's perhaps one I'd find myself appreciating more at some point...but every time I sit down to read it I find my interest drifting off quickly.
I HATED THAT DAMN BOOK, RUN AWAY WHILE YOU CAN.
It was part of a literature course in college, after it we made the professor promise to never teach it again.
A resounding answer, then.
I'm rarely to give up on books and I like something with some proper literary merit, but yeah...I'm tempted to leave this one aside for a while. Heard a lot of comparisons to 100 Years of Solitude which I love, and I can kind of see the comparisons, but there's something very different about it all the same that I can't quite warm to.
Beautifully written but a slog. I didn't like 100 Years of Solitude either though, not one for whimsical magical realism.
I loved it! Can totally understand why some don't though.
I want to like it, might go back to it at some point though. Heard it helps to have a lot of knowledge about the whole background surrounding the text right enough.
Another novel set in India to try is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, one of those books you'll end up recommending to everybody you meet.
Started American Gods after finishing the TV and it's just as gripping. Do this annoying thing where I wake up at 4.30 every day for some reason so just read til I slept this morning. Can't wait to meet all the characters not done by the show
5.30 for me, but I share this issue.
Currently reading Fingerprints of the Gods at the moment, and just ordered Sapiens and its sequel, and Capital by Thomas Pickett. Don't know where I am going to find the time to get through them.
Finished it last month - half way through Homo Deus atm.
This guy is fantastic.
You can get Sapiens and Homo Deus 2 for £7 at Tesco - highly recommended reading for those interested in anthropology, sociology, etc.
I've just re-read Queens Gambit by Walter Tevis, absolutely brilliant book and crying out to be made into a film or short TV series
Reading The Turn of the Screw. Surprised there's been so much critical debate about the story's governness, as she's patently nuts from the off.
I just finished The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. Was given to me to read by my wife and I didnt think I'd like it but really grew on me.
Finished "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman. That was a pretty heavy read. The first 200 pages were really interesting and provided a good, easy to follow view into the human brain and it's psychological workings. The rest of the book was way too heavy with too many econs theories; I felt like I was studying for a test again. A shame really as the book started out really captivating but soon turned into a chore. Overall 6/10.
Was that the basis for The Innocents? Watched the film recently, which was decent for its age.
read a good book there myself- called Children of Time and in the sci-fi genre with a focus on evolution and humanity
first decent thing I've read in a while - 8/10
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447273281/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_xjHEzbW6EDXJA
first decent thing I've read in a while - 8/10
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447273281/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_xjHEzbW6EDXJA
Yes it was, mate.
Not sure there are that many that are easier to read. Animal Spirits maybe, but is more focused on the macro side (and rests on more vague ideas for sure).
Re-reading The Witching Hour by Anne Rice. One of my favorite books. Sequels (Lasher,Taltos) aren't worth a mention.
I read all of those and completely agree. Read most of the vampire stuff too. She spoke to the teenage stick
I think Interview... is a beautifully-written novel and, if it wasn't for genre snobbery, might've been a mainstream award candidate.
Picked that up for a couple of quid on the Kindle store yesterday. Looking forward to reading it, although it's on a list waiting to be read.
I'm reading Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey, the first book in the Expanse Saga. Much better than the show and I love the show.
Lee Child - The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #23)
Managed to get a proof copy of this, standard Reacher fare thus far...(about half way through it) fights with 6+ people, joining up with a woman law enforcement, etc
Managed to get a proof copy of this, standard Reacher fare thus far...(about half way through it) fights with 6+ people, joining up with a woman law enforcement, etc
I bought War and Peace and Crime and Punishment at the same time.
Read W&P, bloody hard work. Put me off C&P. Irrational, I guess, since they are completely different books by completely different authors. But you know... both Russian, similar sounding names...
Finally, a few years later, decide to brave C&P. So happy I did. Phenomenal book, absolutely unputdownable. Way, way more entertaining to read than W&P.
Read W&P, bloody hard work. Put me off C&P. Irrational, I guess, since they are completely different books by completely different authors. But you know... both Russian, similar sounding names...
Finally, a few years later, decide to brave C&P. So happy I did. Phenomenal book, absolutely unputdownable. Way, way more entertaining to read than W&P.
Funnily, I thought War and Peace was beautiful (apart from the characters' digressions), as were other nineteenth century Russian novels like Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Goncharov's Oblomov, but never got into Crime and Punishment. I must try it again sometime.
At the moment, when I can concentrate, I'm reading Europe in the High Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan. A good, brisk introduction to, or reacquaintance with, the subject.
Above all is In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.
At the moment, when I can concentrate, I'm reading Europe in the High Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan. A good, brisk introduction to, or reacquaintance with, the subject.
Above all is In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.
I read The Idiot when I was 17, which was clearly a terrible idea. I've lost my copy but I should have another go at the Russian masters.
In the last few weeks I read James Baldwin's Another Country, Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky On Palestine (whilst in Israel, to make myself feel particularly complicit) and Kennedy: An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek.
I prefer Baldwin's shorter works, his prose is more openly enjoyable when he's capturing a moment; it loses potency over a longer period.
I've read biographies of Orson Welles and Kennedy this year and it's remarkable how similar their backgrounds are. Born a year or two apart, both intellectually mediocre, sickly children with powerful personalities and incredible ambition, whose whims were thoroughly indulged by their wealthy families. They're a good study on the power of privilege.
In the last few weeks I read James Baldwin's Another Country, Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky On Palestine (whilst in Israel, to make myself feel particularly complicit) and Kennedy: An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek.
I prefer Baldwin's shorter works, his prose is more openly enjoyable when he's capturing a moment; it loses potency over a longer period.
I've read biographies of Orson Welles and Kennedy this year and it's remarkable how similar their backgrounds are. Born a year or two apart, both intellectually mediocre, sickly children with powerful personalities and incredible ambition, whose whims were thoroughly indulged by their wealthy families. They're a good study on the power of privilege.