Just finished reading 'Any Chance of a Game?' by Barney Ronay, a Guardian scribe.
Good, light-hearted read.
Good, light-hearted read.
Books The BOOK thread
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Finally read Gomorra by Roberto Saviano. And it is brilliant. Much much better than the film, which is a bit shit really. It's written in the "I form"* and really manages to give you the feeling of beeing in that god forsaken place called Naples. I have some close friends from there and the stories you hear are so fecked up it's not even funny. Saviano really gets a message across and does it by writing in a style that makes you feel like you're reading a fictional novel. But it's not really, it's like a documentary piece. He now has to live a life looking over his shoulder since the Camorra has promised to kill him. Well done.
* Is this English or is it my shit attempt at it?
* Is this English or is it my shit attempt at it?
i read this
thought it was great in parts but extremely boring and repetitive in others - it was almost too detailed in the sense that it read like a reference book
i thought the first few chapters when it was told like a story were better
be interesting to see the movie
As I recall he kind of mixed things up and went from writing in the first person perspective to purely documentary form and then back again. Didn't find it boring at all. The world down there is so fecked up it's not even funny.
Makes for a great read though.
--
The movie is a bit shit really.
Those are great reads as well as Mehro's recommendations (I never got to Pasternak though). Definitely Brothers Karamazov. I very much preferred the newer translation (I forget their names, but it's the translation that's not Constance Garnett). Dostoyevsky's short works are often overlooked, but I enjoyed them very much. "Notes from the Underground" is a seminal work in existentialist fiction. Brilliant, if miserable piece. Also, while you're at it with the Cossacks, I really like the "Quiet Don" books by Sholokov, "And Quiet Flows the Don", and "The Don Flows Home to the Sea". That all segues well into reading about the history of the Russian Civil War. Spent a couple of wonderful years reading little else. Amazing.
Just finished Anne Bronte's 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'
Written in direct, yet descriptive language, and dealing with the ideas of equality, empowerment and duty, Bronte's startling and then-controversial novel is a superb critique of the neglect and selfishness of many of the era's patriarchal figures, and also serves well to deconstruct various ideas on the nature of love; including how it may be shown, what it may indicate, and whether it be fleeting or long-lasting. The novel sometimes surrenders entertainment a little to its moral subtexts and partially complete bit-characters, but in general, 'The Tenant' is an enjoyable, original and thought-provoking novel, headed by the distant and stern, yet respect-worthy Helen Graham, and goes a long way to explaining the positive re-evaluation of the novels of the youngest Bronte; in recent years.
Just a mini-summary
Written in direct, yet descriptive language, and dealing with the ideas of equality, empowerment and duty, Bronte's startling and then-controversial novel is a superb critique of the neglect and selfishness of many of the era's patriarchal figures, and also serves well to deconstruct various ideas on the nature of love; including how it may be shown, what it may indicate, and whether it be fleeting or long-lasting. The novel sometimes surrenders entertainment a little to its moral subtexts and partially complete bit-characters, but in general, 'The Tenant' is an enjoyable, original and thought-provoking novel, headed by the distant and stern, yet respect-worthy Helen Graham, and goes a long way to explaining the positive re-evaluation of the novels of the youngest Bronte; in recent years.
Just a mini-summary
Yeah i've read '..Karamazov', 'Crime and Punishment' and ' Notes from the Underground' recently and loved them all. I've read them all with the David McDuff translations and they've seemed at least as good as others i've seen. My 19th Century Russian phase is lasting longer than i thought! I think i'll have worked my way through the entire Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy catalogues before I'm ready to read anything else.
Thanks for the recommendations by the way. The Sholokov works look really interesting too.
The best translations are by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I plan to get all their works at some point.
As for Pasternak, I've tried reading some his short stories and did not enjoy them. Dr. Zhivago is far above and beyond anything else he wrote (only counting the ones I've read of his). But I simply love that book. I've read it multiple times, have worn out two copies and enjoy it more with every reading. My favorite book ever.
I'm currently reading Republic by Plato. One can only enjoy this method of seeking answers by asking the right questions for so long. I enjoyed Last days of Socrates when I read it a couple of years back but I remember it being much shorter and to the point. This one is far too detailed for my liking. Half way through the book and I'm wondering if I should have bought something else.
with Dostoyevsky the translation is amazingly important, i found the difference between the McDuff and Pevear translations to be like night and day and it completely transformed my understanding of c&p.
On another note has anyone tried any audio books? I'm tempted to give one a go but am worried it might take away some of the fun. if they are worth a listen then are there any recommendations?
On another note has anyone tried any audio books? I'm tempted to give one a go but am worried it might take away some of the fun. if they are worth a listen then are there any recommendations?
Totally agree about the translations. BTW, I have listened to a few books on tape on road trips and the like. What I really prefer though are plays (I've probably got all the BBC Shakespeare productions now). Even more than that though are lectures. If you take a look at "The Teaching Company", they offer hundreds of subjects. I'm past 500 hrs worth of lectures that I have or have listed to. Brilliant stuff on subjects all over the map. I know there are other (probably some free) sources for lectures, but this group really does pin down some fantastic lecturers. Anyway, I have a 30 minute commute each way each day, and the lectures have me really enjoying the time.
I'm having to read that for Uni at the moment. It's interesting, but it's extremely dense, and uses the recreation of the state through its various peoples, functions and moralities, to almost breaking point in Socrates' allegories, and the musings on justice and community tend to raise far more questions and confusions than they answer. It's an interesting and detailed text, but part of what probably makes it so confusing is the difference between the society depicted, and the one you and I live in now; which is quite a challenge when trying to deal with a text that essentially deals with the creation of virtue over vice, and the advocation of a dictatorship of sorts, and the promotion of the idea of a slavish dedication to one's trade, are all concepts we've since seen fail in various degrees. It's a good book thus far, but one you need to tread carefully with.
'And Quiet Flows the Don' is superb, but its sequels ramble a little, and don't quite have the same descriptive and ideological impetus, even though Sholokhov did write consistently well during his career. I just bought Goncharov's 'Oblomov', which is said to be a great portrayal of serfdom and also a superb character study. But yeah, it's all about the Russian Lit.Red_Jamie said:
Just finished "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane. Fantastic suspense book, the twist and the end really feck your mind up in a depressing way, but that is expected from a Lehane book. Recommended.
Has anyone here read "Only Forward" by Michael Marshall-Smith? I'll write a review soon but just wonder if anyone else had read it, and if so, what their thoughts were on it.
If I was to judge a book by it's cover I'd say it's pretty poor.
Well don't. The cover for the edition I read was quite nice, couldn't find it on google images though.
Some fo the books that iv'e read or re-read in recent weeks.
That i like, would recommend -
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan
Betrayal in Naples by Neil Griffiths
World Without End by Ken Follett
That i'd advise you steer clear of if you already haven't -
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Atilla, the Scourge of God by Ross Laidlaw
The Ghost and For Whom the Bell Tolls have been on my to do list for ages, but hopefully not for too much longer. Oh and the autobiography of Harry Smith but that'll will require a certain added dedication and timing.
That i like, would recommend -
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan
Betrayal in Naples by Neil Griffiths
World Without End by Ken Follett
That i'd advise you steer clear of if you already haven't -
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Atilla, the Scourge of God by Ross Laidlaw
The Ghost and For Whom the Bell Tolls have been on my to do list for ages, but hopefully not for too much longer. Oh and the autobiography of Harry Smith but that'll will require a certain added dedication and timing.
Loved this. Bought it the minute it came out because I loved the prequel, but I wish I'd waited for the paperback because the hardback is huge and you need a lectern. Almost impossible to read comfortably.
I've just finished a Raymond Chandler omnibus with The Lady in the Lake/The High Window and The Little Sister. All fantastic.
'The Strain" by Guillermo Del Torro
Gripping horror, cant wait for the next one
Gripping horror, cant wait for the next one
Im reading Marching Powder at the moment
good stuff it is too
good stuff it is too
I'm nearly through 'Scar Tissue' Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) autobiography. I can't quite understand how he is still alive - or why there are any drugs left in the world as he seems to have snorted, injected, swallowed or shoved most of them into his body. Interesting stuff though! And I'm re-reading 'The Day of the Triffids' which I haven't read since I was a kid - and I'm thoroughly enjoying it once again.
Anyone here ever read anything by Daniel Easterman?
100 pages to go of 'Blood's A Rover' by James Ellroy, 3rd part of his American underworld trilogy.
The bloke is a fecking mentalist but it's a cracking read.
The bloke is a fecking mentalist but it's a cracking read.
A walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson !
It's my all time favorite book, just brilliant
A Walk in the Woods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I really enjoyed A walk in the Woods too. I don't know if he's just blessed with amazing friends or if it's his fantastic characterisation of them, but you really get to empathise brilliantly with him/them.
In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar - 7/10
Set just after the Libyan revolution, decent read, boring at times but quite well written over all.
Set just after the Libyan revolution, decent read, boring at times but quite well written over all.
Interesting. I'm just back from San Francisco and bought The Lady in the Lake for the flight out and The High Window and The Little Sister for the flight home. Now there's only one (completed) Marlowe novel I haven't read, and I don't know what to do. If I get the last one, I will be deprived of the joy of reading a (completed) Marlowe novel for the first time for all eternity. I might save it for my death bed.
Stephen Fry - The Liar
Funny. Some great one liners.
Funny. Some great one liners.
Just read Stieg Larsson's Girl Who Played With Fire; fantastic mystery novel and a great sequel to the Girl With the Dragon Tatoo. Too bad he died after just 3 books.
Bill Bryson's Notes from A Small Island is hilarious too.
Bill Bryson's Notes from A Small Island is hilarious too.
just read most of "How Soccer Explains the World" by Franklin Foer.
rubbish really with some interesting parts about Red Star Belgrade and the whole Old Firm rivalry. other than that a waste of my time.
rubbish really with some interesting parts about Red Star Belgrade and the whole Old Firm rivalry. other than that a waste of my time.
Scotsboro by Ellen Feldman. A fictionalised account of the trial of the 'Scotsboro boys', nine black young men accused of rape in 1931 in the American south. Interesting because I didn't know much about the case but deeply flawed since it echoes the trial in not giving the black victims a real voice plus there are some pure chick-lit sequences which grate. Probably best done as reportage not fiction.
Reading "SuperFreakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner right now. Was thoroughly impressed with their fresh insights in the first book "Freakonomics", so I'm looking forward to seeing what perspective they have to offer this time around.
Picked up 'A canticle for Leibowitz' after this being on my to read pile for the longest time. This is supposed to be one of the classics of the sci-fi genre. Liking what I've read so far.
Having enjoyed the TV series Dexter.
I've started reading the books by Jeff Lindsay, and if anything the books are even better, lots of dry humour that doesn't really come across in the TV series.
Excellent read.
I've started reading the books by Jeff Lindsay, and if anything the books are even better, lots of dry humour that doesn't really come across in the TV series.
Excellent read.
The 6th book in the Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy trilogy written by Eoin Colfer in DNA's enforced absence. Sadly it is a book that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike Douglas Adams.
I'm reading a classic, "The Prince" by Machiavelli. Easily one of the greatest political books ever. After that I plan to read the Federalist Papers.
I've still not started on any of these books. In fact in the last 8 months, i've only read 5 books, 2 of which have been in the last 3 weeks. So what should i dig into first? I've also got Watchmen to read as well.
Everything and More by David Foster Wallace, a popular history of the concept of infinity in matemathics. Almost makes me wish I hadn't quit my math studies. It's so beautiful and mind-boggling.
However I suspect this book is completely unreadable to non-diehard DFW fans (in fact plenty of people think he's always unreadable, but I imagine his SOP of constantly sort of discussing and doubting his own narrative through billions of footnotes and interruptions must be more annoying in popular science than fiction and essays, and heavy matemathical theory probably isn't the most fertile soil for literary brilliance). Also everything he says could be completely wrong for all I know.
However I suspect this book is completely unreadable to non-diehard DFW fans (in fact plenty of people think he's always unreadable, but I imagine his SOP of constantly sort of discussing and doubting his own narrative through billions of footnotes and interruptions must be more annoying in popular science than fiction and essays, and heavy matemathical theory probably isn't the most fertile soil for literary brilliance). Also everything he says could be completely wrong for all I know.
Finished reading 'A canticle for Leibowitz'. Absolutely fantastic and highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of science fiction.