Jump to content
2nd January - updates ×

What are you reading?

Deppo

By Deppo
in The Arts

 Share

Recommended Posts

LVSaint

LVSaint

Posted
Posted

Just started America Unchained by Dave Gorman.

 

Travel across the States in a classic Ford Torino Stationwagon without visiting any big chain company petrol stations, food outlets or hotels whilst stopping to take a glance at America off the beaten track.

 

So far, very entertaining and funny.

Wiltshire Saint

Wiltshire Saint

Posted
Posted

I am reading Mark Steel's "What's going on?". I am 4 pages in. It's ok so far. I have another Mark Steel one to do after that and a Charlie Brooker one. I am also awaiting on a friend to lend me a copy of The Kite Runner, which I am meant to read as part of my book club.

St Landrew

St Landrew

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just started America Unchained by Dave Gorman.

 

Travel across the States in a classic Ford Torino Stationwagon without visiting any big chain company petrol stations, food outlets or hotels whilst stopping to take a glance at America off the beaten track.

 

So far, very entertaining and funny.

 

Did you get to see the TV programme over there? I found it very good, and quite a little bit of a philosophy on modern life and the ability to escape from the big corporate. It showed that small town America maybe dying with the elder generation, but it's putting up a fight before it's swamped by McDonalds and the brainwashed.

Edited by St Landrew
revolution saint

revolution saint

Posted
Posted
Did you get to see the TV programme over there? I found it very good, and quite a little bit of a philosophy on modern life and the ability to escape from the big corporate. It showed that small town America maybe dying with the elder generation, but it's putting up a fight before it's swamped by McDonalds and the brainwashed.

 

I saw the documentary and bought my Dad the book on the strength of it. I haven't had the chance to read it yet but he really enjoyed it. I felt that the documentary could probably have been streched out over a series and been better for it.

LVSaint

LVSaint

Posted
Posted
I saw the documentary and bought my Dad the book on the strength of it. I haven't had the chance to read it yet but he really enjoyed it. I felt that the documentary could probably have been streched out over a series and been better for it.

 

I will be trying to get hold of the documentary after finishing the book. It really is a good read. I hope Dave Gorman returns for another spin on a US road trip, he's got a great knack for it.

  • 2 weeks later...
jeff leopard

jeff leopard

Posted
Posted

If anyone enjoys reading first-rate children's fiction then get yourself some Moomin books. The tv series was aimed squarely at the very young but the books are just a joy for all ages. There's absolutely none of this Disney-esqe 'and everyone was very happy and loved each other' rubbish which gives children a dangerously inaccurate view of life. These books are seriously dark and complex. I've just read, 'Comet in Moominland' which was written in 1946 and is all about coming to terms with WW2 and the brand new fear of nuclear annihilation. Beautifully written and illustarted by Tove Jansson, all the books are well worth a read.

 

I'm half way through 'Trainspotting' at the mo and loving every sick and twisted page of it, ken?

the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted
If anyone enjoys reading first-rate children's fiction then get yourself some Moomin books. The tv series was aimed squarely at the very young but the books are just a joy for all ages. There's absolutely none of this Disney-esqe 'and everyone was very happy and loved each other' rubbish which gives children a dangerously inaccurate view of life. These books are seriously dark and complex. I've just read, 'Comet in Moominland' which was written in 1946 and is all about coming to terms with WW2 and the brand new fear of nuclear annihilation. Beautifully written and illustarted by Tove Jansson, all the books are well worth a read.

 

I'm half way through 'Trainspotting' at the mo and loving every sick and twisted page of it, ken?

 

Have you had a go on The Summer Book, also by Tove Jansson? Lovely family book about mortality. She really was very good.

 

I'm reading Crime and Punishment. It's bloody long.

Mao Cap

Mao Cap

Posted
Posted

I'm half way through 'Trainspotting' at the mo and loving every sick and twisted page of it, ken?

 

I recommend "Filth" after you finish Trainspotting, I read it a couple of weeks back; won't say it's quite as good but it's an excellent read.

Sheaf Saint

Sheaf Saint

Posted
Posted
I recommend "Filth" after you finish Trainspotting, I read it a couple of weeks back; won't say it's quite as good but it's an excellent read.

 

Porno - the follow-up to Trainspotting - is also a very good read. I love Irvine Welsh's work even though his writing style is hard to understand at first. I find myself imagining the characters speaking in that Edinburgh accent and actually hearing it in my mind, and I find it really helps.

 

I'm currently reading Contact by Carl Sagan after it was recommended to me by someone. Really enjoying it so far - it is very well written and researched. I had been meaning to watch the film for many years but I'm glad I didn't get round to it now because it means I can enjoy the book without knowing what happens. I'll probably make a point of watching it after I finish the book though - just to see how the producers interpreted it.

OLYMPIC

OLYMPIC

Posted
Posted

Currently reading Christine by Stephen King and Michael Palin the Python years.

Christine is just one of those books that i can read over and over again.

The Michael Palin one is good when you get used to the diary format of it and gives a good insite into the relationships behind Monty Python.

Redbul

Redbul

Posted
Posted

Just tucking into The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks.

 

Been a big fan of Iain Banks (and as Iain M Banks when writing SF) ever since the critics slated The Wasp Factory; I couldn't understand why none of them had been chuckling at the very dark humour running through it.

LVSaint

LVSaint

Posted
Posted
Just tucking into The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks.

 

Been a big fan of Iain Banks (and as Iain M Banks when writing SF) ever since the critics slated The Wasp Factory; I couldn't understand why none of them had been chuckling at the very dark humour running through it.

 

Slated by whom? Pussies! :cool:

  • 2 weeks later...
Sheaf Saint

Sheaf Saint

Posted
Posted
Vulcan 607 by Rowland White. True story of the Falkland War. Riveting stuff.

 

That's a great read and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It almost reads like fiction due to the lengths they had to go to just to get the Vulcans and Victors operational, let alone the planning for that one mission. Truly one of the British Forces' greatest ever achievements.

the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted

House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski. Which is the increasingly paranoid notes written in the margins of an academic evaluation of a (possibly) fictional documentary about a house which contains shifting portals to paranormal depthless underground dimensions. It's massive, complicated, many layered, frightening... part psychological thriller, part critique of literary critique, or something. I think it might be brilliant but I'm not sure yet. I do know it weighs a bloody ton.

Deppo

Deppo

Posted
  • Author
Posted
House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski. Which is the increasingly paranoid notes written in the margins of an academic evaluation of a (possibly) fictional documentary about a house which contains shifting portals to paranormal depthless underground dimensions. It's massive, complicated, many layered, frightening... part psychological thriller, part critique of literary critique, or something. I think it might be brilliant but I'm not sure yet. I do know it weighs a bloody ton.

 

I gave up on it. I borrowed it off a friend and got about halfway through, but it became too interminable. The main story did'nt seem worth ploughing through the other stuff for. Still, now I have'nt got a book to read I might dip into it again...

Crab Lungs

Crab Lungs

Posted
Posted

Just wondering, but is there any books which have a similar sort of theme/create the same atmospheric tension as the video game "Silent Hill" ???

 

Just wondered...

SuperMikey

SuperMikey

Posted
Posted

Last 3 books I read:

 

The Descent - Jeff Long

Good read. Sci-fi/Adventure with a couple of gruesome twists. 7/10

 

Duma Key - Stephen King

Took a long time to build up to an ultimately disappointing climax. Still quite creepy though. 6/10

 

The Game - Neil Strauss

Very funny, frank and explicit memoirs of a geek turned lothario. This was my third time reading the book and it never gets old. 8/10

norwaysaint

norwaysaint

Posted
Posted
I recommend "Filth" after you finish Trainspotting, I read it a couple of weeks back; won't say it's quite as good but it's an excellent read.

 

I didn't rate Filth. Follow up Trainspotting with Glue and then Porno, as Porno carries on Trainspotting but also has characters from Glue. Both are great books.

 

Interestingly, in the original book, Begbie was written as a big bloke, but Welsh was so impressed with the inspired casting of Robert Carlyle as a smaller psycho in the film that that was the character he had in mind in Porno.

the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted
I gave up on it. I borrowed it off a friend and got about halfway through, but it became too interminable. The main story did'nt seem worth ploughing through the other stuff for. Still, now I have'nt got a book to read I might dip into it again...

 

I'm just reaching the point where I'm being foot-noted to 2 or 3 appendices for each sentence of actual 'plot'. I'm treating it as a game, kind of like those Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Mao Cap

Mao Cap

Posted
Posted
I didn't rate Filth. Follow up Trainspotting with Glue and then Porno, as Porno carries on Trainspotting but also has characters from Glue. Both are great books.

 

Interestingly, in the original book, Begbie was written as a big bloke, but Welsh was so impressed with the inspired casting of Robert Carlyle as a smaller psycho in the film that that was the character he had in mind in Porno.

 

Glue sounds dead good, it's the next one on the list. I read half of Porno but for some reason I couldn't get into it, years ago I read a pretty scathing review of it in Private Eye and maybe that jaundiced my view of it (ridiculous I know - best not to read reviews of books at all in my experience).

  • 2 weeks later...
equalizer

equalizer

Posted
Posted

I'm reading Modern Football is Rubbish, a humourous A to Z of whats wrong with the beautiful game today. If you grew up watching your footy in the 70's and 80's it will appeal to you. Plenty of laugh out loud moments and stuff to reminisce about.

the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. Yes'm.

 

Just read If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, by Jon McGregor, which I loved. It's like a wonderful poem about change and re-birth. It made me feel all magical.

Ludwig

Ludwig

Posted
Posted
I'm reading "The Great Gatsby" by F Scott Fitzgerald.

 

Am studying this at the moment, it's brilliant.

 

I'm starting Crime and Punishment later today. Hope it's what it's made out to be.

Rory

Rory

Posted
Posted

You will not be disappointed by Crime and Punishment. It's my favourite book and it is the finest and most important piece of literature ever written. Read The Gambler and the Brothers Karamazov, too.

 

The Great Gatsby is a weird one. I didn't really get into it. In terms of analysing pre-war America, albeit from the opposite scale of society, I must preferred the Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

Evil Monkey

Evil Monkey

Posted
Posted
You will not be disappointed by Crime and Punishment. It's my favourite book and it is the finest and most important piece of literature ever written. Read The Gambler and the Brothers Karamazov, too.

 

The Great Gatsby is a weird one. I didn't really get into it. In terms of analysing pre-war America, albeit from the opposite scale of society, I must preferred the Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

 

When did you learn to read?

  • 3 weeks later...
the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted

Just read Leaf Storm, a collection of short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Some of his best work in there IMO. I like him when he's being all magical.

 

Now I'm reading The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, by Milan Kundera.

Deano6

Deano6

Posted
Posted
Just started The Handmaid's Tale by Margret Atwood, so far so good.

 

I did a piece for GCSE on this. I wrote an essay comparing the themes of Sex and Sexuality between this and 1984.

 

I'll dig it out for you.

jeff leopard

jeff leopard

Posted
Posted
I did a piece for GCSE on this. I wrote an essay comparing the themes of Sex and Sexuality between this and 1984.

 

I'll dig it out for you.

 

Cool. As soon as I started reading it reminded me of Fahrenheit 451, but yeah, 1984 too. I really need to read that book again. I feel a bit of an Orwell binge coming on (albeit spread over several years knowing me :rolleyes:) I was talking to someone about animal farm the other day and now i really want to read that again. And watch a women being phuqqed by a horse.

Rory

Rory

Posted
Posted
Cool. As soon as I started reading it reminded me of Fahrenheit 451, but yeah, 1984 too. I really need to read that book again. I feel a bit of an Orwell binge coming on (albeit spread over several years knowing me :rolleyes:) I was talking to someone about animal farm the other day and now i really want to read that again. And watch a women being phuqqed by a horse.

 

lol of the week.

the stain

the stain

Posted
Posted
I did a piece for GCSE on this. I wrote an essay comparing the themes of Sex and Sexuality between this and 1984.

 

I'll dig it out for you.

 

1984 contained the first sex scene I ever read (probably still does unless they've re-written it).

 

The Handmaid's Tale prompted my first use of the word 'f u c k' in an essay.

 

I remember both with fondness.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...