Maybe EH's work is a bit too modern & political for me, mate. Or perhaps I'm looking at the wrong Hobsbawm books?
Books The BOOK thread
- Thread starter Livvie
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Oi, everything is political even your books.
Well if you go back to say the Age of Revolution that's from about 1780-through the french revolution and the industrial revolution. I think Nations & Nationalism goes back a little touch further, but if you're looking for the life of a large cross section of England including monarchy I'm not sure how much he did on it.
He's certainly a fascinating read however, incredible prose and his research is second to none. Up there with Gibbon in terms of our great historians.
He's certainly a fascinating read however, incredible prose and his research is second to none. Up there with Gibbon in terms of our great historians.
peterstorey said:
What I really meant was: I'm too stupid to understand Marxism.You might want to look at Julian Hoppit's "A Land of Liberty?" which deals with England from the Glorious Revolution until the late 1720s. Hoppit examines the ideas of Newton, Defoe, and Addison as communicated through the media of the day and the reactions to those ideas. It's quite compelling stuff. I can also recommend Paul Langford's "A Polite and Commercial People"; Boyd Hilton's "A Mad,Bad, and Dangerous People?"; Theodore Hoppen's "The Mid-Victorian Generation" and G.R. Searle's "A New England"; the latter covering the period from 1886 until 1918.
My bedtime reading of late is Roy Porter's "The Greatest Gift to Mankind". A excellent history of medicine, and Ruth Richardson's "Death, Dissection, and the Destitute".
I've started working on my next book project which might entail a trip to China, so I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'm trying to locate a translator who will work for a reasonable fee translating original Mandarin documents into English. If you know of such a person, send me a PM.
Just finished The Secret Footballer as part of my break from A Song of Ice and Fire. Quite enjoyed it as a light read.
Can anyone recommend a book on the First World War?
The First World War by John Keegan is very good, IMO. I read it a few years back and really enjoyed it.
Cheers, I'll try that one.
Journeys End by R.C. Sheriff is a nice short play about it, worth the read.
"The Guns of August" though it's more about the buildup.
A Foreign Field by Ben MacIntyre is very good. It wont delve into the war but is a true story on a few soldiers who got caught behind the advancing german lines in the First World War.
Oh yeah, "Le Feu" by Henri Barbusse (fiction). More of a trench level view.
Interesting fella he was too.
Interesting fella he was too.
Just a general work or something more specific?
I've been meaning to write this for a while now
Infinite Jest is the best book I've ever read.
I've read a lot of books I've really liked but nothing has left me feeling like i did when i finished it. I was just in awe of what I had read. It's a work of genius. Not dostoevsky, not kafka, not camus, not pynchon. David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest is now my favorite book ever.
In case any of you ever plan to read it I'm going make a few recommendations. You'll find several such versions online if you search for them
1. It's a big fat book. Over 1000 pages including the notes. I would suggest reading this book during a period when you are sure you can devote time to it. You do not want to read it over months. Dont pick it up if you're not going to be able to read it everyday. you want to run through it.
2. Read every page. There's a lot in this book that you'll think is not relevant, that you can skip. Resist that temptation. read every page. Read every note and there are over 300 of them.
3. Use bookmarks. Dog ear the crap out of it. I've NEVER folded pages in my books before Infinite Jest but my copy of this book has over 30 marked pages. I used 2 bookmarks, one of the usual kind and one for the notes, and marked every chapter with a dogear. You will need to do that. The book is nonlinear to the extreme. It's like someone put Pulp Fiction through a shredder. the beginning is the end and the end is nowhere close to the real end.
4. Keep a dictionary handy. Or bookmark a website for that purpose. you'll need it. And you will increase your vocabulary tenfold while you read this book.
5. I cannot stress this enough so I will say it again. Do NOT skip pages. yes, there are parts you will feel are not relevant. THEY ARE. Stick through it. It's worth it. Every time you read something that makes no sense make a mental note of it. Because it eventually will.
This book is a fecking masterpiece. I will never do something as awesome as it and I'm ok with that. Everything else it just waiting to be outdone.
Infinite Jest is the best book I've ever read.
I've read a lot of books I've really liked but nothing has left me feeling like i did when i finished it. I was just in awe of what I had read. It's a work of genius. Not dostoevsky, not kafka, not camus, not pynchon. David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest is now my favorite book ever.
In case any of you ever plan to read it I'm going make a few recommendations. You'll find several such versions online if you search for them
1. It's a big fat book. Over 1000 pages including the notes. I would suggest reading this book during a period when you are sure you can devote time to it. You do not want to read it over months. Dont pick it up if you're not going to be able to read it everyday. you want to run through it.
2. Read every page. There's a lot in this book that you'll think is not relevant, that you can skip. Resist that temptation. read every page. Read every note and there are over 300 of them.
3. Use bookmarks. Dog ear the crap out of it. I've NEVER folded pages in my books before Infinite Jest but my copy of this book has over 30 marked pages. I used 2 bookmarks, one of the usual kind and one for the notes, and marked every chapter with a dogear. You will need to do that. The book is nonlinear to the extreme. It's like someone put Pulp Fiction through a shredder. the beginning is the end and the end is nowhere close to the real end.
4. Keep a dictionary handy. Or bookmark a website for that purpose. you'll need it. And you will increase your vocabulary tenfold while you read this book.
5. I cannot stress this enough so I will say it again. Do NOT skip pages. yes, there are parts you will feel are not relevant. THEY ARE. Stick through it. It's worth it. Every time you read something that makes no sense make a mental note of it. Because it eventually will.
This book is a fecking masterpiece. I will never do something as awesome as it and I'm ok with that. Everything else it just waiting to be outdone.
Just finished The Railway Man by Eric Lomax.
It's the autobiography of a young Scottish railway buff who grew up in Edinburgh. He was an officer in the Royal Signals regiment during WWII and was deployed in the Far East. He was taken prisoner in 1942 by the Japanese and forced to work on the infamous Burma railway. He was sent to in a POW camp after the Japanese found a homemade radio in their huts. He was interogated and brutally tortured over the three years of his captivity.
He later reconciled with one of his torturers when he returned to the bridge over the river Kwai.
His book is currently being made into a movie starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.
I really enjoyed the book, very emotional. The movie is got to be a worthy Oscar shout for 2014.
If you like books on WWII this is a fantastic read.
It's the autobiography of a young Scottish railway buff who grew up in Edinburgh. He was an officer in the Royal Signals regiment during WWII and was deployed in the Far East. He was taken prisoner in 1942 by the Japanese and forced to work on the infamous Burma railway. He was sent to in a POW camp after the Japanese found a homemade radio in their huts. He was interogated and brutally tortured over the three years of his captivity.
He later reconciled with one of his torturers when he returned to the bridge over the river Kwai.
His book is currently being made into a movie starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.
I really enjoyed the book, very emotional. The movie is got to be a worthy Oscar shout for 2014.
If you like books on WWII this is a fantastic read.
I was looking for a general history. I've got the Keegan one recommended by Brophs and a strictly chronological one by Gilbert which I'm reading now. Thanks for the suggestions by others by the way.
Can someone shed any light on what on earth I'm supposed to be reading in Naked Lunch?! One of the most confusing things I've ever 'read'
Try watching the film
Currently reading Jack Reacher - Killing Floor. I have to say, what an intricately written book by Lee Child.
Decided to go back to my youth and re-read some old favourites. Currently switching between The Sign of Four, Ivanhoe, and Tim Carew's harrowing account The Fall of Hong Kong.
I read Keegan's book back in 2000 and since then, it's become the modern definitive work on the Great War. If you want to continue reading about the conflict, I recommend The Great War and Modern Memory, by Paul Fussell.
I read Time's Arrow recently. It blew me away. A really extraordinary book. Not the most riveting read ever, not the most fun or the easiest, but I reckon itll stay with me a long time.
So basically in a nutshell, it is the life of a guy backwards, starting at the moment of his death, and working backwards - but literally backwards, not like Memento or something, but so that everyone is walking around backwards - towards the moment of his birth. Told from the perspective of an impartial observer inside his head, like a trapped conscience or something, that is learning about the world, and drawing conclusions about it, based on what it sees of the world, backwards.
The format makes it quite hard work at times, but it is well worth it in my opinion.
So basically in a nutshell, it is the life of a guy backwards, starting at the moment of his death, and working backwards - but literally backwards, not like Memento or something, but so that everyone is walking around backwards - towards the moment of his birth. Told from the perspective of an impartial observer inside his head, like a trapped conscience or something, that is learning about the world, and drawing conclusions about it, based on what it sees of the world, backwards.
The format makes it quite hard work at times, but it is well worth it in my opinion.
The book builds towards this guy's young adulthood working as a dr at Auschwitz, which is the driving force of the whole book. What is fascinating is the observations of the narrator about the work he does as a dr in his life after he has fled Germany and changed his name, versus the work he did at Auschwitz. Think about what the work of a dr would look like if you were seeing it in reverse, but didnt know that what you were seeing was backwards, and just assumed that's how things were. Imagine the conclusions you would draw about the behaviour of society.
Try watching the film
They made a film out of it?! Which collection of idiots funded that! How is any of the material transferable onto film? I'd be using my bag of popcorn for different intentions
Lads I need to buy an ecopy of this book EMPLOYEE-ORGANIZATION LINKAGES : THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COMMITMENT, ABSENTEEISM AND TURNOVER / RICHARD T. MOWDAY, LYMAN W. PORTER, RICHARD M. STEERS quite urgently but cant find it anywhere. Any help to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.
Looks like it isn't available as an actual ebook anywhere, mate.
Not sure if this PDF is the same one:
http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/J_Petersen_Commitment_1984.pdf
Not sure if this PDF is the same one:
http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/J_Petersen_Commitment_1984.pdf
Thanks SteveJ. It's not the same one but may well do. Appreciate the help.
Alternatively, the book is approx. £38(!) on Amazon. 
I would take the hit alright but I need it in the next couple of days and Amazon takes about 4 to deliver to me for some reason. Thanks again.Alternatively, the book is approx. £38(!) on Amazon.
Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Taken" is pretty fun and a good grounding in poetry I find.
What's the deal with The Alchemist then? I'm about half way through and I'm finding it a bit of a chore to carry on reading to be honest.
My daughter (10y/o) is on the second hunger games book. She started reading them on Monday and has become increasingly scared and jumpy since. She a total bookworm, but so far all the book's she's read have been kids books or teen romance.
She a total bookworm, but so far all the book's she's read have been kids books or teen romance.Just finished The Day of the Jackal. Just Wow. What an amazing book.
I think the book’s true value shines through when one recognizes and integrates the key segments (which are amply included by Coelho) about understanding wisdom. The direct story by itself isn’t extraordinary.
Great that she's reading books at 10!My daughter (10y/o) is on the second hunger games book. She started reading them on Monday and has become increasingly scared and jumpy since.
Thought it picked up in the second half, still expected more from what I'd heard about it but an enjoyable book all the same.
Reading Graham Hunter's "The Making of the Greatest Team in the world", absolutely superb read so far, very educating, very easy to read and very interesting. Definitely a must for anyone who likes football (which I assume everyone on here does).
I remember when that came out. The Foreign Office went spare because of Forsyth's detailed description of the assassin's method of getting a passport.
Finished Hunter's book on Barca. Seriously if you haven't read it pick it up off Amazon now, a must read.
Finished reading John Dies at the End. Very enjoyable read. Hard to describe the book. It's really messed up in all sorts of way but fun the whole way through.
The guy who wrote it got the book deal through word of mouth on his short stories online. It had gotten popular enough online that he was prompted to make the short stories into a book and so he did. Oh, he's also a senior editor of cracked.com so you might expect some humor and weird references.
Going to start now on World War Z as I want to read it before the movie comes out.
The guy who wrote it got the book deal through word of mouth on his short stories online. It had gotten popular enough online that he was prompted to make the short stories into a book and so he did. Oh, he's also a senior editor of cracked.com so you might expect some humor and weird references.
Going to start now on World War Z as I want to read it before the movie comes out.