manji Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 -Christopher Clark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Some excellent books in there. One flew over the cuckoo's nest is superb (and better than the film) as is 1984. Communist Manifesto is a bit of a dry read but doesn't take long to read. If you're into revolutionary pamphlets then try Thomas Paine. Got myself a kindle a couple of weeks ago and the ease of buying books is frightening. Besides getting a load of free classics I've also bought: Manufacturing Consent - Edward Herman & Noam Chomsky A people's history of the United States - Howard Zinn Sleepers - Lorenzo Carcaterra World War Z - Max Brooks I'm going to have to exercise some discipline in buying books. I love this book, it's brilliant. In fact, i'm going to listen to the audiobook now! Also ordered 2 more books, in slightly contrasting styles... The Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle Fun With Pedophiles: The Best of Baiting - Doug Stanhope It'll be funny to see if they come in the same package! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revolution saint Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Last week in Cuba I read Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Fantastic book - probably his best novel. Good adventure/war story all about an American professor who volunteers for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. The book recounts 3-4 days of the protagonist, Robert Jordan, getting ready to dynamite a key bridge with the help of a small band of Republican partisans, who live in mountain caves behind the Nationalist lines. Gripping book. It goes into the detail of the politics. And there's a love affair, too, between Jordan and a young woman names Maria. The two most interesting characters are Pilar (the matriarch of the group) and Pablo (an unreliable fighter who keeps raising problems for Jordan). They made a pretty good film of the book in the forties, starring Gary Cooper and the radiant Ingrid Bergman. Did the earth move for you? For whom the Bell Tolls was the first Hemingway book I'd read and once I'd got past the the sparce style I really enjoyed it. I sometimes find him a bit hit and miss but that's definitely a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadeem Hardison Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 I love Hemingway. I read the lot years ago. I was voracious for it, desperate to read another as soon as I'd finished one. I still re-read The Sun Also Rises, A Moveable Feast, The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms every couple of years. The Sun Also Rises is a lovely book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stain Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 I love Hemingway. +1 There's not another writer I can think of who can capture such dynamism of emotion in such spare language. I've been reading some of his short stories recently, which is a discipline he excels in. An Eng Lit teacher friend of mine was telling me recently that he's a "boy's writer", as if that's somehow detrimental or exclusive. I think his face-on approach to "masculine" attitudes that other writers efface makes him essential reading for women. Not that I'm trying to start some kind of war of the sexes argument here; understanding is key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Saint Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Currently reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway at the moment actually, about a third of the way through. Decent stuff so far. Since I last posted on this thread about six weeks ago have read quite a bit. Got through Stewart Lee's book pretty quickly, good insight into his career and how he works. Read Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier pretty rapidly, a couple of chapters of it were studied as my part of my History degree last year so thought I might as well read the whole thing. Also read his Down and Out in Paris and London for the first time too. Great read. Particuarly enjoyed the Paris chapters of it. Finished my Orwell binge (for the time being) by re-reading Animal Farm for the first time since I was about 13/14 or so. Also read Martin Amis's Money which was really funny in parts and What Did The Baby Boomers Ever Do for Us? by Francis Beckett. Book essentially argues that the radicalism of the 1960s was betrayed by the same former radicals once they got themselves into positions of authority (the Blair and Brown governments) and ****ed things up for their children (my generation!). Makes some fairly crude generalisations at times but the crux of the argument I agreed with (and have done for some time). Currently reading three books at once, Hemingway as mentioned above, Robert Service's biography of Stalin and CLR James' Beyond a Boundary. The latter is really interesting, published in the mid 1960s and essentially focuses on James' experiences growing up in the West Indies and the importance of cricket and politics in his life. Got a massive pile to read through at the moment, including a couple mentioned by Revolution Saint; Manufacturing Consent and A People's History of the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnersaint Posted 27 March, 2011 Share Posted 27 March, 2011 Coming to the end of Heartstone now. Have enjoyed all the Shardlake novels, this one particularly so. I agree with Pugwash, Sansom portrays Portsmuff as a right s h i t h o l e. funny how things never change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 Das Boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecuk268 Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 Going through a bit of a post-apocalyptic phase. Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and now into "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (recommended by a previous Forumee). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintbletch Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 Going through a bit of a post-apocalyptic phase. Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and now into "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (recommended by a previous Forumee). Well if you like your apocalypse with a bit of wry humour, and to help you get over "The Road", try "The Gone Away World" the debut novel by Nick Harkaway (His father is John LeCarre). It's totally weird - but in a good way - in a Douglas Adams sort of good way. It's a stream of conciousness that flits from past, to current, to past with some of the most creative plot and narrative ideas I've seen in a long time. I couldn't put it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 World War Z - Max Brooks I love this book, it's brilliant. In fact, i'm going to listen to the audiobook now! I liked it too, a fun read. Had you read his survival guides? Will do one of those soon. (Which reminds me, hope the series of Walking Dead starts soon...was dead impressed with the first.) Picked up Do Not Pass Go by Tom Moore again to finish it up. Interesting guide/historical look to London focusing on the Monopoly board square locations in a 'where were they/where are they now' kind of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 The Zombie Survival Guide is my bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 The Zombie Survival Guide is my bible. Practical huh? I better get a copy before it's too late then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 Practical huh? I better get a copy before it's too late then. Damn straight! Although if such a situation were to arise, i'd probably do myself in. Waaayy too much of a p*ssy to cope with all that sh*t! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVSaint Posted 28 March, 2011 Share Posted 28 March, 2011 Damn straight! Although if such a situation were to arise, i'd probably do myself in. Waaayy too much of a p*ssy to cope with all that sh*t! Have a doctor put you into an induced coma and lock you in vault at the first sign of trouble. You can sleep through it and wake up when it's over and order is restored. It works in the films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 29 March, 2011 Share Posted 29 March, 2011 I made the mistake, yet again, of reading through some "reviews" of books on Amazon. What a depressing, irritating exercise! Many people think that a review of a book is nothing more than an account of how the book made them "feel". Or they think that if they've decided the author is a jerk, then all his books must be crap, too. Or they think that all fiction is nothing more than disguised autobiography. Or they think their opinion is valid just because it's their opinion. Don't tell me the book's no good because it made you sad! Don't make a sweeping judgment about a book and then say that you only read two chapters, FFS. Talk about the style; talk about the setting; talk about the narrative voice; talk about the language; talk about the plot; talk about the characters. As D H Lawrence put it: "Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of a critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revolution saint Posted 18 April, 2011 Share Posted 18 April, 2011 Shades of grey - Jasper Fforde, only about a quarter in at the moment and have to say it seems a bit clever for it's own good. I'm trusting that it'll get better. After that got Neville Shute's "On the beach" lined up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 18 April, 2011 Share Posted 18 April, 2011 Going through a bit of a post-apocalyptic phase. Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and now into "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (recommended by a previous Forumee). I'm currently reading "All The Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy. I must admit to struggling with his writing style. A bit to unorthodox for my taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 18 April, 2011 Share Posted 18 April, 2011 Shades of grey - Jasper Fforde, only about a quarter in at the moment and have to say it seems a bit clever for it's own good. I'm trusting that it'll get better. After that got Neville Shute's "On the beach" lined up. Just read that, oddly enough. Its an interesting idea, but I found it pretty unconvincing tbh. I cant believe that a population would react that way to the situation, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. Its definitely worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 19 April, 2011 Share Posted 19 April, 2011 Just read that, oddly enough. Its an interesting idea, but I found it pretty unconvincing tbh. I cant believe that a population would react that way to the situation, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. Its definitely worth a read. Stanley Kramer made a good film from the book, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Tony Perkins. A bit didactic - but still gripping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 19 April, 2011 Share Posted 19 April, 2011 Stanley Kramer made a good film from the book, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Tony Perkins. A bit didactic - but still gripping. I'll look out for that, didnt know it had been filmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffy Posted 21 April, 2011 Share Posted 21 April, 2011 Shades of grey - Jasper Fforde, only about a quarter in at the moment and have to say it seems a bit clever for it's own good. I'm trusting that it'll get better. After that got Neville Shute's "On the beach" lined up. By coincidence, I have just finished On The Beach, I found it an excellent and thoughtful read. I just started reading Shades of Grey last night, too soon to have an opinion. Completely different genre again, but I enjoyed The Snowman by Jo Nesbo recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 21 April, 2011 Share Posted 21 April, 2011 Something nice and light!! Reflections on the Revolution In Europe (Can Europe be the same with different people in it?) by Christopher Caldwell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deppo Posted 21 April, 2011 Author Share Posted 21 April, 2011 I made the mistake, yet again, of reading through some "reviews" of books on Amazon. What a depressing, irritating exercise! Many people think that a review of a book is nothing more than an account of how the book made them "feel". Or they think that if they've decided the author is a jerk, then all his books must be crap, too. Or they think that all fiction is nothing more than disguised autobiography. Or they think their opinion is valid just because it's their opinion. Don't tell me the book's no good because it made you sad! Don't make a sweeping judgment about a book and then say that you only read two chapters, FFS. Talk about the style; talk about the setting; talk about the narrative voice; talk about the language; talk about the plot; talk about the characters. As D H Lawrence put it: "Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of a critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it". You do know that they are "Customer Reviews", not the TLS? They are perfectly valid for what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revolution saint Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 By coincidence, I have just finished On The Beach, I found it an excellent and thoughtful read. I just started reading Shades of Grey last night, too soon to have an opinion. Completely different genre again, but I enjoyed The Snowman by Jo Nesbo recently. Finished shades of grey yesterday. It was OK and did get better but it took so long to set up the world in which it's created that the story suffered a bit. It is a clever book but not as good as I'd hoped it would be. Snowman was an enjoyable read though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge too far Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 You're all so highbrow on here, I feel quite inadequate! I've been reading Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve books lately, borrowed from one of my daughters. Contrary to popular opinion, they're not 'chick lit' but actually quite dark stories delving into issues such as domestic abuse, using one child as a donor to help cure another, etc. They're so powerful that I've quite often been left a blubbering wreck with the sheer emotion of the stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deppo Posted 23 April, 2011 Author Share Posted 23 April, 2011 Sounds like chick lit to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge too far Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 Sounds like chick lit to me. Because they deal with emotional issues? Yeah, maybe you're right, because men don't really do emotion. Although, hearing Jodi Picoult being interviewed on 'Meet the Author' (BBC News), it seems that 48% of her readers are men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnersaint Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 Heresy by SJ Parris. Seeing if her work stands up to Shardlake novels and also Conquest by Stewart Binns, basically about Hereward the Wake. I do enjoy my historical fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecuk268 Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 Heresy by SJ Parris. Seeing if her work stands up to Shardlake novels and also Conquest by Stewart Binns, basically about Hereward the Wake. I do enjoy my historical fiction. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is a good read. It's about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's enforcer. She's supposed to be doing a sequel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stain Posted 23 April, 2011 Share Posted 23 April, 2011 Because they deal with emotional issues? Yeah, maybe you're right, because men don't really do emotion. Although, hearing Jodi Picoult being interviewed on 'Meet the Author' (BBC News), it seems that 48% of her readers are men. I think you just sank your own ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingbattigger Posted 24 April, 2011 Share Posted 24 April, 2011 Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett with a couple of Jo Nesbo books for light relief Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint boggy Posted 24 April, 2011 Share Posted 24 April, 2011 Avon catalogue....brochure 8,2011..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 24 April, 2011 Share Posted 24 April, 2011 (edited) Just finished 'The Beach' by Alex Garland - loved it. I want to go to Thailand now. Edited 25 April, 2011 by SuperMikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbul Posted 26 April, 2011 Share Posted 26 April, 2011 Just finished 'The Beach' by Alex Garland - loved it. I want to go to Thailand now. Try Coma by Alex Garland; short little novella with illustrations by his Dad. It'll only take a few hours.... Just re-reading Treasure Island. Haven't read it since I was at school. Cracking good yarn with parallels to Lord Of The Flies I think. Anyway, you all know the story and I'm just reading it to pass the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Majestic Channon Posted 27 April, 2011 Share Posted 27 April, 2011 A few kind words and a loaded gun- Noel 'razor' smith Very entertaining Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manji Posted 27 April, 2011 Share Posted 27 April, 2011 Something nice and light!! Reflections on the Revolution In Europe (Can Europe be the same with different people in it?) by Christopher Caldwell Looks interesting.I think I will put that on my wish list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 28 April, 2011 Share Posted 28 April, 2011 Been reading a new collection of Leo Tolstoy short stories, newly translated by the esteemed and prolific modern translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. They've done about a couple of dozen translations of the Russian classics (Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, etc.). The best of the stories here is The Death of Ivan Ilich. Most of the stories deal with obsession. Profound stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 28 April, 2011 Share Posted 28 April, 2011 A Glastonbury Romance (Cowper-Powys) haven't read it for eons, found it in a carton in the loft the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffy Posted 7 May, 2011 Share Posted 7 May, 2011 Finished shades of grey yesterday. It was OK and did get better but it took so long to set up the world in which it's created that the story suffered a bit. It is a clever book but not as good as I'd hoped it would be. Snowman was an enjoyable read though. I agree about Sades of Grey. But will probably read the sequals when they come out. I read about 2 1/2 of the Thursday Next novels and they got a bit tedious in the end. Based on some of the posts above I think I will give World War Z a read soon, once I've completed some unread books in my collection. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffy Posted 7 May, 2011 Share Posted 7 May, 2011 (edited) Heresy by SJ Parris. Seeing if her work stands up to Shardlake novels and also Conquest by Stewart Binns, basically about Hereward the Wake. I do enjoy my historical fiction. I'm thinking of reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet next. Have you read it? Edited 7 May, 2011 by Miffy Capitalisation error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atticus Finch of Maycomb Posted 7 May, 2011 Share Posted 7 May, 2011 I'm thinking of reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet next. Have you read it? I have read it. I didn't think it was my sort of book at all but it was really good. It was very long but I was absorbed from the first page the the last. The ending is excellent too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revolution saint Posted 8 May, 2011 Share Posted 8 May, 2011 Just read that, oddly enough. Its an interesting idea, but I found it pretty unconvincing tbh. I cant believe that a population would react that way to the situation, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. Its definitely worth a read. I've just finished it and I pretty much agree with you - it just doesn't ring true in it's depiction of how society would react in the face of imminent death. It's full of stoical repression and a decency that seems unrealistic; almost an idealised apocalypse with manners. When you think that it was published 6 years after Dylan Thomas "Do not go gently into that good night" which was full of rage against death and On the Beach is more "Keep calm and carry on". That said I'm glad I read it - not a bad book by any means but, as you say, unconvincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted 8 May, 2011 Share Posted 8 May, 2011 I'm thinking of reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet next. Have you read it? Got a copy from the Oxfam bookshop a few weeks ago. Started reading it last weekend - about a third of the way through. Easy to read, but very absorbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 9 May, 2011 Share Posted 9 May, 2011 Just been on another book binge - bought some that i've been wanting to get for a while and some which come highly recommended from this thread: How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Stewart Lee For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway On The Road - Jack Kerouac Catch-22 - Joseph Heller/Howard Jacobson Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson All of those books came to about £33 inc. P&P. I love Amazon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
equalizer Posted 9 May, 2011 Share Posted 9 May, 2011 just started Not a number, Patrick Mcgoohan - a life by Rupert Booth. Only 50 pages in but I'm already impressed by the amount of research the author has done already, and I'm trying to savour it instead of reading it inside a couple of days like I usually do if I find a book I love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 9 May, 2011 Share Posted 9 May, 2011 I've just finished it and I pretty much agree with you - it just doesn't ring true in it's depiction of how society would react in the face of imminent death. It's full of stoical repression and a decency that seems unrealistic; almost an idealised apocalypse with manners. When you think that it was published 6 years after Dylan Thomas "Do not go gently into that good night" which was full of rage against death and On the Beach is more "Keep calm and carry on". That said I'm glad I read it - not a bad book by any means but, as you say, unconvincing. Agree with all of that, exactly how I saw it. Decent read though. Did you ever see Dr Strangelove, the Kubrick film? That was oddly compelling, and struck me as far closer to the mark of what Neville Shute was driving at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stain Posted 9 May, 2011 Share Posted 9 May, 2011 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller/Howard Jacobson Whu? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 9 May, 2011 Share Posted 9 May, 2011 Whu? That's what it says on the authors credits - it may be a foreword or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffy Posted 10 May, 2011 Share Posted 10 May, 2011 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller I'd forgotten that I had read this book. Must be 20 years ago now. Amusing and confusing, I think it was described as 'mentally gymnastic' on the blurb of my book, which is pretty accurate. If I remember correctly my favourite character was Major Major Major Major who climbed out of the window when anyone came to see him. (unless I am getting mixed up) Great book IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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