And lastly one for the book people out there. Currently reading the Dune series. Loving it, like a game of thrones in outer space.
Just started making my way through "The Rainbow Stories" by William T. Vollmann . I suspect that'll keep me busy for a while
Iv been re-reading the Discworld novels in sequence for a couple of months. Up to Soul Music now.
Recently finished the Wheel of Time series for the first time, and have since moved on to Malazan Book of the Fallen. It's a bit hard to know what's going on in it at times but I'm enjoying it overall.
I found the first Malazan book totally up its own hole. Wasn't arsed reading on. Wheel of Time is great if you can get over a fairly sizable chunk of waffle and women in bodices.
Finishing up the Elric series now. Very enjoyable.
Gardens of the Moon has been a struggle in places alright, but it has my interest so I hope to see it through.
WoT was hard work at times too, particularly the middle part of the series, but I was glad I stuck with it as the last few books were great. I believe a TV series adaptation is in the works.
Quote from: liamish on November 21, 2018, 02:36:55 PM
Iv been re-reading the Discworld novels in sequence for a couple of months. Up to Soul Music now.
I read a book of Terry Pratchett short stories recently after not reading him for ages. It put me in mind to do this. Do you have all the books or are you kindling it?
Reading The Pornographer by John McGahern. Masterful stuff. The protagonist is such a worthless cunt.
Quote from: Thriatika on November 21, 2018, 10:42:56 PM
Quote from: liamish on November 21, 2018, 02:36:55 PM
Iv been re-reading the Discworld novels in sequence for a couple of months. Up to Soul Music now.
I read a book of Terry Pratchett short stories recently after not reading him for ages. It put me in mind to do this. Do you have all the books or are you kindling it?
I thought I had them all because I've definitely read them all over the years, but i ended up having to buy five or six to complete the set. Great books in fairness and its like a trip down memory lane both in the discworld universe and my own life since I'v been reading these since primary school.
Quote from: KingBuddha on November 21, 2018, 02:41:10 PM
Recently finished the Wheel of Time series for the first time, and have since moved on to Malazan Book of the Fallen. It's a bit hard to know what's going on in it at times but I'm enjoying it overall.
Ive been thinking about starting this again. Got to book 5 the last time. How did you find it? Wheel of Time that is. Malazan I left after 3 books..I just couldn´t connect it up though what I read had been excellent.
Recently Binge watched The Expanse TV Series, and now bogged into the books and Novella. I haven't read a complete book in best part of a decade, but they are easy to get into. Recommended for anyone into Star Trek/Babylon 5 sorta stuff
Quote from: Pedrito on November 22, 2018, 02:28:51 PM
Quote from: KingBuddha on November 21, 2018, 02:41:10 PM
Recently finished the Wheel of Time series for the first time, and have since moved on to Malazan Book of the Fallen. It's a bit hard to know what's going on in it at times but I'm enjoying it overall.
Ive been thinking about starting this again. Got to book 5 the last time. How did you find it? Wheel of Time that is. Malazan I left after 3 books..I just couldn´t connect it up though what I read had been excellent.
Overall I found it very good. It loses pace around the middle of the series, books 7-10 are a real slog at times, but the finishing books are all very strong and more than make up for it.
I've been reading a collection of Herman Melville's short stories, initially because I wanted to read the much nodded-to Bartleby the Scrivener ("I would prefer not to."). Enjoyed that story, but more than anything else I've been enjoying bending my brain around Melville's style of multiply nested clauses and subclauses; using - to avoid repetition, where possible - whatever punctuation he can get away with. Alike Moby Dick, some parts really just are a tour-de-force of extreme syntactic manipulation, impressive in its own right in the same way as fret-wanking, but once you get used to it and fall into step with him, you start to appreciate the incredibly fine things he does with it in terms of tempo, tension and relief, and emotion.
Finished "junky" which was brilliant yet a bit grim
Now on "last exit to Brooklyn" and I have "post office" by Bukowski waiting....and then there's Naked lunch, followed by American psycho
I'm a really slow reader which is infuriating!!!
Quote from: Zomboidgirl on November 23, 2018, 05:46:12 PM
and then there's Naked lunch, followed by American psycho
If ever there was a book to make American Psycho seem tame by comparison, it's Naked Lunch!
Really? Cool!
Very excited about getting to read these books, it's just trying to find the time as I normally crochet most evenings
I read the first Malazan book years ago. It felt like I had missed the first two. I had no da what was going on.
Nearly finished the wheel of time after a failed attempt from a while back. He can waffle on and on and on and on
Sooo..ehh..it's all fantasy books in this thread then yeah?
Quote from: Pentagrimes on November 28, 2018, 09:49:48 AM
Sooo..ehh..it's all fantasy books in this thread then yeah?
lol. It does seem to be a common theme. I read a lot of Sci-Fi too and occasionally horror. The last book I read before starting to reread all of the discworld novels was Ursula K Le Guin - the unreal and the real. Great collection of short stories ranging from sort of retro sci-fi to fantasy, sometimes combining both genres.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on November 28, 2018, 09:49:48 AM
Sooo..ehh..it's all fantasy books in this thread then yeah?
Several posts about non-fantasy/sci-fi you could reply to, but it's true it might be an idea to split this into two threads, as was the case previously.
Just popped into Chapters and picked up six William Trevor novels for thirty quid. I'm a recent convert to his work and am really taken with his style.
Picked up Blood and Fears by Kevin Wilson the other day, about the Eighth Air Force's campaign against Germany. Excellent book, but grim.
Read Paul Merson and Ger Loughnanes biographies over the Christmas. Merson was some lad, how he's still standing is a mystery. Half way through Moll Flanders now, it makes description of the mundane an art form.
I've exams in a month so reading for pleasure is to be replaced with tedious shit for a while. Nice one.
im on a short story binge these days.
read clive barkers books of blood. some really good stuff in it. was really disappointed with the forbidden tale which is what they based the candyman movie on. the movie is so much better than the short story.
stephen kings nightmares and dreamscapes. cant really go wrong with kings short stories. the moving finger and sneakers are great.
richard chizmars a long december. i would urge anyone out there to get this book. so many good shorts in this one and it ends with a brilliant novella.
also read the chalk-man by c.j tudor. its her first book and i was pleasantly surprised with this one. unreal ending.
I've been juggling three books lately and because I really want to fulfill my lifelong dream of joining Fossett's this year, I've thrown an extra book into the mix this afternoon. Getting stuck into George Monbiot's How Did We Get Into This Mess and am immediately enthralled. He is questioning how and why we have allowed our freedoms to be eroded away in recent times through the insidious spread of neoliberalism and the correlation between wealth and dissatisfaction, depression, isolation etc. The chapter I just finished explained ASBOs and IPNAs, which basically permit the criminalisation and locking up of (young and/or poor) people without their having committed any actual crime. Fascinating and blood- boiling reading.
I only know Monbiot from his semi-regular Guardian pieces. He seems to sing from more or less the same hymn book as me, but I'm not sure if I'd get more out of a whole book on the topic than is contained in, for example, Adam Curtis' documentary series... which are all the more chilling for the actual footage and soundbites they contain.
I read Feral a few years ago and it was mostly fascinating (and inspirational for Malthusian lyrics) but did become somewhat repetitive due to its limited nature. This one seems a bit more snappy and has a much wider scope. The chapters are short and to the point so it's proving to be a page turner.
Finished up Thus Spoke Zarathustra this morning. Hard to put into words how significant it is. An incredible achievement although I will say that I have been watching hours of videos and lectures online to really unlock its messages. Entirely understandable how it was misunderstood and twisted due to the, often, shrouded meaning contained within the book, but I found the core messages of self overcoming and the love of life to almost deserve the approach that he took. The struggle to understand and take meaning from the book, combined with the beauty of the writing, results in your almost experiencing, through the process of reading, the message that is contained within i.e. through struggle and hard work we become a greater version of ourselves. Highly recommended and my advice would be to read it slowly, research a lot online and definitely read the introduction to the book which is extremely revealing.
It should be compulsory reading to any 19 year old, and serves as a great reminder against our willingless to give away our freedom, lose our individuality to the mob, ideologies, religions, mass movements etc.
A beautiful excerpt from the book itself: https://gnosticteachings.org/scriptures/western/3212-nietzsche-on-the-way-of-the-creator.html
Also reading Pale Fire by Nabokov and rereading LOTR..both an absolute pleasure.
Finished 'Metro 2033' recently, a post-apocalyptic novel set in the Moscow Metro (the world's largest bomb shelter) following a devastating nuclear conflict. Really liked it, very well written/translated. Quite 'mystical' in places, about the world that has been destroyed and the likely fate of humanity, not 'simply' a science-fiction novel. Part-way through the follow-up 'Metro 2034' now. Anyone else read this series?
Ya, I read the 3 books. First 2 are very good. The last one got a bit weird and wasn't overly impressed with the ending.
Just starting into 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections', Carl Gustav Jung's biography/autobiography.
ive been reading loads into early christianity and found this fantasy novel called to reign in hell by steven brust. its about the war in heaven, i only started it last night but was up into the early hours reading it.
does anyone know any other good books based on the subject or even just cool ones based around christianity that arent overly preachy?
has anyone actually read any of the bibles?
ive been thinking about picking up the book of revelations.
i went for a trip to bruges recently and something about the place sparked an interest in this.
the subject matter is pretty fuckin cool i must say!
That´s pretty cool in fairnes..I´ve been wanting to read it myself for quite a while now, if only for the language used in it, the sayings etc that we encounter everyday. My understanding is that Moby Dick has a massive subtext or hidden meaning around the opening line of the book ` Call me Ishmael´
I still don´t really get what it was referring to..need to do some homework, but it´s what springs to mind. Narnia and Tolkien supposedly had Catholic backgrounds to them, tough I don´t think LOTR is explicitly referencing Christianity. Narnia, on the other hand, is, as far as I can remember...correct me if I am wrong someone
id be more looking for stuff that deals directly with angels and saints and stuff as opposed to lotr or narnia and stuff like that.
i do know that narnia and lotr are based on christianity, especially narnia so you would be correct there!
saying that i cant stand j.r.r tolkiens stuff. too wordy for my liking.
Paradise Lost might hit the spot? Dante's Inferno is also very cool but might not be exactly what you're looking for...
ya i read paradise lost and it was o.k. kinda hard to follow the language and same goes for dantes inferno.
Id love to see Stephen King tackle the subject.
The Preacher graphic novels are all about a war in Heaven no? God has abdicated his post, pure class. Kinda gave up on the series but the books are great
Quote from: blessed1 on January 31, 2019, 11:37:38 AM
ive been reading loads into early christianity and found this fantasy novel called to reign in hell by steven brust. its about the war in heaven, i only started it last night but was up into the early hours reading it.
does anyone know any other good books based on the subject or even just cool ones based around christianity that arent overly preachy?
has anyone actually read any of the bibles?
ive been thinking about picking up the book of revelations.
I've read the bible a few times... result of a thoroughly misspent youth. But I mean, any metaller should read Revelations, no doubt about that. And is it the result of John munching on hallucinogenic plantlife? Quite possibly.
There's a lad called Frank Peretti, a christian, who wrote two novels I read as a teenager, This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. They are absolute pulp fiction, but it's all demons, angels, possessions, exorcisms, etc., just written from a full-on American style born-again christian point of view. You'd fly through them, and you'll probably find them for about a penny each second-hand online.
Otherwise, not about the war in heaven at all, but if you've never read In The Name of the Rose, do so.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 31, 2019, 05:08:57 PM
Quote from: blessed1 on January 31, 2019, 11:37:38 AM
ive been reading loads into early christianity and found this fantasy novel called to reign in hell by steven brust. its about the war in heaven, i only started it last night but was up into the early hours reading it.
does anyone know any other good books based on the subject or even just cool ones based around christianity that arent overly preachy?
has anyone actually read any of the bibles?
ive been thinking about picking up the book of revelations.
I've read the bible a few times... result of a thoroughly misspent youth. But I mean, any metaller should read Revelations, no doubt about that. And is it the result of John munching on hallucinogenic plantlife? Quite possibly.
There's a lad called Frank Peretti, a christian, who wrote two novels I read as a teenager, This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. They are absolute pulp fiction, but it's all demons, angels, possessions, exorcisms, etc., just written from a full-on American style born-again christian point of view. You'd fly through them, and you'll probably find them for about a penny each second-hand online.
Otherwise, not about the war in heaven at all, but if you've never read In The Name of the Rose, do so.
thanks i will check them out.
i never knew in the name of the rose was a book.
i loved the film though so ill definitely pick it up.
cheers!
I read mossy of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco a couple of years ago. Amazing first chapter followed by hundreds of pages of fucking drivel. I'm reluctant to go near Name of the Rose...
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 31, 2019, 06:50:35 PM
I read mossy of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco a couple of years ago. Amazing first chapter followed by hundreds of pages of fucking drivel. I'm reluctant to go near In the Name of the Rose...
I've tried to get into Foucault's Pendulum a couple of times, couldn't keep interest past the third chapter or so. The opening is brilliant though. In the Name of the Rose is a much better read.
Quote from: blessed1 on January 31, 2019, 11:37:38 AM
ive been reading loads into early christianity and found this fantasy novel called to reign in hell by steven brust. its about the war in heaven, i only started it last night but was up into the early hours reading it.
does anyone know any other good books based on the subject or even just cool ones based around christianity that arent overly preachy?
Dunno if it is the kind of thing you are after, but Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a good read about the early Christian times.
Dead Mountain is a great read based on the Dyatlov pass incident, well worth the read contains great photos the hikers took also a one of the best theories of what might have happened. Trailer below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCOTZTdUEAw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCOTZTdUEAw)
In work lately I've been blasting through a lot of Infinite Monkey Cage and In Our Time. Today I had the notion to see if any Charles Dickens audiobooks were on YouTube and indeed, there's weeks of listening there. I fired on Great Expectations and got through around three hours of it today. It's fantastic. Brilliant, vivid writing and tremendous characters with zippy and immediately engaging story telling.
My only prior contact with Dickens is A Christmas Carol (its various tv iterations) and, back in the mists of time when I was in school, Hard Times. I imagine, like me, most people link Dickens with struggling through new and, as a mostly bored teenager, complex language, expending far too much time and energy trying to just follow the story and disentangle meaning from a whirlwind of unfamiliar vocabulary, so it's a real surprise to engage with the material from an adult perspective. Its a whole new experience. I foresee a splurge on his entire catalogue in the coming months.
I remember Hard Times only too well from my junior cert days. The experience of taking into the book in that fashion put me off Dickens ever since
Defo give Great Expectations a shot. Fire it on YouTube and you'll get totally absorbed. It's great.
Obviously, as someone in my late thirties, can't comment on how the curriculum is run these days, but the leaving cert (or perhaps the Irish education system in general) is very much guilty of sapping the enjoyment out of reading many classic novels back in the day. Rather than absorb a book as a whole, individual chapters were dissected piece by piece for abstract themes and concepts, depriving the reader of any enjoyment and turning the whole experience into a slog. I hope this has been somewhat rectified as I can't imagine how off-putting such an approach would be for today's students, given their limited attention spans.
Its such a tricky thing teaching these books in school. Essentially, we should all be reading them in Summer before coming back to school, and then dissecting them throughout the year. The way it was done when I was a lad, combined with my complete apathy towrads education in general at the time, meant that so much great stuff was just swept aside or under theh carpet. That said, I fell in love with JD Salinger, John Steinbeck, the war poets and many of the Irish poets like Yeats and Clarke as a result. I loved reading the Aeneid and the Odyssey, possibly because the teacher was so into it also. It could have been done so much better though, and or, I could have been a far more diligent student. It just couldn´t compete with Slayer, shifting, smoking, wanking, football, guitar, constant boners and about a thousand other things though. Hard Times indeed..
Maybe the choice of books too. I remember digging Hamlet but hating Emma, for example. Or in Irish, An Béal Bocht was great fun, even in class, whereas Peig is horrific on every level (never read it all though, since it was a year gone when I did my Leaving).
The idea of teaching critical or reflective reading, or whatever, is fundamentally important. The classics were written layered, and even if what you get out of something is your own invention, that practice in analogical thinking is central to higher social cognition. I think on the whole, back in our day anyway, they could have made more of an effort to choose books of a wider and more entertaining appeal.
yep completely agree. I think there´s also a lack of connection between the subjects too. If I study Shakespeare for example, then I should have been learning about that timeframe in history class and if it is not immediately obvious to me, as a teenager, then it would be really good if it was pointed out to me. I remember reading Othello in Junior Cert thinking, what the fuck is a Moor, and the whole lack of context around that whole idea meant so much meaning was lost..as if it wasn´t already impossible to read in the first place.
There is a lack of cross-curricular thinking, though at times it can happen. It would make for such a far more effective learning experience if there was far more connection going on across the curriculum. You read Steinbeck and in history class you are doing The Great Depression and studying that from an economic perspective in your business studies class or whatever.
Quote from: Pedrito on February 28, 2019, 02:41:45 PM
yep completely agree. I think there´s also a lack of connection between the subjects too. If I study Shakespeare for example, then I should have been learning about that timeframe in history class and if it is not immediately obvious to me, as a teenager, then it would be really good if it was pointed out to me. I remember reading Othello in Junior Cert thinking, what the fuck is a Moor, and the whole lack of context around that whole idea meant so much meaning was lost..as if it wasn´t already impossible to read in the first place.
Good point. Not so long ago, I read Asimov's critique of Hamlet and it began with a historical contextualization, both that of the putative real world links for the story itself and, of course, Shakespeare's Britain in relation to Scandinavia. It blew the whole thing wide open for me again, finally having what were intentionally obvious nods and winks to the contemporary audience pointed out to me.
Valid points about tying different subjects together but I think there is a basic vocabulary issue that will always be a hindrance to twelve to fifteen year olds. I just know, from listening to this, that I'd have had to look up so many new words that it would be an almost insurmountable task that would suck the energy out of the story, as was the case in my recollection. But that's all irrelevant now (to us old farts at least). The point I was making was that reading it now, as an adult who has read a thousand books since, expanded my vocabulary and understanding of the world so much, that you can take it for what it is. An excellent and entertaining piece of literature.
The mind of a twelve year old, or a fifteen year old for that matter, is a blunt enough instrument that hasn't the capacity to process much nuance. It's only thinking back on it now that I can really appreciate how small my world and my understanding of it really was.
Oh no doubt. I think I'll be following you down the Dickens road quite soon. I'm trying to read as many classics as possible and I have yet to be dissapointed so really looking forward to that.
If you want to avoid disappointment maybe give Don Quixote a wide berth. Shocking stuff...
Currently reading it in Spanish and really enjoying it :laugh:
Fair play. It's one that just didn't click with me at all.
I'm.only quarter way in, could easily turn to shite :) I live literally down the street from where Cervantes lived, the whole town is dedicated to him, so I had to read it. I think so many factors would make it far more 'readable' for me..the language, the social context, how his character and that of Sancho reflect those of ppl I know..kinda stereotypical stuff, but all relevant.
A book, I read in English that I really didn't like was '100 years of Solitude'. Went back and read it in Spanish years later, and it almost changed the way I look at the world. Not saying it's a language thing necessarily, but I find the more immersed I am in something, the greater the impact.
This leads back to, actually something you talkdd about on the old forum, mystique, presentation etc etc, when it comes to music, and I was probably in one of my 'fuck everyone' moods when I said it didn't mean anything. It does, it actually means a whole lot, as important, if not more important, than the music. It cannot replace the music, would have been my argument. How to create it in a modern age is another question.
I started Don Quixote in English years ago, gave up about 100 pages in. It's something I wouldn't mind giving another go in Spanish but I've barely used any since the leaving cert, might need a few catch up lessons first!
For some reason I am very behind on Irish literature and plays such as Joyce or Synge. I love Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Austin Clarke and of course studied plenty of stuff in school. Any recommendations..i.e. things that really have to be read, essentials.
Quote from: Pedrito on February 28, 2019, 09:21:23 PM
Oh no doubt. I think I'll be following you down the Dickens road quite soon. I'm trying to read as many classics as possible and I have yet to be dissapointed so really looking forward to that.
I've been trying to read more classics myself in recent times. 'Crime and Punishment' by Dostoyevsky really knocked me for six. I thought it'd be a chore to read but I loved it.
For breezier reading, 'The Mars Room' by Rachel Kushner is funny/fucked up fiction, set inside a women's prison and "Bobby Fischer Goes to War", the methodically researched story of one of the most legendary chess matches of all time. I'm not the biggest the chess fan of all time but it's worth reading for the stories about Fisher - the Axl Rose of the chess board.
Some recommendations>
oIn terms of Classics, in case people are looking for stuff to read, I couldn't recommend Mark Twain highly enough. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are two fantastic books..he was an amazing writer. For some reason I haven't read more by him...I need to rectify that.
Another writer I was absolutely obsessed with was Steinbeck. East of Eden blew me away and it would be a hard choice for me to decide between it and Sweet Thursday or Cannery Row, both of which I absolutely adore and have read numerous times. Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday are shorter books, but there is fantastic humour and real life in them. I think they're his Huck Finn's to be honest, and they have many parallels with Twain at his greatest. Tortilla Flat another very good one and it's interesting to read Steinbeck's reaction to the reaction it received upon it's success> https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/apr/18/john-steinbecks-tortilla-flat-is-not-for-literary-slummers A very human man and writer..one of the greats.
Jack Kerouac The Road is another marvellous book. The last page is one of the most beautiful things I think I have ever read. Be warned, you'll want to walk out of your office, sell your car and walk across America if you read it though. I also read Big Sur and that is an amazing account of his alcoholism and his struggles with, I suppose, addiction, all set against the backdrop of Big Sur in California, an, at once, truly beautiful yet utterly wild part of California that is exposed to all the elements of the Ocean..storms etc etc..in effect mirroring this internal war and conflict he is going through with alcohol followed by moments of serenity and peace..cool book.
Philip Roth> American Pastoral, The Human Stain..just wow. Serious subjects, amazing writing..a bloody genius. Porrtnoy's Complaint, whilst also unputdownable, is gas. All about being a degenerate little fuker, all the wanking he does, his complete obsession with the female of the species...I found myself dying laughing at times at some of the shit he was writing. It should be compulsory reading for all young women to understand the absolutely filthy minds that young lads have. It's harmless stuff but a real insight into male thinking and impulses and just all the wank marathons that we engage in even if we completely deny it and pretend it doesn't happen.
Paul Auster> I have read a few of his books and they never disappoint. The best was Moon Palace though. One of those truly America novels where things start out in that hazy American dreamy nostalgic way and then take a very interesting turn into, I suppose, magic realism. It's like Roth meets Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Can't recommend this book highly enough.
Vladimir Nabokov> Lolita: Just a beautiful, beautiful, disturbing, beautiful book. A must read.
Cormac McCarthy: The Road is an incredible read. Blood Meridian very disturbing, dark and as with a lot of McCarthy, you're never quite sure if you really like the book until you start to reflect on it. It leaves a kid of imprint on you that lasts for a very long time. One of those where you look at the bookshelf and pause every time you see the name.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez<: 100 Years of Solitude is truly life changing. Another amazing book is Love in the time of Cholera..an absolutely beautiful book. I also found Chronicle of a death Foretold really great. A similar writer is the Mexican Juan Rulfo who wrote Pedro Paramo..another gem of Magical realism. Loved it. Laura Esquival's Like Water for Chocolate a part of the same tradition..a very enjoyable book. Another book in this tradition is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and while it was a nice read, I would tend far more towards the likes of Love in the Time of Cholera, which seems to work on so many levels, and really is a highly pleasant attack on the senses.
Haruki Murakami: I´ve read quite a few of his books. Tokyo Blues/Norwegian Wood is one of the saddest fucken things I´ve ever read but also really, really beautiful. Up there with teh Catcher in the Rye as one of the great coming of age stories. Another very odd, but very good read is A Wild Sheep Chase..Murakami is like coffee, just very addictive. He occupies his own space in the world. Another fantastic Japanese writer is Yukio Mishima, who was a very different type of man to Murakami(body builder, martial artist, a desire to return to traditional Japanese Samurai culture etc etc..intense Mofo) but his writing is just as incredible. I am finished The Sailor who fell from Grace and it is just sumptuous writing.
There are tonnes more of writers out there but fuck it if you are looking for somthing to read, all of the above are well worth your time. Apologies for not using more adjectives other than beautiful or great btw.
Currently fighting through Murray Bookchin's Ecology of Freedom. It is decent enough but I read a lot of this type of stuff at university and I'd forgotten the level of concentration you need to get through dense academic writing.
I got that goliath Atlas of the Irish Revolution as a birthday present as well. The detail is unreal but I don't see myself finishing it this side of 2020 as it runs to nearly 1000 pages.
I picked up How to Lose a Country by Ece Temekuran and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari today. Getting stuck into How to Lose a Country at the minute and it is a depiction of the slow creeping nature of populist culture. Interesting so far.
Reading The Plague by Albert Camus, quite interesting. I kind of love those kind of books where they trundle along whilst the noose tightens all the time.
Quote from: Don Gately on April 04, 2019, 05:22:11 PM
Reading The Plague by Albert Camus, quite interesting. I kind of love those kind of books where they trundle along whilst the noose tightens all the time.
Never read any Camus, I'm a sucker for French 20th century philosophers like Foucault and Baudrillard so I've no idea why I've never got around to it.
Just finished the NOFX biography which is very, very dark in places. I've not read The Dirt but I can't see how this is less open and honest than this. Highly recommended.
Started JG Ballard's The Drowned World yesterday and its gripping. It is dystopian but quite refreshing in that it isn't the fault of humanity for once. Fast becoming one of my favourite authors.
Quote from: Don Gately on April 04, 2019, 05:22:11 PM
Reading The Plague by Albert Camus, quite interesting. I kind of love those kind of books where they trundle along whilst the noose tightens all the time.
Great book. Will be interesting to see what you make of that tightening noose analogy by the end of it (no spoilers in the Books thread though!). Camus is a great writer alright, though nothing much in common with Foucault and Baudrillard. Speaking of French authors, I picked up the first two Paths to Freedom novels by Sartre, which I'm looking forward to getting stuck into in about 10 years time.
i just finished the uncut version of stephen kings the stand. dont know why i put of reading it for so long, its brilliant.
Anyone read The Ritual by Adam Nevill? Reading it at the moment and had a hint that the author might be into metal due to the two halves of the book being titled Beneath the remains and South of heaven, but wasn't expecting the direct references to black metal, corpse paint and bands like Gorgoroth.
Good survival horror, there's a movie on Netflix added recently enough but haven't watched it yet.
Quote from: Melmoth on April 26, 2019, 09:21:12 PM
Anyone read The Ritual by Adam Nevill? Reading it at the moment and had a hint that the author might be into metal due to the two halves of the book being titled Beneath the remains and South of heaven, but wasn't expecting the direct references to black metal, corpse paint and bands like Gorgoroth.
Good survival horror, there's a movie on Netflix added recently enough but haven't watched it yet.
Ya I've read this it's pretty decent although the second half of the book doesn't really stand up against the first half..the film is fairly shit.
Quote from: Pedrito on March 13, 2019, 10:40:27 AM
Philip Roth> American Pastoral, The Human Stain..just wow. Serious subjects, amazing writing..a bloody genius. Porrtnoy's Complaint, whilst also unputdownable, is gas. All about being a degenerate little fuker, all the wanking he does, his complete obsession with the female of the species...I found myself dying laughing at times at some of the shit he was writing. It should be compulsory reading for all young women to understand the absolutely filthy minds that young lads have. It's harmless stuff but a real insight into male thinking and impulses and just all the wank marathons that we engage in even if we completely deny it and pretend it doesn't happen.
Paul Auster> I have read a few of his books and they never disappoint. The best was Moon Palace though. One of those truly America novels where things start out in that hazy American dreamy nostalgic way and then take a very interesting turn into, I suppose, magic realism. It's like Roth meets Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Can't recommend this book highly enough.
I'll second those two if you're looking for authors of great American novels post 1960 onward.
Roth's Zuckerman trilogy is worth exploring as well as the works mentioned above.
Auster's New York Trilogy is a great (and zippy) read. I would also recommend "The Music Of Chance" and "The Brooklyn Follies".
I'd also add John Irving's "The World According To Garp".
Just finished reading Scott Saul's "Becoming Richard Pryor" which spans the comedian's family history, through his childhood and onward. It's dark, in some parts bleak but you can see where Pryor got his legendary routines from.
Currently reading "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller. This is my 5th attempt at reading it and by far my most successful. I'm enjoying it far more than when I have tried in the past.
.
Yeah, I read Catch-22 in my teens and remember it being a bit of a slog in places, probably because I wasn't expecting it to essentially have no story-line. I bought myself a copy a few years ago with the intention of going through it again with an adult eye, but haven't taken the time yet.
Though I've still never read The World According to Garp! Or A Confederacy of Dunces, which that title just made me think of. Two classics, going by any accounts I've hear.
I can definitely identify. I first tried reading "Catch-22" in my late teens and found it impossible. Tried again in my twenties a few times. Now that I'm fast approaching 40 I seem to have found some route into the book and I'm enjoying it. That said, it has taken me roughly a week to read 150 pages!
"The World According to Garp" was very enjoyable. They made a film starring Robin Williams and John Lithgow - from what I remember. "The Hotel New Hampshire" also by John Irving is worth a look too.
I have yet to read "A Confederacy Of Dunces" - I glanced through it a few times but it seems even more dense than "Catch-22".
Just finished LOTR for the second time after around 20 years of starting and not finishing. Ah what a great bloody read. Needs to be read in 30-40 page chunks otherwise you lose interest/your way. Needs to be delved into and stuck with. Loved the ending that doesn't appear in the films. A wonderful and very different feel that, again, wasn't captured in the film. He must have been drinking mushy tea or something. Fekin legend. Had read the Hobbit before that and going to order the Silmarillion online to complete the collection here in Madrid. Have multiple copies of sll 3 books back in Ireland but fuck it, another copy always offers something new.
Something that struck me, was that in the parts of the book where Frodo is weak and fucked, the book got very descriptive and laborious. It struck me that this is some sort of literary tool that I noticed in Moby Dick too. Can anyone confirm this? I never studied literature. Similar to the GOT battle scenes where you're almost sick of seeing lads being killed, it seems to create a kind of density/claustraphobia for the reader or watcher. Essentially, the book gets purposely 'heavy' almost boring to bring about a reaction in the reader. And yet when they're legging it around the place, or drinking beers, you never have the same reaction...intrestin indeed
Aside from Tolkien, I have read a bunch of Nietzsche's books recently, with great help from Black Shepherd. I won't even try to give my thoughts or opinions on this master, other than to say we could all do with a bit of Nietzsche in our lives. I find my jaw dropping and the words 'fuck' coming from my mouth regularly as I read through him.
Anyway, that's not really the point of this post. I just read this excerpt from The Gay Science and it's all about poetry and music and rhythm...I thought some of you would enjoy it..very cool.
http://www.lexido.com/EBOOK_TEXTS/THE_GAY_SCIENCE_SECOND_BOOK_.aspx?S=84
Thanks for the link, it is a brilliant wee read.
Was following this thread in silence as I hadn't been an avid reader on the past few months and also wanted to catch up with some reading in my own language for pleasure sake, but catching up quickly now and bought "The Plague" by Camus after reading "The Outsider" (short book, brilliant theme: refusing to pretend while living in society)
Another French book I often recommend is "Journey to the end of the night." One of the most compelling books I've ever read, just don't know what the English translation did to it though as I often avoid reading latin language books in English.
Currently finishing something totally different called "Dying for Ideas - the dangerous lives of the philosophers" by Costica Bradatan, a book on philosophy taken to the flesh and not lived only on paper. Totally recommend this one!
Notes taken on "How to lose a country", sounds interesting.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on April 30, 2019, 11:13:57 AM
Yeah, I read Catch-22 in my teens and remember it being a bit of a slog in places, probably because I wasn't expecting it to essentially have no story-line. I bought myself a copy a few years ago with the intention of going through it again with an adult eye, but haven't taken the time yet.
Same as myself, read or should I say, tried to read this in my late teens and found it to be an absolute chore. Although I'd imagine my attention span has decreased since if anything, so maybe not.
Quote from: O Drighes on May 05, 2019, 11:32:36 AM
Thanks for the link, it is a brilliant wee read.
Was following this thread in silence as I hadn't been an avid reader on the past few months and also wanted to catch up with some reading in my own language for pleasure sake, but catching up quickly now and bought "The Plague" by Camus after reading "The Outsider" (short book, brilliant theme: refusing to pretend while living in society)
Another French book I often recommend is "Journey to the end of the night." One of the most compelling books I've ever read, just don't know what the English translation did to it though as I often avoid reading latin language books in English.
Currently finishing something totally different called "Dying for Ideas - the dangerous lives of the philosophers" by Costica Bradatan, a book on philosophy taken to the flesh and not lived only on paper. Totally recommend this one!
Notes taken on "How to lose a country", sounds interesting.
Became obsessed with Gabriel García Marquez from reading him in Spanish. The English versions left me cold. That said, I've read ither translated authors and loved them. That Journey book sounds v interesting, will check it out. This Camus guy getting repeated mentions here too. Sounds like I need to investigate
Just came across this book website today - https://thebookshop.ie/ - based in Tipperary. Secondhand and rarities.
It's a bit hit and miss (like any used bookshop, I guess) but there's a lot of good stuff on there (and a lot of tat). The average price of a book is about €2 (not including the rare books obviously). Camus' "The Outsider" is there for two quid for instance, as is Bukowski's "Post Office".
I got ten books including two new(ish) releases for €21 which included the shipping because the order was over €20.
I'll follow up when I receive the books as to their condition etc.
Just a quick follow up on my last post about that book website.
Can't really fault this place - ordered late Tuesday afternoon. The books arrived this morning via GLS couriers, all in very good condition - some of them as good as new.
has anyone head of Kealen Patrick Burke?
Hes an Irish author and he writes some deadly twilight zone type horror stories.
I read 3 of this books so far and they are all really good.
Most of them are quite short (70 to 80 pages).
Check out Sour Candy. Unreal story.
Clearly there are some avid readers here, to any of whom I would wholeheartedly recommend Jerusalem by Alan Moore. It's an absolute stunner. If you enjoyed his From Hell graphic novel or Joyce's Ulysses it's well worth the commitment. It is longer than the Bible (old and new testicles) and counts as one of the ten longest books in English. It is worth the effort. Where Joyce has Dublin almost as a main character, Moore has his home town of Northampton featured intimately. Seriously, I feel like I could give a walking tour of the place and I've never been. One tip though if you do decide to bite the bullet and read it, get the 3 volume slipcase edition, as the one vol Ed is a monster to lug around.
I really like Alan Moore and find him an interesting character. I've no interest in graphic novels but I'd be very curious to read this.
Jerusalem is a proper novel, a very lengthy one! I have no interest in Batman or Superman either but From Hell is full of actual literary merit. If you have never read it, go get it now. It's a (Fictionalised) account of the Jack the ripper murder with amazing, stark black and white art. Jerusalem continues some of it's themes, like eternalism, and the plight of the poor / working class. Jerusalem expands on this, to include musings on Cromwell and the civil war, the history of money and finance, art and inspiration, madness and psycho-geography. Amazing.
Jerusalem sounds like the one for me.
Byron from Bal Sagoth has written a sword and sorcery style book based on Caylen-Tor, a recurring character from the bands lyrics. Sounds like it could be good read.
https://dmrbooks.com/the-chronicles-of-caylentor
Quote from: Weltenfeind on May 23, 2019, 05:07:38 PM
Byron from Bal Sagoth has written a sword and sorcery style book based on Caylen-Tor, a recurring character from the bands lyrics. Sounds like it could be good read.
https://dmrbooks.com/the-chronicles-of-caylentor
i just saw that pop up on the dmr page on facebook. must check it out.
that lad needs to sort it out and get bal-sagoth back together. his spoken vocals and lyrics are fuckin class!
Picked up Machines Like Me, the new Ian McEwan, today. I had no idea he had a new one out so it was a very pleasant surprise. Nutshell was such a fantastic read and this one is shaping up nicely too. I felt he went a little off the boil prior to Nutshell with Solar and Sweet Tooth being merely good, and The Children Act being merely very good (which is not really good enough by his standards) but it feels like he has tapped into some new wellspring of creativity.
That was a winner. Very enjoyable and pertinent in many ways as a mirror to our times. Lots of messy questions posed and no simple answers given. McEwan at his finest, basically.
I picked up Lanny by Max Porter. I know nothing about it or its author, I simply couldn't resist the cover. This can be a hit or miss approach to book buying. You miss and you end up with a pretty sleeve wrapping up a literature turd on your shelf- not too bad, you hit and you discover a new writer and a whole new world to dive into- a massive win! On balance it's a winning formula.
Edit: 36 pages in and it's already a hands down winner. This guy knows how to write! There are wonderful characters beginning to emerge and a poetic thread running throughout. It is kaleidoscopic in style without being a disjointed mess, quite the opposite in fact, all elements so far appear woven into a larger tapestry. Instantly hooked.
Finally finished "Catch-22". It was a long, long slog. Enjoyable for the most part but a slog nonetheless. Trying to remember each character and their eccentricities was a bit difficult. I certainly gets the number one spot for a piece of fiction that has taken me the longest time to read - giving up on Ulysses twice so far notwithstanding.
I haven't read much fiction since I was in my early twenties. Everything I read tends to be factual or biography now. I've read dense history books in half the time it took to read "Catch-22" , maybe my brain isn't wired for novels any more.
Currently reading and enjoying (and already halfway done with) Duff McKagan's first book "It's So Easy" - a brain sorbet if you will.
I'd call Catch-22 not an anti-war novel but an anti-war anti-novel, so don't take your experience with it as a reflection of a changing capacity for assimilating novels in general!
Rereading The Importance of being Earnest..how great was Oscar Wilde! I've read The Portrait and Lady Windemere's Fan also..would anyone have other recommendations?
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 17, 2019, 04:13:52 PM
I'd call Catch-22 not an anti-war novel but an anti-war anti-novel, so don't take your experience with it as a reflection of a changing capacity for assimilating novels in general!
That's very true. There are certain parts of the book where I wonder was Heller intentionally messing with the form or if it was it a fluke? Things like having entire, long paragraphs with no punctuation but yet somehow grammatically correct.
Part of what too me so long was having to re-read pages because I was trying to grasp the (fairly feint) narrative.
My old man, who has read it, offered me the following advice "Read it, you'll get a sense of it. Don't over-analyse it or it'll drive you mad. Which is the basis of the novel - they're all being driven mad on that island".
Quote from: Pedrito on June 17, 2019, 04:50:04 PM
Rereading The Importance of being Earnest..how great was Oscar Wilde! I've read The Portrait and Lady Windemere's Fan also..would anyone have other recommendations?
Oscar Wilde's stuff is deadly. "Lady Windemere's Fan" is probably my favourite. "De Profoundis" is worth a read, if not a little bleak and I suppose the closest you'll get to Wilde's autobiography.
My late uncle was a Wilde fanatic. He gave me a beautiful hardback edition of his the entire Oscar Wilde bibliography for birthday sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. It still has pride of place on my shelf. My mother told me recently that he'd arrive at our house after a skinful of drink on a Friday night "I have come to read to my nephews!" and then tells us the story of the Happy Prince or the Selfish Giant whlist half demented from Guinness - "And that's your father's side of the family" - to be honest I didn't necessarily see it as a bad thing. :laugh:
His party piece was to recite "The Ballad Of Reading Gaol" from memory - if you've read that poem then you know it's a surefire way to ruin a party. Someone would usually tell him to shut the fuck up after a while.
"The Chaplain would not kneel to pray.
By his dishonored grave.
Nor mark it with that blessed Cross
That Christ for sinners gave,
Because the man was one of those
Whom Christ came down to save.....
.... And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"
Haha class, my mother's always reciting that too. I need to read some more stuff, a bit of digging needed I reckon. Earnest is just a perfect play in fairness..simply capital old fellow
The Picture of Dorian Gray is excellent, especially now in its "uncensored" version. De Profundis is an essential piece of unique human thought.
Years ago I had the pleasure of seeing possibly the best conceivable staging of The Importance of Being Earnest in the Abbey: Alan Stanford (George from Glenroe) played Oscar Wilde, who we open with in an absinthe bar in Paris during his exile. There are various other men there in the bar too and Wilde gets to telling the story of Earnest, using the assembled drinkers as his cast, with Wilde himself taking the role of Lady Bracknell in full drag (the other female parts also played in drag). Absolutely perfect... I couldn't imagine any other way of lifting that play up to another level.
Loved A Picture of Dorian Grey. Bleak, grimy, timeless and incredibly entertaining. I must give De Profundis a spin.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 09, 2019, 05:20:50 PM
Picked up Machines Like Me, the new Ian McEwan, today. I had no idea he had a new one out so it was a very pleasant surprise. Nutshell was such a fantastic read and this one is shaping up nicely too. I felt he went a little off the boil prior to Nutshell with Solar and Sweet Tooth being merely good, and The Children Act being merely very good (which is not really good enough by his standards) but it feels like he has tapped into some new wellspring of creativity.
Sniffing around for some authors I haven't read and might interest me and latched onto this , ordered Nutshell from Amazon, arrived last Friday, went to a market Sunday and picked up another four Mc Ewan so that's plenty of him on the shelves to start with. Might be a while til I get there though, currently reading Dickens' Bleak House (and listening to the new Xentrix, kinda like having a fine wine with a Big Mac).
Excellent. You're in for a treat. Enjoy 8)
Started into The Sorrows of Young Werther this morning. I've never read any Goethe before and Faust has been high on my hit list for some time so this will ease me into his world somewhat.
Has anybody read Ulysses and would you recommend it?
Quote from: Giggles on June 18, 2019, 12:09:58 PM
Has anybody read Ulysses and would you recommend it?
It's been on my bookshelf for about 4 years now. I'm going to have to wait till I knock the internet (phone, laptop, etc.) on the head again to delve properly into it.
For totally arbitrary reasons, I decided at some point to read Finnegans Wake when I was 35 and Ulysses when I was 40. I'm 38 now and still haven't read all of Finnegans Wake, although I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it I've read. I have Ulysses at home and still intend on sticking to my arbitrary plan for starting it.
And praying for death at 39?
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 18, 2019, 01:28:30 PM
And praying for death at 39?
I'm drinking whiskey and climbing ladders every day.
They can put these immortal words on your headstone- "He fully intended to read Ulysses by 40, no seriously. "
I'd prefer this: "The Battle Below Giltspur > Ulysses"
Sure Joyce didn't finish "Ulysses" until he was 40 either.
I wonder if James Joyce actually read "Ulysses" himself?
He read some of it at least!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhW0TrzWGmI
I must give that a listen.
I wonder what the Audiobook is like?
"Right, Steve. Ulysses by James Joyce, section 2, chapter 4. Take 3."
"....Omnis caro ad te veniet. No question but her name is puissant who aventried the dear corse of our Agenbuyer, Healer and Herd, our mighty mother and mother most venerable and Bernardus saith aptly that She hath an omnipotentiam deiparae supplicem, that is to wit, an almightiness of petition because she is the second Eve and she won us, saith Augustine too, whereas that other, our grandam, which we are linked up with by successive anastomosis of navelcords sold us all, seed, breed and generation, for a penny pippin....."
"Why have you stopped, Steve?"
"I don't understand a word I just said"
"No one does, Steve. Just keep going."
"Mr Mulligan however made court to the scholarly by an apt quotation from the classics which, as it dwelt upon his memory, seemed to him a sound and tasteful support of his contention: Talis ac tanta depravatio hujus seculi, O quirites, ut matresfamiliarum nostrae lascivas cujuslibet semiviri libici titillationes testibus ponderosis atque excelsis erectionibus centurionum Romanorum magnopere anteponunt, while for those of........ Fuck this!"
"Steve? Where are you going?! Steve! Shit, he's gone now too. That's 4 people this year and we still haven't gotten past chapter 4.... Would anyone notice if we released that bit?"
Halfway through that "Steve" became Steven Seagal in my head. Imagine that. "Ageing action stars read post-modern classics" Netflix might pay for it.
Steven Seagal reads "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey
Jean Claude Van-Damme reads "The Torture Garden" by Octave Mirbeau
Finished up The Importance of Being Ernest, just an incredible piece of writing/drama. Decided to give the Rupert Everett/Colin Firth film a watch and was definitely not disappointed. A little bit off topic, but if you're looking for something that you and the missus (or your ladyboy) might want to watch with a bottle of wine, it's well worth it. Captures the play perfectly.
The 1950s version is far superior imo
Sweet, will check that :abbath:
Though maybe the modern one would be more fitting for a date night :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:
Is there a porno? :laugh:
The importance of rimming Earnest
I'm juggling at the minute. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe in work, The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey as my bedtime read and I picked up Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker today, which I'm sneaking into now. I've been meaning to read his work for a while as I always find him an engaging and inspirational speaker so let's see what this offers.
The thinking man's Jordan Peterson.
With reference to Ulysses above, there is an audio version that's essentially a radio play, with different voice actors doing the different characters, may be worth checking out.
Currently reading Fire and Blood by George Martin. It's okay, not as addictive as the Song of Ice and Fire novels but will have to do until the Winds of Winter gets published. (get the finger out George!)
Currently reading Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, a murder mystery set in a monastery during the Reformation. It's alright.
Also started The Dogs Of Riga by Henning Mankell, the second Wallander book. First one was decent, so...
Finished Duff McKagan's "It's So Easy (And Other Lies)" - it was alright.
No doubt Duff used his time after GN'R wisely and got himself back on track both physically and mentally plus he made some wise investments but some chapters made me think that this book should have been called Duff McKagan - Bouncing Back - "needless to say, I had the last laugh".
Nearly finished "Nothing Is Real - The Beatles Were Underrated" by David Hepworth, a writer whose work I always enjoy reading.
Finally started reading of GOT books! Better late than never?
and also few blogs https://www.deviantart.com/bryanclifford (https://www.deviantart.com/bryanclifford)
Quote from: SansaSun on August 07, 2019, 03:12:14 PM
Finally started reading of GOT books! Better late than never?
They are excellent reading, very addictive. Just be prepared for the frustration of possibly never getting the full story in print. Martin has been dragging his heels over The Winds of Winter for a long time. A Dream of Spring is due to follow. Looking at the age and health of the author makes me think he will probably die before finishing them. Sorry, rant over, I have a complex relationship with those books :laugh:
They're amazing books..I lost a year of my life reading until 3 or 4 in the morning, they were unputdownable.
Reading Faust at home and Oliver Twist in work on my break. Faust rambles a bit and seems padded out at times but there's much to enjoy. I'm only 50 pages into Oliver Twist and I'm enjoying it.
Reading "Louder Than Hell"
It's basically a history of metal from the start with anecdotes from all the major players. Its quite American centric but its very good. Some of the stories are brilliant
https://www.amazon.com/Louder-Than-Hell-Definitive-History/dp/0061958298
Just purchased Blood Fire Death - The swedish metal story.Hope its as good as Lords of chaos.
I imagine that would be a different read to Lords of Chaos. There was no similar drama happening in Sweden, was there?
Recently blasted through Dead Man's Trousers, the recent one by Irvine Welsh. Rip roaring chaos as only he can do. I love his books and this was no exception to that rule.
I finished Oliver Twist yesterday which I enjoyed a lot. As with any Dickens, it rambles a lot, but that is just his style. It's gas when you read these old classics whose story you're semi-familiar with and you find that there is so much more going on in them than you thought.
Still slowly working through Faust as my bedtime read. Dunno. Some of it is really excellent and some of it (all the Helen of Troy stuff) is pointless, boring fluff to me. Thankfully I've finally passed out of that section and I'm back to the meaty stuff.
Just started into A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man but it's too early to comment. The two forwards were interesting :laugh:
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 04, 2019, 08:07:23 AM
I finished Oliver Twist yesterday which I enjoyed a lot. As with any Dickens, it rambles a lot, but that is just his style.
As with many other authors of the time (including greats such as Dostoevsky), rather than being only a question of style, it was also a question of format; the serialized novel. Chapters were printed and sold weekly or monthly and authors were very often paid by the word or page, making it in their interest to strike a balance between quantity and quality (in other words, shove in as much quantity as possible for the money without bringing down the quality so much that people stop following). This publishing style would also, of course, have completely changed the reading experience too though, which again makes it difficult to judge from a contemporary perspective. Perhaps, if you were to force yourself to, for example, read Crime and Punishment across a year in twelve installments, the parts which seem to drag a little (cue Father Ted references) might not seem to drag quite so much. Who knows! I ain't up for the experiment.
True that, and a good point. I don't think it takes away from the overall experience when the writing is of a high standard and the story keeps moving. It's interesting, though, to find that rather than trying to untangle unwieldy sentences as you proceed, if you allow the words to flow over or through you, and keep flying onward to the end of the sentence or paragraph, the meaning manages to seep into your brain of its own volition. That's my experience, at least.
Finished Faust. A bit up and down but some really cool parts in there.
Finished Oliver Twist. Deadly.
Finished Enlightenment Now. Pinker has an outlook that works for me.
Started into A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Only halfway throughout but it's beginning to get interesting. Let's see.
I picked up the new Salman Rushdie book today. Quichotte, based on Don Quixote. I hope it's more interesting to me than DQ was but I loved his last one, The Golden House, so high hopes.
Change of plan. I began the first page of Quichotte and it is such a pastiche of Don Quixote that I put it down, rooted out Don Quixote and have decided to attempt it again before going back to Quichotte. Third time lucky with this bad boy! If the prospect of getting even more out of a Salman Rushdie novel than I normally would cannot entice me to the end of Don Quixote, then can give up knowing that l gave it my bravest shot.
I was reading Quixote and gave up aswell even though you'd warned me :laugh:
I'm hoping that with a good reason to read it I'll be motivated to go the distance :-X
I threw in the towel on Don Quixote for a third time. Pile of shite. Started in on Quichotte which is a bit slow to start but seems to be gathering a bit of momentum now.
I finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man this morning. Some brilliant parts, some sluggish parts and riddled with so many external references from religion to politics to Latin to literature that entire sections are almost impenetrable for a dim wit like me, but there are parts that are truly inspiring and timeless.
Going to have a look at How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker now. I really like this guy's outlook and his ability to translate complicated ideas into a language I can comprehend so l expect this will be a good read.
Read John Cleese's autobiography, "So Anyway", two weeks ago - it was alright but (spoiler alert) after about 200 pages he's still in school/starting university and it finishes in 1969 just as Python takes shape with only fleeting mentions of "Fawlty Towers" etc. Unless he's planning a second volume of course...
Enjoyed Mark Kermode's latest "How Does It Feel" while I was on holiday last week. Not a film book like everything else he's written but instead an account of trying to get various bands off the ground. Entertaining.
Currently reading Neil MacGregor's "Germany: Memories Of A Nation" and it's excellent so far.
I'm about 130 pages into The Firm by John Grisham, it's tedious as fuck for a 'page turner' TBH.
Quote from: Carnage on September 26, 2019, 12:23:23 PM
I'm about 130 pages into The Firm by John Grisham, it's tedious as fuck for a 'page turner' TBH.
My old man read a load of those books in the 90s so I picked them up after him. The film versions of first three John Grisham novels are far more entertaining than the original source material. Definitely "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief" anyway.
The Firm's a decent film alright, The Pelican Brief is one of the worst I've ever seen though. I can't abide Julia Roberts so it wasn't going to be a winner TBF.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 26, 2019, 12:00:56 PM
Read John Cleese's autobiography, "So Anyway", two weeks ago - it was alright but (spoiler alert) after about 200 pages he's still in school/starting university and it finishes in 1969 just as Python takes shape with only fleeting mentions of "Fawlty Towers" etc. Unless he's planning a second volume of course...
Enjoyed Mark Kermode's latest "How Does It Feel" while I was on holiday last week. Not a film book like everything else he's written but instead an account of trying to get various bands off the ground. Entertaining.
Currently reading Neil MacGregor's "Germany: Memories Of A Nation" and it's excellent so far.
I was listening to an interview with Cleese the other day and he came across as such a fucking miserable, spiteful, unfunny cunt that I turned it off after five minutes. A total bore of a man, it seems.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 26, 2019, 12:45:30 PM
I was listening to an interview with Cleese the other day and he came across as such a fucking miserable, spiteful, unfunny cunt that I turned it off after five minutes. A total bore of a man, it seems.
The book is fairly unfunny too. For a man regarded as a comedy legend it doesn't have a single laugh out loud moment.
Graham Chapman's "A Liar's Autobiography: Part VII" is enjoyabler, even if some of it is clearly bullshit. A least it's funny.
I've been dipping in and out of Palin's diary "The Python Years 1969 - 1979" for nearly 12 months now. It's better than Cleese's book.
I haven't read Terry Gilliam nor Eric Idle's books. Or the "Python On Python" book. I'm tempted to read them especially Idle's but I might just go back and watch The Flying Circus boxset instead.
Quote from: Carnage on September 26, 2019, 12:43:12 PM
The Firm's a decent film alright, The Pelican Brief is one of the worst I've ever seen though. I can't abide Julia Roberts so it wasn't going to be a winner TBF.
I rewatched "The Firm" a few years ago, still good. Admittedly, I haven't seen "The Pelican Brief" since it was released on video but I remember it being a decent enough film.
I suppose you could pat Cleese on the back for filling in all the unpleasant silences that followed every cuntish remark he made about his ex-wives with his own forced, obnoxious laughter. I think I'll stick with the Monty Python shit.
He really comes across as a self-important, self-satisfied, smug prick alright. Palin seems the exact opposite, I've always had time for him.
Finished Dune: Messiah, the 2nd book of the 6. I shouldn't have started it straight away after Dune because it had a different tone and felt slower. All that said, once I caught the rhythm I was completely hooked. Absolutely unputdownable, I'm looking forward to receiving the follow up in the post tomorrow and keeping going.
What's interesting is that it makes the first book appear almost like a 'Genesis' biblical piece, the world maker, the saviour etc. and the 2nd book goes about pulling that apart a little and putting context on it. Really cool concept in fairness and I'm hoping further reading peels away more layers in that way.
Can't recommend the 2 books enough..do yourselves a favour.
Absolutely fascinating interview with Frank Herbert exploring so many aspects of the creation and writing of Dune. Covers aspects relating to writing styles, ecology, spiritualism, politics, and the influences from Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell that reveal themselves throughout the book.
He has some incredible insights into ideas around Charismatic leaders and ecology that still resonate today. What a mind..
https://youtu.be/1s7muoTaCpY
If you liked the second id recommend continuing the rest of the series. I found Messiah to be the slowest of them all and the ones after really bring the series into something special.
The Genesis reference is very fitting, especially with the whole messiah, chosen one, theme running through the first books. Its very interesting how Herbet runs with that idea, it takes a few unexpected turns.
Edit - in regards the video
you could write a dissertation on some of the themes running through the books. on anything from religion and manipulation of societies to environmentalism
I'm actually getting anxious waiting for third book to arrive. The first book is an amazing achievement, but after completing the second I'm intrigued to see where story develops to. What is interesting about the above interview is that he purposely leaves lots of info out so that readers begin to create and imagine i.e. take part in their own.creation of the story, which is very cool. Flies in the face of prequels and the overexplaining that modern movies, in particular, need to engage in. Absolute bloody genius of a writer.
One of my favourite instances of that is when the talk about the Butlerian Jihad. Its only ever mentioned in throw away comments so you know its a thing that happened to justify the lack of advanced technology, but your never given any specfics about it. As you say it allows the reader to create their own version of it. We probably could both write completely different versions of it based on how we've imagined it.
A lesser author would of stuck a prequel book in the middle of the series to explain the Jihad. Which is what his son has been doing, going back and filling in all the blanks with a book on the Jihad, the history of each house, how the different orders came to be, etc. The completionist in me likes the idea of an encylopedia for the whole universe but its completely unneccessary and would ruin alot of the mystic to read them.
https://soundcloud.com/death-sentence-pod/tamsyn-muir-gideon-the-ninth
There's a good bit in this podcast where they discuss that idea about less is more world building. It starts around 38.30 if your interested.
Finishing up Children of Dune. I'm absolutely addicted at this stage. Book 4 on the shelf ready to go. There's just so much to it on a sociological, religious and philosophical level. This book mentions Amor Fati multiple times and talks about The Hero, even spelling it with capitals at the start of each word to draw attention to it. I suspect Herbert was greatly influenced by Nietzsche and it's fascinating how he develops certain characters towards that, following that whole train of thought to it's conclusion. He also looks to tear down the whole cult of the charasmatic leader and the questions about how humanity should be guided/controlled..well it's very deep stuff altogether. Just class.
An example from the page I'm reading:
'It's an old, old trick of autocratic rule....Good subjects must feel guilty. The guilt begins as a feeling of failure. The good autocrat provides many opportunities for failure in the populace'.
Certainly rings a bell.
Friend of mine was clearing out a load of books and had the first two Dune novels so I nabbed them from her, let's see what all the fuss is about...
Class. The Jungian influence is actually starting to reveal itself far more now. Herbert wrote it in a way to create a journey out of the Jungian archetypes. There are odes to Nietzsche definitely but the Jung thing seems to drive the story along. It's all in that link I posted earlier in the topic. Tasty stuff.
Dune sounds promising from your descriptions. I'm not sure if I've ever read a single piece of science fiction apart from some of the classics like 1984, Brave New World and eh... eh... I can't think of anything else I've read in that genre, but I might pick up the first Dune book and see if it interests me.
Hardly read any science fiction myself, just stumbled on this. Probably overselling it now at this stage and you'll all.hate it :laugh: give the first book a go definitely
Finished The Firm, thank fuck. I won't be bothering with any more Grisham books, that's for sure.
Conclave by Robert Harris lined up next. I'm generally a fan of his, though The Fear Index was rubbish.
im re-reading the shining. still so good. probably one of his best tbh.
Big favour - do any Dublin based MetalWarfarists in this thread by any chance have a copy of Charles Portis' "True Grit" they might be willing to part with? My kid needs a copy for school and it's a pain in the arse to find locally
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 18, 2019, 02:31:35 PM
Big favour - do any Dublin based MetalWarfarists in this thread by any chance have a copy of Charles Portis' "True Grit" they might be willing to part with? My kid needs a copy for school and it's a pain in the arse to find locally
Not sure where in Dublin you are, but my library has it, Dundrum. Just checked there.
Some great online benefits with libraries these days if you're not already a member, papers magazines ebooks etc.
Any of ye read that 'A Death in the Family' by a Norwegian author called Knausgaard? Not finished yet but an incredible book! Just picked it up after a passing recommendation. The way he describes his childhood and his adult situation, mighty stuff.
First part of a trilogy. I don't have all the fancy talk of The Shephard or Pedrito to express my admiration for this writer, but if you are stuck for an engrossing book, this is the fella for you.
Trying to get my teeth into some Noam Chomsky at the moment - Optimism Over Despair, which seems to be both an interview and a collection of thoughts about the current state of the world. Also On Anarchism.
Also 1984 by Orwell. Never read it, thought I'd get round to doing so - one of those things, you hear the ideas of 1984 a lot but never get round to actually reading the book.
Read Neil MacGregor's "Germany: Memories Of A Nation". Very enjoyable. I've always had an interest in Germany as a place - the language, the people, the topography, the culture and, I suppose, the beer. We obviously all know its 20th century history to a certain degree and it's covered in this book but not covering the same ground as Ian Kershaw and Anthony Beevor have masterfully done in the past.
MacGregor (an art historian) takes an interesting approach in exploring Germany/Prussia/Holy Roman Empire all the way from Charlemagne to present day using an artifact from a period as the central focus per chapter. Make for an interesting (and superior) companion piece to James Hawes' "The Shortest History Of Germany".
Blazed through Jon Ronson's "The Psychopath Test" last weekend. I'm late to Ronson's work but I this as much as "Them" and "So You've Been Publicly Shamed".
I watched an interview with Jon Ronson yesterday. Never heard of him before but it was part of the Ways to Change the World series, which I find an interesting and eclectic series of interviews. Curious to read something by him as he seems a sensible sort of chap.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 19, 2019, 01:16:54 PM
I watched an interview with Jon Ronson yesterday. Never heard of him before but it was part of the Ways to Change the World series, which I find an interesting and eclectic series of interviews. Curious to read something by him as he seems a sensible sort of chap.
I would recommend starting with "So You've Been Publicly Shamed".
"Them" is very enjoyable but it's a little dated now - given that it was written pre-9/11 and it deals with radical extremists in a jovial "sure what'll they ever do?" fashion.
I haven't read "The Men Who Stare At Goats" or seen the film but apparently (as in most cases) the book is better.
I thought the film The Men Who Stare at Goats was dogshite so I'll give that book a miss, but So You've Been Publicly Shamed sounds good. I watched another discussion with him just now. It baffles me how anyone with a bit of cop on goes anywhere near the cess pit of self righteous spite, trolling and nonsense that is Twitter but it seems to be a magnet for people who should know better. It's a bit depressing.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 20, 2019, 10:28:46 AM
I thought the film The Men Who Stare at Goats was dogshite so I'll give that book a miss, but So You've Been Publicly Shamed sounds good. I watched another discussion with him just now. It baffles me how anyone with a bit of cop on goes anywhere near the cess pit of self righteous spite, trolling and nonsense that is Twitter but it seems to be a magnet for people who should know better. It's a bit depressing.
I'm not sure how much of Ronson's book George Clooney et al. actually used.
Yeah, I agree on the Twitter thing. I use it myself but mainly to interact with bands and stuff but it's now become a thoroughly depressing and vindictive place. "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" expands on that theme.
Ronson's an interesting character, really goes out of his way to be impartial and deal as honestly as possible with the subject matter at hand. For instance, after So You've Been Publicly Shamed (which I've only read synopses of and extracts from plus an interview) he did the podcast investigation about the pornstar who committed suicide seemingly as a result of a bout of public shaming. On the surface, everything looks as if it's going in the direction of his previous work, but as soon as he sees that this very theory is potentially being blown out of proportion to hide other sins, he gets stuck in and explores that angle. In other words, he doesn't make life easy for himself by trying to fit everything into neat pre-formed ideas. Life is fucking complex and he takes it as it comes in his investigations.
Yeah, that is the impression I get from listening to him. He seems like his intentions are honest, and that appeals to me.
About halfway through Dune at the moment. Ive only ever glanced at some of the philosophers that people here have said are influences so I'm not really getting that side of it, but really enjoying it just as a fiction novel.
Although I've a stack of philosophy books to get through so hopefully I can come back to it in a few years and have a different appreciation for it
Dune is one of those things where I feel like I'd just have to set aside a year to sit and read only that. it just sounds too epic to not dedicate my undivided reading time to, same with Foundation.
Currently grinding through a Bill Bryson book; I know he's not exactly a high-brow but christ some of it is dull. Page after page about litter or smarmy comments he never made to minimum-wage till jockeys while he dodders around southern England. I hate reading books unread so I'm sticking with it just so I can throw it straight into the first charity box I see.
Also got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf. Seems alright so far and I've not heard the same level of, or any, criticism that you hear about Lords of Chaos, although the first 100 or so pages are about everything before the Norwegian scene. It's over 500 pages and he seems to have access to quite a lot of musicians.
I love Foundation, like absolutely love it, read the trilogy a few times. But it's just not in the same scope as Dune at all at all! And yet, I've never gone beyond the first book, which I've read three times over the years. Very early on someone put it in my head that the sequels weren't as good, and I felt so attached to the universe it had put in my mind I didn't want to risk it. Do I still feel that way? I don't know, but the universe I drew out of Dune is still very much a part of me. I can't say that for Foundation, although I've read it more times.
Quote from: kiehozero on November 23, 2019, 06:35:32 PM
Dune is one of those things where I feel like I'd just have to set aside a year to sit and read only that. it just sounds too epic to not dedicate my undivided reading time to, same with Foundation.
Currently grinding through a Bill Bryson book; I know he's not exactly a high-brow but christ some of it is dull. Page after page about litter or smarmy comments he never made to minimum-wage till jockeys while he dodders around southern England. I hate reading books unread so I'm sticking with it just so I can throw it straight into the first charity box I see.
Also got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf. Seems alright so far and I've not heard the same level of, or any, criticism that you hear about Lords of Chaos, although the first 100 or so pages are about everything before the Norwegian scene. It's over 500 pages and he seems to have access to quite a lot of musicians.
I really like Evolution of the Cult. I keep it beside the couch and will often dip in at random and read over bits of it.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on November 23, 2019, 06:43:48 PM
I love Foundation, like absolutely love it, read the trilogy a few times. But it's just not in the same scope as Dune at all at all! And yet, I've never gone beyond the first book, which I've read three times over the years. Very early on someone put it in my head that the sequels weren't as good, and I felt so attached to the universe it had put in my mind I didn't want to risk it. Do I still feel that way? I don't know, but the universe I drew out of Dune is still very much a part of me. I can't say that for Foundation, although I've read it more times.
Class, I've read neither so my perception is purely from the standing people give it in conversation when they come up. Might give one of them a bash over christmas as I find any excuse to avoid family commitments.
Dune is deeper, by far, but the sense of satisfaction at the end of each is comparable. Dune veers in many different ways, which makes it Dune, but Foundation is revolatrory by the end. The first Dune is a classic. Not sure if any of the sequels are on their own.
And while we're on the subject, everyone, having read or not or interested or not in reading the book should watch this:
https://youtu.be/eoRzQuesP-4
I'm just finishing book 4 of dune. It's class but ai can understand how people might be put off
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on November 23, 2019, 09:56:04 PM
And while we're on the subject, everyone, having read or not or interested or not in reading the book should watch this:
https://youtu.be/eoRzQuesP-4
Agreed, magnificent documentary.
Quote from: kiehozero on November 23, 2019, 06:35:32 PMAlso got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf.
*sittingSorry, that's someting I just can't let go.
Lashed through Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Fantastic little novel. I had only previously read Grapes of Wrath by him many years ago and had forgotten what an incredible writer he was. Everything is pared right back to the essentials yet each character is made vivid.
Ah he's the greatest. Read Cannery Row if you get the chance. A joy to read. A small one too. School nearly killed Steinbeck for me with Of mice and Men in the junior cert but thankfully I returned to him later on and realised how great the man was.
Quote from: Carnage on November 24, 2019, 02:11:09 AM
Quote from: kiehozero on November 23, 2019, 06:35:32 PMAlso got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf.
*sitting
Sorry, that's someting I just can't let go.
I believe in the transitive form of the verb (appropriate here), this is acceptable. Someone "seated" the book there, and there it was sat.
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 12:21:10 PM
Ah he's the greatest. Read Cannery Row if you get the chance. A joy to read. A small one too. School nearly killed Steinbeck for me with Of mice and Men in the junior cert but thankfully I returned to him later on and realised how great the man was.
I'll keep an eye out for it. He has a very easy to read, engrossing style.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 04, 2019, 12:36:36 PM
Quote from: Carnage on November 24, 2019, 02:11:09 AM
Quote from: kiehozero on November 23, 2019, 06:35:32 PMAlso got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf.
*sitting
Sorry, that's someting I just can't let go.
I believe in the transitive form of the verb (appropriate here), this is acceptable. Someone "seated" the book there, and there it was sat.
It's actually very Tolkien-esque, though I'm not sure that was the original intention :laugh: :abbath:
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 12:50:33 PM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 04, 2019, 12:36:36 PM
Quote from: Carnage on November 24, 2019, 02:11:09 AM
Quote from: kiehozero on November 23, 2019, 06:35:32 PMAlso got the Dayal Patterson book on black metal out of the library, amazingly it was just sat there in Stillorgan library on the front shelf.
*sitting
Sorry, that's someting I just can't let go.
I believe in the transitive form of the verb (appropriate here), this is acceptable. Someone "seated" the book there, and there it was sat.
It's actually very Tolkien-esque, though I'm not sure that was the original intention :laugh: :abbath:
Ugh I hate "was sat/stood". Usually said in a manky accent.
Still not convinced it's grammatically correct. "There it sat/was sitting" , surely?
If it's correct, then it's correct only in the transitive form, and to be honest it's pretty clear the OP was trying to use it in the reflexive, but if we're to be grammar nazis, let's at least be didactic ones :P :abbath:
Unrelated, but is there any chance of a Varg with a knife emoji to complement the Abbath with an axe one??
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 04, 2019, 01:38:25 PM
Unrelated, but is there any chance of a Varg with a knife emoji to complement the Abbath with an axe one??
I'll second this.... :abbath:
I don't think 'seat' is used as a verb anymore, was it ever correct grammar to do so? It certainly wouldn't apply to a book, or any inanimate object, as far as I can tell, maybe I'm wrong.
Either way, as Emphyrio said, that use of 'sat'/'stood' is infuriating, sounds terrible, and is quite incorrect grammatically.
Of course it's still used a verb; every instance of "Where are you seated?" (concerts, conferences, formal dinners, etc., etc.) implies that you have been "sat" by someone.
From the OED (apparently... I found it via Google though):
Quote
The transitive verb to seat meaning "to cause to sit down" is first cited in 1623's Henry VIII. Seated meaning "sitting down" is an adjective derived from the transitive verb to seat, and whose earliest citation in English is from Scott in 1817.
The simple past and the past participle of the much older verb to sit are both simply sat, and nothing more. Its reflexive and transitive senses, respectively meaning "to seat oneself" and "to cause someone to be seated", date from time immemorial. Some relevant citations for the "I am sat" sort of sense include:
- The Middle English work Cursor Mundi has "þe folk ware satte" ["the folk were sat"].
- A 1711 citation that includes "The Court was sat".
- An 1803 citation of "Where‥Hermon and his friend were sate."
It is interesting to note that the older sate spelling includes several 19th citations, including Thackeray's Vanity Fair of 1848.
WASN'T THAT INTERESTING TO NOTE???
Been sat here all morning watching interviews with Alan Moore. Payday tomorrow. Fuck it, I'm going to pick up Jerusalem, just try and stop me, you sitting sat seated suckers of cock.
Yon tome shall be sat upon thine bookshelf, bereft of considetation, for many's the year, methinks.
That is interesting to note. I, however, shall ignore it as obsolete and superfluous use of language.
I was responding to McLove there :laugh: I know whst you're talking about, the Jamie Redknapp 'we wuz sat 'ere watching the first 'alf of the match' thing....horrible, and certainly not evoking the writings of Tolkien.
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 04:00:59 PM
'we wuz sat 'ere watching the first 'alf of the match'
That's a perfect example of it. It's rotten!
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 03:40:40 PM
Yon tome shall be sat upon thine bookshelf, bereft of considetation, for many's the year, methinks.
Have you attempted it? Stinker? I'm reticent about going near a picture book despite knowing I'd probably enjoy it (snob till death) and I'm hoping that something more literary will do it for me as I really like his ideas, as whacky as they often are.
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 04:00:59 PM
I was responding to McLove there :laugh: I know whst you're talking about, the Jamie Redknapp 'we wuz sat 'ere watching the first 'alf of the match' thing....horrible, and certainly not evoking the writings of Tolkien.
Nah, I was responding to BSC. 👍
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 04, 2019, 04:33:23 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on December 04, 2019, 03:40:40 PM
Yon tome shall be sat upon thine bookshelf, bereft of considetation, for many's the year, methinks.
Have you attempted it? Stinker? I'm reticent about going near a picture book despite knowing I'd probably enjoy it (snob till death) and I'm hoping that something more literary will do it for me as I really like his ideas, as whacky as they often are.
No, not at all, I just wanted to use the phrase 'sat upon the bookshelf' in a highfalutin, wankery, limp wristed way :abbath:
Moore is a one in a billion, it's a massive book, which is the only good reason I have for not reading it.
Yeah I think he's a cool dude. I'm not exactly on board with his ideas but I still love his ideas! He's a gas hoor.
The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System
It would bore the living shit out of most people on here, except those with an interest in UNIX/Linux/*BSD. I've found it invaluable. Has helped be bridge the gap between intermediate and expert.
Lowering the tone a bit here, but the Trainspotting prequel 'Skagboys' is a class read so far, even if it doesn't have the bite of TS or Filth (so far).
I always find him so comforting to read. Chortles guaranteed.
He's a phenomena writer, not lowering the tone at all. I haven't read Skagboys but I will check it out. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Begby is the single most frightening character in a book I've ever read. He turns my blood cold every time he appears on the page. Total menace.
Love that part in Porno -
Young lad -'I'm no lookin for bother Franco'
Begbie - 'Well you've goat bother whether you were wantin' it or no'
Imagine some psycho saying that to you in the street l, frightening indeed'
One of those writer whose books leave you feeling dirty, he's that descriptive. I've read 4 or 5 of his books, Glue probably being the best of the bunch.
I see Dave Vincents autobiography "I am morbid" will be released in Feb.Will be interesting to see what he has to say on his time in Morbid Angel.
Heres a snippet.
https://view.exacttarget.com/?qs=7c4e5ccaf0e9a24c75ca9777f1f3664b28e4ea0565db0d045f080a559e0748e5480aa4d7ee71f3d317519e142fc8d1bd434fd6c37ee8172dec51db9629a0af2e71d5d53e88a5e4201e8812e89c2335af&fbclid=IwAR2YPixibl4RdoUcmrExktkOC2Jkl9Kb0WeP59EEyVWrpuVKzI5QWqhRjPA
I picked up The River Capture by Mary Costello the other day and I'm flying through it. The cover caught my eye and the little blurb on the front by the excellent Anne Enright sealed the deal for me. I'm roughly halfway through and it's compelling in all regards, from the interesting characters, their slowly unfolding mysteries and the evocative writing style. This appears to be her third novel so I'll have to grab the other two at some point.
OK just found this thread.. Great
Read The Grapes of Wrath last month. Really enjoyed it but it did drag just a bit towards the end.
Currently reading Moby's Then it Fell Apart. Easy read, I'd be dubious about the stories after the Natalie Portman thing. Still interesting.
Next up going to reread the excellent Butcher's Crossing by John Williams and on my Santa list is Lemn Sissay's autobiography.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on November 02, 2019, 05:27:31 PM
Any of ye read that 'A Death in the Family' by a Norwegian author called Knausgaard? Not finished yet but an incredible book! Just picked it up after a passing recommendation. The way he describes his childhood and his adult situation, mighty stuff.
First part of a trilogy. I don't have all the fancy talk of The Shephard or Pedrito to express my admiration for this writer, but if you are stuck for an engrossing book, this is the fella for you.
Yes I've read it and the following 2 books. It probably is the best. It's pretty raw.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 31, 2019, 06:50:35 PM
I read mossy of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco a couple of years ago. Amazing first chapter followed by hundreds of pages of fucking drivel. I'm reluctant to go near Name of the Rose...
Not sure Eoin if you did read Name of the Rose but it's excellent. I agree re Focaults Pendulum.
Quote from: Don Gately on December 09, 2019, 09:55:58 PM
Currently reading Moby's Then it Fell Apart. Easy read, I'd be dubious about the stories after the Natalie Portman thing. Still interesting.
I read the first one, found it interesting in terms of how he put together the music, but a bit sanitised - the odd 'warts & all' confession here and there seemed dropped in to hold the interest.
Quote from: Don Gately on December 09, 2019, 09:55:58 PM
OK just found this thread again .. Great
Read The Grapes of Wrath last month. Really enjoyed it but it did drag just a bit towards the end.
Currently reading Moby's Then it Fell Apart. Easy read, I'd be dubious about the stories after the Natalie Portman thing. Still interesting.
Next up going to reread the excellent Butcher's Crossing by John Williams and on my Santa list is Lemn Sissay's autobiography.
Quote from: Don Gately on December 09, 2019, 10:07:55 PM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 31, 2019, 06:50:35 PM
I read mossy of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco a couple of years ago. Amazing first chapter followed by hundreds of pages of fucking drivel. I'm reluctant to go near Name of the Rose...
Not sure Eoin if you did read Name of the Rose but it's excellent. I agree re Focaults Pendulum.
I actually picked it up in the bookshop at the weekend but put it back on the shelf. I'll get to it.
Quote from: Carnage on December 06, 2019, 07:57:09 PM
Glue probably being the best of the bunch.
Haha Juice Terry blowing his muck up in everything!
Skagboys is a quality read.
I woke early this morning and went down to my library where I have many leather bound books on a mahogany shelf and took down Jennifer Egan's A visit from the Goon Squad.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 04, 2019, 02:34:47 PM
Been sat here all morning watching interviews with Alan Moore. Payday tomorrow. Fuck it, I'm going to pick up Jerusalem, just try and stop me, you sitting sat seated suckers of cock.
It's fantastic, took 3 months to read (it's longer than the Bible). Well worth the time.
Just finished The River Capture. What a discovery in Mary Costello. I'll be searching out her earlier work. The writing seems to sprawl out in all sorts of directions and kind of resolve itself almost as an epic poem.
I nipped to Eason and picked up The Wall by John Lanchester. I know nothing about him or his previous work, bought this entirely based on the nice hardback cover, a tried and trusted policy. Let's see what he's all about, then.
Just finished Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez which is an eye-opener to say the least.
I nabbed three books in a local op shop today for $9.
Lost at Sea by John Ronson. First thing I've picked up by him and it's off to an interesting start. It's a collection of essays/ articles on all sorts of oddball shit.
I also bought Labyrinth by Jorge Luis Borges. I know nothing about him but his name has been mentioned in recent stuff I've either read or listened to- I'm thinking maybe he was mentioned by Alan Moore in one of his talks.
The final one I picked up was Where My Heart Used To Beat by the fantastic Sebastian Faulks. He's always worth a read.
Finished Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung and started Man in search of a soul. Memories is autobiographical and really interesting. A deep, interesting man and life. He was way out on the limits of exploration both personally and academically. Fascinating views on his hero Nietzsche and his teacher Freud and some really deep excavations of the human, the mind, life and meaning. Well worth a read.
Finished up the fourth Dune book. I suppose on a philosophical level and story level, I have never read anything like it. Dune, the first book is incredible and each book since subverts and challenges everything that went on in that book. They can be frustraing reads and yet I found myself glued to them all. I'd definitely recommend reading the second one and see how you are because there's so much to it. Still have 2 more to read but giving it a rest for a short while.
Currently reading Destination Morgue by James Ellroy which is a book of his excellwnt shorter stories, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings(again) and Joseph Campbell's A Hero with a thousand faces. I.m starting to wonder if I have ADHD tbh.
Over Xmas read Convenience store woman - Murata, My name is Why - Lemn Sissay.
Beyond the Sea - Paul Lynch.
Now reading Heavier than Heaven, biography of Kurt Cobain.
Quote from: Don Gately on January 07, 2020, 01:21:06 PM
Beyond the Sea - Paul Lynch.
the metal monger himself
Just finished James Nulick's "Haunted Girlfriend" collection of short stories and just started Sarah Rose Etter's "The Book of X". Read very little last year, keen to make up for it this year.
Quote from: Don Gately on January 07, 2020, 01:21:06 PM
Over Xmas read Convenience store woman - Murata, My name is Why - Lemn Sissay.
Beyond the Sea - Paul Lynch.
Now reading Heavier than Heaven, biography of Kurt Cobain.
Heavier than Heaven a fantastic read. Left ot's mark on me..fierce sad in places.
Finished "Robin" by Dave Itzkoff just before Xmas. An in-depth biography of Robin Williams. It was tough going in places. Obviously we all know the ending but the lead-up to it is dark. Not just the lead-up but, in fact, most of William's life seems a bit bleak.
One thing that this book and the "Come Inside My Mind" documentary have in common is that they don't show off much of his sense of humour. I think that by the mid-80s he'd lost it anyway but the electric "Live At The Roxy", "Reality... What A Concept" and "Live At The Met" can't be denied.
His penchant for stealing other people's acts is legendary also. Funnily enough I just listened to Billy Connolly on Adam Buxton's podcast where The Big Yin discussed his friendship with Williams. He recounted having dinner with RW and their shared agent one night. Connolly told his agent of a bit that he'd just conceived. And the next night Williams was doing it onstage before Connolly had a chance to.
I haven't really dug into a book since. It's a first world problem, I know but I have a glut of unread books on the shelf and more that I got for Christmas. No idea where to start. Currently reading the annual Ross O'Carroll-Kelly - Paul Howard still has a decent satirical voice even if it is somewhat over-shadowed by the madness of real life now.
Has anyone read The White Goddess by Robert Graves? It's sitting on the shelf whispering "read me".
I know it might not be a popular choice due to the subject of the book but Fear by Bob Woodward is well worth a read, it is literally like a Malcolm tucker shit show and shows Trump in all his unimaginable glory, I couldn't put it down.
I'm currently making my way through Richard J Evans Third Reich trilogy which is excellent, so much detail and information, well worth a read.
Slowly, painfully trudging my way through Milkman by Anna Burns. It's fucking tedious shite. This won the Man Booker Prize in 2018... It's a snorefest.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 07, 2020, 10:53:39 PM
Slowly, painfully trudging my way through Milkman by Anna Burns. It's fucking tedious shite. This won the Man Booker Prize in 2018... It's a snorefest.
Part of the reason I read so little last year was that I gave up on the whole "I've started so I'll finish" method of reading. Anything that sucked got tossed before the halfway mark. Life's too short.
Quote from: Scáthach on January 07, 2020, 06:56:41 PM
Has anyone read The White Goddess by Robert Graves? It's sitting on the shelf whispering "read me".
I haven't, but I'm pretty sure it's referenced in the notes to From Hell, so that's a recommendation of sorts in itself!
Her kind self got me the first tome of Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu for Christmas so this year I'm going to try and get through the whole thing. Read most of this tome before and loved it.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on January 08, 2020, 09:44:46 AM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 07, 2020, 10:53:39 PM
Slowly, painfully trudging my way through Milkman by Anna Burns. It's fucking tedious shite. This won the Man Booker Prize in 2018... It's a snorefest.
Part of the reason I read so little last year was that I gave up on the whole "I've started so I'll finish" method of reading. Anything that sucked got tossed before the halfway mark. Life's too short.
I picked up Christos Tsiolkas's new one, Damascus, today so poor oul Anna Burns has been sidelined for now 8)
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 08, 2020, 10:00:52 AM
Quote from: Scáthach on January 07, 2020, 06:56:41 PM
Has anyone read The White Goddess by Robert Graves? It's sitting on the shelf whispering "read me".
I haven't, but I'm pretty sure it's referenced in the notes to From Hell, so that's a recommendation of sorts in itself!
Her kind self got me the first tome of Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu for Christmas so this year I'm going to try and get through the whole thing. Read most of this tome before and loved it.
It is indeed, I feel I've been circling it for a while. I've yet to break into Proust but herself read the first four and absolutely loved them.
"Proust in his first book wrote about, wrote about..", although apparently they couldn't decide on a winner for the All - England summarizing Proust competition :laugh:
Just started The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris, about Joseph Lister and the transition from surgeries with no anesthetic being carried out in hospital theatres which were never cleaned, to the discovery of ether and Lister's discovery of the importance of sanitation and sterility. Off to a promising start talking about the madness that was going on in the years leading up to Lister. Amputations carried out in 30 seconds, eyewatering descriptions of rods up the flute to remove kidney stones, and a brief mention of the horror of an eye extraction on a fully awake and aware patient.
Brings to mind that scene in Deadwood. Fuck that.
Just finishing Dune Messiah, certainly not as expansive in scope but I figured that given it's only half the size, but a great follow up
Hoping to give Jodorowsky's Dune a watch tomorrow
Nice one, I thought Dune Messiah was excellent myself. A perfect follow on.
Quote from: SirHughMaharggs on January 08, 2020, 08:02:20 PM
Just started The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris, about Joseph Lister and the transition from surgeries with no anesthetic being carried out in hospital theatres which were never cleaned, to the discovery of ether and Lister's discovery of the importance of sanitation and sterility. Off to a promising start talking about the madness that was going on in the years leading up to Lister. Amputations carried out in 30 seconds, eyewatering descriptions of rods up the flute to remove kidney stones, and a brief mention of the horror of an eye extraction on a fully awake and aware patient.
Yeah, got this as a birthday present a few years ago and its' an insane read.
I enjoyed Milkman and loved Swann's Way
Just flew through Serhii Plokhy's book on the Chernobyl disaster. Astonishing that so many scientists and technicians were constantly overruled by people whose only qualification was being a bureaucrat or party member.
Just finished Damascus. A good read and an interesting insight (even though it is fictional rather than historical) insight into those early Christian apostles and saints. It maybe lacked the edge of his other purely fictional writing, though.
Just opened Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins. I've never read anything by him and the first few pages bode well. Big ideas made easy. Looking forward to delving in further.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 13, 2020, 01:18:04 PM
Just opened Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins. I've never read anything by him and the first few pages bode well. Big ideas made easy. Looking forward to delving in further.
I tried to read The God Delusion a few years back and gave up, just couldn't get into his writing style at all.
Quote from: Born of Fire on January 13, 2020, 05:31:44 PM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 13, 2020, 01:18:04 PM
Just opened Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins. I've never read anything by him and the first few pages bode well. Big ideas made easy. Looking forward to delving in further.
I tried to read The God Delusion a few years back and gave up, just couldn't get into his writing style at all.
I got about halfway through then gave up, I was sick of his endlessly repeating the same argument in slightly different phrasing. To be fair, he was preaching to the choir anyway, I'd be curious how it went down with a believer.
This one his his take on Darwinism so hopefully it won't become too preachy.
Quote from: kiehozero on January 11, 2020, 07:33:04 PM
Just flew through Serhii Plokhy's book on the Chernobyl disaster. Astonishing that so many scientists and technicians were constantly overruled by people whose only qualification was being a bureaucrat or party member.
.
That's a great read. It was of course terrible but could have been worse had the water table been contaminated.
Reading the phantom of the opera.
Much better than I thought it would be. Im normally a very slow reader but I'm flying through this.
Quote from: Don Gately on January 09, 2020, 10:17:16 AM
I enjoyed Milkman and loved Swann's Way
I returned to, and finished, Milkman. I don't know what to make of it. The story and the insights into "The Troubles" were interesting but her style of writing was a bit of a chore to endure.
Just finished Ken O'Sullivan's (of Ireland's Deep Atlantic fame) book, a christmas present from the mother in law who lives in the same town as him (Lahinch, Co. Clare). It's mostly set as an autobiography, but he does give a bit of extra information on the animals and environments he was filming. There's some revealing parts about the pain of getting any cash for new series from RTE and being forced to go to the BBC (I've heard people like Blindboy complain about this as well). Not so fun is the close of the book where he just goes on a bit of a whine about climate change and 'urban lifestyles', whatever that means. I'm the first to agree that emissions should be reduced as far and fast as possible, but there's plenty of environmentalists who are happy to moan about mums doing the school run, while pretending that the flights they take are somehow more essential.
I bought that book for my oul lad for Christmas. I might pick another copy up for myself too.
finished up the phantom of the opera.
what a great book!
i thought it was going to be pure shit but a friend kept recommending it so i gave it a go.
glad i did now, its really quite gothic and dark.
theres some scenes in it that are really vivid and its not overblown or drawn out which is good
loved it!
Quote from: blessed1 on January 18, 2020, 11:00:49 PM
finished up the phantom of the opera.
what a great book!
i thought it was going to be pure shit but a friend kept recommending it so i gave it a go.
glad i did now, its really quite gothic and dark.
theres some scenes in it that are really vivid and its not overblown or drawn out which is good.
the graveyard scene is brilliant.
loved it!
Halfway through a book about the three Hank Williamses. Senior seems to have been completely exploited while he was alive and then also while he was dead. Junior was given some huge shoes to fill and reminded of it constantly, just up to the part where he basically gives up trying to be his dad.
Just finished "A Happy Death" by Albert Camus. I enjoyed it, but preferred "The Stranger" reading a few back to back existential books back to back kinda gives a bit of burn out.
Are you taking the existential piss with that embedded YouTube video in your signature? :abbath:
Reading a collection of Joy Williams' short stories. To be honest I'm scratching my head a bit here but will persevere for now.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 23, 2020, 07:31:41 PM
Are you taking the existential piss with that embedded YouTube video in your signature? :abbath:
Haha I didn't know it would be that size. I removed it before I read this.
Any Cormac McCarthy fans? Ive been reading a lot of his books the last year or two (The Road, No Country for Old Men & Blood Meridian) and just finished the Border Trilogy last night.
For each book in the trilogy i found it quite hard to get through the first section as it seemed there was a lot less going on than his other books, but how wrong was I. Once you get that flow going its hard to put down and in typical cormac style even the most innocent stories from the start (e.g. farm hand trying to get a girl) turns into something so visceral that you cant stop thinking about. Sat up for an hour unable to sleep last night it affected me so much.
I thought i wasnt going to enjoy the trilogy as much as his other stuff but honestly its easily on par with any of his better known work.
I did a search to see Cormac had been chatted about before and the only other post was from Pedrito who summed his work up perfectly.
Quote "as with a lot of McCarthy, you're never quite sure if you really like the book until you start to reflect on it. It leaves a kid of imprint on you that lasts for a very long time. One of those where you look at the bookshelf and pause every time you see the name" Quote
I've read a few of his alright, but yeah, not really sure what to think of him. Blood Meridian was horrible in every way, yet compulsive reading. I hope to christ they never bring it to the big screen. Didn't think much of The Road, though it had its moments. Really enjoyed No Country For Old Men and All The Pretty Horses. I've got another few on the shelf (Suttree, The Crossing, Cities Of The Plain), I'll get to them eventually.
I wish he'd use proper punctuation and quotation marks, though. Fucking annoying trying to read his stuff as it is.
Id mixed feelings on Blood Meridian, half the time i found it hard to keep up with who was who or what was going on, but once i started it i finshed in a few sitting over a week. Open it to any random page and i guarantee it'll have some of the most beautifully brtual phrases you'll come across.
I think its the lack of punctuation etc. is actually what makes them such good reads. They are the worst books to drop in and read a few pages at a time but if you sit down for an hour or two that writing style allows you to get a flow going, which combined with his imagery makes it such compulsive reading.
I loved The Road and No Country for Old Men but struggled with Blood Meridian and the trilogy which I have yet to return to, as I took a break from the third book and haven't gone back to it in a couple of years. No doubt he has moments of absolute genius where he gives you two pages of mind blowing insight and wisdom, but the arid nature of the bones of those books becomes an oppressive experience and a struggle to get through. Not bad by any means, but often difficult.
Started All the Pretty Horses when I was 18 and gave up because I couldn't, at the time, hack the syntax. Been meaning to try another for a few years now, since I've travelled the off-beat writing style road a lot more since then.
Love Blood Meridian, I've got the Border trilogy as a 700-page anthology so I'm always worried I'll lose my mind reading him for that long.
Just finished Inner City Pressure by Dan Hancox on the history of grime music. I grew up in England so I'd know a lot of people who got in early with this and recognised plenty of names, but never got too deep into the music. It was notorious in England for getting marked out by the likes of the Mail and Express early on, just the same metal did at one time of day. The story itself probably wouldn't be the most remarkable story but the writer is seriously good at teasing out great anecdotes about pirate radio and the whole DIY scene, then linking it all in with a lot of the political and social history of the UK. Hitting up Spotify this week to give some of the music another shot as guys like Skepta, Wiley and Jme come across as really level-headed and entrepreneurial types.
Blood Meridian is great book, the lack of punctuation and weird syntax aside. Some of the matter of fact brutality is mind bending. I've only read The Crossing from that trilogy. I think I have a few others sitting on the shelf but I've too many impulse bought books ahead in the queue to get through.
Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.
Quote from: kiehozero on January 27, 2020, 08:49:20 PM
Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.
This is a very good idea. I'm not sure how it would work in practical terms but it's a certainly worth thinking about - there's a lot of well-read folks on here. I'm constantly buying books - Christ knows when I'll get to them.
We're looking into doing an extension at home so I need to do a bit of a cull - I don't want to but it is what it is. I popped into a local charity shop and asked if they'd take books and stuff. The only ones they want are celebrity/sports autobiographies and the "Aisling" type books. I had to have the last part explained to me.
"Nothing else sells. We've taken carloads to the dump recently."
The fucking DUMP?!?!?!
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 29, 2020, 08:58:31 AM
Quote from: kiehozero on January 27, 2020, 08:49:20 PM
Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.
This is a very good idea. I'm not sure how it would work in practical terms but it's a certainly worth thinking about - there's a lot of well-read folks on here. I'm constantly buying books - Christ knows when I'll get to them.
We're looking into doing an extension at home so I need to do a bit of a cull - I don't want to but it is what it is. I popped into a local charity shop and asked if they'd take books and stuff. The only ones they want are celebrity/sports autobiographies and the "Aisling" type books. I had to have the last part explained to me.
"Nothing else sells. We've taken carloads to the dump recently."
The fucking DUMP?!?!?!
Jesus man stick a list up here and I'd easily take a few off you. Cash thru paypal etc.
Thats a good shout with the book swap/straight-up selling them on here.
Also if you must buy them new or online there are so many other sites (that arent Amazon) you can pick them up for the same price or less.
This works for anything you want to buy tbh. No need to be using Amazon these days, unless you absolutely need next day shipping to arrive on a sunday... which noone does.
'give me convenience or give me death' is a motto too many people live by
Quote from: nukeabuse on January 29, 2020, 01:42:13 PM
Thats a good shout with the book swap/straight-up selling them on here.
Also if you must buy them new or online there are so many other sites (that arent Amazon) you can pick them up for the same price or less.
This works for anything you want to buy tbh. No need to be using Amazon these days, unless you absolutely need next day shipping to arrive on a sunday... which noone does.
'give me convenience or give me death' is a motto too many people live by
If anyone knows a good source for academic books that isn't Amazon or owned by Amazon (lots of sites hide on the surface that they're owned by Amazon because they know some prefer to avoid them, Abebooks, Book Depository, etc.), I'm all ears.
Quote from: Pedrito on January 29, 2020, 10:02:20 AM
Jesus man stick a list up here and I'd easily take a few off you. Cash thru paypal etc.
Cool, I might do that when the time comes to boxing them up. :abbath:
Whoever has the next clear out just start a new thread, it's probably going to be me by the looks of it.
Just about to finish Mortal Engines, a collection of mind-bending short stories from Stanislaw Lem. Really good stuff, very much geared towards robots going off the deep end, and some completely batshit stuff as well. Really rewarding. Goodreads (which I've also learnt is an Amazon vehicle) tells me I'm already through seven books for the year, no idea how that has happened, my target is only 25.
Out of interest, what's the issue ordering from Amazon? Postage or cuntage?
I haven't bought a new book in a coupla years. awesomebooks in the UK is great for second hand stuff and I've filled out my shelves with fantasy stuff for maybe 3 or 4 quid each. Postage very reasonable too.
How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.
Re: Amazon - I'd assume the issue is the general cuntishness of the company towards its employees, I've never had a major problem with buying from them. Bought a DVD in December that was the wrong region when it arrived, sent it back and was refunded as soon as the parcel was scanned on collection. My only issue with that was that it was a christmas present, but that was my fault for leaving it so late.
Quote from: Carnage on January 31, 2020, 03:40:39 PM
How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.
I'd be interested in the answer to this too.
I've mentioned that I've used https://thebookshop.ie/ in the past for 2nd hand books - they're based in Tipperary, I think. Just placed another order with them today (she's going to kill me) - orders over €20 and the shipping is free. Most books are €1.50 to €3. I got 11 books (6 of which were Roald Dahl books for my nephew who has taken a keen interest in reading) and free shipping for €20.
You have to know what you want though or be prepared to trawl for hours.
Quality wise - I've had about 30 or so books from them in the past year since I started using them - all the books have been clean and in good condition. Some of them looked as if they were unread.
They're as described so fair condition wouldn't be great. I'm not overly precious about books unless it's a nice hardback for the collection, and even then most of my Wheel of Time hardbacks came in perfectly acceptable condition.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 29, 2020, 08:58:31 AM
Quote from: kiehozero on January 27, 2020, 08:49:20 PM
Yeh I bought so many last year that I've sworn off buying anything until I've checked whether it is in the library. Ireland's library system is actually pretty good and I'm kicking myself for all the cash I've wasted in Easons. Would be good to see if we can get a bookswap going on here instead of handing over more cash to Amazon.
This is a very good idea. I'm not sure how it would work in practical terms but it's a certainly worth thinking about - there's a lot of well-read folks on here. I'm constantly buying books - Christ knows when I'll get to them.
We're looking into doing an extension at home so I need to do a bit of a cull - I don't want to but it is what it is. I popped into a local charity shop and asked if they'd take books and stuff. The only ones they want are celebrity/sports autobiographies and the "Aisling" type books. I had to have the last part explained to me.
"Nothing else sells. We've taken carloads to the dump recently."
The fucking DUMP?!?!?!
Is there a PM service on this site? Would like to contact you
Reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Cool book, I read it years ago. There's a pretty decent film adaptation worth watching and I saw recently that there has been a tv series made that is based on the same idea but appears to be set in modern times.
Quote from: Don Gately on February 01, 2020, 10:21:13 AM
Reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind
I'm about half way through that. Looking forward to finishing it. :laugh:
My girlfriend bought it for me. She loved it.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 31, 2020, 04:36:41 PM
Quote from: Carnage on January 31, 2020, 03:40:39 PM
How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.
I'd be interested in the answer to this too.
I've mentioned that I've used https://thebookshop.ie/ in the past for 2nd hand books...
Just received my latest order - only took a few days. All books are in good to almost new condition. Yet again, one or two appear to be unread.
Good to know, cheers.
Caved in and picked up Dune for nothing with a Hodges Figgis loyalty card at the weekend. Trying to finish a book about maths called Taming the Infinite by Ian Stewart first though. It's decent enough and I'm trying hard to keep up but I get the feeling that in another one or two chapters I'll have lost any understanding I had left. Also stuck Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault on the bedside, that was a total game-changer for how I saw everything when I was younger. A lecturer at my uni a renowned expert on Foucault's work, but she'd more often end up telling stories about him bringing male prostitutes to parties.
Reading The Dragon behind the glass by Emily Voight
Quote from: kiehozero on January 31, 2020, 02:20:13 PM
Whoever has the next clear out just start a new thread, it's probably going to be me by the looks of it.
Just about to finish Mortal Engines, a collection of mind-bending short stories from Stanislaw Lem. Really good stuff, very much geared towards robots going off the deep end, and some completely batshit stuff as well. Really rewarding. Goodreads (which I've also learnt is an Amazon vehicle) tells me I'm already through seven books for the year, no idea how that has happened, my target is only 25.
Mortal Engines movie was awful. Might check the book out based on what your saying though.
I'm reading John Buchan's biography of James Graham, aka 'The Great Montrose', a Royalist commander during the The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (English Civil War).
I'd read about him before in another book about that war. Little known outside Scotland but one of the most remarkable soldiers and tacticians in history. His victories are so unbelievable that it's almost stranger than fiction. The bulk of his small army was Irish which makes it that bit more interesting for you and I.
The author licks his arse a bit excessively but the story of the mans life is unreal. He'd give Tilly, Wallenstein, Rommel or any of your champagne generals a run for their money :)
Quote from: StrangersWithGuns on February 11, 2020, 01:39:10 PM
Quote from: kiehozero on January 31, 2020, 02:20:13 PM
Whoever has the next clear out just start a new thread, it's probably going to be me by the looks of it.
Just about to finish Mortal Engines, a collection of mind-bending short stories from Stanislaw Lem. Really good stuff, very much geared towards robots going off the deep end, and some completely batshit stuff as well. Really rewarding. Goodreads (which I've also learnt is an Amazon vehicle) tells me I'm already through seven books for the year, no idea how that has happened, my target is only 25.
Mortal Engines movie was awful. Might check the book out based on what your saying though.
The book is mainly short stories, so unless they used something else I'm not familiar with (this is the first I've read by him) then I'm surprised they got enough to make a movie from it!
Just started Firefighting which is a history of the last financial crisis written collaboratively by Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner and the guy who was head of Goldman Sachs at the time. The regularity with which they are using the word 'trillion' is quite alarming.
Jamie Dimon?
I read Too big to Fail a few years back written by Andrew Sorkin who was involved in TV series Billions.
Nah it's a lad called Henry/Hank Paulson but I'll check out Too Big to Fail for sure. I was made redundant from my first job out of uni due to the banking crisis (half of our work was for Lloyds TSB) so I've always had a lingering interest in how the whole thing happened.
I picked up Actress by Anne Enright over the weekend. Hoping to get stuck in to it soon but I'm slowly, steadily ploughing through London Fields by Martin Amis, which is alright but I had hoped for something more profound from him seeing as he is a mate of Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan. Dunno... it's grand.
I'm expecting great things from Actress as Enright's last book, The Green Road, was a masterpiece. I'm half tempted to put Amis on hold for a bit...
Life's too short to continue reading a book that you aren't getting into imo.
If its still not doing it for me after 100 or pages I just don't bother finishing it.
It's good, don't get me wrong. It just feels a bit long-winded. There are some fantastic sections of writing scattered throughout, but there's a hell of a lot of story and I wonder if it had been trimmed by 200 pages would it have hit the mark a bit more accurately. I'm not sure why it's taking so long to get to the finish line but maybe in the end it will all fall into place.
Quote from: blessed1 on February 16, 2020, 09:49:39 PM
Life's too short to continue reading a book that you aren't getting into imo.
If its still not doing it for me after 100 or pages I just don't bother finishing it.
100 pages is usually my cutoff point too. A book called Canada by Richard Ford is one that was highly recommended to me, one of the most miserable books I ever read, binned it after 100 odd pages.
Quote from: Carnage on February 17, 2020, 12:15:29 AM
Quote from: blessed1 on February 16, 2020, 09:49:39 PM
Life's too short to continue reading a book that you aren't getting into imo.
If its still not doing it for me after 100 or pages I just don't bother finishing it.
100 pages is usually my cutoff point too. A bookncalled Canada by Richard Ford is one that was highly recommended to me, one of the most miserable books I ever read, binned it after 100 odd pages.
Yes certainly not his best. But he's a great writer. The short story collection Rock Springs is fantastic and I loved also the Sportswriter series of books.
If you like Ray Carver, Tobias Wolf you'd be into it.
Quote from: Carnage on February 17, 2020, 12:15:29 AM
Quote from: blessed1 on February 16, 2020, 09:49:39 PM
Life's too short to continue reading a book that you aren't getting into imo.
If its still not doing it for me after 100 or pages I just don't bother finishing it.
100 pages is usually my cutoff point too. A book called Canada by Richard Ford is one that was highly recommended to me, one of the most miserable books I ever read, binned it after 100 odd pages.
I was recommended 50 pages about ten years ago and I swear by it. Cut it loose if it's not grabbing you by then.
I'm reading 'Miracles of Life', JG Ballard's autobiography, at the moment and it is great. As an English person born and raised in Shanghai. He doesn't pull any punches about English culture. An easy breezy read about a traumatic life.
Currently reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Currently on Jeffrey Lewis' alternate history book about North Korea nuking the USA. It was written in 2018 but some of the assumptions he makes about Trump are frightening in their accuracy.
Starting to reread The Stand. Seems the right time, what with the current plague panic.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 31, 2020, 04:36:41 PM
Quote from: Carnage on January 31, 2020, 03:40:39 PM
How are they (awesomebooks) for quality? I've found buying secondhand online to be very hit & miss, it'd be nice to know a reliable seller.
I'd be interested in the answer to this too.
Just got my first delivery from them a few minutes ago.
On the plus side, all of the books were listed as being in good condition, I'd rate them as very good - one is like new. Cheap too, 4 books + postage for €13.65.
Negatives are: 1. They came in a flimsy plastic bag that was ripped open, the postman handed me one of the books separately. 2. The site gave me the option of picking which print/edition of each title I wanted, 3 out of 4 were the wrong editions (TV tie-ins, which I fucking despise). 3. Stickers I can't remove and traces of stickers, but that's a minor thing, you get that with most secondhand books. 4. Not the fastest delivery, 12 days from order to delivery but again, you'll get that with the likes of Amazon/eBay etc. anyway.
Overall, I reckon they'd definitely be worth a go if you're not as fussy as I am, can't fault the pricing or general condition of the books.
This concludes my Ted Talk.
Just finished Alan Moore's debut novel there, Voice of the Fire. Very good, something of a primer for his magnum opus Jerusalem.
Started in on Aleister Crowley's collected Simon Iff stories. A little hit and miss but that's to be expected with his writing. Also got the 2 new Bardo Methodology issues through the letter box today so really looking forward to digging in later.
Getting through David McWilliams' Renaissance Nation at the moment, it's a light enough introduction to Ireland's economy but while I love his podcast I'm finding his writing style grates a bit. Maybe I'm just reading it and hearing his voice and mannerisms come out from that.
I started reading some of those warhammer 40k novels. Pretty cool if your into a bit of mindless action.
No work and nothing else to do for at least three weeks so I'm going to get stuck into Dune post haste.
Nice
Once I finish my current book (Christopher Priest: The Prestige), I'm going to reread Dune & Dune Messiah, and hopefully read all six original books. They've been gathering dust on my shelves for long enough.
Going to hit Dune as well as soon as I get through the last of my library books
Quote from: blessed1 on March 13, 2020, 07:28:08 AM
I started reading some of those warhammer 40k novels. Pretty cool if your into a bit of mindless action.
Which ones? I wonder what it's like listening to Bolt Thrower and reading them at the same time.
Quote from: Carnage on March 13, 2020, 01:27:57 PM
Once I finish my current book (Christopher Priest: The Prestige), I'm going to reread Dune & Dune Messiah, and hopefully read all six original books. They've been gathering dust on my shelves for long enough.
Are they a tough read? I wouldn't mind a new series to get into now that I've come to the final book of ASOIAF
Currently reading Dune Book 5..they're very easy to read. First book is about as good as it gets really in terms of sci-fi/fantasy.
Quote from: Pedrito on March 14, 2020, 04:09:27 PM
Quote from: blessed1 on March 13, 2020, 07:28:08 AM
I started reading some of those warhammer 40k novels. Pretty cool if your into a bit of mindless action.
Which ones? I wonder what it's like listening to Bolt Thrower and reading them at the same time.
Im reading one called horus heresy by Dan abnett.
You would be better off with bal-sagoth rather than bolt Thrower tbh ha.
Quote from: astfgyl on March 14, 2020, 04:25:00 PM
Quote from: Carnage on March 13, 2020, 01:27:57 PM
Once I finish my current book (Christopher Priest: The Prestige), I'm going to reread Dune & Dune Messiah, and hopefully read all six original books. They've been gathering dust on my shelves for long enough.
Are they a tough read? I wouldn't mind a new series to get into now that I've come to the final book of ASOIAF
No, they're a handy enough read. I blasted through the first two at the time.
Quote from: Pedrito on March 14, 2020, 04:30:29 PM
Currently reading Dune Book 5..they're very easy to read. First book is about as good as it gets really in terms of sci-fi/fantasy.
Sound, I'll try getting stuck into that next. I go through long spells of reading hardly anything and then all of a sudden I'll start flying through books at an amazing rate, oblivious to the kids tearing up the house around me and the sullen look my missus gets at the prospect of hours and hours of silence interspersed by the odd "yeah"
Used to love watching my auld lad continue reading the paper and convince my mother that they had just had a full conversation with the odd well timed 'yeah' or 'ah sure here look'.
Poetry in motion.
Finished Actress by Anne Enright. Dunno. It was alright but didn't really grab me.
Just starting into Apeirogon, the new one from Colum McCann. Only ten pages in but the writing already has me. It's a whopper of a thing so between that at bedtime and Great Expectations on my lunch break in work, I'll be busy for months.
Ordered the first 3 Dune books off Amazon today for 13 euro. For fuck all really. Not even the price of 20 fags. If they are as good as the reviews it will be some bargain
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells is not the book to be reading right now. Great writing but just need something upbeat really.
Going through plenty of short stories for some reason during lockdown. Mostly Lovecraft, but just got 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess.. pretty different from what I'd usually read but the movie's class so surely it's worth 3quid
Re-reading Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, which is topical if you are following the Democratic primaries. The rough outline is that Thompson rushes around the country causing havoc as a Rolling Stones correspondent, attempting to find out which of a handful of uninspiring party hacks will be slaughtered in autumn by a racist, psychopathic incumbent, while covering the noble failure of a left-wing candidate. Thus it ever was.
Re reading a slew of biographies. New York Dolls _ too much too soon, Dee Dee Ramone - Lobotomy( a total car crash of a human), Joey Kramer from Aerosmith another tail of misadventure and bad management. Currently on INXS , don't really care for their music but they did put the graft in and knew how to behave irresponsibly.
The Hot Zone book about Ebola outbreak
That's about 20 years old isn't it? Just wondering if it's the one I've read, if so it was enjoyable.
Reading Moby Dick for the first time, wasn't prepared for pondering the possibility of death by drowning in sperm at the bottom of the ocean.
Quote from: Thorn on April 10, 2020, 07:24:17 PM
Reading Moby Dick for the first time, wasn't prepared for pondering the possibility of death by drowning in sperm at the bottom of the ocean.
That is some read, I've seen people make decent arguments for the inclusion of all those chapters on whale biology and migration patterns, but they still feel utterly superfluous to me. Not read it in a few years so let me know how you go.
I don't mind those chapters at all, just means suspending the narrative to get a little education into ya but I am wondering about the accuracy concerning whale biology given when it was written or has this part of it been updated at all.
I think the unbreachable gap between knowledge and experience is at least part of it. They're a bit of a slog sometimes while reading, but once I'd finished it I didn't regret their inclusion.
Quote from: Thorn on April 10, 2020, 07:57:21 PM
I don't mind those chapters at all, just means suspending the narrative to get a little education into ya but I am wondering about the accuracy concerning whale biology given when it was written or has this part of it been updated at all.
The idea isn't to be accurate, since he insists on calling them fish rather than whales with a rather lengthy totally unscientific explanation. So, no, they haven't been updated :)
They certainly succeed in portraying the whale as a truly awe inspiring creature rather than it just all being about the hunt so ,no,I wouldn't leave them out either. Not sure that he doesn't differentiate between the two species so much, a number of references to the difference in respiratory systems come to mind.
I've never read it but I'll have to pick it up. I've a mountain of books to get through first though. Currently working on Great Expectations (brilliant), Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins (fascinating) and Apeirogon, A Novel by Colum McCann (undecided- 200+ pages in and it's finally, FINALLY, becoming engaging). I have The Tower and The Square by Niall Ferguson sitting there eyeballing me and I'm dying to get stuck in so that'll be next up.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg...
Quote from: Nail_Bombed on March 06, 2020, 08:30:54 AM
Starting to reread The Stand. Seems the right time, what with the current plague panic.
That book is brilliant. Even though its really long it doesn't feel like it.
Im reading under the dome by him now.
Seems good so far. 300 pages in.
Niall Ferguson the historian, Andy? I've read a few of his, including 'War of the world' which was immense but the topic was just too enormous to cover in one (huge, granted) book.
Took about 150 pages but Dune is motoring now. I reread train spotting in two sittings in the meantime. Such a comforting laugh of a book. Ace.
Quote from: Carnage on April 08, 2020, 05:46:56 PM
That's about 20 years old isn't it? Just wondering if it's the one I've read, if so it was enjoyable.
Yes by Richard Preston. Very good read.
Anyone read No Country For Old Men? Is it still worth reading even if the film is imprinted on my mind?
Reading The Crossing at the moment..Christ what a writer!
No Country for Old Men is incredible. I saw the film twice before reading it and loved the film, too. The book was still completely enjoyable, surprising and satisfying. One of McCarthy's best books, I think. I must reread it at some stage.
I read it before seeing the film, enjoyed it immensely - despite the lack of proper punctuation.
Cheers chaps, that'll be next so.
Just throwing this up again. A Yale Course on Modern American Literature since 1945 completely recorded and free on Youtube. The lecturer covers Roth, Kerouac, Salinger, McCarthy, Nabokov, Pynchon among others. I've watched quite a bit of it, really excellent stuff. This is the Blood Meridian lecture: https://youtu.be/FgyZ4ia25gg
If you go to the Open Yale Courses website they have full series of lectures on literally everything you could ever wish to learn. An amazing resource really.
Speaking of Nabokov, I read the first few pages of Ada and Ardor last week since I gained it via a friend leaving the country. Have only read Lolita before, but it dropped immediately into the top five best written works for me.
I'm also about halfway through Paradise Lost, which I'd never read. Really enjoying it, and Easter seems a perfect time.
Also slowly going through the complete Blake, as I'm sure there are passages I've missed in the past.
Cracking through Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber which is a great piece of work on the history of financial systems. I've got his book Bullshit Jobs on the shelf and I'm tempted to go straight into that next. To get me to sleep at night I'm reading the autobiography of the Australian cricketer (sorry, I'm outing myself as a cricket fan) Shane Warne. It's much better than many sport biographies I've read, he'll go from immense detail about his technique to nailing Liz Hurley in one paragraph, but it never feels disjointed.
Just finished the Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. I picked it up 2 days ago and didn't stop until I finished the 437 pages. I'm meant to be working from home..I'm still shaking from all the coffee and the mindblowing genius of his writing. Crazy good.
Quote from: Pedrito on April 15, 2020, 07:33:51 PM
Just finished the Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. I picked it up 2 days ago and didn't stop until I finished the 437 pages. I'm meant to be working from home..I'm still shaking from all the coffee and the mindblowing genius of his writing. Crazy good.
:laugh: Brilliant! I love his writing, the last of his I read was his play, The Sunset Limited. It was good but good feck was it a bleak experience.
Finished 'Climbing Mount Improbable' by Richard Dawkins just now. It was a fascinating read. Dawkins presents clear and elegant insights into Darwinian theory (I'll have to pick up 'On The Origin of the Species' and give it a go) and makes complex ideas accessible for the most simple minds, such as my own.
And now to get stuck into 'The Square and the Tower'. Been looking forward to this one 8)
Origin is very readable. I don't think I'll ever read Dawkins again, but The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype are very well presented perspectives, even if I don't believe them to be "true".
Just finished For the Good Times by David Keenan. Narrator is an IRA member living in Ardoyne in the 1970s, but it just gets very weird from there, and it is incredible. Strongly recommend supporting a local bookshop and picking this up.
Finished High Concept: Don Simpson And The Hollywood Culture Of Excess yesterday. Essentially a tell-all collection of gossip and anecdotes framed around Simpson's rise and demise. Alright.
Finally dug out Dune and launched into my reread of that, the plan is to read all six books while I'm at it, they've been sitting on the shelf for long enough.
Finished McCarthy's Border Trilogy. The man would break your fekin heart, what a writer though. It's amazing really how controls the reader, I'm sure it's a sort of technique he has developed, where you get the sense that some of the more intense parts are almost a retelling or recollection by the person involved, a look into their memories. Things get heightened and exaggerated and then return to normal again. I'm sure there are breakdowns of it all out there in the ether somewhere. I found myself reading the final book with fragments of past books returning to me like memories, shadows, whatever...yeah so I enjoyed them immensely. I'll leave the shite breakdowns to Goodreads reviewers.
So I've read Border Trilogy, The Road and Blood M..any other recommendation?
Currently on 2001 A Space Odyssey.
The only other one of his that I've read is No Country For Old Men, enjoyed it.
If you like 2001, keep going with the series. Diminishing returns but 2010 is almost as good and 2061 is a decent read. 3001 is shite, though.
Currently persevering with David Ellefsons "More Life With Deth". It's a fucking chore. :-\
While he's roundly perceived as the good guy in that band he's a bit of a dose. Far too holy of a Joe and when you look past that you see that he'd try his hand at anything for a few quid... take for example his ordination as a minister, part of his love of the good Lord but also admits he did it as a potential income source when the band ends. The book is also full of pointless ass kissing by that dreadlocked shit heap from his solo band. Turns out he's his business partner in all his dealings but is nothing more than a fan that can't believe his luck for getting to hang with his fave bassist.
:(
Quote from: Pedrito on April 22, 2020, 08:13:28 AM
Finished McCarthy's Border Trilogy. The man would break your fekin heart, what a writer though. It's amazing really how controls the reader, I'm sure it's a sort of technique he has developed, where you get the sense that some of the more intense parts are almost a retelling or recollection by the person involved, a look into their memories. Things get heightened and exaggerated and then return to normal again. I'm sure there are breakdowns of it all out there in the ether somewhere. I found myself reading the final book with fragments of past books returning to me like memories, shadows, whatever...yeah so I enjoyed them immensely. I'll leave the shite breakdowns to Goodreads reviewers.
So I've read Border Trilogy, The Road and Blood M..any other recommendation?
Currently on 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Read Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. You can thank me after.
Quote from: Don Gately on April 26, 2020, 12:21:35 PM
:(Quote from: Pedrito on April 22, 2020, 08:13:28 AM
Finished McCarthy's Border Trilogy. The man would break your fekin heart, what a writer though. It's amazing really how controls the reader, I'm sure it's a sort of technique he has developed, where you get the sense that some of the more intense parts are almost a retelling or recollection by the person involved, a look into their memories. Things get heightened and exaggerated and then return to normal again. I'm sure there are breakdowns of it all out there in the ether somewhere. I found myself reading the final book with fragments of past books returning to me like memories, shadows, whatever...yeah so I enjoyed them immensely. I'll leave the shite breakdowns to Goodreads reviewers.
So I've read Border Trilogy, The Road and Blood M..any other recommendation?
Currently on 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Read Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. You can thank me after.
Was about to buy it last week and bought his book Stoner instead. Will rectify that..cheers for the recommendation.
Stoner is a brilliant book. Must give that other one a look.
I'm on 'Stalins Englishman', a rapid biography of Guy Burgess, the most outrageous of the 'Cambridge 5'.
A life less ordinary, and that's putting it mildly. Recommended, a fantastic book.
Stoner is good but completely different from Butcher's Crossing.
Just getting stuck into "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro.
I've flown through Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century this week. His two previous books, Sapiens and Homo Deus are brilliant as well, can't recommend these three highly enough.
I've read two of those and yeah, they are really interesting reads.
I got a present of 'I partridge', the Chopper biography and 'Lords of Chaos' from a buddy from home. What a trio, I think he's under the impression I'm in jail or something :) Nice few additions to the pile.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on April 30, 2020, 04:32:47 PM
I got a present of 'I partridge', the Chopper biography and 'Lords of Chaos' from a buddy from home. What a trio, I think he's under the impression I'm in jail or something :) Nice few additions to the pile.
The Chopper books were good up to the third one. The fourth scraped by, he was adding his own imagination to the stories a fair bit in my opinion.
From book 5 on, utter dogshit.
In fairness I only read as far as the 8th book (my mate loaned me them years ago).
So can't comment on the other 6 or 7 books he 'released'. :laugh:
He was some character by all means and I've watched the film a good few times too. Nutter.. :abbath:
Ah the film, cherished by lads worldwide.
'Two hundred thousand copies. I'm semi fuckin' literate mate. Those intellectuals must hate me' 🤣
Where the fuck do you all get the time? Seriously are you reading at work or reading while the missus/fella is talking to you or while doing the DIY or while doing the housework when the partner is at work or do you actually actually manage to squeeze 50 hours out of the day? Seriously, where do ye get the time to read all this stuff and listen to all this stuff and also go to work and have other hobbies and still be on the main page bollixing about tunes that you had the time to go finding as well as listen to the stuff you already like?
The only time i get to read in peace is when I'm on the shitter and even then I'm on the shitter so I do have to get off it after a bit so it doesn't look weird. Honestly how the fuck do ye find the time?
Every now and again I put the Internet away (phone & laptop) and go on a house work and book buzz. It's amazing how much free time you have when the net isn't distracting you.
Quote from: astfgyl on May 01, 2020, 12:20:18 AM
Where the fuck do you all get the time? Seriously are you reading at work or reading while the missus/fella is talking to you or while doing the DIY or while doing the housework when the partner is at work or do you actually actually manage to squeeze 50 hours out of the day? Seriously, where do ye get the time to read all this stuff and listen to all this stuff and also go to work and have other hobbies and still be on the main page bollixing about tunes that you had the time to go finding as well as listen to the stuff you already like?
The only time i get to read in peace is when I'm on the shitter and even then I'm on the shitter so I do have to get off it after a bit so it doesn't look weird. Honestly how the fuck do ye find the time?
I'm working from home (few hours a day), so I usually have breakfast, go back to bed and read a bit, another snooze, bit of work on the computer, shite talk on here at the same time. She doesn't trust me to clean properly (I wish I could say this is by design, a buddy of mine makes a cunt of everything on purpose so his wife won't ask him again)so I'll just tip out in to the balcony with the book for a few hours late afternoon after the lunch aswell.
Quote from: astfgyl on May 01, 2020, 12:20:18 AM
Where the fuck do you all get the time? Seriously are you reading at work or reading while the missus/fella is talking to you or while doing the DIY or while doing the housework when the partner is at work or do you actually actually manage to squeeze 50 hours out of the day? Seriously, where do ye get the time to read all this stuff and listen to all this stuff and also go to work and have other hobbies and still be on the main page bollixing about tunes that you had the time to go finding as well as listen to the stuff you already like?
The only time i get to read in peace is when I'm on the shitter and even then I'm on the shitter so I do have to get off it after a bit so it doesn't look weird. Honestly how the fuck do ye find the time?
You have kids?
.
Quote from: blessed1 on May 01, 2020, 10:22:16 AM
You have kids?
I do as it happens. And meself and the wife are working more hours rather than less since this kicked off. I was getting a bit of reading in before this lark, I flew through ASOIAF series in record time and now since this, it seems I can't find the time. I suppose as mentioned, putting away the laptop might free up a bit or maybe not drinking cans every night would also help. I guess I could be doing a bit now but it's not great watching two 4 year olds while reading a book. Much easier put this down every 2 mins than losing train of thought with the book over and over
You really need to make time. I have 2 kids too, they are a bit older than yours. I get up around 7am. I always try to read for 20 minutes in the morning and hit the sack with a book and read another 30 minutes if I can stay awake. If I have a couple of beers I just knock it on the head.
Some prat in one of those Sunday paper magazines was asked recently about his reading habits . Apparently he recently asked his PA to schedule in 30mins reading time a day for him. You need a PA man.
God he sounds like a complete prick from that alone. I do really need to make the time though. I was getting into good habits before the current situation but it has knocked a bit of the enthusiasm out of me. On the plus side the missus bought me a copy of the Dunk and Egg stories today and it seems like a good and easy read to get me back into things. I have a big fat copy of the 3 Dune books in one here that I've been struggling to get into the rhythm of despite really liking where it's going after 70 odd pages. I might try the new one for something quicker as it is 3 short stories.
Yep. For a while there I was trying to remember who he was but after consideration, I'm proud he didn't even register, beyond his fatuous pompousness.
Anyway, as someone once, repeatedly said,
Good luck with the book
The best thing I did to create room for reading was get rid of the TV. I know it won't be everyone's choice but it freed up a.tonne of space for me. That said, I now spend far too much time on my phone, though at least after a while your eyes can only take so much of that.
I didn't let the cans run my evening last night and I flew through 50 pages of The Hedge Knight. I think I may have discovered the secret!
Currently reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Set in New Orleans, it's about the inner life and misadventures of a rather obese good for nothing with extreme notions. It's absolutely hilarious.
Yes it's up there with my favourites. Great stuff.
I'm about half way through that 'A People's history of the United States' by the lad Howard Zinn. He's like a slightly preachier(in a curiously Jew way), less good looking but perhaps better informed but less balanced and reasonable socialist intellectual than Chris Rob.
Intellectually intimidating and sound but would be very enjoyable to prove wrong.
:laugh: :laugh:
Quote from: astfgyl on May 01, 2020, 03:16:07 PM
Quote from: blessed1 on May 01, 2020, 10:22:16 AM
You have kids?
I do as it happens. And meself and the wife are working more hours rather than less since this kicked off. I was getting a bit of reading in before this lark, I flew through ASOIAF series in record time and now since this, it seems I can't find the time. I suppose as mentioned, putting away the laptop might free up a bit or maybe not drinking cans every night would also help. I guess I could be doing a bit now but it's not great watching two 4 year olds while reading a book. Much easier put this down every 2 mins than losing train of thought with the book over and over
Maybe hit up audiobooks? I do listen to them in work, my job is rather mindless.
Listened to Mark Lanegan's autobiography. It was very raw, but not enough on music for me it was almost like a junkie's diary . And then it cuts out of nowhere, it jumps from like 1996 to 2002 and goes oh then Layne died, the End. It doesn't touch on any times in QOTSA.
Currently listenting to the Mars Trilogy on audio book. It's a sci-fi which starts off in the year 2026 with a group of 100 people blasting off to Mars to begin operations on trying to make it habitable for humans. It goes into a lot of detail with the geology of the planet and the experiments they undertake to try and develop a biosphere. It's making the long days at work go by a bit quicker anyway.
I recently finished The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercombie. It's a fantasy book set in a Game of Thrones kind of era with lots of blood and fighting and intetesting characters. Would definitely recommend.
Quote from: Giggles on May 04, 2020, 05:29:36 PM
Currently listenting to the Mars Trilogy on audio book. It's a sci-fi which starts off in the year 2026 with a group of 100 people blasting off to Mars to begin operations on trying to make it habitable for humans. It goes into a lot of detail with the geology of the planet and the experiments they undertake to try and develop a biosphere. It's making the long days at work go by a bit quicker anyway.
Kim Stanley Robinson? I read the first one years ago, never got around to the rest. There's a short story collection (The Martians), too.
Finished Dune, onto Dune Messiah next. It's 15 years since I first read them, I'd forgotten most of the details. Enjoyed Dune on second read, though.
Quote from: Giggles on May 04, 2020, 05:29:36 PM
Currently listenting to the Mars Trilogy on audio book. It's a sci-fi which starts off in the year 2026 with a group of 100 people blasting off to Mars to begin operations on trying to make it habitable for humans. It goes into a lot of detail with the geology of the planet and the experiments they undertake to try and develop a biosphere. It's making the long days at work go by a bit quicker anyway.
I recently finished The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercombie. It's a fantasy book set in a Game of Thrones kind of era with lots of blood and fighting and intetesting characters. Would definitely recommend.
That Joe Abercrombie trilogy is a great read
Yeah the characters are so good, the way they develop throughout. I'd definitely recommend it. I think the first book from the new trilogy has been released recently enough.
Yeah the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's a bit difficult to listen to this after listening to the First Law Trilogy, where there was a lot of fighting and intense scenes. But I'm getting through it, the level of detail it goes into with science is very interesting. The voice reading out this one is nowhere near as exciting as the previous books though, and I find myself zoning out a few times.
Finished A Confederacy of Dunces last night. Wholeheartedly recommended, if you're in the mood for something funny and engaging.
Been meaning to read it for about 15 years!
Quote from: Don Gately on April 29, 2020, 09:13:52 PM
Just getting stuck into "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro.
I have this on my "I'll read that next" shelf for about 6 months now. It just seems like a bit of a daunting undertaking. Even the physical size itself, 1500 pages, it's huge. And mine is a hardback. I might be lifted clean off the toilet bowl by the weight of it.
Robert Moses is an interesting character for sure. I was due to go to NYC for a holiday and was going to read "The Power Broker" beforehand so I could see in the flesh what he accomplished. That's been knocked back a bit now.
Caro's interview on Conan O'Brien's podcast is very enjoyable.
Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is pretty stark. The book just covers up to around the age of 15 or so, christ knows how mental the rest of her life will be if she ended up writing another seven memoirs. I read both this and Albert Camus' The Outsider at the weekend, both of which I highly recommend. I'm know on Peter Marshall's history of anarchism, which I've started a few times before, always broken up by having to move house, so hopefully this isn't a bad omen.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 05, 2020, 02:23:51 PM
Been meaning to read it for about 15 years!
It's the kind of thing you would fly through, had me snorting with laughter plenty of times.
After going back over the last few pages of this thread I saw the Tolkien discussion I missed somehow. But it did lead me to start a reread of the Silmarillion. I wanted something to go with some music while reading, so it's Tolkien, epic BM, Tangerine Dream and era 1 Mortiis for the next while. Onwards! :)
Quote from: StoutAndAle on May 05, 2020, 04:08:28 PM
Quote from: Don Gately on April 29, 2020, 09:13:52 PM
Just getting stuck into "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro.
I have this on my "I'll read that next" shelf for about 6 months now. It just seems like a bit of a daunting undertaking. Even the physical size itself, 1500 pages, it's huge. And mine is a hardback. I might be lifted clean off the toilet bowl by the weight of it.
Robert Moses is an interesting character for sure. I was due to go to NYC for a holiday and was going to read "The Power Broker" beforehand so I could see in the flesh what he accomplished. That's been knocked back a bit now.
Caro's interview on Conan O'Brien's podcast is very enjoyable.
Thanks, mine is hardcover too! Good read so far.
Quote from: Scáthach on May 05, 2020, 08:19:21 PM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 05, 2020, 02:23:51 PM
Been meaning to read it for about 15 years!
It's the kind of thing you would fly through, had me snorting with laughter plenty of times.
After going back over the last few pages of this thread I saw the Tolkien discussion I missed somehow. But it did lead me to start a reread of the Silmarillion. I wanted something to go with some music while reading, so it's Tolkien, epic BM, Tangerine Dream and era 1 Mortiis for the next while. Onwards! :)
What Tangerine Dream album would you recommend? The Summoning album Minas Morgul is pretty cool on the BM front.
Another cool album is the Bo Hansson LoTR album :abbath:
I needed a break from reading some heavy stuff and am bursting through Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I haven't read it since I was a teenager, I don't think, and it's a ripper. I also couldn't resist peeking at a few pages of What is Life by Schroedinger last night, thus kind of fucking up my original plan.
Two great works!
Quote from: Pedrito on May 05, 2020, 09:42:04 PM
Another cool album is the Bo Hansson LoTR album :abbath:
Ooh, Summoning is going on the list. Thank you. For Tangerine Dream this eve, I have Phaedra lined up. Its quite mellow, but has a real face melting modulating section in the middle. It's perfect because I'm still just at the creation myths part of the Silmarillion.
Don't know the Bo Hanson one, will check it out. Cheers Pedrito.
I'm currently on 'A people's history of the United States' by Howard Zinn. It's flawed in some respects, his socialist agenda is clear within a chapter, but it's very engaging for a book about history, and the slew of reading and research done is clearly enormous.
The 'great men', the civil war are background rather than foreground for what ordinary American experiences were like, insofar as he can emit them through proxies and commentators of the time.
He's as red as a slapped arse, but if I can appreciate the accessible yet thorough and enormous breadth of the work, pretty much anyone could!
Speaking of US history, I recently read a book called Left Behind by Diane Ravitch, a critical history of the progressive education movement in the States. I think you'd get a lot out of it. The author is impressively transparent about her own convictions yet manages to deliver a very balanced account.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 05, 2020, 09:44:49 PM
I needed a break from reading some heavy stuff and am bursting through Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I haven't read it since I was a teenager, I don't think, and it's a ripper.
Started on a few Discworld the last while too, haven't touched some of them in 20 years or so. Forgot how much I love them, finding there's a lot of jokes and nuances I never got when I was younger but make sense now so it's nearly like reading them for the first time again
Is it 'left back'? I've never read that, but she is the epitome of 'esteemed' in that very niche field.
Sorry, Left Back, yes.
Quote from: Trev on May 06, 2020, 11:10:38 AM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 05, 2020, 09:44:49 PM
I needed a break from reading some heavy stuff and am bursting through Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I haven't read it since I was a teenager, I don't think, and it's a ripper.
Started on a few Discworld the last while too, haven't touched some of them in 20 years or so. Forgot how much I love them, finding there's a lot of jokes and nuances I never got when I was younger but make sense now so it's nearly like reading them for the first time again
I love when I go back and reread those, as you say there is a lot of stuff in there that passed me by the first time. The last few suffered from a bit of a dip in quality but overall what a series.
Currently reading 'The Forever War' by Dexter Filkins, a journalist who toured with the American troops during the invasion/liberation of Iraq.
So one of the key missions is to go into suspected enemy villages and raid the locals abodes to confiscate weapons. To accomplish this with a minimum of conflict one of the battalion commanders decided to have a blonde, female member of the company stand astride a tank in the centre of the village, take off her helmet and shake out her hair. Then it would be announced by the battalion that they were auctioning off this blonde girl to the highest bidder, knowing full well how irresistible this would prove to the local Iraqi men who are seemingly fascinated with blondes .
Sure enough,within minutes, the soldiers are surrounded by the village men offering money, land, livestock, even their wives and children for the chance to take yer one home. All the while they're bidding, more troops are going in the backs of their houses and seizing any weapons or bomb making equipment to be had. After all the houses are secured the poor Iraqis are told that none of their bids are high enough and the company moved on to the next village. Reckon they did it about 3 or 4 times before the word got out.
Picked up " The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, which is regarded as the most influential book to have exposed the horrors of the Communist regime.
Really enjoying this.
Just past an account of a local district conference where an authority was being officialized as the replacement of another who'd been arrested. By the end of the conference an appraisal of Stalin was called for and the small hall rose to a standing ovation. Three minutes went by and the people remained clapping their hands not sure when to stop. They were afraid of being called out for disrespect and thrown into the labor camps. 8 minutes, people at the back resorted to clapping less enthusiastically but the ones in the front didnt have the same luck. No one, including people on the platform, knew when to stop while everyone hoped for someone to chance it first before they collapsed so the crowd could follow. At the 11th minute of insufferably silly applauses the paper factory owner stops in his business man attitude and the crowd follows. And this was how they discovered who the independent people were. The man was was thown into the gulag for a 10 year sentence, allegedly for another cause. But when signing the last document on his arrest his interrogator reminded him :"don't ever be the first to stop applauding".
Sheer insanity!
I've read 'a day in the life of Iván Denisovich' by him, which is quite short but startling. Similar to 'Angelas Ashes', it certainly makes you more appreciative of your grub.
I have both of those here in the 'retirement reading' pile.
Quote from: O Drighes on May 20, 2020, 10:59:23 AM
Picked up " The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, which is regarded as the most influential book to have exposed the horrors of the Communist regime.
Really enjoying this.
Just past an account of a local district conference where an authority was being officialized as the replacement of another who'd been arrested. By the end of the conference an appraisal of Stalin was called for and the small hall rose to a standing ovation. Three minutes went by and the people remained clapping their hands not sure when to stop. They were afraid of being called out for disrespect and thrown into the labor camps. 8 minutes, people at the back resorted to clapping less enthusiastically but the ones in the front didnt have the same luck. No one, including people on the platform, knew when to stop while everyone hoped for someone to chance it first before they collapsed so the crowd could follow. At the 11th minute of insufferably silly applauses the paper factory owner stops in his business man attitude and the crowd follows. And this was how they discovered who the independent people were. The man was was thown into the gulag for a 10 year sentence, allegedly for another cause. But when signing the last document on his arrest his interrogator reminded him :"don't ever be the first to stop applauding".
Sheer insanity!
Fucking hell. Can you imagine the next round of clapping after word of that got out? You'd basically be clapping for your life
That's the way of things in North Korea now, isn't it?
Eh? The boys look delighted to be there.
Quote from: O Drighes on May 20, 2020, 10:59:23 AM
Picked up " The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, which is regarded as the most influential book to have exposed the horrors of the Communist regime.
Sheer insanity!
Have had the audiobook for a few years now only listened to a bit but must get back to it. It is actually hard to get through because in some parts you think this has to be made up. Sheer insanity indeed especially when you think this is the type of Government some people want to have back in power nowadays.
(https://miro.medium.com/proxy/0*9xvLTTK5EFEBnGG5.jpg)
Just finished the Silmarillion yesterday. An excellent read. The creation myth sections are beautiful, the song of the supreme deity brings existence into being. The songs and harmonies of the lesser deities shaping and supporting the creation of the world.
What is a bit more difficult is the start of the Quenta Silmarillion with all of its myriad names.
As a complete change of flavour I've started on Porno by Irvine Welsh. I already really like it, his narrative voice is great, immediately addictive.
*double post
Porno is great. Trainspotting is phenomenal if you haven't read it.
Ah yeah an absolute 90s classic. I read skagboys too when it came out. Somehow Porno eluded me for years. I also have The Blade Artist ready to go on the shelf for after Porno.
I feel like I need a wash after reading Sick boy chapters :laugh: dirty scheming bastard!
Must pick up Porno actually. Love a bit of Welsh, in particular Filth, The Bedroom Secrets of Master Chefs, and Acid House. Have a couple others of his here on the shelf I still need to get through.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Begby is one of the most terrifying villains I've ever read. What a character.
I've read almost everything of his. Filth is just amazing, so vulgar and hilarious at the same time.
I sent my auld lad (a bit prudish) a copy from book depository anonymously, a la Sick Boy sending the gay porn to Begbie in prison. I've been fishing for info on calls home to the mother, she isn't letting on though....
I finally put the final nail in the coffin of Apeirogon by Colum McCann and I must admit, I found it a slog. The two central stories are great and of he'd focused entirely on those, thus cutting the book down by approximately two thirds, it would have been massively moving to read. As it is, bulked to the shitter with unnecessary fluff, padding and, I don't know, artistry maybe (?), it's just a lumpen trudge. No doubt a prize winner in the making for being so 'ambitious', but I found much of it tedious and irrelevant.
Up next, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. This one looks more promising to my simple brain.
John Williams: Stoner. You know you're reading greatness when you're not counting the pages to the end of the book and it creeps up on you without any stress or anxiety to finish it.
Some writers are great at telling an oul yarn, a story. If I want a story I can hear plenty down the pub. With great literature, the story is merely a tool within which to explore the majesty of language, going beyond the mere beginning, middle and an end with a couple of twists in between. Another book that has left its mark on me..a joy to read.
Butcher's Crossing just arrived in the post..eager to start reading it.
Started the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Loving it so far. Good, dirty, character driven fantasy.
Porno's a good read, alright. A bit long, but I don't mind spending time in the company of those characters. I think of Trainspotting as Welsh's EastEnders. Skagboys is probably the most moving of the bunch, actually. Anyone who likes Trainspotting should give it a read.
Did ye bring the cairds?
Same here! Bought the trilogy after someone on here mentioned it just at a time when I was looking to check out an author I'd never read before.
Just finishing up book 2 now. It's enjoyable alright though highly derivative of LOTR at times, I even have Glokta pictured as Sean Bean and Major West as Viggo Mortensen in my head. Ferro though has morphed into a young ,spiky haired Anna Friel somehow :laugh:
Yess lads I'm glad ye are enjoying the First Law. Glokta was my favourite character overall. Highly intelligent and always drawing up his own conclusions inside his head - usually for the worst. I'm not sure about the LOTR comparison, but I have never read those books so I dunno. Well technically I didn't read The First Law either, I listened to it, but I don't think I ever thought about LOTR once during it. Ferro is a fucking badass, albeit somewhat moody and obsessed with revenge. Logan is an all round nice guy, The Bloody Nine is merciless!
Skagboys is a quality read too as is Glue, I must get around to some of the others. Begby is a fucking monster alright, I'd love to have heard him sing that time, apparently he has the voice of an angel :laugh:
I slogged to the end of the second book of the Mars Trilogy and I don't think I'll bother with the third. It's an admirable piece of work really, but it doesn't really grip me. I'll get the gist of it off a mate of mine who's near the end of the third book and that's good enough for me.
Today I finished listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, having read the previous books some 20 years ago. Not ashamed to admit that I cried like a little bitch when a particular death occured :'(
I'm currently reading The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. I saw the film back in 2017 and it was so shit that I've forgotten everything about it, so there should be no surprises. I've read almost the entire Harry Hole series, but I have read them all in a completely random order. He's a good lad is our Harry, has an alright taste of music too.
Fuppin' hell,I have all the Hole books on the shelves too though could never quite mentally separate the character from Kenneth Brannagh's Wallander.
No shaven (headed) Hole for me.
.
.
Quote from: Thorn on June 12, 2020, 02:54:06 AM
Fuppin' hell,I have all the Hole books on the shelves too though could never quite mentally separate the character from Kenneth Brannagh's Wallander.
No shaven (headed) Hole for me.
The Branagh Wallanders were disappointing. Krister Henriksson made that role his own.
Read Eddie Izzard and Amy Poehler's autobiographies over the past few weeks. Neither fantastic. Nor that funny either, Izzard's book not at all.
Just about to finish Ronan Farrow's "Catch & Kill" - excellent , it reads like a thriller. Great writing and reporting.
I've had "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" on my to-read shelf for while now. Might chance one of those next.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 12, 2020, 12:32:30 PM
Read Eddie Izzard and Amy Poehler's autobiographies over the past few weeks. Neither fantastic. Nor that funny either, Izzard's book not at all.
Just about to finish Ronan Farrow's "Catch & Kill" - excellent , it reads like a thriller. Great writing and reporting.
I've had "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" on my to-read shelf for while now. Might chance one of those next.
when you're young a lot of comedians seem pretty interesting and witty and edgy, and you get older and it's just shocking you were ever into them. I had this with Izzard about 10 years ago, Bill Bailey 5 years ago, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Stewart Lee.
also related- comedians themselves as people are often not funny at all, whereas non comedians often write incredibly funny books, just something I've noticed over the years.
I finished Porno last weekend and really enjoyed it. Funny and disgusting in equal turns. I then went on to The Blade Artist and finished it yesterday. It really split my opinion, on the one hand it's a hard boiled crime story that clips along nicely. But on the other its completely humourless, with a lot of the prose feeling a bit lazy and out of place with the characters.
It's written from a third person perspective, unlike Trainspotting, Porno and Skagboys' more personal narrative form. It was a bit annoying to see the plot twist coming from a mile off as well.
In saying that, it's worth reading to follow up on Begby and I do think I'll read the last book of those characters, Dead Men's Trousers.
I started Filth last night and am enjoying it so far. Also reading Hostia and The Sinister Tradition by The Order of Nine Angles. Mental stuff indeed.
Quote from: mugz on June 12, 2020, 12:52:18 PM
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 12, 2020, 12:32:30 PM
Read Eddie Izzard and Amy Poehler's autobiographies over the past few weeks. Neither fantastic. Nor that funny either, Izzard's book not at all.
Just about to finish Ronan Farrow's "Catch & Kill" - excellent , it reads like a thriller. Great writing and reporting.
I've had "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" on my to-read shelf for while now. Might chance one of those next.
when you're young a lot of comedians seem pretty interesting and witty and edgy, and you get older and it's just shocking you were ever into them. I had this with Izzard about 10 years ago, Bill Bailey 5 years ago, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Stewart Lee.
also related- comedians themselves as people are often not funny at all, whereas non comedians often write incredibly funny books, just something I've noticed over the years.
Oh hell yes.
Bill Bailey's the big one for me. His stand up has aged horrendously, but when I was an 18 year old stoner I thought him doing the BBC News theme on the synth was the pinnacle of comedy. Hicks and Connolly I still love, but more because I just enjoy listening to them. I don't laugh out loud at Hick's stuff at all, really. Stewart Lee's more interesting when he's writing about other things. His Guardian, thinking man's comedy shtick is fucking awful. "Russell Brand. Bit shite, in't he?"
Bill Burr and Doug Stanhope are the two guys who still genuinely make me laugh out loud.
And aye, Scáthach, I'd move on to Dead Men's Trousers if you like being in the company of those characters. Maybe the weakest of the books, but an entertaining read you'd manage in a sitting or two. I quite liked T2, actually. Thought it was brilliant how they used the fact that it was playing on nostalgia and would never be as good as the original as a sort of overriding plot device.
Quote from: Airneanach on June 12, 2020, 06:09:33 PM
Quote from: mugz on June 12, 2020, 12:52:18 PM
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 12, 2020, 12:32:30 PM
Read Eddie Izzard and Amy Poehler's autobiographies over the past few weeks. Neither fantastic. Nor that funny either, Izzard's book not at all.
Just about to finish Ronan Farrow's "Catch & Kill" - excellent , it reads like a thriller. Great writing and reporting.
I've had "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" on my to-read shelf for while now. Might chance one of those next.
when you're young a lot of comedians seem pretty interesting and witty and edgy, and you get older and it's just shocking you were ever into them. I had this with Izzard about 10 years ago, Bill Bailey 5 years ago, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Stewart Lee.
also related- comedians themselves as people are often not funny at all, whereas non comedians often write incredibly funny books, just something I've noticed over the years.
Oh hell yes.
Bill Bailey's the big one for me. His stand up has aged horrendously, but when I was an 18 year old stoner I thought him doing the BBC News theme on the synth was the pinnacle of comedy. Hicks and Connolly I still love, but more because I just enjoy listening to them. I don't laugh out loud at Hick's stuff at all, really. Stewart Lee's more interesting when he's writing about other things. His Guardian, thinking man's comedy shtick is fucking awful. "Russell Brand. Bit shite, in't he?"
Bill Burr and Doug Stanhope are the two guys who still genuinely make me laugh out loud.
And aye, Scáthach, I'd move on to Dead Men's Trousers if you like being in the company of those characters. Maybe the weakest of the books, but an entertaining read you'd manage in a sitting or two. I quite liked T2, actually. Thought it was brilliant how they used the fact that it was playing on nostalgia and would never be as good as the original as a sort of overriding plot device.
the older I get the more I realise there's a curse in being moderately but not exceptionally bright. Liking stuff that turns out to be poor is a symptom, feeling that the joke's on you, feeling terrified of death all the time every day, being unable to find any cultural things that feel like 'home' anymore...
you may be exceptionally bright by the way, not trying to drag you down to my level ;)
Why we sleep - Matthew Walker
Quote from: mugz on June 12, 2020, 06:48:40 PM
Quote from: Airneanach on June 12, 2020, 06:09:33 PM
Quote from: mugz on June 12, 2020, 12:52:18 PM
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 12, 2020, 12:32:30 PM
Read Eddie Izzard and Amy Poehler's autobiographies over the past few weeks. Neither fantastic. Nor that funny either, Izzard's book not at all.
Just about to finish Ronan Farrow's "Catch & Kill" - excellent , it reads like a thriller. Great writing and reporting.
I've had "Berlin" and "Stalingrad" on my to-read shelf for while now. Might chance one of those next.
when you're young a lot of comedians seem pretty interesting and witty and edgy, and you get older and it's just shocking you were ever into them. I had this with Izzard about 10 years ago, Bill Bailey 5 years ago, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Stewart Lee.
also related- comedians themselves as people are often not funny at all, whereas non comedians often write incredibly funny books, just something I've noticed over the years.
Oh hell yes.
Bill Bailey's the big one for me. His stand up has aged horrendously, but when I was an 18 year old stoner I thought him doing the BBC News theme on the synth was the pinnacle of comedy. Hicks and Connolly I still love, but more because I just enjoy listening to them. I don't laugh out loud at Hick's stuff at all, really. Stewart Lee's more interesting when he's writing about other things. His Guardian, thinking man's comedy shtick is fucking awful. "Russell Brand. Bit shite, in't he?"
Bill Burr and Doug Stanhope are the two guys who still genuinely make me laugh out loud.
And aye, Scáthach, I'd move on to Dead Men's Trousers if you like being in the company of those characters. Maybe the weakest of the books, but an entertaining read you'd manage in a sitting or two. I quite liked T2, actually. Thought it was brilliant how they used the fact that it was playing on nostalgia and would never be as good as the original as a sort of overriding plot device.
the older I get the more I realise there's a curse in being moderately but not exceptionally bright. Liking stuff that turns out to be poor is a symptom, feeling that the joke's on you, feeling terrified of death all the time every day, being unable to find any cultural things that feel like 'home' anymore...
you may be exceptionally bright by the way, not trying to drag you down to my level ;)
Book thread lads
The Blade Artist was enjoyable in its own right, I thought, but not a patch on the earlier stuff. I read Dead Man's Trousers but cent remember anything about it off the top of my head. I think I liked it, though... Have you read Maribou Stork Nightmares? Thoroughly fucking twisted stuff.
I think I read Maribou Stork Nightmares years ago but can't quite remember it. I'm really enjoying Filth at the moment. D. S. Bruce Robertson is a whole other level of bastard. Like if Sick Boy was a copper, a proper piece of shit.
As mentioned T2 movie was enjoyable, though reading Porno it's blatantly obvious that they couldn't have done a scene for scene adaptation and still give it a general release. :laugh:
I'll definitely give Dead Men's Trousers a go soon too. Especially after the somewhat cliffhanger ending of The Blade Artist.
I watched Filth but haven't read it. I'll get on that.
Bunty turn off me gas!
By the way Ulysses is now out on RTE podcast. 18 parts. Listened to part 1 today. Excellent. Radio was fantastic in the 80s anyone remember Harbour Hotel?
I do, vaguely. And Auntie Poppy's Storytime for the kids.
Quote from: Don Gately on June 13, 2020, 09:42:09 PM
Bunty turn off me gas!
By the way Ulysses is now out on RTE podcast. 18 parts. Listened to part 1 today. Excellent. Radio was fantastic in the 80s anyone remember Harbour Hotel?
80s and first half of 90s radio was still an important medium. Really enjoyed it in the backgound of daily life in those days
Quote from: mugz on June 12, 2020, 12:52:18 PM
when you're young a lot of comedians seem pretty interesting and witty and edgy, and you get older and it's just shocking you were ever into them. I had this with Izzard about 10 years ago, Bill Bailey 5 years ago, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Stewart Lee.
also related- comedians themselves as people are often not funny at all, whereas non comedians often write incredibly funny books, just something I've noticed over the years.
I'd have to agree on the Bill Bailey thing. 25 years ago, I thought he was brilliant. The stuff hasn't aged well.
Hicks is an odd one. I thought his stuff was hilarious when I was in my early 20s - edgy, profane, the modern day Lenny Bruce and all that. But, much like Bruce, Bill Hicks without socio-political context isn't that funny. The conscience and ideology behind his material is admirable but not funny.
I still think that Stewart Lee is one of the greatest comedians around.
On topic - I definitely agree that non-comedians can write funnier autobiographies - Clive James and David Niven come to mind. I've just always been interested in the mechanics of comedy. Some stand-ups have written brilliant memoirs - David Cross, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, James Acaster, Steve Martin, Doug Stanhope - Stanhope's two books are incredible.
I'd submit Peter Ustinov's first autobiography (Dear Me) in the humourous category. Brilliant stuff.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 13, 2020, 08:13:44 PM
I watched Filth but haven't read it. I'll get on that.
It's probably to be expected, but the film doesn't even slightly get across the fucking sickness in the book.
Quote from: Carnage on June 15, 2020, 03:59:47 PM
I'd submit Peter Ustinov's first autobiography (Dear Me) in the humourous category. Brilliant stuff.
I'd be curious for a quick rundown if you're arsed
Eh, it's a standard autobio but very well written, witty and shows what an interesting life he had, even at an early age. His father was a diplomat, and he had high ranking German politicos to his house pre-WW2, in an effort to broker some kind of peace before it all kicked off, for instance.
It's presented as a back and forth between himself and... himself (I forget the details of the gimmick, I read it years ago) - hence the title - and is all the more interesting for it, as he deconstructs the major and minor events of his life from an objective viewpoint.
I'm sure a fine pinch of salt would go well with it but it's one of the most enjoyable biographies I've read over the years, I intend to read it again soon.
He was always a laugh in interviews. Although not comedians per se, all the examples given - Clive James, David Niven, Peter Ustinov - had an explicitly comic twist to their work.
A brilliant Parkinson/Ustinov compilation, well worth a watch:
https://youtu.be/SfxxEfdmn_Y
Remember when The Late Late Show had guests of this calibre (including him)?
Perhaps a sort of metonymic error in that criticism? Remember when there were celebrities of that calibre to interview, full stop! (Tbh, I have no idea what kind of person is invited on to the Late, Late Show these days.)
Any of you classics heads here read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy? I picked it up a couple of years ago having read a couple of very short extracts and reviews and am just about to get into it now for a proper look. Not quite sure what to expect, a kind of Anglo-Irish Voltaire or closer to Swift.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 15, 2020, 09:04:37 PM
Perhaps a sort of metonymic error in that criticism? Remember when there were celebrities of that calibre to interview, full stop! (Tbh, I have no idea what kind of person is invited on to the Late, Late Show these days.)
Touché. If you like reality show nobodies, Mario Rosenstock and whoever else they can find wandering around the RTE canteen, it's all gravy. Imagine the RTE Guide, but moving. Fucking Tubridy is unwatchable, even worse than Kenny, if you can believe that.
The RTE Guide but moving...haha, what an image!
Getting stuck into Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain. Only thirty pages in but it's off to an absurd start anyway. It feels like Lincoln in the Bardo turned up to 11!
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 15, 2020, 10:41:26 PM
Getting stuck into Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain. Only thirty pages in but it's off to an absurd start anyway. It feels like Lincoln in the Bardo turned up to 11!
Cool. There is a film of that. A bit like Waiting for Godot in a graveyard.
I'll see how I get on with the book. If it doesn't melt my head I'll keep an eye out for the film.
just rereading house of leaves; figured it wouldn't be as awesome now, having got old, the world having changed, but it turns out it's still very good.
Finished Filth on Thursday and it was fantastic, prime Welsh.
Also finished 2 books of O9A stuff (Hostia and The Sinister Tradition). Absolute batshit crazy gobbledegook, but it satisfied my curiosity about the Order of Nine Angles.
Currently rereading The Luckiest Guy Alive by John Cooper Clarke. He's fucking hilarious and always lifts my mood.
Quote from: Scáthach on June 21, 2020, 08:32:41 PM
Finished Filth on Thursday and it was fantastic, prime Welsh.
Also finished 2 books of O9A stuff (Hostia and The Sinister Tradition). Absolute batshit crazy gobbledegook, but it satisfied my curiosity about the Order of Nine Angles.
Currently rereading The Luckiest Guy Alive by John Cooper Clarke. He's fucking hilarious and always lifts my mood.
can you summarise the o9a stuff- I'm only after reading a small bit about it in metal hammer of all places
Quote from: mugz on June 22, 2020, 04:23:34 AM
Quote from: Scáthach on June 21, 2020, 08:32:41 PM
Finished Filth on Thursday and it was fantastic, prime Welsh.
Also finished 2 books of O9A stuff (Hostia and The Sinister Tradition). Absolute batshit crazy gobbledegook, but it satisfied my curiosity about the Order of Nine Angles.
Currently rereading The Luckiest Guy Alive by John Cooper Clarke. He's fucking hilarious and always lifts my mood.
can you summarise the o9a stuff- I'm only after reading a small bit about it in metal hammer of all places
never mind, it's all the usual geek-psychopathy stuff
Yeah I have those O9A books too, it's been a while but it seems Evola-esque in some ways. I can't remember exactly, but having read the O9A books, then Revolt Against the Modern World, I twigged some similarities in the phrasing of things, which made me ponder a connection.
The 7FW is a bit of a Nietzschean Übermensch style pursuit it seems. The physical challenges intrigued me a bit, as well as the primitive hunting requirements. Having ran marathons, and a keen interest in bush craft and outdoor survival, both seemed interesting.
The first three stages (Neophyte, Initiate, External Adept), seem to correspond with Calcination, Dissolution and Separation in alchemy, coming under the umbrella of the Nigredo phase. Almost akin to becoming acquainted with your Shadow, in Jung's terminology.
The next three (Internal Adept, Master, Grand Master) corresponding with Conjuction, Fermentation, and Distillation, or the Albedo phase.
Finally Immortal being the Coagulation or Rubedo phase.
I also enjoyed trying to figure out the symbolism in things like the Ceremony of Recalling.
Overall it's such a mad mix of Evola, Nietsche, and Jung, along with practical requirements, symbolism, Satanism, Paganism, and astronomy among other things, I can't help find it fascinating, if only for the amount of thought that seems to have gone into it. A quick search online will show just how prolific the writing has been.
The antinomian aspects do seem akin to other teachings such as Sabbatean Frankism, so I'm really not sure what to make of it.
Overall, having looked at it for a while some time ago, I'm honestly none the wiser about what it all tries to get across.
But, we should definitely bring back duelling.
Quote from: Bigmac on June 22, 2020, 12:25:20 PM
Yeah I have those O9A books too, it's been a while but it seems Evola-esque in some ways. I can't remember exactly, but having read the O9A books, then Revolt Against the Modern World, I twigged some similarities in the phrasing of things, which made me ponder a connection.
The 7FW is a bit of a Nietzschean Übermensch style pursuit it seems. The physical challenges intrigued me a bit, as well as the primitive hunting requirements. Having ran marathons, and a keen interest in bush craft and outdoor survival, both seemed interesting.
The first three stages (Neophyte, Initiate, External Adept), seem to correspond with Calcination, Dissolution and Separation in alchemy, coming under the umbrella of the Nigredo phase. Almost akin to becoming acquainted with your Shadow, in Jung's terminology.
The next three (Internal Adept, Master, Grand Master) corresponding with Conjuction, Fermentation, and Distillation, or the Albedo phase.
Finally Immortal being the Coagulation or Rubedo phase.
I also enjoyed trying to figure out the symbolism in things like the Ceremony of Recalling.
Overall it's such a mad mix of Evola, Nietsche, and Jung, along with practical requirements, symbolism, Satanism, Paganism, and astronomy among other things, I can't help find it fascinating, if only for the amount of thought that seems to have gone into it. A quick search online will show just how prolific the writing has been.
The antinomian aspects do seem akin to other teachings such as Sabbatean Frankism, so I'm really not sure what to make of it.
Overall, having looked at it for a while some time ago, I'm honestly none the wiser about what it all tries to get across.
But, we should definitely bring back duelling.
You reach a point where it becomes predictable. Behind the variations, it's usually the same basket of tropes, rituals, terminologies.
I'm getting to the point where I realise how little I know about the world, but also there's a point where the creepiness and dislocation becomes so much, finding out more seems too much work.
What is that basket, then?
One thing that didn't seem to click is that it states it's a very old tradition, the Rounwytha part in particular seems to claim very old heritage, but given National Socialism plays such a prominent role, that part at least can't predate National Socialist Germany.
It could be that it's the most useful tool in our current times, the way to connect to the darkest parts of ourselves and integrate them as per the Individuation process, and it took other forms in previous incarnations.
Interesting to ponder all the same.
Quote from: Bigmac on June 22, 2020, 02:06:33 PM
What is that basket, then?
One thing that didn't seem to click is that it states it's a very old tradition, the Rounwytha part in particular seems to claim very old heritage, but given National Socialism plays such a prominent role, that part at least can't predate National Socialist Germany.
It could be that it's the most useful tool in our current times, the way to connect to the darkest parts of ourselves and integrate them as per the Individuation process, and it took other forms in previous incarnations.
Interesting to ponder all the same.
I dunno, shadowside integration, karmic debts through reincarnations, the moon, the sun, the dark, the light, the black, the white, self mastery, reconnection to nature, eugenics, transcending societal mores, solve et coagula, hierarchies, breaking things down, recombining them, primal forces, primal entities etc
That usually makes up the general shape of things, even though they change the names here and there. Jung, Evola, Pike, all the doods. it was a big learning experience for me a while ago, but then I realised it's kind of both weird
and dull.
That seems like a fairly succinct summation, actually.
But yeah, I get what you mean about many different belief systems or traditions etc having common threads.
I often think that they are perhaps just different paths up the same mountain, all arriving eventually to the same peak. Or an origin of light, passing through a kaleidoscope of culture or similar, producing different explanations as to what the light source is, but ultimately describing the same Oneness or origin.
Though it's far too dense a topic to visualise so simply.
Yeah, you might as well just read the Illuminatus! Trilogy along with the appendices. You'll learn the essential of the stuff all the while maintaining the perspective of humour and the absurd.
Secret societies, Hitler, and human sacrifice... I'm in.
Quote from: Bigmac on June 22, 2020, 02:45:10 PM
That seems like a fairly succinct summation, actually.
But yeah, I get what you mean about many different belief systems or traditions etc having common threads.
I often think that they are perhaps just different paths up the same mountain, all arriving eventually to the same peak. Or an origin of light, passing through a kaleidoscope of culture or similar, producing different explanations as to what the light source is, but ultimately describing the same Oneness or origin.
Though it's far too dense a topic to visualise so simply.
I have the idea that we're being given a certain level of stuff to discover, but I wonder how bad things really are when you know all the stuff after that level.
Yeah the O9A stuff is a bit Gardnerian Witchcraft, a bit Crowley and a bit LaVey, in terms of the Ritual or magick side of things. As far as flavour, H. P. Lovecraft, Rosemary's Baby and SAS training seem to be influences. Oh and Star Trek chess and white supremacy. (and Evola, as mentioned above)
The guy that wrote most of it was the bodyguard of Colin Jordan of Combat 18. In the 90s he converted to radical Islam. He's a complete fruitloop.
I had previously read about them in Nicholas Goodrick Clarkes excellent book The Black Sun. Its a study of paganism / Heathen groups and their appropriation by fringe elements of both the far left and far right political groups. Also showing some interesting cases of "the horseshoe effect".
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 22, 2020, 03:09:17 PM
Yeah, you might as well just read the Illuminatus! Trilogy along with the appendices. You'll learn the essential of the stuff all the while maintaining the perspective of humour and the absurd.
Absolutely love that book, along with his Schrodingers Cat trilogy. My first time reading Illuminatus! was in 2001,about halfway through reading, the twin towers and pentagon were attacked on September 11th. I seriously considered making a tinfoil hat for myself. :laugh:
I just finished the science portion of What is Life, and I managed, with quite some effort, to wrap my head around a decent amount of it which was a pleasant surprise. Looks like I'm wading into the philosophical part next which will either be easier to follow or will be the death of me. Let's find out!
Picked up Klaus Kinski's autobiography by chance earlier, didn't know such a thing existed. I expect a wild ride, even allowing for the inevitable huge swathes of ego and exaggeration.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 22, 2020, 10:29:46 PM
I just finished the science portion of What is Life, and I managed, with quite some effort, to wrap my head around a decent amount of it which was a pleasant surprise. Looks like I'm wading into the philosophical part next which will either be easier to follow or will be the death of me. Let's find out!
if you mean the Schrodinger book, fair play
Seeing as it's the weekend and I'm feeling particularly wild I'm treating myself to starting another book. Can't beat a bit of juggling!
The Count of Monty Cristo, let's go!
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 03, 2020, 10:23:55 PM
Seeing as it's the weekend and I'm feeling particularly wild I'm treating myself to starting another book. Can't beat a bit of juggling!
The Count of Monty Cristo, let's go!
it's funny getting old, it's not funny, but disconcerting
Finally cracked into The White Goddess by Robert Graves last week. I really enjoy his writing, beautiful yet succinct. It also set me off reading a book about Irish trees and the Ogham alphabet. Fascinating stuff.
Quote from: Scáthach on July 07, 2020, 04:46:57 PM
Finally cracked into The White Goddess by Robert Graves last week. I really enjoy his writing, beautiful yet succinct. It also set me off reading a book about Irish trees and the Ogham alphabet. Fascinating stuff.
can you stick up some blurb about the trees & ogham book? they both fall under 'mystical Ireland' but I hadn't considered the two topics side by side.
Sure. It's Irish Trees - Myths, Legends & Folklore by Niall Mac Coitir. It's a nice one, lovely botanical watercolour images of the trees and seeds/fruits and quite scholarly with regards to providing references and so on.
Each Ogham letter is matched with a time of year and native tree or Bush, along with various mnemonics and glosses.
For example letter Nin ascribed to the cherry tree, late Spring and early Summer. One of the medieval glosses given is costud síde, translated as, sustenance of the otherworld. Interesting stuff
Quote from: Scáthach on July 07, 2020, 08:20:45 PM
Sure. It's Irish Trees - Myths, Legends & Folklore by Niall Mac Coitir. It's a nice one, lovely botanical watercolour images of the trees and seeds/fruits and quite scholarly with regards to providing references and so on.
Each Ogham letter is matched with a time of year and native tree or Bush, along with various mnemonics and glosses.
For example letter Nin ascribed to the cherry tree, late Spring and early Summer. One of the medieval glosses given is costud síde, translated as, sustenance of the otherworld. Interesting stuff
that sounds like just my thing. Ogham has a lot going on, this country's falling down with it, but for some reason it's not as well known as it should be.
I'm reading Andy Lee's autobiography "Fighter". Very good book.
I've also ordered "Last Exit to Brooklyn". Read this years ago, great book but it literally fell apart in my hands.
I'm wading through the Dune trilogy. I struggled a bit to get to grips with the first, having to read some parts 2 and 3 times to get the hang of it, but around 150 pages in, it clicked nicely and I've been devouring it since. On Children of Dune now about halfway through and it's class. Dune Messiah was also brilliant. I can already see myself taking a second read of these.
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 09:38:07 PM
I'm wading through the Dune trilogy. I struggled a bit to get to grips with the first, having to read some parts 2 and 3 times to get the hang of it, but around 150 pages in, it clicked nicely and I've been devouring it since. On Children of Dune now about halfway through and it's class. Dune Messiah was also brilliant. I can already see myself taking a second read of these.
there's 2347 tv films or series of Dune so you can follow up that stuff for days.
I've only seen the Lynch Movie, and having not read any of the books at the time, it was visual double dutch but I can understand why now.
its not userfriendly , but then scifi is often a bit inelegant- you know yourself, great concepts, clunky prose
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 09:38:07 PM
I'm wading through the Dune trilogy.
There are six books. Was it originally a trilogy, and then followed up by another trilogy?
I'm about 80 pages into Children Of Dune, got distracted a couple of weeks ago and haven't gotten back to it since.
I actually don't know without looking it up, I just bought the Dune Trilogy on Amazon and that's as far as I know. Be grand if there are another three to look forward to after this one, as long as the quality stays up
There's 8 or 9 in the series, but Frank Herbert's son wrote the last couple so there's a noticeable difference in style.
Did he do the first 6 himself? I'm not surprised someone couldn't imitate the style properly, there's some really great mental flexing going on there in places. Some of the passages are utterly brilliant and very thought-provoking
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:11:37 PM
Did he do the first 6 himself? I'm not surprised someone couldn't imitate the style properly, there's some really great mental flexing going on there in places. Some of the passages are utterly brilliant and very thought-provoking
arakis is where we live btw
Ya, he died before he finished the series but his son used outlines and had discussions about the direction. It's very deep alright but the son's ones are much lighter, for good or ill....
Mugz, either take significantly more or perhaps less drugs.
Quote from: Emphyrio on July 08, 2020, 10:22:59 PM
Mugz, either take significantly more or perhaps less drugs.
well I mean Dune is clearly allegorical, whether it's just scifi Marxism, or a simple revelation about corporation Earth, I couldn't say
Quote from: mugz on July 08, 2020, 10:20:21 PM
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:11:37 PM
Did he do the first 6 himself? I'm not surprised someone couldn't imitate the style properly, there's some really great mental flexing going on there in places. Some of the passages are utterly brilliant and very thought-provoking
arakis is where we live btw
Yeah I copped it was analogous very early in the book
Quote from: Emphyrio on July 08, 2020, 10:22:15 PM
Ya, he died before he finished the series but his son used outlines and had discussions about the direction. It's very deep alright but the son's ones are much lighter, for good or ill....
Fuck it, if I get the first 6 in to me, I won't be able to resist going on I always want to know what happens next.
Actually in general if I like a book, it always kills me to get to the end. I always think, but where did it end up after that fuck sake. When they go off into the sunset I want to know what is going on in the sunset. Even ones with a proper final ending I want to know what happened next in that universe even if the protagonists are well finished off.
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:27:38 PM
Quote from: mugz on July 08, 2020, 10:20:21 PM
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:11:37 PM
Did he do the first 6 himself? I'm not surprised someone couldn't imitate the style properly, there's some really great mental flexing going on there in places. Some of the passages are utterly brilliant and very thought-provoking
arakis is where we live btw
Yeah I copped it was analogous very early in the book
Quote from: Emphyrio on July 08, 2020, 10:22:15 PM
Ya, he died before he finished the series but his son used outlines and had discussions about the direction. It's very deep alright but the son's ones are much lighter, for good or ill....
Fuck it, if I get the first 6 in to me, I won't be able to resist going on I always want to know what happens next.
Actually in general if I like a book, it always kills me to get to the end. I always think, but where did it end up after that fuck sake. When they go off into the sunset I want to know what is going on in the sunset. Even ones with a proper final ending I want to know what happened next in that universe even if the protagonists are well finished off.
it's always the first half of a book that's the best, it seems almost impossible to make an ending match the concepts and small implications of a narrative when it's just starting out.
what do you think will happen to Emphyrio when he discovers basically ALL books and films and music are partly distractions, partly a means for reflection, and partly ways of telling you where you live? there's almost no way in which anything couldn't be allegorical really.
Dune: I've read the first 5 and the 6th is om the shelf. Just too bloody hot for reading where I am but intending to finish it. Conceptually they're amazing. Yes, sometimes the actual writing can be a bit of a letdown. But overall very much worth reading beyond the first book. The end of the first book is so, almost typical, once you move on and begin deconstructing it, well it kills the magic and adds to it also. Huge references to Nietzsche, Campbell, Jung, Freud, Christ, Buddha, Islam, psychology, religion, society, ecology, all sorts of cool and interesting shit that it can lead you down roads I, for one, never believed sci fi could lead me. I will definitely read them again some day. What I've read so far had a huge effect on me.
Quote from: mugz on July 08, 2020, 10:33:01 PM
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:27:38 PM
Quote from: mugz on July 08, 2020, 10:20:21 PM
Quote from: astfgyl on July 08, 2020, 10:11:37 PM
Did he do the first 6 himself? I'm not surprised someone couldn't imitate the style properly, there's some really great mental flexing going on there in places. Some of the passages are utterly brilliant and very thought-provoking
arakis is where we live btw
Yeah I copped it was analogous very early in the book
Quote from: Emphyrio on July 08, 2020, 10:22:15 PM
Ya, he died before he finished the series but his son used outlines and had discussions about the direction. It's very deep alright but the son's ones are much lighter, for good or ill....
Fuck it, if I get the first 6 in to me, I won't be able to resist going on I always want to know what happens next.
Actually in general if I like a book, it always kills me to get to the end. I always think, but where did it end up after that fuck sake. When they go off into the sunset I want to know what is going on in the sunset. Even ones with a proper final ending I want to know what happened next in that universe even if the protagonists are well finished off.
it's always the first half of a book that's the best, it seems almost impossible to make an ending match the concepts and small implications of a narrative when it's just starting out.
what do you think will happen to Emphyrio when he discovers basically ALL books and films and music are partly distractions, partly a means for reflection, and partly ways of telling you where you live? there's almost no way in which anything couldn't be allegorical really.
Fortunately I'm in the Goldilocks zone where I neither seek to understand more than my lot or worry about not knowing enough about it. Find joy where you can, it is there to be found.
Quote from: Pedrito on July 08, 2020, 11:24:21 PM
Dune: I've read the first 5 and the 6th is om the shelf. Just too bloody hot for reading where I am but intending to finish it. Conceptually they're amazing. Yes, sometimes the actual writing can be a bit of a letdown. But overall very much worth reading beyond the first book. The end of the first book is so, almost typical, once you move on and begin deconstructing it, well it kills the magic and adds to it also. Huge references to Nietzsche, Campbell, Jung, Freud, Christ, Buddha, Islam, psychology, religion, society, ecology, all sorts of cool and interesting shit that it can lead you down roads I, for one, never believed sci fi could lead me. I will definitely read them again some day. What I've read so far had a huge effect on me.
Do you find it's a letdown at times because it's so convoluted? Like I had to read certain parts of the first book 2 or 3 times before I got the hang of it. I'm only on book 3 at the minute but I'm flying through it now
Hmmm maybe I didn't choose my words well. The story doesn't hop off the page the further you read, I suppose, but it's definitely worth sticking with. The first three are very cool. God Emperor is a very different read altogether. Slower and really getting into the 'why' of things. It's really good, but very different. I enjoyed the 5th too. I'd honestly say just keep going if you're enjoying so far.
Quote from: astfgyl on July 09, 2020, 03:53:47 PM
Quote from: Pedrito on July 08, 2020, 11:24:21 PM
Dune: I've read the first 5 and the 6th is om the shelf. Just too bloody hot for reading where I am but intending to finish it. Conceptually they're amazing. Yes, sometimes the actual writing can be a bit of a letdown. But overall very much worth reading beyond the first book. The end of the first book is so, almost typical, once you move on and begin deconstructing it, well it kills the magic and adds to it also. Huge references to Nietzsche, Campbell, Jung, Freud, Christ, Buddha, Islam, psychology, religion, society, ecology, all sorts of cool and interesting shit that it can lead you down roads I, for one, never believed sci fi could lead me. I will definitely read them again some day. What I've read so far had a huge effect on me.
Do you find it's a letdown at times because it's so convoluted? Like I had to read certain parts of the first book 2 or 3 times before I got the hang of it. I'm only on book 3 at the minute but I'm flying through it now
it's toss up whether it's better that stuff is written in the language style of the story itself, or in conventional English, telling that story from afar.
Quote from: Don Gately on July 08, 2020, 07:25:22 PM
I'm reading Andy Lee's autobiography "Fighter". Very good book.
I've also ordered "Last Exit to Brooklyn". Read this years ago, great book but it literally fell apart in my hands.
I still reckon the Teddy Atlas autobiography is the best boxing related book I read. Read duran's and a few others. Lee always struck me as boring.
Finally after all this years of knowing and hearing about it got around to reading "Junkie" by William Burroughs. Really liked it. On to Naked Lunch now, hasn't caught me in the same way yet.
Re-read Al Jourgensen's book again. How that man is still alive. I'd love Gibby Haynes to write an autobiography or Leary. But I think they have all really left that in the past.
Quote from: StrangersWithGuns on July 10, 2020, 01:33:16 PM
I still reckon the Teddy Atlas autobiography is the best boxing related book I read. Read duran's and a few others. Lee always struck me as boring.
Have you read Norman Mailer's "The Fight"? about The Rumble In The Jungle? Or "... Sting Like A Bee" by José Torres?
If you like books about boxing both of those are worth your time.
And also "Dark Trade" by Donald McRae. I would highly recommend this book.
Currently reading Mark Lanegan's memoir - "Sing Backwards & Weep" - it's good so far and fairly warts & all.
Well compared to Burroughs, Leary, Jorgensen et al, Lee is pretty straight laced!
Dark Trade is great as is Hugh McIlvanney on Boxing. The David Remnick book on Ali is excellent.
Mike Tyson autobiography well worth a read. A truly mental childhood and life
Read that Tyson one, it was indeed mental stuff
Re-read The Essential Kafka over the last couple of days.
I enjoyed it a lot more on the second read. I think my favourite out of it is The Trial, but all of the stories are very bad-dream-like. The ambiguity of it all made the re-reading very enjoyable anyway.
Ploughing through The Count of Monty Cristo and loving it. Going to begin Carmilla by J Sheridan la Fanu as my lunch time read tomorrow. When that gothic stuff is well done it's the business.
Quote from: astfgyl on July 19, 2020, 09:08:49 AM
Re-read The Essential Kafka over the last couple of days.
I enjoyed it a lot more on the second read. I think my favourite out of it is The Trial, but all of the stories are very bad-dream-like. The ambiguity of it all made the re-reading very enjoyable anyway.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I found it a slog, and it was a small book. Of course it was probably groundbreaking in its time.
I honestly think it's supposed to be a slog. A powerful work; the ending floors me by its bleakness every time I read it. The Metamorphosis and other short stories is a more "enjoyable" read.
Being considered one of the classic existentialist authors, tis quite funny there's a collection of his works called the "essential" Kafka.
Yes it is is meant to be a slog..good point. And in that regard it works very well. You're kinda worn out by the end of it.
I read Metamorphosis and thought it was shite. Just really made zero impact on me. Perhaps I read it too late in life.
First time reading it I didn't know what to make of it, but I've enjoyed it a lot more this time round. I don't even know if it is meant to have much impact beyond having several possible levels of bleakness to it.
The ending of The Trial is seriously grim, too.
Just wasn't enough titties and ridin in it for my liking
Finished Mark Lanegan's "Sing Backwards & Weep". It was good and Lurch has certainly lived a life but towards the end I was feeling a bit burned out by his constant descriptions of scoring heroin/dope sickness.
Started Woody Allen's "Apropos Of Nothing" last night. Very enjoyable so far, it clicks along like his best films. He has employed a Tristram Shandy-type device for the narrative. At least for the opening part anyway.
Read two J.G. Ballard ones: Empire of the Sun - set in a POW camp, partially autobiographical. Not great in all honesty, apart from the last page alluding to China quietly developing themselves into a superpower. Fairly prophetic.
The Drought - Fairly unexciting and bland too, as far as dystopian novels go.
I'd read one or two by him years ago and thought they were ok. I don't consider him much more than an also-ran in the scheme of things.
Jack Vance - Lyonesse up next.
Good film though, Empire of the Sun. Christian Bale's first ever starring role.
(I say "good" based on my assessment of it aged perhaps 12...haven't seen it since.)
Ya, I hadn't realised about the movie til I was nearly finished the book. Gonna throw it on in the next day or two.
There's a sequel too, it was on last night. I've forgotten the name already (The Kindness Of Women is the follow up book, but I think the film was an adaptation of both?).
Quote from: Pedrito on July 20, 2020, 09:12:57 AM
Just wasn't enough titties and ridin in it for my liking
He sort of alluded to a bit of riding here and there depending on how one interprets it :laugh:
I'm reading 'l'etranger' by Albert whatshisname in French from which I'm deriving very little pleasure. Means to an end, that's it.
Any of ye thespians enjoy reading in other languages? Can't say I've ever done, although an honourable mention to 'la sombra del viento'.
It's not as bad on kindle as it'll just translate words you don't understand but it's not always as simple as that, sadly.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on July 20, 2020, 04:07:23 PM
I'm reading 'l'etranger' by Albert whatshisname in French from which I'm deriving very little pleasure. Means to an end, that's it.
Any of ye thespians enjoy reading in other languages? Can't say I've ever done, although an honourable mention to 'la sombra del viento'.
It's not as bad on kindle as it'll just translate words you don't understand but it's not always as simple as that, sadly.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez..100 años de soledad and Amor en tiempos del.colera amongst others are beautiful in the ould Spangñol.
La.sombra a great read too. On the follow up and it's a slog tbh
I'm always late to the discussion, but regarding Kafka, The Trial and The Castle are two of my favourite novels. The nightmare like logic and feel is what I really enjoy. Metamorphosis I like too for its surrealism but I can't remember a single other short story in the collection.
For those interested, there's an excellent movie adaptation of The Trial by Orson Welles. It stars Anthony Perkins as Josef K and Welles as his advocate. Well worth a watch.
One I've been meaning to check out for about 20 years! Thanks for the reminder, going to root out a torrent right now
Quote from: Scáthach on July 21, 2020, 02:03:40 PM
I'm always late to the discussion, but regarding Kafka, The Trial and The Castle are two of my favourite novels. The nightmare like logic and feel is what I really enjoy. Metamorphosis I like too for its surrealism but I can't remember a single other short story in the collection.
For those interested, there's an excellent movie adaptation of The Trial by Orson Welles. It stars Anthony Perkins as Josef K and Welles as his advocate. Well worth a watch.
I wouldn't mind getting a look at that either. It'd be fascinating to see how it is brought to the screen. Surprised David Lynch hasn't had a go at a Kafka story yet actually. It might make more sense than his usual fare
Eraserhead is pretty close to being a Kafka story. Not a specific one, but it certainly has the feel of Kafka, with some additional odd humour.
There are certainly similarities in the sort of waking nightmare style they both have, and the leaving open to several interpretations with no real sense of resolution. I wonder if Lynch takes any inspiration from Kafka. It seems plausible enough that he would.
Agreed for sure, there's a shared sense of that in their works but with each having their own flavours.
While we're at it, I hate the phrase Kafka-esque, almost as annoying as Dickensian. Wrong thread maybe, but lazy critic shorthand gets my goat.
Finished Carmilla by J.T. Sheridan la Fanu earlier, which was most enjoyable.
Starting into Middlemarch by George Eliot now which looks like a brick I'll be hauling about for a few months to come.
How'd you get on with that Cre na Cille book? Quite like the sound of the premise. Hopefully have more time in the winter to get back into reading.
It's been sidelined at the minute for The Count. A bit of a trudge so far, to be honest, but I'll go back to it after and see.
Postwar - Tony Judth
I finally finished Robert Graves' The White Goddess yesterday, and unfortunately I cannot recommend it. The central idea, that there is evidence in myth, art and archaeology of an ancient cult of a triple Goddess, is sound enough. However, his so called proofs are nonsense and deliberate mangling of myth and philology to fit his narrative is really grating. It veers very close to the 'alternative history' guff of charlatanism. His sources are wholly unreliable in support of his 'facts', and where widely accepted readings of myth don't fit his narrative, he dismisses them as corrupt.
Even worse, he comes across as conceited and self aggrandising for much of the book, especially in the postscript and addendum.
The parts I did enjoy were the ancient Irish and Welsh bardic poetry that is included, like Hanes Taliesin, Llew Llaw Gyffes, Mad Sweeney and the Song of Amergin. The last one being familiar to fans of Primordial. The White Goddess also seems to have been a big influence on some of the best Sláine (2000AD) stories, like The Horned God, The Book of Invasions and the Robin Goodfellow stuff.
Butcher's Crossing by John Williams, what a great novel. As opposed to a rollercoaster style of writing, all thrills and spills, Williams' style is like venturing off in a kayak on an unknown river. Beauty and nature surround you and pass you by without need to overcontemplate things. Sometimes you'll hit some rapids, maybe you'll turn over and need to swim to shore. You're not quite sure where you'll end up and yet you never feel the need to wonder. An unusual writer and yet very familiar. Just wish he'd written more books.
Nice description. I'll have to check out his work.
Glad you enjoyed it Pedrito. I love it and have read it twice. Stoner is great too but completely different.
Ah yeah, I read Stoner. I can never remember the dude's name though.
Butcher's Crossing is a good Western tale, for fans of Deadwood and Cormac Mccarthy.
Quote from: Don Gately on August 07, 2020, 11:35:21 AM
Glad you enjoyed it Pedrito. I love it and have read it twice. Stoner is great too but completely different.
Cheets for the tip..was excellent!
Picked up Blindboy's book yesterday for 30 cent. Couple of stories in and it seems like a slightly poorer relation of Limmy's Daft Wee Stories.
You were robbed.
It's taken since the beginning of lockdown, but finally - due to reading almost every passage two or more times for various reasons- finished Paradise Lost this morning. A really fascinating piece of modern Western mythology. It's particularly interesting by its mention, at least twice, of the lengths to which the mind will go to make everything fit a narrative, have a given meaning, and so on, and yet the work itself consists of bending every which way in order to "justify the ways of God to men."
I'll have to read up on Milton now, because it doesn't feel impossible that he did this on purpose, from an agnostic or gnostic viewpoint, not a million miles away from Blake. Worth reading; our civilization is built on just such convolutions of logic, empiricism, reason, knowledge, and power.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on August 10, 2020, 03:43:41 PM
It's taken since the beginning of lockdown, but finally - due to reading almost every passage two or more times for various reasons- finished Paradise Lost this morning. A really fascinating piece of modern Western mythology. It's particularly interesting by its mention, at least twice, of the lengths to which the mind will go to make everything fit a narrative, have a given meaning, and so on, and yet the work itself consists of bending every which way in order to "justify the ways of God to men."
I'll have to read up on Milton now, because it doesn't feel impossible that he did this on purpose, from an agnostic or gnostic viewpoint, not a million miles away from Blake. Worth reading; our civilization is built on just such convolutions of logic, empiricism, reason, knowledge, and power.
Now you should read memnoch the devil by Anne rice if you haven't already.
I'm unlikely to do that, although something that's a bit more of a page turner would be welcome alright! :laugh:
It's literally her version of paradise lost and way better imo
Ah okay; thought maybe it was a vampire story influenced by it, haha. I'll check out the synopsis. Not saying Paradise Lost was amazing really, but an important piece in our collective unconsciousness.
Took 'Homage to Cataluña' by Orwell with me on holidays for a reread, his non-fiction is the most comforting, enjoyable literature there is. He did a lot of his 'fighting' in Huesca province where I am, I've been having a goo at a lot of the same places he did.
Chalk it down, ya.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on August 10, 2020, 03:43:41 PM
It's taken since the beginning of lockdown, but finally - due to reading almost every passage two or more times for various reasons- finished Paradise Lost this morning. A really fascinating piece of modern Western mythology. It's particularly interesting by its mention, at least twice, of the lengths to which the mind will go to make everything fit a narrative, have a given meaning, and so on, and yet the work itself consists of bending every which way in order to "justify the ways of God to men."
I'll have to read up on Milton now, because it doesn't feel impossible that he did this on purpose, from an agnostic or gnostic viewpoint, not a million miles away from Blake. Worth reading; our civilization is built on just such convolutions of logic, empiricism, reason, knowledge, and power.
I tried to listen to this on audiobook format but couldn't get into it at all. Which was a pity because I was expecting to love it, it being a big inspiration for Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials, which I love.
I'm big fan of Milton's Paradise Lost. I have a huge hardback edition with Gustav Doré artwork and it's one of my most treasured books. The illustrations were plundered by the Norwegian BM bands in the 90s (Looking at you, Emperor).
I really like his recasting of Lucifer as a Prometheus style antihero. The victim of a divine injustice whose hubris gets the better of him.
Currently rereading Gods and Fighting Men by Augusta Gregory and enjoying it.
Oh nice! I've only an aul Penguin Classics edition here, but a Doré illustrated version would be certainly worth it, if it's still in print.
Both Paradise Lost about 12yrs ago and still haven't tried it.
Bought Oliver Stone's autobiography/memoir on audible, i'm sure his politics divide a few, only a bit in but find it fascinating so far just how he see's and describes things as much as anything that actually happens, he really fancies his mother.
After leaving it aside and forgetting about it for a couple of months, I went back to and finished Children Of Dune over the weekend. Enjoyed it more than Dune Messiah, despite it getting properly ridiculous, especially toward the end.
Just started Motley Crue: The Dirt there, despite having little to no interest in their music, I've only heard good things about this one and I like a good biography regardless.
I'm reading snowy shaws autobiography at the moment. Pretty good and seems like a pretty cool down to earth guy.
Inching through Middlemarch on my breaks in work. What an incredible and complex piece of writing. There are some mind blowing passages.
Quote from: Carnage on August 17, 2020, 12:46:44 PM
After leaving it aside and forgetting about it for a couple of months, I went back to and finished Children Of Dune over the weekend. Enjoyed it more than Dune Messiah, despite it getting properly ridiculous, especially toward the end.
I've started Children about four or five times over the last few months, but always stopped after the first couple of chapters. Really need to just block a few hours out and stick with it
Yeah, I was on about page 75 when I left it aside, but it picks up properly not long after that.
Read through War of the Worlds for the first time over the weekend.
Really interesting to see how much the science fiction genre has drawn influence from a book that old. Would have always considered heat rays an invention of a 1950s era imagination for example, rather than someone writing in the 1890s.
Quote from: Melmoth on August 18, 2020, 06:09:45 PM
Read through War of the Worlds for the first time over the weekend.
Really interesting to see how much the science fiction genre has drawn influence from a book that old. Would have always considered heat rays an invention of a 1950s era imagination for example, rather than someone writing in the 1890s.
I started that years ago but packed it away when moving and haven't finished it. Enjoyed what I had read though, roughly half of it.
Shakleton's boat journey written by his skipper Frank Worsley. An excellent read. Tom Crean features quite a bit and another Irishman by the name of Timmy McCarthy from Kinsale who having survived the whole thing, went to WW1 and was killed within 2 weeks. The world was a crazy place 100 years ago. Extraordinary people and events. Shakleton, as it turns out, was also born in Ireland and lived in Kildare until he was 10 albeit Anglo-Irish. What a complicated thing being 'Irish' was at the time.
Also reading and really enjoying the Witcher. Finished the Last Wish and now on Sword of Destiny. Felt like something written by a 5 year old for the first 100 pages but it picks up nicely.
Started and finished the story of the eye by Georges Bataille this afternoon. Very enjoyable and recommended if you like a bit of literary filth. It's very short at about 75 pages, but also includes some short related pieces by Bataille and essays by Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes. I don't know for sure, but would guess at it being influential for W. S. Burroughs stuff, with similar imagery and levels of debauchery. The final chapter would make some BM lyricists blush for its levels of blasphemy. :laugh:
Finished Woody Allen's "Apropos Of Nothing". The first two-thirds of the book is a highly enjoyable read - funny, interesting and unflinchingly honest about his personal life from his first marriage, through subsequent relationships and in dealing with the entire Mia Farrow/Soon-Yi Previn affair.
The latter is dealt with in a very factual way, much like Ronan Farrow's- his estranged son - book "Catch & Kill" about Harvey Weinstein et al. And much like "Catch & Kill", this book has clearly been read by several lawyers before publication to make sure Allen isn't libeling anyone and yet he opens the floodgates. It's quite telling that nobody has mentioned suing Allen on publication of this memoir.
The book falls apart in the final third. It becomes a "what I did on my summer holidays" report. Became a slog.Glad I read it though.
Just started "Barrel Aged Stout & Selling Out" by Josh Noel about Budweiser (and other big breweries) feeling the heat from craft brewers and buying them out to shut them down.
Let us know about that beer book. Mate of mine would be very interested if it's worth a read.
Quote from: Pedrito on August 19, 2020, 06:39:45 PM
Let us know about that beer book. Mate of mine would be very interested if it's worth a read.
Will do. It's enjoyable and interesting so far anyway, Josh Noel is a very good journalist.
I'd recommend Pete Brown's books to your mate if he hasn't read them. Definitely "Three Sheets To The Wind", "Hops And Glory" and "Man Walks Into A Pub". I have bought the rest but I haven't read them yet.
https://www.petebrown.net/books/
Two weeks off work. I just opened Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. Let's see what sort of madness it might contain.
I'm currently reading a book of Jeremy Clarkson's thoughts from 2010ish that I got in the charity shop for 50 cent. I find it amazing how I once thought that he encapsulated basically everything that I saw as being wrong with the world, and now find myself agreeing with almost everything he says. Some of it borders on the prophetic. Getting older is not fun.
Henning Mankell: The White Lioness - the third of the Wallander series. Needed a couple of relatively light books before getting back to the Dune series.
Can't beat a bit of Wallander lad :)
Still on the auld l'étranger. I'm failing to see what it was that got the boy a Nobel prize. And it's in frog speak, wrecking my head how many times I have to whip out the dictionary and then my lad to ease the frustration.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on September 01, 2020, 04:36:47 PM
Still on the auld l'étranger. I'm failing to see what it was that got the boy a Nobel prize. And it's in frog speak, wrecking my head how many times I have to whip out the dictionary and then my lad to ease the frustration.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
A game of Scrabble in your gaff might get a bit "adventurous".
Triple splurge score!
Currently reading The Witch by Ronald Hutton and its very interesting. It's essentially a historic and global survey of the witch and witchcraft, but crucially, its written by a history professor and not a new age Wicca practitioner. The latter tend to make up a lot of their version of history from their own wishful thinking. I'm just getting to the juicy parts now on the witch trials and persecutions of late medieval and early modern Europe. What is it about Germans that they seem to love rounding up people in their thousands and eradicating them?
They hate clutter and value elbow room.
On a national scale I suppose it cuts down on urbanisation and let's them have all the lovely forests to go hiking in. :laugh:
Quote from: Carnage on September 01, 2020, 04:29:59 PM
Henning Mankell: The White Lioness - the third of the Wallander series. Needed a couple of relatively light books before getting back to the Dune series.
Read a tonne of them maybe 10 years back. Oul Wallander just a great character all round. White Lioness very good too. The Swedish tv series is excellent.
Which one, there've been a few? I've seen the first season of the Krister Hendriksson one, that was what led me to the books. It was excellent viewing, I must look up the rest of the run.
Avoid the UK series.
My uncle (by marriage) is Swedish and he scoffed and guffawed when I asked him if he read any Mankell. Only making conversation! Although the first thing I ever said to him, even before my Auntie could tell him my name was, 'here what do you make of Dark Funeral' (a member of this board dared me to do that, and I was definitely 30 or more when I met him chalk it down yaaaa)so maybe he smelled a rat. And we have big yins in Kilkenny let me tell ya.
UK series crap alright. Apropriation of the highest order :abbath:
I'd have no interest in the UK version, the earlier Swedish versions aren't meant to be great either.
Really sad what happened to Johanna Sällström too, she was brilliant in it.
Great page turner of a series. Sent the auld a few from book depository, he loved it then. I really enjoyed the back story with the drinking, his ex wife and daughter etc. It's almost a cliché of a detective, and I'm wary of dodgy translations but the matter of fact language enhanced those books for me if anything. The early 90's is a great setting for the one set partly in Latvia too.
I'm imagining Chris after reading a few chapters, his nose in the air, ostentatiously waving away the stink of proletarian 'literature' 😂
The Latvian one excellent. I'm going to get stuck into some Michael Connelly soon. He writes the Bosch books and seeing as I'm addicted to rhe sleazy modern LA noir vibe of things it should do the trick.
Pete, I have James Ellroy books here belonging to you. Some writer lad. Did you ever read that Magnusson one about Scotland? Or has it got lost in the ether🤣
Need to read. Was talking to a.mate of mine who lives in Scotland the other day, says the hatred of the Irish is unreal over there sometimes.
Ask Seamus lad, he got dogs abuse working in Edinburgh.
I love Scotland as you know, but I got called a 'bead twirling fenian' whilst I was hiking!
Bead twirling fenian! :laugh: :laugh: Fuck sake. It's not your fault those jambo cunts don't know when it's time for a decade or 2. :laugh:
We had the craic in the pub after, and I'll be honest, they were in their 50's, but that didn't save them from the'here, DJ Carey might be a bead twirler and all, but he's not a penny pinching Presbyterian wanker like you and your mates, and you'll do fuck all about it either'
(I'm a big lad, and I know how to inflate the titíns'😂
Plus I'm something of an expert on Scottish history, they were bemused by my love for the bould Marquis of Montrose.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on September 01, 2020, 07:54:33 PM
I'm imagining Chris after reading a few chapters, his nose in the air, ostentatiously waving away the stink of proletarian 'literature' 😂
Whatever helps you work off your Camusian frustration lad! ;)
I'm more of the Kierkegaard school but sure lookit, I prefer turning that boring shite off and summoning Leather Nike Air Max and imagining you on the gauloises and claret, telling your French mates that 'hi this Kilkenny cunt will never 'get' Camus, no matter how big his harraps is...I think he played the hurling the pute'😆
As soon as we finished up watching Lost, I got on the interwebz to read up on the myriad book references (actual books featured, glimpsed, directly referenced, hommaged, merely winked at). The first book physically seen in the series is Watership Down, so when I saw a copy on the shelves at home in Ireland I nabbed it and now, having never read it, have just gotten stuck in. Extremely easy reading for the moment, yet definitely got lots of elements I wasn't expecting, such as references to ancient and classical literature at the start of every (very short) chapter. Seems like the perfect turn-pager I was looking for to follow up Paradise Lost anyway!
I'm sure we've all seen the movie, at some point in our lives (though it may be a repressed memory for some), but anyone else read it? Thoughts?
Picked up a couple of Hemingway in a charity shop recently, I like most of the classic authors but this is torturous reading, bunch of American dandies , quaffing wine and brandies, frittering around the cafes of Europe in the middle of the last century and not a whiff of an interesting story line. Is it the prose that has him so revered ( in literary circles)? I've tried now with alcohol to the mix, which worked wonders with Dostoevsky , but no, it's turgid beyond belief
I'vs had similar experiences with Hemingway. The whole idea with him was that his style was a kind of new way of writing. Concise and without floweriness, at least that's what I understand. I loved the Fisherman and the Snows of Kilimanjaro, but I've tried a couple others and found them awful hard going. For Whom the Bell Tolls being one.
Glad to hear its not just me. I'm finding the titles of his
novels more interesting than the actual content to be honest. Yeah it's definitely a departure in prose style , the dialogue is ...'believable ' ( for want of a better word) and concise as you put it . It just doesn't go anywhere as a tale. More of an observation of characters, which is fine too, I just have no affinity with any of 'em. Any fans ( apologists?) on here at all?
Did he write The Old Man and the Sea? I think I read that years ago and thought it was brilliant, but I might be getting confused.
He did. But sure that's only about 10 pages long
Read an extremely creepy ghost story called Naomis Room by a guy called Jonathon Aycliffe.
It's only 200 pages long and well worth a read. Really creepy in parts and I normally wouldn't get too scared by a book but this was great.
Turns out he's from Belfast as well.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on September 10, 2020, 08:50:17 AM
He did. But sure that's only about 10 pages long
My mind tends to wander after eleven or twelve pages so that sounds ideal.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 10, 2020, 08:42:23 AM
Did he write The Old Man and the Sea? I think I read that years ago and thought it was brilliant, but I might be getting confused.
Sorry, I called it The Fisherman..fukin hell :laugh: It's a great great book.
Quote from: Thorn on September 10, 2020, 08:14:14 AM
Glad to hear its not just me. I'm finding the titles of his
novels more interesting than the actual content to be honest. Yeah it's definitely a departure in prose style , the dialogue is ...'believable ' ( for want of a better word) and concise as you put it . It just doesn't go anywhere as a tale. More of an observation of characters, which is fine too, I just have no affinity with any of 'em. Any fans ( apologists?) on here at all?
The Old Man and the Sea as Mr McLovin says is really excellent. It's short too. I'd start there. I tried A Farewell to Arms recently and had to put it down. I wouldn't dismiss him, but yes he's caused me conflict :laugh:
I finished The Count of Monty Cristo just now. Pure daycent but one hell of a monstrous tome to plough through. I deserve a sweetie.
Nice. I must give it a go sometime. The Three Muskateers was a right page turner too, but yeah, a fuck load of pages to turn all the same!
I'm wading through Middlemarch in work, another tome and even more verbose and slow going, but I think possibly even better for that reason. I have a hillock of reading material beside the bed here to plough through, nothing too brick-ish in terms of pages, but some hefty material in there none the less. I have a fancy (an utterly deluded one, but still) that even if I don't quite get everything that I'm reading, maybe it'll all accumulate in the back of my brain and I'll subconsciously be a genius.
Read my first George Eliot recently, Silas Marner and really enjoyed it. Up til then I thought Eliot was a man and that Silas Marner was probably a sea faring tale (Mariner :-[) . Middlemarch is very much on the radar now.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 14, 2020, 11:06:14 PM
I finished The Count of Monty Cristo just now. Pure daycent but one hell of a monstrous tome to plough through. I deserve a sweetie.
Great book. Found it really immersive.
For whom the bells toll is a great read, I didn't find it in anyway tedious, although the snows of Kilimanjaro...not exactly a page turner.
I'm reading 'The Buddha of Suburbia' at the moment, a bit of the auld post colonial lit to flash around to lads who think I'm in the Aryan Brotherhood. Quite good as it happens, quality sense of humour.
The newest prints of Dune look like total rubbish - all design, no imagination. So I just spent over an hour trawling through AbeBooks until I found a decent copy of the trilogy from an 80s run for not too expensive. The spice must flow.
Highly frustrating looking for a certain publication of a favourite book, or finding that the one book from an authors back catalogue you want (Max Hastings FFS, the one about James Graham, The Montrose) is almost impossible to find.
Never bothered with Abebooks mind, I'll have a look there.
Edit - Ya, the same hardback copy for silly money I've seen on a few other sites. 100 bar for a record, maybe, as a once off, but a book? Hard to hand it over without feeling a spa.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on September 16, 2020, 08:10:14 PM
100 bar for a record, maybe, as a once off, but a book? Hard to hand it over without feeling a spa.
If you want to own it, then just swallow the pill and buy it. If you just want to read it and can't find a copy, then buy it, keep it safe from your kid's piss, then sell it again when you're finished, potentially even at a profit; what's the point living in your capitalist utopia if you don't even exploit what it affords you??? ;)
The utopia would come crashing down if the bird finds out I spent 100 stones on a book after we just forked out 15 grand for a wedding.
Congrats young Jacob
Sound kid. Some laugh the prices wedding cunts charge though.
Shtop. We scaled back to 50 guests last month. More than made the money back but we still plan to do a proper party when it's safe. N'er a holiday had out of it yet, even.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on September 17, 2020, 12:35:36 PM
The utopia would come crashing down if the bird finds out I spent 100 stones on a book after we just forked out 15 grand for a wedding.
Sounds like all your utopias are falling on your head; Varg didn't mention how expensive traditional women are, did he? :P :abbath:
Nevermind those traditional women with their boobies and such. Give me a good modern pick n mix lady where every dip is a new adventure.
Let's get back onto books, shall we?
Anyone here read this? :P
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aI7BIcYgL.jpg)
Quote from: Emphyrio on September 17, 2020, 12:54:53 PM
Shtop. We scaled back to 50 guests last month. More than made the money back but we still plan to do a proper party when it's safe. N'er a holiday had out of it yet, even.
I'd hope to get most of the money back, not counting on it though. We're only having 50 guests too but it's a two dayer plus the obligatory spanish wedding free bar which is a killer for cash. The Irish contingent will get my money's worth though.
Reading Hesse's 'The Glass Bead Game'.
Beautifully written (and the translation is magnificent), and more accessible than some of his others. I didn't like the idea of it being 'set in the 25th century' but no spaceships or black lives matter one party state so grand job.
'The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve: The Story that Created Us' by Stephen Greenblatt arrived in the post this week. I ordered it after listening to a really interesting interview with him on Lawrence Krauss's Origins podcast and it's sitting there staring at me, calling to me, but I've already got several books on the go so I'll have to do my best to resist its charms (how appropriate!). I may have had a quick peek at the first page, just to be sure there were no, eh, typos... it's immediately engaging... aaaarrrrggghhhhh.... patience!
Currently reading "Wild & Crazy Guys" - a cocaine and booze fuelled romp through the late '70s and '80s - the heyday of the American film comedy genre. Murray, Chase, Belushi, Martin, Murphy, Ackroyd etc.
Very enjoyable so far.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51OtgnYSFTL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
That sounds like a great read. Must check out the Greenblatt book mentioned above too, sounds very interesting.
Navi Ravikant, Almanack
Also reading Bethany McLean's All the devils are here. Great book about the financial crisis, she also wrote the Smartest Guys in the Room, the definitive Enron book, great Writer
Just finished Dark Fire by CJ Sansom, second of his Matthew Shardlake series (crime novels set in 1530s/40s London). Decent, will continue the series.
Currently about 50 pages into an awful biography of Sinéad O'Connor. Published in 1991, it reads like a rushed out compilation of Rolling Stone articles, written by a yank, for yanks. Full of inaccuracies and misunderstandings. Pile o' shite.
I finished up An Accidental Gentleman by Iris Murdock last night, which I enjoyed, and clearing the path for Stephen Greenblatt's The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. Excited about this one. High hopes.
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. Great and brutal read so far.
Currently rereading Nature's God, by Robert Anton Wilson. Its the third and final part of the Historical Illuminatus Chronicles starting in the 1760s and covering up to the American war of Independence. It covers the antics of the ancestors of characters from his cult hit Illuminatus! Trilogy.
It's funny, bawdy and an easy read. He was writing it while living here in the 80s, and a Flann O'Brien influence shows through in book 2. Even going as far as to feature De Selby, O'Briens mad scientist character.
Just finished up Middlemarch. Great read. I think my next lunchtime read will be The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray, which I've only been picking and poking at up to now.
Just finished up Winter Warriors by David Gemmell.
I've Been re-reading a lot of his books I read as a kid.
Dark Prince up next.
Read his Troy trilogy recently. First two were great, third was ok but it was obvious he never got to finish it himself
Quote from: Trev on November 04, 2020, 08:08:29 PM
Read his Troy trilogy recently. First two were great, third was ok but it was obvious he never got to finish it himself
After his wife finished it she wrote a couple of her own fantasy books. Dreadful stuff altogether.
Never got around to Gemmell in my intense fantasy phase, which gave way fairly quickly to sci-fi. Would he be closer to, say, Eddings than to Feist?
I only ever read one feist book and I can't remember whether I liked it or not. David gemmell's stuff is really fast paced and full of action. Winter warriors is actually a good one to start with as it's a stand alone novel. He also did a really cool 4 run book based on irish mythology.
Sword in the storm is the first book in that run and is really good too.
Quote from: blessed1 on November 04, 2020, 10:22:34 PM
David gemmell's stuff is really fast paced and full of action.
Close enough to Eddings then. They were absolute page turners, flew through each one in no time. Didn't know Gemmell had touched on Irish mythology, may have a look at that, sound.
Ya the Irish mythology ones are cool because the first two books take place in medieval times and the other two are set around the 16-1700's.
Only Irish mythology based fantasy I've read, apart from the Giltspur trilogy I adored as a kid, are the Stephen Donaldson ones, which were great, even though Donaldson was overly fond of the words "fey" and "anile" :laugh:
The Sláine comics are the way to go for Irish mythology I find. The Book of Invasions books are Irish mythology on steroids, shedding that whole high fantasy feel that is often associated with the tales and introducing something far grimmer, ultraviolent and just all round trippy and odd at the same time. When Sláine goes into his Warpspasm mode, those stories we heard about Cúchulainn in school take on a whole new meaning.
Also the basis for those first few Slough Feg albums which really capture some indescribable sci-fi Irish, mythological lunacy that I suspect could only be captured by people who aren't actually Irish and have the advantage of looking at our myths and legends through non rose tinted lenses.
Simon Bisley's art in those slaine comics is unbelievably good.
I listened to a whopper of an interview with Alan Moore today and finally ordered one of his books- Jerusalem.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake arrived in the post today but it's in the queue for now. Itching to have a sneaky peek into it but I'll wait... I will... honest....
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 05, 2020, 09:38:18 PM
I listened to a whopper of an interview with Alan Moore today and finally ordered one of his books- Jerusalem.
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake arrived in the post today but it's in the queue for now. Itching to have a sneaky peek into it but I'll wait... I will... honest....
Was it The Mask and The Mirror?
I love listening to him. His voice is so soothing.
There's some really nice chill out mixes on YT with him narrating throughout.
Yep, that's the one.
Still haven't even finished the first book of Jerusalem, although I've read and loved the 60 or so pages I've read twice!
From his description of it it sounds like it'll be potentially headfucky. But I find the man so endlessly fascinating and entertaining that I'm sure I'll get plenty of enjoyment from it.
I could listen to his father Rupert Sheldrake talk about psychadelic experiences and spirituality for hours. A truly unique spirit
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on November 05, 2020, 10:25:21 PM
Still haven't even finished the first book of Jerusalem, although I've read and loved the 60 or so pages I've read twice!
Haha! I'm delighted to hear 2 more people are cracking into Jerusalem. (even twice). It became my life while reading it,most nights till about 3 or 4 am. I won't drop any spoilers, but will say, that first 60 or so pages he has described as the "the wall", after that it's fairly smooth. For those interested, he is on an episode of the Stewart Lee podcast discussing Jerusalem.
I'm currently reading some Bertrand Russell until I can decide what fiction to read next. He is a soothing voice of logic and reason, a nice antidote to a news overdose.
I have Bertrand's book on history of philosophy and I found it interesting at first and then very smug. He seems to know better than every philosopher ever by the end of it. It's a good read and god knows he was an incredible thinker but that was my overall impression by the end.
Quote from: Pedrito on November 06, 2020, 07:52:05 AM
I have Bertrand's book on history of philosophy and I found it interesting at first and then very smug. He seems to know better than every philosopher ever by the end of it. It's a good read and god knows he was an incredible thinker but that was my overall impression by the end.
That's about the long and short of it all right. It's still a great book to be able to dip into when exploring a classical philosopher for the first time, if only to find out very quickly what "somebody like Russell" makes of them.
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQ-E7dMwkWuvpHUIjdCH1afv0-zDHihLcdlYc4k-SswJYO6FCWR8HIK8qA0sJ9BRMu3C1cTccKA&usqp=CAc)
Currently reading "Travellers In The Third Reich" by Julia Boyd. It uses first hand accounts mixed with historical knowledge to create a wide picture of Germany between the wars. Very interesting and entertaining so far.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on November 06, 2020, 09:41:08 AM
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQ-E7dMwkWuvpHUIjdCH1afv0-zDHihLcdlYc4k-SswJYO6FCWR8HIK8qA0sJ9BRMu3C1cTccKA&usqp=CAc)
Currently reading "Travellers In The Third Reich" by Julia Boyd. It uses first hand accounts mixed with historical knowledge to create a wide picture of Germany between the wars. Very interesting and entertaining so far.
Any mention of that little known WW2 hero, Adolf Hitler?
Quote from: Kurt Cocaine on November 06, 2020, 09:46:15 AM
Any mention of that little known WW2 hero, Adolf Hitler?
Spoilers!
Whoops!
I think they'll find out anyway. :laugh:
Quote from: StoutAndAle on November 06, 2020, 09:41:08 AM
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQ-E7dMwkWuvpHUIjdCH1afv0-zDHihLcdlYc4k-SswJYO6FCWR8HIK8qA0sJ9BRMu3C1cTccKA&usqp=CAc)
Currently reading "Travellers In The Third Reich" by Julia Boyd.
Did they offer to tarmac the driveway at Auschwitz?!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Jajajajajajaja :laugh: :laugh:
Veddy veddy good.... :laugh:
:laugh:
Quote from: Born of Fire on November 06, 2020, 12:26:33 PM
Did they offer to tarmac the driveway at Auschwitz?!
Brilliant :laugh:
My missus said something along the same lines when she spotted it on the on the couch;
"Travellers and Nazis never finish the job they start and you have call in someone else to fix the mess they make."
Quote from: Pedrito on November 06, 2020, 07:52:05 AM
I have Bertrand's book on history of philosophy and I found it interesting at first and then very smug. He seems to know better than every philosopher ever by the end of it. It's a good read and god knows he was an incredible thinker but that was my overall impression by the end.
I would have to agree on that. He is a little too comfortable in giving the modern 20th century perspective on the ideas rather than the thing in itself. He is quite a skilled formal logician, so I find I can still appreciate his perspective though.
Still not in the form for getting back into the Dune series (God Emperor Of Dune up next) so just started Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Only 30 pages or thereabouts into it but so far it wipes the floor with the only other one of hers that I've read (Beyond Black). Yet to hear a bad word about it, so this bodes well.
Dipping back into Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges for the first time in a few months. This morning I'm struggling my way through The Library of Babel. It's hard work but it's really enjoyable when you begin to untangle the knots of it.
Quote from: Carnage on November 07, 2020, 02:24:38 AM
Still not in the form for getting back into the Dune series (God Emperor Of Dune up next) so just started Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Only 30 pages or thereabouts into it but so far it wipes the floor with the only other one of hers that I've read (Beyond Black). Yet to hear a bad word about it, so this bodes well.
That's a savage book. I'm not normally into 'historical fiction' but she is a superb author. I finished that book in a day or two and I'm usually a painfully slow reader.
Just ordered Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
I've just started to re read one of my favourite ever books, The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake.
Just felt right for this dismal November weather.
I've had that (and the follow-up) on my shelf for years, I'm yet to get around to it.
Barely made it through the first book. Awful dour.
I'd just like to say that I'm enjoying the absolute good-loving fuck out of my first re-read of Dune in at least 20 years.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on November 07, 2020, 11:04:08 AM
Quote from: Carnage on November 07, 2020, 02:24:38 AM
Still not in the form for getting back into the Dune series (God Emperor Of Dune up next) so just started Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Only 30 pages or thereabouts into it but so far it wipes the floor with the only other one of hers that I've read (Beyond Black). Yet to hear a bad word about it, so this bodes well.
That's a savage book. I'm not normally into 'historical fiction' but she is a superb author. I finished that book in a day or two and I'm usually a painfully slow reader.
I'm enjoying it so far, nearly halfway through it. Haven't had much time to sit with it recently, though.
A side effect of A Man For All Seasons being a favourite film, however is that I'm picturing most of the protagonists as they were cast in the film - though I'm stopping short of Leo McKern as Cromwell.
Currently reading High Life by Matthew Stokoe.
This book is fucked up!
It's kinda like American Psycho only better.
Quote from: blessed1 on November 16, 2020, 11:27:06 AM
Currently reading High Life by Matthew Stokoe.
This book is fucked up!
It's kinda like American Psycho only better.
You'll probably move onto Colony of Whores next maybe?
Finally getting around to reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it. The writing is effective, atmospheric and easy to read. Good stuff.
Yeah, it's great. Her descriptions of sense perception are particularly striking.
Excellent book and apprently there's a sequel that came out recently. A shame she's so snotty about it, though. She'd have a seizure if you referred to it as sci fi.
Jerusalem arrived today. Holy fuck, the size of it. At least if it's shite it'll come in handy as a brick next time I'm out defunding the police.
The missus has a stack of other Atwood there so I'm looking forward to digging in. The Covenants is the sequel (I think) you're referring to Carnage. The missus says it's even better, and goes into more detail about how Gilead came about.
And yeah Mclove, I think Jerusalem has a longer word count than the KJV Bible. And as you allude to, you don't even have to freeze it, to use it as a weapon.
I think Alan Moore is putting the finishing touches to a book on magic, I'd be well up for reading that.
Edit - whoops, that sequel is The Testaments. Doh!
Oh yes, me too. I love his take on magic, from the interviews I've watched. He is such an eccentric, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations
Just finished The Troop by Nick Cutter.
Very cool book that's described as the Lord of the flies meets The Thing and it didn't disappoint!
Nice and fast paced.
Jordan Peterson 12 Rules
Quote from: Don Gately on December 09, 2020, 11:46:00 AM
Jordan Peterson 12 Rules
Another Penguin dies in Canada....
Dune finished just in time to take Dune Messiah away on the few days off I have this week. Really looking forward to getting stuck into these further books I never got around to, as I got so much enjoyment and more out of revisiting the first book after all this time.
Got this for the bus journey home today, you'd get through it in 30 minutes :laugh:
Some hilarious stuff in it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beautiful-Poetry-Donald-Trump/dp/1786892278
That Alan Moore book on magic may never get released at this stage. There seems to be an ongoing delay with it. It's supposed to be designed like an old children's annual complete with games. I don't know how long ago I read about it.
Santa brought Bookerv winner Shuggie Bain, powerful stuff so far.
Finished the Testaments (Atwood) a while ago and found it very enjoyable.
Currently reading Dune and loving it. First time reading it, despite it being on my radar and never getting round to it. Talk of it in this thread was what finally gave me the shove to pick it up, so, cheers gents.
Also reading through issues 1 - 4 of Hellebore magazine, that arrived about a week ago. It's really good. The main focus is folk horror, in local history and art and literature. It takes in archaeology, history, occultism, myth and place too. Also has interviews with Professor Ronald Hutton and Alan Moore. Artwork and layout are excellent too.
Cool, glad you're enjoying it! I hope to finish Dune Messiah in the next couple of days and then on to Children of Dune, neither of which I'd read before. Initially, Dune Messiah demands perhaps slightly too much of one's suspension of disbelief relative to the universe created in the first, but it stabilizes quickly and I'm now well immersed in its Dune universe augmentations.
I have the first 3 read and they are brilliant. Some turn of events in Dune Messiah I honestly didn't expect it to go the way it did. Must get myself the next 3 books actually.
Started Thus Spake Zarathustra lately me first go at Nietzsche I reckon it's going to take some getting into
One of my Christmas presents was The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. Starting into it now as my lunchbreak read on work and it's immediately engaging.
Quote from: astfgyl on January 01, 2021, 07:04:43 PM
I have the first 3 read and they are brilliant. Some turn of events in Dune Messiah I honestly didn't expect it to go the way it did. Must get myself the next 3 books actually.
Started Thus Spake Zarathustra lately me first go at Nietzsche I reckon it's going to take some getting into
Thus Spoke... Is the only Neitzsche I've yet read. Interesting little book.
Forgot I'd meant to reply to astfgyl. Zarathustra can certainly be read and enjoyed on its own terms, as a kind of odd scripture of sorts, so not exactly a page-turner. But I'd recommend The Gay/Joyful Science as a better starting point for getting into his actual philosophy.
Read a book called The End Of Alice by A. M Holmes.
Fairly fucked up and I can't say I enjoyed it at all.
Just started "Running The Light" by Sam Tallent. The tales of luckless road comedian - Billy Ray Schafer - a character based on an amalgam of nearly made it stand-up comics. Very good so far.
If you enjoy Bret Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney, Charles Bukowski or Kurt Vonnegut then this might be for you.
I'm struggling with Jerusalem at this stage. Page 592 and it's becoming painful. Did nobody think of editing the cunting thing!! It goes on and on and on around in circles when it would be much more effective to get to the fucking point! I'm really not enjoying book 2, and I've over 200 long and potentially tedious pages left to wade through. And I am optimistically expecting book 3 not to be a bag of shite! I think I'll have to put it away for a couple of weeks and read something else to clear the brain but it'll be a struggle at this rate to get to page 1262... TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FUCKING TWO! Melted...
Had a feeling that would happen. I can imagine that he's brilliant when he's almost constricted by the comic book format. It needs to be tight and controlled to a degree. Even when he was talking about Jerusalem I got the sense that he was more concerned with the length of the book than anything else. Who knows maybe it will take a turn for the better!
As for Dune above(@blackshep/asfygl) I'm just looking at my copies of the books here and that whole first book through to book 4 is so interesting, odd and frustrating at times, but ultimately rewarding. The 5th one I completed and maybe I was Dune'd out but the 6th has been sitting on the shelf for a long time now and I have no great desire to finish it. Get them first 4 read though, if only to hear the thoughts on them.
Just wrapped up Dune Messiah a moment ago. Were there not others to come, I feel like I'd already go back to the beginning of the first again and read through the lens of all that the second has already added. Instead, tomorrow I'll start into Children of Dune. Intrigued to see where it goes. Funnily enough, Dune Messiah was very close in atmosphere to Jodorowsky's comic book universes.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 06, 2021, 12:10:47 AM
Just wrapped up Dune Messiah a moment ago. Were there not others to come, I feel like I'd already go back to the beginning of the first again and read through the lens of all that the second has already added. Instead, tomorrow I'll start into Children of Dune. Intrigued to see where it goes. Funnily enough, Dune Messiah was very close in atmosphere to Jodorowsky's comic book universes.
How odd you should say that. I had the exact same reaction for some reason i.e. to go back in exactly that manner and read the first book again through the lens of Msssiah. Trippy wee book for some reason.
:-[
Quote from: Pedrito on January 05, 2021, 11:37:07 PM
Had a feeling that would happen. I can imagine that he's brilliant when he's almost constricted by the comic book format. It needs to be tight and controlled to a degree. Even when he was talking about Jerusalem I got the sense that he was more concerned with the length of the book than anything else. Who knows maybe it will take a turn for the better!
As for Dune above(@blackshep/asfygl) I'm just looking at my copies of the books here and that whole first book through to book 4 is so interesting, odd and frustrating at times, but ultimately rewarding. The 5th one I completed and maybe I was Dune'd out but the 6th has been sitting on the shelf for a long time now and I have no great desire to finish it. Get them first 4 read though, if only to hear the thoughts on them.
Big time. It's feeling like epic word count rather than epic at the minute.
Quote from: Pedrito on January 06, 2021, 01:12:45 AM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 06, 2021, 12:10:47 AM
Just wrapped up Dune Messiah a moment ago. Were there not others to come, I feel like I'd already go back to the beginning of the first again and read through the lens of all that the second has already added. Instead, tomorrow I'll start into Children of Dune. Intrigued to see where it goes. Funnily enough, Dune Messiah was very close in atmosphere to Jodorowsky's comic book universes.
How odd you should say that. I had the exact same reaction for some reason i.e. to go back in exactly that manner and read the first book again through the lens of Msssiah. Trippy wee book for some reason.
It's such a throw off at the beginning because, for 50 pages or so, it feels like he's just completely changed the nature of his whole universe between the last page of Dune and the first of Dune Messiah. But gradually and very subtly, it all comes together, and where Dune portrayed a more or less Manichaean universe, it's like Messiah is then dedicated to filling in all the shading
between "good and evil", exploding the richness of the universe you now know the first book was also unfolding in, even though with the relatively naïve eyes Herbert let us look at it through, this richness couldn't yet be discerned. And given how rich that initial Dune universe already feels when first discovered, this augmentation is fairly impressive. I closed the book on the Epilogue with a genuine "Wow!"
Yep the first book almost reads like a bible once seen through the context of the second. I think the next 2 books are really, really worth reading but I'm hesitant to say why.
Quote from: Carnage on November 16, 2020, 12:22:11 AM
Quote from: Caomhaoin on November 07, 2020, 11:04:08 AM
Quote from: Carnage on November 07, 2020, 02:24:38 AM
Still not in the form for getting back into the Dune series (God Emperor Of Dune up next) so just started Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Only 30 pages or thereabouts into it but so far it wipes the floor with the only other one of hers that I've read (Beyond Black). Yet to hear a bad word about it, so this bodes well.
That’s a savage book. I’m not normally into ‘historical fiction’ but she is a superb author. I finished that book in a day or two and I’m usually a painfully slow reader.
I'm enjoying it so far, nearly halfway through it. Haven't had much time to sit with it recently, though.
Finished that a while back, loved it. Took a break and read the Therapy? biography (also a good read) and then went back to the sequel Bring Up The Bodies, which deals with Ann Bolyn's downfall. Not quite on a par with Wolf Hall, but close.
Finished that on Wednesday night so I've moved on to Sacrifice And Transcendence - Swans: The Oral History by Nick Soulsby. Much more recent than I'd thought (2018) so it should be fairly comprehensive.
Finally got around to reading Lords of Chaos. I wish I had read it 20 years ago. It's not that well written and most of the interviewees come across as gigantic spas, excepting maybe the Venom lads and Quorthon.
A few holes filled in my knowledge I suppose but Faust, Blackthorn, and the quare fella especially...they talked some amount of shite.
Finally got round to Blood Meridian, about a third of the way in and can already say it's one of my favourites.
Champagne Football - Rowan and Tighe, this is a fucking mad Read lads. Delaney is some character.
The Fifth Risk - Michael Lewis, very interesting account of the Obama/Trump handover. Focusing on the Department of Energy. Absolutely a shocking indictment of the early days of tRump administration.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on January 21, 2021, 01:57:09 PM
Finally got round to Blood Meridian, about a third of the way in and can already say it's one of my favourites.
This book still haunts me. Never finished it. Will get back to it tomorrow.
Lately:
John Steinbeck - Travels with Charley in Search of America. Never read anything by him before. Adored this.
Martin Amis - Time's Arrow. Bit of a confusing read as it's about a man's life backwards but Amis is a legend.
George Orwell - Animal Farm. Had always meant to read it so sat down and blitzed through it. Great.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on January 21, 2021, 01:57:09 PM
Finally got round to Blood Meridian, about a third of the way in and can already say it's one of my favourites.
Great book, finished it a week ago. Took me a couple of tries to get through it all. Seems to be the same for most people, even fans of his. Worth the effort though. Reading Outer Dark at the moment, enjoying that too. Might take a break from him after that. I've got a load of Tom Hollands books I bought on offer over the Chrimbo to read too.
Coming to the end of The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. Complex ideas about the nature of time made (mostly) comprehensible to my slow brain.
I started into The Chrysalids by John Wyndham which is immediately engaging and a breath of fresh air after the mind melt of Rovelli.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 21, 2021, 07:52:50 PM
I started into The Chrysalids by John Wyndham which is immediately engaging and a breath of fresh air after the mind melt of Rovelli.
This is in the pile for me. Had to read for college the last 4 years so fiction been on the backburner. Took out 10 books and this was one. Think I got it for 2 quid. Interested to give it a go.
Haha, funny you say that. I picked it up second hand in an op shop in Oz for a couple of dollars a year or two ago. Just getting to it now.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 21, 2021, 07:52:50 PMI started into The Chrysalids by John Wyndham which is immediately engaging and a breath of fresh air after the mind melt of Rovelli.
I bought that (The Chrysalids) just over a year ago but ended up giving it to someone for christmas as their actual present was faulty. I must pick it up again, he reckoned it (and the other few Wyndham books he read after falling down the rabbit hole) was great.
I'm only ten pages into it but the writing is beautiful and the story instantly captivating.
That Swans biography is brilliant, essential reading if you're a fan at all. A nice companion piece to the documentary, with much more detail, obviously.
Moved on from that to Elton John's autobiography, slight contrast there.
Got a Kafka compilation in the post just now, been meaning to read him for years. Christ knows when I'll get around to it, though.
Started Blood Meridian again yesterday. 10th time is the charm.
I bought The Essential Kafka last year at some point. Havent opened it yet.
Quote from: open face surgery on January 23, 2021, 08:02:19 PMI bought The Essential Kafka last year at some point. Havent opened it yet.
That's the one I picked up, £2.50 on Amazon, be rude not to.
I read Metamorphosis by Kafka. Meh.
Any of ye history nerds on here have any gems ye've been getting into that hit the shpot? I read a couple of Antony Beevors over the last year, Jenkins Churchill biography and Buchan on 'The Montrose' (a story even more captivating and astonishing than William Wallace). Max Hastings first book on the lad is almost impossible to get a hold of, which is amazing considering every other one of his books is everywhere.
Anyone into Cold War era or espionage stuff, I'd highly recommend 'Stalin's Englishman', about Guy Burgess of Cambridge Five fame. If nothing else, the depictions of his quite astounding boozing (which was constant and spectacular) is eye widening considering what the dirty bastard managed to pull off :)
Quote from: Carnage on January 23, 2021, 08:10:34 PM
Quote from: open face surgery on January 23, 2021, 08:02:19 PMI bought The Essential Kafka last year at some point. Havent opened it yet.
That's the one I picked up, £2.50 on Amazon, be rude not to.
I think it was the same in Eason's here. Got that and a book of Yeats poetry for under a fiver anyway.
Quote from: open face surgery on January 23, 2021, 08:02:19 PM
Started Blood Meridian again yesterday. 10th time is the charm.
I bought The Essential Kafka last year at some point. Havent opened it yet.
As long as it has The Trial you're good to go. Metamorphosis is good and all but The Trial is excellent. An exercise in anxiety.
Currently hacking my way through 'Nostromo' again . There's a good story in there somewhere, suffocating under all that superfluous waffle and prose.
Can't think of a more awkward book on my shelves to be honest .
Must be the thrill at finding those little moments of clarity that keep me coming back.
Or maybe I LIKE the misery.
Quote from: ochoill on January 24, 2021, 12:59:47 AM
Quote from: open face surgery on January 23, 2021, 08:02:19 PM
Started Blood Meridian again yesterday. 10th time is the charm.
I bought The Essential Kafka last year at some point. Havent opened it yet.
As long as it has The Trial you're good to go. Metamorphosis is good and all but The Trial is excellent. An exercise in anxiety.
The Trial is where it's at. I had to read it a few times though. The ending is spectacular, given what has come before.
[quote author=Scáthach link=topic=23
Also reading through issues 1 - 4 of Hellebore magazine, that arrived about a week ago. It's really good. The main focus is folk horror, in local history and art and literature. It takes in archaeology, history, occultism, myth and place too. Also has interviews with Professor Ronald Hutton and Alan Moore. Artwork and layout are excellent too.
[/quote]
Really good shout out here, got issue 2, now waiting for issue 1 to arrive. Love the layout and writing.
That sounds interesting. I had a look at their website and the mags look great as well. I might have to make a purchase.
I'm really struggling with Jerusalem. I think I've said it before (maybe more than once) but it needs an editor. There's so much repetition of pointless ideas and it's gruelling having to wade through practically every step each character takes. It's as if Moore was afraid the reader wouldn't be able to fill in the blanks if left to their own devices and it ends up making the otherwise decent mental imagery utterly tedious and banal. I'm nearly finished book 2, which has been a truly cuntish reading experience, and I'm hoping and praying that book 3 will make up for it somehow... I feel mentally scarred but I'm in much too deep to give up now :'(
After a slog like Jerusalem, you need a bit of Irvine Welsh or what I'm reading now, 'Mr Nice', that Howard Marks autobiography to cleanse the pallet. Gloriously unpretentious and easy to read.
In work I'm reading The Chrysalids which is much more like it. I might take a sabbatical from Jerusalem for a bit...
Quote from: Caomhaoin on January 30, 2021, 10:59:43 AM
After a slog like Jerusalem, you need a bit of Irvine Welsh or what I'm reading now, 'Mr Nice', that Howard Marks autobiography to cleanse the pallet. Gloriously unpretentious and easy to read.
Read that when I was in school and loved it.
Reading Dostoevsky's short novel THE ETERNAL HUSBAND this weekend. The man was just second to none when it comes to developing troubled characters. Reading it in Portuguese though, Russian and French translations don't work well for me in English as they dismiss a lot of the diminutives.
Also, fuck knows how long had it been since I picked up a book in my native language.
Interested in picking up John Gray's "BLACK MASS" and "7 TYPES OF ATHEISM." Is anyone familiar with those?
Quote from: O Drighes on January 31, 2021, 03:37:14 AM
Reading Dostoevsky's short novel THE ETERNAL HUSBAND this weekend. The man was just second to none when it comes to developing troubled characters. Reading it in Portuguese though, Russian and French translations don't work well for me in English as they dismiss a lot of the diminutives.
Also, fuck knows how long had it been since I picked up a book in my native language.
Interested in picking up John Gray's "BLACK MASS" and "7 TYPES OF ATHEISM." Is anyone familiar with those?
I've been reading a lot in Portuguese recently too. A beautiful language. I must give the book a spin. Out of interest, how do you know Portuguese?
The first book I read in Portuguese was the Alchemist, because it was 'easy' and it was a far more rewarding experience than the English version. Chalk and cheese, it's a whole different way of looking at the world that is very difficult to transfer over. Coelho is actually quite the interesting character behind all the Oprah style hype. Currently reading his book on the Camino de Santiago aswell as another by MMA fighter Lyoto Machida's book 'O Código do Dragão', which is a great read also.
Is reading in Portuguese easy if one knows Spanish? I've been studying French for several years almost daily and anything even remotely challenging is a serious pain the balls to get through. Newspaper and that's about it.
Very easy. Spoken is a different thing but I listen to loads of stuff on Youtube to get my year accustomed. Tricky at first but you get used to it. I'd say the main issue people would have is confusing the 2 languages to be honest.
The Elementals by Michael mcdowell. A load of boring shite.
Has anyone ever read any jonathan aycliffe books?
Id highly recommended one called naomi's room. One of the best ghost stories I've ever read and it's genuinely scary.
Portuguese is my first language, so while I read English-written books in English, I rather read books from certain languages in Portuguese. Said that I have been re-reading Nietzsche in English now and it is so much more powerful.
I've never read Coelho's books, but The Alchemist is for sure a lot easier than Brazilian and Portuguese classics as Machado De Assis and Fernando Pessoa respectivily.
Give João Antônio or Nelson Rodrigues a go, their novels are full of street wisdom, which is pretty much where Brazilian sense of humour lies on anyway. As for Portuguese books maybe try Jose Saramago, "Ensaio sobre a cegueira" (translated as "Blindness", same as the film) is great. You'll probably find it quite different since he masters using extremelly long sentences (I mean page-long).
As for reading in Portuguese knowing Spanish, it really depends on your knowledge of Spanish. I can easily read better Spanish (I don't speak it) than listen to it, but I've never tried reading a whole book in Spanish myself to be honest.
I speak fluent Spanish and can read it easily.
I heard a group of people at the next table in a bar once speaking a language I couldn't even identify it's family let alone the specific language, so I asked them where they were from. I was amazed when they said Portugal. Brazilians are far easier to understand as I've discovered.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on January 31, 2021, 03:28:33 PM
I speak fluent Spanish and can read it easily.
I heard a group of people at the next table in a bar once speaking a language I couldn't even identify it's family let alone the specific language, so I asked them where they were from. I was amazed when they said Portugal. Brazilians are far easier to understand as I've discovered.
The European Portuguese accent sounds like Slavic languages to non-speakers as they tend to stress fricative sounds.
Quote from: O Drighes on January 31, 2021, 03:37:14 AM
Reading Dostoevsky's short novel THE ETERNAL HUSBAND this weekend. The man was just second to none when it comes to developing troubled characters. Reading it in Portuguese though, Russian and French translations don't work well for me in English as they dismiss a lot of the diminutives.
This is a really interesting point which I never would have considered. First things first, The Eternal Husband is a wonderful little read; it almost feels like a study in preparation for larger works that would contain a host characters developed to the same extent. Now, apart from a few quotes and extracts in English here and there, I've only ever read Dostoevsky in French, after I moved over here, because he was referenced regularly at university, both by lecturers and classmates (one of whom just defended his thesis on Dostoevsky, Hegel, and Lenin last month). I started with The Brothers Karamazov and, discovering through that what a Francophile society he was writing about (frequent footnotes saying "En français dans le texte"), I decided French was a better language to read him in than English. But since neither French nor English have much of a diminutive dimension to them, it never even occurred to me that there might be a whole character interaction level missing, as in beyond "okay, he's using her diminutive name here" or "um, what's this character's real name again??" I don't recall attention being called to it either, whereas there were a few places where passages were omitted with a footnote saying something like, "Passage containing a short tale constructed of largely untranslatable play-on-words."
Irish has much more going on with diminutives than French or English, but it would have felt very odd - if good translations are even available - to read Russian literature as Gaeilge. I didn't actually know before today that Portuguese also had a strong diminutive thing going on; will have to discuss with some of my colleagues here.
Since the topic has drifted to languages, any recommendations for books to help a novice improve their Spanish?
Probably the best thing you can do is find a translation of a book you've already read in English. Something easy enough or at least at your level. That way you can intuit a lot of words and get the context. I'd do that a good few times before having a go at something like Carlos Ruiz Zafon's book for teenagers/young adults. What you don't want is to be staring at a page and having no clue what the hell is going on like I was recently trying to read Goethe in German. Thick, I should have known better.
Parallel bilingual translations are dead handy too. I have a load of French-German, German-English, Latin-French, Greek-French ones, and speaking of my southern neighbours, just got my first Spanish-French one for Christmas; Fictions by Borges.
I've harper on about S Craig Zahler in the film thread but just starting his second novel Wraiths of the Broken Land. Violent Western stuff. So far so good, writes a good scene. Bought a couple copies so me and two mates are reading in unison.
Thanks for the input Pedrito and Shepherd, I suppose a story I'm already familiar with would be a good way to get to grips with context, phrasing etc. Parallel translations would be a great asset there.
Going to jump on this, but let me know if it should be another thread. Have been looking to learn Spanish for a while and have been using Duolingo since before Xmas. It is good for learning words and basic phrases, however it's lacking when it comes to actually understanding the language and speaking it. Would any of you be able to recommend any resources/tips for approaching a new language? It doesn't have to be exclusively for Spanish. The only other thing I can think of is buying a high school textbook
Duolingo is only really learning through repitition and I highly doubt anyone would learn a language through it despite claims otherwise. I honestly believe a class with a good teacher is the best way to get started. Instituto Cervantes in Dublin is excellent for Spanish. I went for a year and I improved dramatically in that time.
For self learning you should find a series of some sort that has structure. The Assimil series often get highly recommended by the Polyglots so that might be worth checking out. I listen a lot to people like Steve Kaufman and Stephen Krashen who talk constantly about comprehensible input especially if you are self learning. Kaufman has an app called LingQ which is based on the ideas and I was using it for a while. The idea is you build vocabulary through reading, noticing and working with material that is just a little more advanced than you are. I personally still think some guide book or teacher is very important for the way I learn but these lads are able to speak multiple languages so they must be onto something.
https://youtu.be/oxj5mUYUqDk
Duolingo is a very good resource, but as Pedrito says it is limited, and even finishing a course will leave you wanting in certain areas. I still use it every morning for 30-40 mins for French, but reading and listening to songs in your target language is an enjoyable complimentary element you can incorporate.
I'm doing a French module at Uni at the moment too and that has helped me immensely.
This might be worth a thread of its own, especially as there seems to be various lads who 'talk foreign' as their native language fiddling about here, my man warhead for example, as I'm learning Serbian (Croatian Cyrillic essentially) and it's always nice to get a few bits of advice. A huge pain in the hole grammatically compared to Spanish or French which are relatively speaking straightforward.
Lee Child: The Visitor
Bit of the old Jack Reacher to cleanse the palate before getting on to something more substantial, perhaps.
I'm not for one minute suggesting that I'm a hero. All I'm saying is that somehow, miraculously, I made it to the end of book 2 of Jerusalem. What a slog. It seems to be paying off so far as book 3 is off to a great start. 8)
I finished up The Chrysalids. Very enjoyable stuff.
Next up... A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf.
Jerusalem then Virginia Wolfe..are you reading or torturing yourself :laugh:
I've never read anything by her and know nothing about her work. Only one way to find out!
Finished Blood Meridian which was a delightful carnival of total lunacy.
Quote from: open face surgery on February 09, 2021, 08:17:32 PM
Finished Blood Meridian which was a delightful carnival of total lunacy.
Did you say above it was your tenth time? Still on the first round here but I know I'll give it another go after this.
No, I started it countless times over a 10 or 12 year period but never stuck it out.
Quote from: open face surgery on February 09, 2021, 09:09:29 PM
No, I started it countless times over a 10 or 12 year period but never stuck it out.
Ah fair enough, I was thinking it was hardly 10. Good stuff.
Cunt of a fucking Jerusalem load of wank! 900 pages deep, and it's finally picked up the pace, and now the chapter I've begun is written entirely in gobbledegook gibberish. 50 plus pages of sheer and utter torture. If you read every cunt of a sentence three times, sometimes quickly, sometimes painfully slowly to tease out the meaning you can get a sense of it but it's pushing me over the edge. I feel like catapulting the cunting brick of a thing into Alan Moore's spastic fucking face. I'm so far into the cunt that I can't possibly give up now. Do I skip this chapter and risk developing some kind of tick, do I slog through and risk punching a hole in the wall or do I finally snap and go Jihad some cunts... these appear to be my available options.
Take a break and read Finnegans Wake.
Finally eked out a bit of time to get properly started on Children of Dune and glad I did. Loving it so far, though only 50 pages in.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on February 15, 2021, 10:09:32 PM
Take a break and read Finnegans Wake.
Finally eked out a bit of time to get properly started on Children of Dune and glad I did. Loving it so far, though only 50 pages in.
I can't get into at all. I started it the other day for about the fifth time, put it down after the first two chapters and haven't gone back again. Might just start back with Dune and try plowing through them all in a row and not take a break between
I just fucking closed the cunt and put it back on the shelf. 890 pages and I couldn't go on. I was having a mental breakdown reading the fucking thing. What a complete load of pretentious, boring, self- indulgent shit. Did nobody edit the fucking thing? If he cut the entire second book down to one chapter and had 5 pages of this turgid gobbledygook I would happily recommend it to anyone to read, despite the odd flaws that would still exist within the writing. It's just a total pile of shite and I think I was in massive denial about it. Painful stuff.
Quote from: Trev on February 15, 2021, 10:21:53 PM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on February 15, 2021, 10:09:32 PM
Take a break and read Finnegans Wake.
Finally eked out a bit of time to get properly started on Children of Dune and glad I did. Loving it so far, though only 50 pages in.
I can't get into at all. I started it the other day for about the fifth time, put it down after the first two chapters and haven't gone back again. Might just start back with Dune and try plowing through them all in a row and not take a break between
I did that with the first three and it worked well. Yet to get back to the second three but I haven't been in the form for them lately.
Started Watchers by Dean Koontz the other night, just read a few pages.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on February 15, 2021, 10:06:54 PM
Cunt of a fucking Jerusalem load of wank! 900 pages deep, and it's finally picked up the pace, and now the chapter I've begun is written entirely in gobbledegook gibberish. 50 plus pages of sheer and utter torture. If you read every cunt of a sentence three times, sometimes quickly, sometimes painfully slowly to tease out the meaning you can get a sense of it but it's pushing me over the edge. I feel like catapulting the cunting brick of a thing into Alan Moore's spastic fucking face. I'm so far into the cunt that I can't possibly give up now. Do I skip this chapter and risk developing some kind of tick, do I slog through and risk punching a hole in the wall or do I finally snap and go Jihad some cunts... these appear to be my available options.
:laugh:
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on February 15, 2021, 10:09:32 PM
Take a break and read Finnegans Wake.
Finally eked out a bit of time to get properly started on Children of Dune and glad I did. Loving it so far, though only 50 pages in.
Children is a great read. Flip I'm itching to read it again.
Quote from: Carnage on February 15, 2021, 10:40:15 PMStarted Watchers by Dean Koontz the other night, just read a few pages.
About a quarter of the way through this, haven't had much time with it. It's not the best TBH, the sort of thing I'd have loved in my Stephen King-obsessed early teens. Very '80s, very American, very clichéd.
When it came out, I was sold on the cover but never got around to reading it. Reckon I'd have enjoyed it more then.
Just finished 'Culloden' by Trevor Royle today, although the title is a bit misleading. That desperate, horrific battle is only the appetiser, it's more about the beginnings of the British empire and their endless humiliation of the French in North America, India and the Caribbean (and their self humiliation at the subsequent peace accord). Great story teller though, makes history books into page turners. His book on the conflict commonly known as the English Civil War was mighty.
I bought Danny Dyer's autobiography for a quid for the laugh last year, started it there now. Funny enough, he writes like he talks :)
Finished reading Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy there recently.
Really enjoyed the first two, Red Mars and Green Mars. I didn't enjoy the third one, Blue Mars, quiet as much Though, I felt It was a bit draggy, but Its still a good read.
Some achievement by the author to cover 200 years of Martian settlement, terraforming and the creation of a Martian culture.
I'd recommend them highly.
I read Red Mars years ago, I'll have to do it again before reading the other two. There's also a short story collection in the series, The Martians. Just in case you weren't aware of it.
Thanks man, yeah I heard about The Martians allright, might give it an auld go at some stage.
I wouldn't be a huge science fiction reader to be honest, I'd usually prefer to read popular science when I'm in a sciencey frame of mind.
I've a few Harlan Coben novels lined up here now, sweet as a nut.
Just finished "I'm A Joke And So Are You" by comedian and brainbox Robin Ince, a reflection on humanity and humor.
I'll be honest, I struggled with this. It's not that I didn't enjoy (some of) it but I just felt that Ince got mired in the psychology and minutiae of human existence rather than the humor bit. If i wanted to sit po-faced through a book about the human condition I wouldn't have read one by a comedian.
Started Kevin Barry's "City Of Bohane" yesterday. I hear good things about him. Never read any of his stuff.
I'm having the same problem with reading fiction again after the last 10 or so being history/non-fiction books.
Finished Blood Meridian again, in time for the "Notes on.." book to arrive. Looking forward to getting into that. Definitely one of the best books ever written.
Up next, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep".
A few arrived in the post, must get on them soon;
Moby Dick
A Congregation of Jackals
some Yukio Mishima books
Also got a new book from Stephen Graham Jones called "The Only Good Indians", seems to be a horror but looks good.
I'm on No Country For Old Men myself...what a fucking writer, just grabs hold of you and doesn't let go until the last word. Ordered the last 2 books of his I haven't read Suttree and Child Of God. Iight just take my time with them, spread them out over the next 6 months, because they're like bloody gold dust at this stage.
Quote from: Pedrito on March 03, 2021, 09:35:29 PM
I'm on No Country For Old Men myself...what a fucking writer, just grabs hold of you and doesn't let go until the last word. Ordered the last 2 books of his I haven't read Suttree and Child Of God. Iight just take my time with them, spread them out over the next 6 months, because they're like bloody gold dust at this stage.
Gold dust for sure, I've heard good things about those two so must get onto them next.
Good stuff lads. I like Mccarthy alot.
Only one I ever tried was All The Pretty Horses, when I was about 19. Couldn't get past the grammarless writing, so never finished it and never tried anything else. Been meaning to give The Road a go for a couple of years though, since - like a total fucking pleb - I'd like to see the film.
The Road is savage as is No Country.
Reading 'Ireland's Animals - Myths, Legends and Folklore' by Niall Mac Coitir there over the weekend.
Loads of cool tidbits to be found therein.
According to Brehon Law, if your dog took a shit on the neighbours patch, not only would you have to stump up butter, oats and whey in restitution, but you'd also have to tidy away the shite and get rid of it. That's the shot :)
Funnily enough I've been dipping in and out of Irish Wild Plants - Myths, Legends and Folklore by the same Author Myself the last while.
Fierce interesting stuff and a mountain of well researched information to be gleaned from it.
Absolutely, extremely well researched and very pleasant reading of a Sunday evening,
Another Brehon law that I found amusing was that if your cat stole a neighbours bit of food that was careless left lying about, neither you nor your cat were liable :) One of my cats steals food constantly and unfortunately for him, Brehon law has no jurisdiction in my apartment and he is subject to the discipline of the boot up the hole if I can get a hauld of him.
Started Lolita by Nabukov for a bit of bedtime reading after a a false start last year. Gorgeous writing but I'll leave it for when I'm not getting heavy-eyed.
I'm still struggling through Watchers by Dean Koontz. It's just shite, I'm only going to finish it out of stubborness. I can only read it when I've had a drop, it tries my sober patience. Shoulda read it when it came out, my early teenage self would have lapped it up.
Lolita is indeed one of the best written books I've ever read. Incredible what he evokes with language, sometimes erudite, but just as often prosaic and instantly internalized.
"I was weeping again, drunk on the impossible past."
Even if you are not into autobiographies, I'd recommend this:
A Happy Odyssey - Adrian Carton De Wiart. His biography foreword is by Churchill and his life story is so amazing if it was made into a move you wouldn't believe it. Highly recommended for something different.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Odyssey-Adrian-Carton-Wiart/dp/1844155390/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1615157185&refinements=p_27%3ACarton+de+Wiart&s=books&sr=1-1
Ralph Ellison, invisible man
Quote from: Carnage on February 15, 2021, 10:40:15 PMStarted Watchers by Dean Koontz the other night, just read a few pages.
Finally finished this bag of shite the other night. I won't be reading any more of his.
Gonna take the plunge into Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell next, I've had it on the shelf for a while.
I know its not high brow stuff but i picked up the complete Sherlock Holmes collection, all books and short stories and i cannot put it down, highly recommend it
I've never read any of those. I will get around to them at some point no doubt
Well worth it, i think its very well written but im no academic 🤓
Finished Lolita and Edgewood on 'Montrose' this week.
The former is a unique read, beautiful and verbose, but accessible. Very smug at understanding all the French bits and in jokes :)
The Montrose, James Graham. Ah lads he was brilliant. The Kings Champion indeed.
Starting Ham's 'Hiroshima and Nagasaki' this evening to get out of watching some dreadful looking shite the bird has picked out to watch.
Quote from: Doctor Crippen on March 20, 2021, 06:22:18 PM
Well worth it, i think its very well written but im no academic 🤓
Sherlock Holmes is great, and if you want a fascinating multi-faceted delve into how that kind of detective story arose at much the same time as psychoanalysis and various other turn of the century things, there's an incredible essay called Signs, Traces and Clues by Carlo Ginzburg which you should check out. Proper head-trip historical considerations.
Edit: The English translation is called "Clues: Roots of a Scientific Paradigm."
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on March 20, 2021, 08:05:24 PM
Quote from: Doctor Crippen on March 20, 2021, 06:22:18 PM
Well worth it, i think its very well written but im no academic 🤓
Sherlock Holmes is great, and if you want a fascinating multi-faceted delve into how that kind of detective story arose at much the same time as psychoanalysis and various other turn of the century things, there's an incredible essay called Signs, Traces and Clues by Carlo Ginzburg which you should check out. Proper head-trip historical considerations.
Edit: The English translation is called "Clues: Roots of a Scientific Paradigm."
Cheers man, I will definitely look that up. Arthur Conan Doyle was certainly ahead of his times
I am not a huge fan of fictional work, well modern fiction more specifically, but Sherlock has gotten under my skin. I also bought the original version of Moby Dicky as in how it was written when it was first released, so I am moving onto that after Sherlock but I will definitely look up that essay, thanks.
On a Philip K Dick buzz right now. Read Ubik a month or so ago and am now reading The Three Stigmatas Of Palmer Eldridge. Any fans on here? I'm definitely gonna get more of his stuff
A Scanner Darkly and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said are two of my favourites.
Quote from: Necro Red on March 26, 2021, 11:37:47 AM
On a Philip K Dick buzz right now. Read Ubik a month or so ago and am now reading The Three Stigmatas Of Palmer Eldridge. Any fans on here? I'm definitely gonna get more of his stuff
Only finished Do Androids Dream.. last week, mighty stuff. Love Flow My Tears.
Need to read more Philip K Dick myself. Ubik and the Exegesis are high on my "to-read" list.
Read a couple of his books when I was getting into sci-fi. I remember Arthur C. Clarke and Asimov being head and shoulders above, quality-wise though. Read A Scanner Darkly years later, apparently it's Axl Rose's favourite book, and again, it's good but not great.
I've just finished Christopher Browning's "Ordinary Men", the study on Reserve Police Batallion 101 and what motivated common people to contribute to the Nazi final solution. Great read!!!
Just started Antony Beevor "Berlin 1945"
I'm a few pages into the Bone Collector at the moment which is shaping up nicely. I like the writing style, seen the movie years ago and forgot the majority of it which isn't a bad thing. I was reading Being And Nothingness by Sartre, but had to put it down for awhile as it is quite heavy reading, especially during doom and gloom.
Quote from: Doctor Crippen on April 07, 2021, 10:31:20 AM
Just started Antony Beevor "Berlin 1945"
That's a savage book. In fact, his Stalingrad one is also one of my favourite books on WW2.
There's a part in that Berlin book, reading from a Russian soldier's diary upon coming across a deserted farm in East Prussia, stunned at the order and relative opulence, incapable of understanding why the Germans wanted to invade Russia.
Yeah i am past that alright, the amount of rape that takes place and the level of it is mind boggling, i have all his books, he was one of the lucky few historians who got in-depth access to the Russian archives, i dont think many have since
I have those two Anthony Beevor books on a shelf to read, I think I'll start one of them soon.
Finished "City Of Bohane" by Kevin Barry - never in my adult life has it taken me so long to read such a slim volume. I've mentioned this before but I don't think my brain as the fiction switch turned on any more. I was at this for ages. It's good in places but he uses the same sort of fictional register/vernacular technique as Anthony Burgess, James Joyce etc. The language flows pretty well but the actual story goes nowhere and becomes a fart smelling exercise by Barry two thirds of the way through.
Picked up Craig Brown's "One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time" - it is excellent so far. Rockets along at a nice pace. As well as being about The Beatles it is a social history of what was going on within and without them. Brown is funny and knows how to use his satirist's blade to cut through a lot of the mystical stuff.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on April 08, 2021, 04:24:47 PM
Picked up Craig Brown's "One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time" - it is excellent so far. Rockets along at a nice pace. As well as being about The Beatles it is a social history of what was going on within and without them. Brown is funny and knows how to use his satirist's blade to cut through a lot of the mystical stuff.
Was given that for xmas but haven't cracked into it. Will start that next.
Read Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago. It was fine. Sorta like The Jetsons with coke. Preferred the oppressive bleakness of 1984. Despite the massive changes in the world technologically in the last 80 odd years a lot of the same issues seem to remain. Suppose it's the nature of man that hasn't changed on a base level. Sometimes reshaped to the times we are in but generally the same. Puts an onus on not giving too much of ourselves to the nonsense we are bombarded with daily.
The Jetsons With Coke :laugh: I agree, it's not as overtly bleak as 1984, mind you it's a long time since I read that, but its message of mass submission rings true with our addictions to our phones and social media. Less grimy perhaps, but possibly more accurate in its depressing sanitisation.
Ya, I would say it's more accurate in most instances. It's the tone rather than the content that's not as bleak.
Absolutely.
In short, it's just not quite as excellent a book as 1984, but still very good, and prophetic and all that; soma = streaming services, if you ask me.
Agree with it being not quite as great as 1984.
As for the soma, Jaysus it's in everything now, like a fucking ubiquitous e-number.
Couldn't possibly narrow it down to one thing. It's endless. Just do drugs, kids.
I said streaming services, but I meant the mainstream screen entertainment industry in total; the great imagination sedative. It just so happens that, over the last year and a bit, streaming services have been essentially the only globally accessible form of that medium.
Forgot about this but to anyone interested, Vibes and Scribes do a 12e for 3 (5e each) deal on fiction, obvious titles here but still a grand deal.
https://www.vibesandscribes.ie/3-for-12-fiction/
Oh you bastard. I have 100+ books in my to-read pile and now there's this. :laugh:
Seeing it in the list there, I heartily recommend A Canticle For Leibowitz.
Quote from: Carnage on April 08, 2021, 11:24:50 PM
Oh you bastard. I have 100+ books in my to-read pile and now there's this. :laugh:
Yup I half wish I hadn't found it have plenty to get through lol
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on April 08, 2021, 11:27:09 PM
Seeing it in the list there, I heartily recommend A Canticle For Leibowitz.
First one that caught my eye, in fact. Any Hemmingway recommendations? I see a few there, he's someone I've wanted to read for a long time.
My old fella sent my 5 of his lately. He recommended Old Man and the Sea first followed by For Whom the Bell Tolls.
A farewell to arms is a good read.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on April 08, 2021, 10:45:21 PM
Forgot about this but to anyone interested, Vibes and Scribes do a 12e for 3 (5e each) deal on fiction, obvious titles here but still a grand deal.
https://www.vibesandscribes.ie/3-for-12-fiction/
Nice one, just signed up there
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on April 08, 2021, 10:45:21 PM
Forgot about this but to anyone interested, Vibes and Scribes do a 12e for 3 (5e each) deal on fiction, obvious titles here but still a grand deal.
https://www.vibesandscribes.ie/3-for-12-fiction/
Put in an order after I saw this, they landed on this morning. Great stuff. Picked up The Road, some Joe Hill one and Canticle for Leibowitz which has been on my wishlist for a number of years. Just started the 3rd Robin Hobb trilogy (out of 5) so it'll be a while before I get to these new ones.
Didn't see anything about delivery prices to out foren...
Quote from: Carnage on April 08, 2021, 11:45:38 PM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on April 08, 2021, 11:27:09 PM
Seeing it in the list there, I heartily recommend A Canticle For Leibowitz.
First one that caught my eye, in fact. Any Hemmingway recommendations? I see a few there, he's someone I've wanted to read for a long time.
Old Man And The Sea is the only one I read and I thought it was great. I should read more of his stuff really
I finished KK Downing's book yesterday.
It's was terrible tripe. I didn't make me want to go through the discography as most of these type books do. He seems so bitter.
Anyway I'll have to get the Rob Halford book to see what he has to say.
The Halford one's great, apparently.
Picked up a couple of Orwell books (The Road To Wigan Pier & Down And Out In Paris And London) for £2.25 each on Amazon, if anyone's looking for a bargain.
Quote from: Circlepit on April 14, 2021, 05:40:37 PM
I finished KK Downing's book yesterday.
It's was terrible tripe. I didn't make me want to go through the discography as most of these type books do. He seems so bitter.
Anyway I'll have to get the Rob Halford book to see what he has to say.
Hears good things about Halfords book but haven't got around to it
I always find when a couple of members of bands put out an autobiography there's usually a heap of contradictions between them all, especially when one is pretty bitter about things
Diving back into Labyrinths, a series of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges. Complex and heavy reading, but fascinating and strangely humorous.
Quote from: Carnage on April 14, 2021, 08:15:19 PM
The Halford one's great, apparently.
Picked up a couple of Orwell books (The Road To Wigan Pier & Down And Out In Paris And London) for £2.25 each on Amazon, if anyone's looking for a bargain.
Both fantastic books!
Quote from: Caomhaoin on April 15, 2021, 04:02:57 AM
Quote from: Carnage on April 14, 2021, 08:15:19 PM
The Halford one's great, apparently.
Picked up a couple of Orwell books (The Road To Wigan Pier & Down And Out In Paris And London) for £2.25 each on Amazon, if anyone's looking for a bargain.
Both fantastic books!
Down And Out is great alright. I will eventually read more of his material
Yeah, I'm looking forward to both. All I've read by him is Animal Farm and 1984, I'm interested in checking out his nonfiction.
The first half of The Road To Wigan Pier is one of the most searing accounts of poverty ever written. The second half is more of a debate about Orwell's upbringing and socialism and isn't as riveting but still an enjoyable read.
Coming Up For Air is one of Orwell's finest books but possibly one of the bleakest things he ever wrote and that's saying something.
Coming up for air is indeed miserably excellent. I sent my auld lad a copy of TRTWP a few years ago, he rang me and told me it depressed him so much that he gave up on it after the first half.
A Homage to Catalonia is an absolutely riveting war diary, his ubiquitous preoccupation with snout is along the lines with the glory of the egg in Angela's Ashes. The republican side in the Spanish civil war is a source of intense romance, even today, and it is a little saddening to see his disillusionment with it as the book progresses. I love that part at the start 'whenever possible, the business of today in Spain will happen mañana' :)
It's a 20 minute read, but his notes on nationalism is, although of its time, such a beautifully written, thinking mans bit of lectura.
Fuck it I'll read a bit of Orwell this morning.
Today's post:
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist. I recently came across him on YouTube and have listened to a few of his discussions. I think this will be a fascinating read.
Sticking with Antony Beevor and reading 'Stalingrad' again, so well written and great detail
Hilary Mantel: The Mirror And The Light just landed today. Looking forward to that, the first two were fantastic.
I've hit a wall in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. About halfway through, haven't looked at it for a week or two. Just not feeling it.
I liked Jonathan Strange... back when I read it, but over 10 years ago now I think. It's mad how she wrote that and then waited 16 years to write another novel, an absolute cracker, Piranesi. Read it at the very end of last year, strongly recommend it.
Mary Beard's Pompeii up next, really loved her SPQR.
I went back to it this morning when I had the house to myself, got about 50 pages read while I had the chance. Just needed a break, I suppose, happens sometimes.
Does that happen to anyone else, incidentally? I go through phases where I can't even look at a book for 6 months, sometimes a year. Just lose enthusiasm for reading for long spells, and then it could swing back the other way to where I'm reading 2 or 3 books a week (my record is 3 in a night). It happens with movies/TV series too, I watched a film the other night for the first time in about a month.
I saw the other day that Alan Moore has a new 5 book deal with Bloomsbury for a fantasy epic. Looking forward to Andy's review :laugh:
Lord almighty... I might return to Jerusalem and finish it at some point. Maybe...
Quote from: boozegeune on May 06, 2021, 07:41:18 PM
I liked Jonathan Strange... back when I read it, but over 10 years ago now I think. It's mad how she wrote that and then waited 16 years to write another novel, an absolute cracker, Piranesi. Read it at the very end of last year, strongly recommend it.
Mary Beard's Pompeii up next, really loved her SPQR.
Yeah SPQR is great, she has a great style of writing that just draws you in
Quote from: Carnage on May 06, 2021, 09:09:39 PM
I went back to it this morning when I had the house to myself, got about 50 pages read while I had the chance. Just needed a break, I suppose, happens sometimes.
Does that happen to anyone else, incidentally? I go through phases where I can't even look at a book for 6 months, sometimes a year. Just lose enthusiasm for reading for long spells, and then it could swing back the other way to where I'm reading 2 or 3 books a week (my record is 3 in a night). It happens with movies/TV series too, I watched a film the other night for the first time in about a month.
I would be the same as that, i think its my work too, it can be intense for long periods and i lose the will to focus in on too much
Anyone got any ways to get out of a reading block? Was reading mad a couple weeks ago but currently stuck on current book. Nothing to do with the book but had to leave it off for a couple days and haven't picked it up in weeks. Can't start a new one till I finish it either. I suppose the best thing to do is just pick it up and go.
Whe I get stuck just on a particular book I go to another, completely different genre and see if that works. Crime fiction is my go-to, that or something with a comedy element to it. Total blocks are a prick though.
Finally finished Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell at the weekend. Seriously overrated book.
After cleansing the palate with a couple of issues of Empire, I've moved on to the maximum rock'n'roll that is Tony Robinson's autobiography.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on May 06, 2021, 10:34:57 PM
Anyone got any ways to get out of a reading block?
I've had some blocks when reading particularly huge tomes that I just couldn't get through quick enough, despite being interested in it. I would get an audio book (free preferably, do a Google, but I do have audible) of the book I'm actually reading and swap between the two. Read one chapter, listen to the next two or three while walking, working, gaming etc, and so on. I read most just before bed and with a new baby I tend to pass out pretty quick, so this has been handy as I try to readjust to reading on my break or after work. Also worth seeking out an interesting but very short read to get you going again.
Reading block eh? be Jeasus that's a new one on me.
Do ya mean that you'r just not in the mood to read like? Sure if you'r not in the mood for it, just don't do it. Its a complete waste of time reading a book if you'r forcing yourself to read it out of some sense of obligation. If you'r not enjoying reading it, its in one eye and out the other anyway. Go at something else, drawing, bit of carpentry, write an auld poem or whatever and the urge to read will come again. Your brain will tell you when it requires some literary nourishment, as the body tells you when it is hungry. That's the way it is with me anyway.
Just finished City Of Lies, by Michael Russell. Top notch read.
Irish Crime fiction set in Dublin during the second world war.
Its actually the fourth book in a series, can't wait to get my paws on the others.
I picked up The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan and have been bating through it. It's the only one of his I've not yet read and as it turns out it's a children's book. A quick and easy breath of fresh air that I need before jumping back into The Master and His Emissary, which is fascinating but heavy reading.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler.
The background to the Yankees winning the Series in '77, focusing on the hate-hate relationship between Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin. Meanwhile, NYC is falling apart, the city is broke, the mayoral race, the Blackout, and the Son of Sam is going round killing people. And Rupert Murdoch takes over the Post.
Brilliant book.
Reading Boys Life By Robert McCammon. Love coming of age stories and this is hitting the right spot.
Re reading block: was a case of not reaching for what I was reading when I was halfway through. Finished some assignments and ended up getting back into it.
So much so I have McCarthy's No Country for Old Men and PKD's Three Stigmata..
Bought Pynchons Crying of Lot 49.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on May 22, 2021, 05:26:11 PM
Re reading block: was a case of not reaching for what I was reading when I was halfway through. Finished some assignments and ended up getting back into it.
So much so I have McCarthy's No Country for Old Men and PKD's Three Stigmata..
Bought Pynchons Crying of Lot 49.
Pynchon is a hard read. I haven't finished the one book of his that I persevered with ("Gravity's Rainbow") - stuck about a third of the way in. I tried starting a few others with no luck.
Currently reading Jeff Tweedy's memoir "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)". I've been a fan of Wilco for a long time but only knew about them from magazine/newspaper articles. A very read so far - Tweedy seems to have genuinely put time into this - honest and funny.
I have Gravity's Rainbow on the list. I picked it up second hand a couple of years ago knowing nothing about it, I just liked the title, but it was people in this thread saying how difficult a read it was put me off going near it. I'll have to give it a shot.
I read Dave Mustaines: A Life in Metal last week. A good enough read, the bitterness was very real for a long time! I would have liked a bit more insight into his songwriting methods, he just kind of glossed over some albums. I never really paid attention to what musicians were in the band, he burned through a fair amount of members alright. The boys mad for the drugs so they were.
The part when the "Big Four" were playing Am I Evil onstage and he wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to do the guitar solo... me nerves haha.
Up next is Steve-o's professional idiot: a memoir.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 24, 2021, 11:39:58 AM
I have Gravity's Rainbow on the list. I picked it up second hand a couple of years ago knowing nothing about it, I just liked the title, but it was people in this thread saying how difficult a read it was put me off going near it. I'll have to give it a shot.
It might not be that difficult to read. It could be a case of me being too thick to understand it. :laugh:
Well I know that feeling too ::)
Started reading basil liddal harts 'history of the second world war', very detailed and lots of inside information as he had access to high rank British politicians who were in Chamberlin and Churchills cabinet, he was also an advisor of sorts. A good read well worth picking up
Haven't read Gravity's Rainbow so I said I'd start with Crying of Lot 49 as its short enough. I do want to read his one V as it sounds mad.
I just finished Valis by Philip K Dick. One mad fucking book ha ha. It was a tad heavy in part, but enjoyable non the less. Been getting free book vouchers off the 3 App for easons lately. Have Scanner Darkly on the way next
Reading Houellebecq's short book on Lovecraft. This book has a moronic and completely unnecessary intro by Steven King. King has been dwarfed by Houellebecq since this came out.
Im sure there are plenty of fans of the Michel Houellebecq on here, I think he's brilliant and justly recognised in France
Quote from: 91/30 on May 25, 2021, 01:47:27 PM
Reading Houellebecq's short book on Lovecraft. This book has a moronic and completely unnecessary intro by Steven King. King has been dwarfed by Houellebecq since this came out.
Im sure there are plenty of fans of the Michel Houellebecq on here, I think he's brilliant and justly recognised in France
Biography on Lovecraft?
Finished No Country for Old Men last night. Brilliant stuff as expected. Have McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses lined up now.
Quote from: Necro Red on May 29, 2021, 11:20:36 AM
Quote from: 91/30 on May 25, 2021, 01:47:27 PM
Biography on Lovecraft?
No, its just an analysis of the origin of Lovecrafts style and themes, his anti commercial streak and misanthropy and racism. The latter came about when he found himself living in poverty in NY city, having to compete for work with other nationalities.
It's a great read if you are interested in both authors, it reveals as much about Houellebecq's thoughts as it does Lovecraft
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on May 29, 2021, 01:16:51 PM
Finished No Country for Old Men last night. Brilliant stuff as expected. Have McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses lined up now.
Have All The Pretty Horses as well. Looking forward to it whenever that may happen.
I found All the Pretty Horses tough going.
Sake. Thought everything outside of Blood Meridian would be a piece of cake.
It's the reason I've only ever started one and never finished any books by McCarthy, although I do mean to rectify that some day (was only 19 when I tried All The Pretty Horses).
Strange, I've read four of his (including Blood Meridian, No Country... and The Road), and I thought All The Pretty Horses was the easiest to read. Certainly the most enjoyable.
Yeah would have figured anything outside BM would be easier but no harm. My missus father handed me The Crossing and Child of God while I was at it too so I've no excuses.
He also gave me every Larry McMurty book but that might take a while..
I thought all the pretty horse was some of his more straightforward writing, as was the plot. One of his least disturbing books anyway. I found the crossing harder to get into but once it clicked about half way through I enjoyed it a lot.
If you make it that far definitely finish the trilogy as the final book is probably the best of them. There's one fight towards the end was harrowing even by his standards.
Half way through child of God atm. I like the way its laid out. One or two page chapters written as anecdotes of someone describing the main character to someone else
My mum rooted out a heap of my books from when I was a little gossoon to give to my son. Seeing as all of my stuff is now boxed up and gone I've decided to dive into some old classics. First up, Danny The Champion of the World. 8)
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 03, 2021, 11:08:47 PM
My mum rooted out a heap of my books from when I was a little gossoon to give to my son. Seeing as all of my stuff is now boxed up and gone I've decided to dive into some old classics. First up, Danny The Champion of the World. 8)
Jaysis - flashbacks - I read that in school 30 years ago - a book about fellas taking things illegally using raisins filled with sleeping tablets.
Was Danny the Bill Cosby of his time?
One Dahl book that I still pick up and read - and recently gave to my nephew is "The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar". The main story is great and I always like the other short stories because they showed another, darker side of Roald Dahl.
Any recommendations for a good horror book for this sunny weekend lads?
Currently reading Liseys story by Stephen King. Slow start but starting to ramp up now.
I'm reading 'bonjour tristesse' by Sagan there in French . Positives ; it's mostly in the passé compose so it's easy to read. Negatives ; Chris will get immense schadenfraude at the thoughts of me struggling through this simple book about female sexuality (Christ) and having to look at a dictionary every two minutes, having paid for the privilege.
I was branded 'stuck in the past' at a session last night for mentioning I've started reading Moby Dick :laugh:
You need to find some new acquaintances.. :laugh:
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on June 06, 2021, 11:16:34 AM
I was branded 'stuck in the past' at a session last night for mentioning I've started reading Moby Dick :laugh:
I bet there's something you're leaving out here, like you actually said, "I've just started reading Herman Melville's new book, Moby Dick." :P
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 06, 2021, 01:37:22 PM
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on June 06, 2021, 11:16:34 AM
I was branded 'stuck in the past' at a session last night for mentioning I've started reading Moby Dick :laugh:
I bet there's something you're leaving out here, like you actually said, "I've just started reading Herman Melville's new book, Moby Dick." :P
:laugh:
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on June 06, 2021, 11:16:34 AM
I was branded 'stuck in the past' at a session last night for mentioning I've started reading Moby Dick :laugh:
Finished it last month or so ago, im with ye in the past 😎
Read it before Xmas, we'll all be at some gig or festival in the future debating the whys and wherefores of it while scratching our bearded smigs no doubt.
Reading Nomadland
Grabbed a couple of new books to keep me ticking over.
The God Equation by Michio Kaku.
Languages of Truth by Salman Rushdie.
Can I resist diving in right away? Of course not! Here we go....
Michio Kaku writes great books allright in fairness to him, I don't share his enthusiasm for string theory but I've really enjoyed any of his stuff I've read none the less.
Just finished The Ginger Man by JP Donleavy, a book I've been meaning to read for years and finally got around to this week.
The main protagonist, Sebastian Dangerfield, is without doubt the biggest all round scumbag and general piece of human trash I have ever come across in a book.
Brilliantly written, great read.
I read that years ago now, excellent stuff. Reminded me of Tropic Of Cancer, though it was much more entertaining.
He only died a couple of years ago too.
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on June 10, 2021, 12:20:36 AM
The main protagonist, Sebastian Dangerfield, is without doubt the biggest all round scumbag and general piece of human trash I have ever come across in a book.
Brilliantly written, great read.
Is he worse than Franco Begbie?
DC Bruce Robertson is probably worse than Begbie IMO.
Franco is pure evil. Must check this other dude out if he gives him a run for his money!
Quote from: Caomhaoin on June 10, 2021, 10:08:00 AM
DC Bruce Robertson is probably worse than Begbie IMO.
I haven't read Filth in so long but yeah, you're likely right, he is a true cunt.
Just started "A Confederacy Of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole.
Enjoying it so far - a comic novel that's actually funny.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 14, 2021, 11:12:37 AM
Just started "A Confederacy Of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole.
Enjoying it so far - a comic novel that's actually funny.
I've heard good things about that allright, must keep me eye out for a copy of it.
Is he worse than Franco Begbie?
[/quote]
I would say Dangerfield equals and possibly even surpasses, Begbies level of scumbaggery.
Always said I'd read it once I reached 40, and since that was a few weeks ago already, I plunged into the first 50 pages of Ulysses today. Didn't expect to get so far in just a day, given that 50 pages of Finnegans Wake takes me about a month.
I got about halfway through Dubliners and shelved it. Nothing there for me. I can't imagine tackling his 'difficult'work.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 20, 2021, 01:17:45 AM
Always said I'd read it once I reached 40, and since that was a few weeks ago already, I plunged into the first 50 pages of Ulysses today.
Saving that one for my retirement. Curious to see if you enjoy it.
I have Dubliners on the shelf for a few years now. Never touched it.
Quote from: Emphyrio on June 20, 2021, 08:58:30 AM
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 20, 2021, 01:17:45 AM
Always said I'd read it once I reached 40, and since that was a few weeks ago already, I plunged into the first 50 pages of Ulysses today.
Saving that one for my retirement. Curious to see if you enjoy it.
Dislocated my knee yesterday, so got another 50 pages read waiting in A&E. Unless it takes a drastic turn for the worse at some point, I think I'm set to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Definitely glad so far to have waited until this point in my life though, where I've absorbed just enough random culture that my brain has somewhere to go as the text sends it endlessly scrambling about the place. Definitely an experience so far. And the word "cunt" has already appeared once and all!
Finished up Children of Dune, found it a bit of a slog compared to the first two. Jumped straight into God Emperor though and it's hitting the spot much better
I finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth the other night. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.
I moved on to Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver. I'm about three quarters through it and it's fairly entertaining even if the writing style irks me a little at times.
I ordered a copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë from the local supermarket here. Suffice to say there wasn't much to choose from so I grabbed the only classic they had in stock. 80 pages in and it's a winner. So far it is kind of like the female equivalent of Oliver Twist. Riveting stuff.
No Mills & Boone?
Unfortunately they were all sold out but I did manage to pick up a comb for my vagina.
Just started Orwell's Down And Out In Paris And London, in case I'd enjoy the weekend too much. I must pick up Miller's Tropic Of Cancer, a good companion piece to it. Last time I read it I was in hospital with a kidney stone, just to compound the misery.
I read Down and Out around twenty years ago. I remember really enjoying it.
I've been meaning to read it (and some of his other nonfiction) for years. I read Animal Farm and 1984 when I was in school (and answered the modern novel question in the Leaving on them, despite them not being on that year's syllabus - fuck Silas Marner) and loved them, but just never got around to it.
Picked up a few books lately. Two Stephen King short story collections, an Irvine Welsh one I hadn't heard of, and some early sci-fi one by George Martin. Good old charity shops and the random outcomes.
Which Irvine Welsh did you get?
A Decent Ride. Haven't even started it yet but most of his stuff is good for a laugh and a sickening
In fact, one of the scenes in the second Trainspotting book is up there with the worst things I have ever read, where Spud and his dodgy pal pick up a dirty young one in the pub and get up to some of the sickest possible shit. The filth of it.
He's a master of calling up the most repugnant of human behaviour and somehow making it hilarious.
He has probably unfairly coloured my view of Scotland in general over the years, too.
No, that's exactly what it's like up there from the Highlands to the high rises of Edinburgh. Pure scum from top to bottom.
:laugh:
A decent ride is, well, decent. Juice Terry was the best thing about Glue so it was good to see him take ventre stage.
The last one I really enjoyed was Skagboys, Crime and the Blade Artist, not for me Jeff.
Met Irvine Welsh in a gaff here a few years back. Got a picture looking wrecked.
Skagboys is a great read.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 25, 2021, 11:15:39 PM
I finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth the other night. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.
As it happens I saw a review of this today and it seems like it's something I'd definitely be into so I must pick up a copy. The insanity of the golden age of polar exploration is fascinating stuff.
Yeah, it's Endlessly fascinating. And there is something exciting about that era of exploration, when the world was still a half unknown place. The descriptions of the light and the weird phenomena like fata morgana always really capture my imagination and make me want to re-read At the Mountains of Madness!
Went a bit mad in a second shop in Youghal. Picked up an Edgar Allan Poe compiled stories, an illustrated version as well. Pynchon's "V" and Mishima's "Runaway Horses" and a poem book called "The Metaphysical Poet" (has a lot of John Donne). Got something for the missus too. Total was 30 quid which was mad. Most seem to be 1970s editions too.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on June 28, 2021, 11:24:54 AM
Went a bit mad in a second shop in Youghal. Picked up an Edgar Allan Poe compiled stories, an illustrated version as well. Pynchon's "V" and Mishima's "Runaway Horses" and a poem book called "The Metaphysical Poet" (has a lot of John Donne). Got something for the missus too. Total was 30 quid which was mad. Most seem to be 1970s editions too.
Christ - that's a decent from a charity shop. I normally only see Dan Brown books and Gay Byrne's autobiography.
You will find a copy of "The Time Of My Life" by Gay Byrne in every charity shop across the nation.
GSPCA shop in Galway usually has a few gems secreted among the shite. Found out recently that a huge amount of books are dumped as they don't have room to store them, that goes for all the charity shops too. Shameful.
Quote from: Carnage on June 29, 2021, 12:57:49 PM
GSPCA shop in Galway usually has a few gems secreted among the shite. Found out recently that a huge amount of books are dumped as they don't have room to store them, that goes for all the charity shops too. Shameful.
Yeah - I read a newspaper article about leather bound hardback collections (Dickens maybe) donated to an Oxfam in the UK which they dumped into a recycling landfill because they take up too much space.
It is somewhat understandable on mass produced paperbacks and stuff like that but classics in that format...?
Leather-bound volumes to go with your leather-bound pounds in your leather-bound wallet?
Aye, a bit of discretion in the sorting process would be no harm. I'd have thought libraries would take some of them but no - a friend of mine just closed his secondhand bookshop during the lockdown, he'd rang around the county and country trying to get rid of the stock, nobody was interested. Other shops, charity shops, libraries, nobody. He ended up giving most of it to the town band to sell off to fund a new roof for their hall.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 29, 2021, 12:44:04 PM
You will find a copy of "The Time Of My Life" by Gay Byrne in every charity shop across the nation.
So, is it any good?
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 29, 2021, 01:31:14 PM
Quote from: StoutAndAle on June 29, 2021, 12:44:04 PM
You will find a copy of "The Time Of My Life" by Gay Byrne in every charity shop across the nation.
So, is it any good?
I have actually read it. Well... bits of it. I bought it for my granny as a Christmas present 20 odd years ago.
There's a few good stories in there. Mostly involving Mike Murphy. One of which goes something like - GB and MM leave some bar in Donnybrook after fair few pints. They decide to go in town. While they're trying to hail a cab they spot a fella completely mullered and trying to take a piss against the door of a closed shop. They have a good laugh at him. Still no cab.
"Hee-or" roars the drunk. "Is it yerselves or am I seeing things?"
"It's us. From the television" says Gay in his TV voice smirking at MM and adding "Do you want an autograph?"
The drunk ignoring GB says "Ah Mike, yer a gas man so you are!"
GB notices that your man is still taking a slash.
"Thanks" says Mike
The lad finally turns and sticks out his piss-soaked hand to GB who instinctively takes it.
"Ah Mike, yisser... fuggin' fuggin gas"
He's still gripping GB's hand and turns to him"But youse... youse are fuckin' brutal, pal!"
Haha! I was only thinking about Mike Murphy there yesterday and all.
I never minded Gaybo myself, though there's a fair laype to go between that level of not minding him and the amount of spare interest needed to go reading his autobiography.
I finished Jane Eyre last night. I enjoyed it, I have to say. It's always interesting to rip into the classics and see what they have to offer.
Another classic up next: I have started into The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. I read The Chrysalids by him recently and really enjoyed it so let's see if this hits the mark as well.
Currently reading The Great Gatsby.
Having never seen the movie nor read this before I have to say its a tough but compelling read.
Finished the old man and the sea in two sittings. it should have been the one sitting but started to late in the day and didn't realise it was going was going to slow so well.
Was lovely to read
Quote from: Blackout on July 05, 2021, 01:59:50 PM
Currently reading The Great Gatsby.
Having never seen the movie nor read this before I have to say its a tough but compelling read.
I had to read that twice as my attention levels were insufficient the first time. Cool book.
I'm reading Chris Jericho's autobiography at the moment, the second one. I enjoy the stories but his 'I'm such a lad' guff is very contrived in places.
Quote from: Carnage on June 29, 2021, 12:57:49 PM
GSPCA shop in Galway usually has a few gems secreted among the shite. Found out recently that a huge amount of books are dumped as they don't have room to store them, that goes for all the charity shops too. Shameful.
I find that very sad. I wonder if there was a local carboot sale that the books could have been sold at? I don't really understand charity shops dumping books. Could nobody working there put some away in their attic or garage until they sell what they have in the shop? Fairly simple solution as opposed to dumping something that someone will buy.
It's the never ending stream of books coming in that's the problem. A mate works in a charity shop* in town, at times they have to refuse books because they've got such a mountain of them to get through, same all round. There has to be a better solution than dumping them though.
*The upside of this is that I get a shout if anything decent comes in.
There used to be loads of second hand book shops/flea markets around Dublin. No shortage of places to dump unwanted books. Places like Chapters, and countless basements which weren't at all organized, you just had to dive in. Same goes for second hand record shops. Used to be a thing, not a thing anymore I see. I remember a big outdoor flea market in Blackrock, stuffed full of records and books. All of which would probably be sold for a fortune nowadays (greedy sellers who never cared about vinyl before). Every time I come back to Ireland I barely recognize the city.
Currently reading short stories by Maupassant, short stories suit me best. Raymond carver is good for short stories too.
There was one behind the Stephen's Green shopping centre I used to drop into, always came out with something decent. Another near (old) Tower Records that was more organised. Both presumably long gone.
Just finished Down And Out In Paris And London, throughly enjoyed it. Grim and grimy for sure, but strangely uplifting at times.
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill just came through the letterbox so it's either that or Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light next.
Just finished Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, a book debunking medical nonsense in the media, revealing the bullshit being pedaled by the vitamin and supplement pill industries, homeopaths, energy healers and quacks of all sorts, and lifting the lid off the corruption, deceit, lies and general cuntishness of pharmaceutical companies.
Great read.
Warning - reading this book may lead to feelings of furious rage and anger.
Currently reading The Secret Of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost. Essential reading for any peaks nerds. I also picked up the Godfather and the official Iron Maiden biography in the car boot for only €3. Well chuffed with that!
I grabbed a copy of David Copperfield, which was apparently Charlie Dickhead's favourite of his novels. Let's have a look.
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on July 07, 2021, 11:21:48 PM
Just finished Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, a book debunking medical nonsense in the media, revealing the bullshit being pedaled by the vitamin and supplement pill industries, homeopaths, energy healers and quacks of all sorts, and lifting the lid off the corruption, deceit, lies and general cuntishness of pharmaceutical companies.
Great read.
Warning - reading this book may lead to feelings of furious rage and anger.
I'll grab a copy of this, it sounds really interesting... you may check "The Coddling of American the Mind" for related stuff.
Currently on John Cooper Clarke's autobiography. Very good so far - the man obviously knows how to spin words.
I'll grab a copy of this, it sounds really interesting... you may check "The Coddling of American the Mind" for related stuff.
[/quote]
Thanks man, I'll look that up.
Currently reading 'Lolita'. Probably won't be taking this one into work. Funny thing is it almost feels like a quaint taboo what with all the frivolous shite people get themselves worked up over these days..
Quote from: Carnage on July 07, 2021, 12:39:27 PMThe Woman In Black by Susan Hill just came through the letterbox so it's either that or Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light next.
Went for The Woman In Black in the end, finished it the other night. Enjoyable, if short. I must watch the recent film again, if memory serves it's not too faithful. There's a late '80s TV version that's meant to be excellent, I must look out for that.
Just finishing off the 3rd book in the original foundation trilogy.
Has any one hear read the other prequels and sequels in the series, are they worth the effort? Or is it best just to leave it at the original three?
In the local shopping centre I wandered over to a newsagent. There was a heap of books going for a mere $5 each (around €3). I picked up Emma by Jane Austin (in on a classic buzz) and Filth! Two more complimentary titles there never was :laugh:
Both ends of the spectrum right there alright. Oul Jane would have fainted if she ever got to read Filth!
Jane Fanny Flaps Austen.
Picked one randomly from the ever-increasing to-read pile: The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 19, 2021, 02:08:21 AM
In the local shopping centre I wandered over to a newsagent. There was a heap of books going for a mere $5 each (around €3). I picked up Emma by Jane Austin (in on a classic buzz) and Filth! Two more complimentary titles there never was :laugh:
If memory serves, Emma has a few sentences along the lines of "He ejaculated in her ear."
Great stuff. I'm in need of new wanking material.
I finished Filth this afternoon. Lord almighty, filth is right. Imagine a book with DC Bruce Robertson and Frances Begby together. It might actually be unreadable in its grimness :o
The beggar is mentioned briefly in it :)
Yeah and I was hoping he'd be brought in for the grand finale. Great ending none the less!
I love how the tapeworm transforms into his conscience, which he then shits out :laugh:
Yeah it's class, and the perfect antidote to your struggles with Jerusalem. I did something similar after getting highly frustrated with a Milan Kundera book my baby momma gave me years ago, got stuck into Trainspotting for the umpteenth time and finished it right and quick. In fact I might read one of his this weekend:)
Speaking of difficult literature, a teacher I work with me said he had Joyce on the reading list when he was at college (do the young lads in Ireland still say college or are we at 'Uni' now?) and he asked me 'have you read 'Dubliners'?
'No, that's beyond the ken of a lad like me'
'I started reading it in English, ni puta idea. So I bought a Spanish translation. Ni puta idea' :)
Made a nice little haul in an op shop today for a record breaking $3...
Crime and Punishment by Maeve Binchy.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by John Watson.
Sorcery by Terry Pratchett.
Dubliners is a grand read, language wise, more or less. I've fuck all spare time at the moment, but still really enjoying the 10-15 pages of Ulysses I manage to get through once or twice a week.
Finished the two official books on Twin Peaks back to back which I loved. Only for Peaks fans, otherwise it would be a chore if you hadn't watched the series. Started Scanner Darkly last night. It seems weirdly funny
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on July 28, 2021, 10:32:47 AM
Dubliners is a grand read, language wise, more or less.
Beautifully written book. Didn't get a whole lot out of it story wise but the language really is to be admired.
The only Joyce I've read was Potrait and I found it mostly a cunt of a thing. Boring, aimless and a chore to read with occasional flashes of brilliance. I'm in no rush to check anything else out.
I have 'Origin of The Species' up tomorrow. Feeling suitably daunted.
My favourite Joyce by far is Portrait, Dubliners is a nice read but a bit pointless, Ulysses is self indulgent rubbish and not worth the effort required of the reader to read it, If Iron Maiden wrote a novel, Ulysses would be the kind of bloated, over-produced, over-hyped nonsensical wankery they would come up with, I know it appeals greatly to some people, I think its appalling scutter.
On a completely different vein, I'm reading The Bourne Objective by Eric Van Lustbader presently, I've never seen the films or read any of the other Bourne books. I must say I'm finding it a very enjoyable read.
I guess it's topical, but I can't imagine a stronger mismatch than any Iron Maiden album, generally predictable and linear, albeit recently bloated, and Ulysses, which may be over-hyped, but is at the very least one of a kind. I dunno, I'm digging it, but I guess that in itself is predictable.
Never read any of the Bourne books, but all of the films are excellent for what they are, and much better than any of the Bond films released in the same time period.
I read the first Bourne book about ten years ago, it was fucking torturous. That'll do me.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on July 28, 2021, 10:53:19 PM
I guess it's topical, but I can't imagine a stronger mismatch than any Iron Maiden album, generally predictable and linear, albeit recently bloated, and Ulysses, which may be over-hyped, but is at the very least one of a kind. I dunno, I'm digging it, but I guess that in itself is predictable.
Never read any of the Bourne books, but all of the films are excellent for what they are, and much better than any of the Bond films released in the same time period.
Fair point re. the Iron Maiden analogy, although I was referring more to Maidens lyrics, which I find to be long-winded, meandering and pointless, than to their musical composition. Anyway, ya get my point.
Are ya going to give Finnegans Wake a whirl? Its worse than Ulysses, or better, depending on your point of view.
Quote from: Necro Red on July 28, 2021, 11:17:27 AM
Started Scanner Darkly last night. It seems weirdly funny
A scanner darkly is a good read for sure. One of Philip k dicks more realistic books I but all the more strange for it.
Quote from: Carnage on July 28, 2021, 11:15:54 PM
I read the first Bourne book about ten years ago, it was fucking torturous. That'll do me.
Horses for courses and that type of thing sure. I'm only half way through it yet so my opinion on it might change yet.
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on July 28, 2021, 11:45:42 PM
Are ya going to give Finnegans Wake a whirl? Its worse than Ulysses, or better, depending on your point of view.
I've read a couple hundred pages of Finnegans Wake and dip into it every once in a blue moon to read a page or two aloud, which seems to be the only way to get anything out of it. It kinda feels like being inside a total stranger's head while they're tripping, in all the best and worst ways you could imagine that to be. A stranger who's from Dublin,
speaks fluent, or practically fluent, Irish, English, French, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German..., but doesn't
think in any of them, but rather somewhere in between all of them. Won't bore ye, or myself, with the details, but it's interesting to me that something like Finnegans Wake even exists in literature, since I study, or try to study how (vaguely) similar "in-between" thinking can give rise to entirely new paradigms in science. But, y'know, formalized and communicated in a way other people can understand, which was exactly what Joyce was aiming to not do with Finnegans Wake. Ulysses reads like a Roddy Doyle book compared to it.
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on July 28, 2021, 11:51:01 PM
Quote from: Carnage on July 28, 2021, 11:15:54 PM
I read the first Bourne book about ten years ago, it was fucking torturous. That'll do me.
Horses for courses and that type of thing sure. I'm only half way through it yet so my opinion on it might change yet.
The original Bourne books were written by Robert Ludlum, so maybe Van Lustbader has injected some life into the series.
I dunno, I just found it incredibly dull - and at a time when I desperately needed a distraction; our house had been flooded and I was staying with my uncle while we were putting it back together. By comparison, the other book I brought with me was Max Brooks' World War Z and I flew through that in a couple of nights. Chalk and cheese though obviously.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on July 29, 2021, 12:02:30 AM
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on July 28, 2021, 11:45:42 PM
Are ya going to give Finnegans Wake a whirl? Its worse than Ulysses, or better, depending on your point of view.
I've read a couple hundred pages of Finnegans Wake and dip into it every once in a blue moon to read a page or two aloud, which seems to be the only way to get anything out of it. It kinda feels like being inside a total stranger's head while they're tripping, in all the best and worst ways you could imagine that to be. A stranger who's from Dublin, speaks fluent, or practically fluent, Irish, English, French, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German..., but doesn't think in any of them, but rather somewhere in between all of them. Won't bore ye, or myself, with the details, but it's interesting to me that something like Finnegans Wake even exists in literature, since I study, or try to study how (vaguely) similar "in-between" thinking can give rise to entirely new paradigms in science. But, y'know, formalized and communicated in a way other people can understand, which was exactly what Joyce was aiming to not do with Finnegans Wake. Ulysses reads like a Roddy Doyle book compared to it.
Ya hit the nail on the head there describing it, that's exactly what it reads like.
I can see why people would be intrigued by it but I found it unreadable to be honest, I gave up half way through, cursed Joyce and the chimera he rode in on, and swore never to revisit it.
Quote from: Carnage on July 29, 2021, 01:06:34 AM
Quote from: son of the Morrigan on July 28, 2021, 11:51:01 PM
Quote from: Carnage on July 28, 2021, 11:15:54 PM
I read the first Bourne book about ten years ago, it was fucking torturous. That'll do me.
Horses for courses and that type of thing sure. I'm only half way through it yet so my opinion on it might change yet.
The original Bourne books were written by Robert Ludlum, so maybe Van Lustbader has injected some life into the series.
I dunno, I just found it incredibly dull - and at a time when I desperately needed a distraction; our house had been flooded and I was staying with my uncle while we were putting it back together. By comparison, the other book I brought with me was Max Brooks' World War Z and I flew through that in a couple of nights. Chalk and cheese though obviously.
Chalk and cheese is right!
This is the first one I've read so I've nothing to compare it to, it's running along at a nice pace so far with interesting characters and lots of intrigue going on, I certainly wouldn't call it boring anyway.
Cuntish about the house getting flooded, a house I was renting a room in got flooded years ago and the state of the place after it was something shocking. must be awful alltogether when its your own house.
It is. We were lucky, compared to some. Just a few inches in but it still cost €20,000+ to put right between floors, skirting boards, doors, frames, paint. After hiring industrial dehumidifiers to dry the place out and replacing appliances. The bungalows out the back were waist deep and they had no upstairs to throw things out of the way.
But anyway, a zombie plague was more fun than Jason Bourne at the time!
World War Z was a great read. Had the potential for a brilliant film adaptation instead of the rubbish that ended up being made.
Quote from: Born of Fire on July 29, 2021, 11:35:43 AM
World War Z was a great read. Had the potential for a brilliant film adaptation instead of the rubbish that ended up being made.
The Zombie survival guide is decent too, same author.
Was reading some Stephen King short stories on the jacks lately and came across one called The Jaunt which I found genuinely disturbing. Anyone read that one?
Years ago, that's in Night Shift or Skeleton Crew if memory serves? Great one, it references The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, a personal favourite sci fi novel. The concept of 'jaunting' features there, or is at least based on a concept from that book. Again, it's been years since I read it.
Good spot! yeah it's in Skeleton Crew. Haven't heard of The Stars...., but if it's anything along those lines I'd chance it. Was unusual to read King going for the bit of sci-fi but thoroughly enjoyed that style from him
His short stories are some of his best work. I suppose the fact that they're more throwaway than novels lets him loose a bit. I think he has a Cthulhu mythos story in the same collection, it was decent if I remember correctly. Plus The Mist is featured there, and that's deadly.
Anyone know why a Kindle book nearly doubles in price after I log into my Amazon account?
For those who have read Dune....
https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/dune-inspired-metal-list
I'm blitzing The Hound of the Baskervilles at the minute as a bit of light reading on the side of David Copperfield.
It's a winner. I've never read any Arthur Conan Doyle before but I've always enjoyed the Sherlock TV shows and films for what they are. Baskervilles is a great little gothic horror mystery. The atmosphere is spot on. I must dive into some more Sherlock Holmes novels in future.
Just came out of the UK's largest second hand bookshop here in Inverness with Conrad's 'Nostromo', a beautifully bound collection of Orwell's essays and a hardback copy of one of real history greats, Pakenham on The Boer War. I had to show restraint, certain Cunninghams and Robertsons would ride the place raw.
I've read Nostromo twice now, there's a good story buried in there somewhere.
I read the first twenty pages of Crime & Punishment earlier and it's interesting to compare it stylistically with David Copperfield, which I'm well over halfway through, as both were written at around the same time. It's written in a modern and relatable voice whereas Dickens's approach is much more laboured and antiquated by comparison. Seems like two completely different worlds.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on August 13, 2021, 08:22:22 AM
I read the first twenty pages of Crime & Punishment earlier and it's interesting to compare it stylistically with David Copperfield, which I'm well over halfway through, as both were written at around the same time. It's written in a modern and relatable voice whereas Dickens's approach is much more laboured and antiquated by comparison. Seems like two completely different worlds.
Could be the translation. I had a similar experience with "Don Quixote" a few years back. Felt more free-flowing than Dickens, Elliot, etc.
Unless you're reading it in the original Russian - in which case - fair fucks.
Haha no, an English version. I fucking hated Don Quixote. I've tried reading it two or three times now and find it a total fucking bore. One joke on repeat for 900 pages... brutal.
Edit. I should say I really enjoy Dickens despite his circuitousness. You just accept the longwinded style and go with it.
The problem with Crime and Punishment, or one of them at least, is that it takes far longer than you'd expect to get going. He has better, less slow-as-a-wet-week ones.
The first twenty pages have drawn me in. I tried The Idiot years ago and soon gave up on it. Much like Don Quixote it felt tedious and circular to me. I'll see how C&P unfolds but I'm optimistic at this early stage.
The Idiot isn't tedious or circular, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first Dostoevsky. The goal of it is very different to his most well known works, and I think it's better to have built full confidence in him as a writer before giving it a go. It's not a page turner like. Crime and Punishment genuinely is though. It gets a bit slow at one point, around the beginning of the second book if I remember correctly, but just a little, nothing that would make you want to give up.
Have to say though, it seems brave to take on a Dostoevsky while also reading something else of similar scope. Can be hard enough keeping track of all the secondary threads even when it's the only novel you're reading.
I was reading 'Heart of Darkness' on the plane there. I'm interested in the historical context anyway, the scramble for Africa, Léopold, empire etc, and it's not a disappointment, beautifully written and short enough to be read in a few hours.
I may be wrong but it seems a slam dunk that Apocalypse Now is adapted from this novella.
It is, famously so. The 'making of' documentary is called Hearts Of Darkness.
Great book, like you I read it in transit - on a couple of bus journeys to and from Dubbelin about 20-25 years ago.
Not yet read it myself, but that making of documentary is excellent.
780 pages into David Copperfield and I'm pulling my hair out (you know what I mean, you cheeky fucks!). My god this cunt of a book should have been hacked down to four or five hundred pages. The sheer amount of waffle and padding per page is exhausting. I'll finish it just because... you know... you try to finish books where possible, but fuck me, I'm having Jerusalemic flashbacks at this stage :o
Mate of mine works in a charity shop in town, called in to say 'hello'. Obviously his day off but picked up This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay, so that'll do.
Quote from: Carnage on August 25, 2021, 01:14:01 AM
Mate of mine works in a charity shop in town, called in to say 'hello'. Obviously his day off but picked up This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay, so tuat'll do.
Very enjoyable book. Some of the things that he saw in A&E :-X
Currently reading "Leonard & Hungry Paul" by Rónán Hession.
Albert Camus - the fall
It's around ten years since I first dipped into Camus and Satre and I'm enjoying reacquainting myself with their thought. Never read The Fall before. Superbly written book.
I finished David Copperfield. I deserve a medal. It was great in places and awful in others. Dora, his "child wife", was painful to read. Everything about her was absolutely annoying as fuck and that story was dragged out too much. When Dickens gets sentimental it's hard going... I prefer when he is being dark, grim and Gothic. He can nail that tone perfectly, but his heavy handed, mawkish approach to love is unbearable to read. Your one should have been bitten by a rat and died of Wiels Disease two pages after she was introduced, and a hundred or two pages could have happily been cut out of the book for its betterment :laugh:
Quote from: Grim Reality on August 25, 2021, 11:10:11 PM
Albert Camus - the fall
It's around ten years since I first dipped into Camus and Satre and I'm enjoying reacquainting myself with their thought. Never read The Fall before. Superbly written book.
The Fall is my favourite from Camus. Sinister, fiendish, funny, clever as fuck.
He's very readable for a French learner too.
I got a belated (thanks lockdown!) Father's Day present (Aussie Father's Day was on Sunday) of Stephen Fry's new book, Troy. Going to be doing my usual juggling trick between this and Crime and Punishment for a bit. 300 pages into C&P and it is mostly holding my attention, even if it wavers here and there into monotony. I'll stick it out.
Finished Rónán Hession's "Leonard & Hungry Paul" - an incredible piece of modern literary fiction. Beautiful prose and turns of phrase. Can't say enough good things about it.
Halfway through Hession's new book "Panenka" and I can only say the same.
Never heard of him. I must keep an eye out.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 07, 2021, 01:39:19 PM
Never heard of him. I must keep an eye out.
Neither had I until someone I know recommended his new book - "Panenka" - to me recently. My local book shop in Cork didn't have it - Easons and Kennys.ie both had it online and then I discovered that his debut was published in 2019 so I bought both.
They're probably on Amazon and Kindle too, I would think. Just feels sort of wrong buying an Irish author's independently published work from Amazon.
He's a musician as well though I'm not familiar with his stuff - Mumblin' Deaf Ro.
430 pages through C&P with another 120 to go. Fuck, it's getting tiresome. There are parts that really grip me and draw me back in but then you end up with pages and pages of some hysterical bint's nervous breakdown... it wears at the patience as much as at the nerves.
I liked the Crime part best myself too.
Do you believe in the resurrection of Lazarus yet Andy??
Sure I'd believe anything at this stage.
Though it also took me an age to read I ended up really loving The Brothers Karamazov. I started many years ago with Notes from Underground, then C&P about 8 years ago and finally TBK a couple of years back. I've just bought The Idiot and looking forward to giving it a right go.
I've just finished Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and it was glorious as expected after recently reading Demian and Steppenwolf. Along with the afore mentioned Camus and Satre the short philosophical novel has been really hitting the spot lately and now it's time to go a bit of endurance with The Idiot.
I don't mind about page turners. If it has a similar tone, vibe, atmosphere to TBK I should enjoy it.
Not really a book, more a lengthy-ish essay, 'Notes on Nationalism'. Very much relatable to today's mess. Should be required reading for every online 'journalist', and every hack on the various UK/US and beyond media platforms.
It should really be mandatory before posting anything on two or three threads on this off topic board!
lol
Finished Rónán Hession's "Panenka" - just fantastic. He has an incredible way with words.
Also read "OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea" by Patrick Freyne. Bought it on a whim as a holiday read after seeing some glowing reviews. It's decent but nothing amazing.
Started David Niven's "The Moon's A Balloon" last night.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 07, 2021, 01:32:57 PM
Finished Rónán Hession's "Leonard & Hungry Paul" - an incredible piece of modern literary fiction. Beautiful prose and turns of phrase. Can't say enough good things about it.
Halfway through Hession's new book "Panenka" and I can only say the same.
I just orded Leonard & Hungry Paul. I'm reading Emma at the minute which is fairly lightweight fluff so I'm hoping this will be a bit more meaty.
Currently reading Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King. It is a massive book, I'm about half way and not sure if I'd recommend it though. Will have to stick it out to the end really.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on October 08, 2021, 11:44:28 AM
I just orded Leonard & Hungry Paul. I'm reading Emma at the minute which is fairly lightweight fluff so I'm hoping this will be a bit more meaty.
Not quite sure what you mean by meaty but I though that it was excellent.
So good, in fact, that I re-read it last weekend even though I'm in the middle of two other books.
I mean I hope it's more substantial, that it goes somewhere. Emma is easy to read but I'm finding it dull.
Quote from: Necro Red on October 08, 2021, 11:45:37 AM
Currently reading Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King. It is a massive book, I'm about half way and not sure if I'd recommend it though. Will have to stick it out to the end really.
I wouldn't even bother. That's probably the worst King book I ever read.
I've read a few of his vintage books which I loved. This is a bit meh. I read a book of short stories by his other son Jor Hill which was great. I may check more of his stuff at some stage
Read Hemingway - The Old Man and The Sea today. Enjoyed it.
Started Tom O'Neill's "Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties" last weekend.
Published in 2020 after 20 years of research. Heard it recommended a few times on recent podcasts as the definitive work on Manson, The Family, their crimes during that period in California. I am ripping through it - really is excellent so far.
Anyone interested - the Kindle version, which I'm reading, is on special offer on Amazon currently.
Getting the load of it off one of the lads. Had it on audible but rarely arsed with listening to books.
Quote from: open face surgery on October 27, 2021, 06:26:17 PM
Getting the load of it off one of the lads. Had it on audible but rarely arsed with listening to books.
I know what you mean. The only audiobooks that I've enjoyed are the Alan Partridge ones and Limmy's autobiography. Other than that I seem to zone out on them after a while.
Picked up a copy of Dune in an op shop today for $1, so even if you're all lying and it's a giant pile of shite, when you all chip in to compensate me it won't cause too much damage.
Second op shop attack yielded the Ian McEwan masterpiece, Enduring Love, for a whopping $3. I read this twenty years ago and loved it so it'll be good to revisit and nice to add to my personal McEwan collection.
Not a bad morning's work 8)
Nothing quite like a solidly stocked second hand/ charity bookshop and the ostentatious smugness after hoovering up the bargains.
I was in one there in Inverness in August, can't mind the name of it but it's the biggest in the UK, superb selection. Spent more than I probably needed to and nearly brought me bag overweight for the trip home but still.
Currently reading the Great Influenza, J M Barry and The Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday.
Finished Leonard and Hungry Paul, lovely book.
You may wish to note the above.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on October 08, 2021, 12:25:37 PM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on October 08, 2021, 11:44:28 AM
I just orded Leonard & Hungry Paul. I'm reading Emma at the minute which is fairly lightweight fluff so I'm hoping this will be a bit more meaty.
Not quite sure what you mean by meaty but I though that it was excellent.
So good, in fact, that I re-read it last weekend even though I'm in the middle of two other books.
Leonard & Hungry Paul arrived today so I'll be now juggling between Dune, Emma, Troy and it :-X
Forty or fifty pages in. I dunno. I'm curious to see where it goes but the actual writing isn't bowling me over. It feels a little bit clunky at times. Maybe it needed a more rigorous editing job. There are sentences where the message has been clearly gotten across and it seems to keep going as if the writer isn't convinced that the reader is capable of following his train of thought. And sometimes I get the impression that he was reluctant to let a line or phrase go simply because he liked the writerliness of it rather than it benefiting the flow. But sure... oh, and the dialogue is unnatural but that's often an issue I have within literature. I'll plough on and see how it goes because despite my reservations I can sense there's a good story hiding in there.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 07, 2021, 01:07:42 AM
Forty or fifty pages in...
Of "Leonard & Hungry Paul", is it?
Perhaps I sold you a pup - I really enjoyed it and thought the writing was excellent.
Horses/Courses.
Yup, Leonard and Hungry Paul. Funnily enough, I was just complaining about the writing style to my wife just now and reading a few lines to her that wound me up :laugh: I'm on page 70 (the part when they are buying suits for the wedding) and fuck me, if I was the editor I would have put a bit fat fucking red X over the last ten pages :laugh: I shall plough on because it's an easy read, but Jaysus...
I picked up The Death of Francis Bacon by Max Porter today. Delighted to see something new by him. Lanny was a little masterpiece and Grief is the Thing With Feathers was also unique and interesting if not quite as fully realised. The new one is a tiny little hardback and I'll get through it in an hour or two. His other two were very succinct as well but so full of energy and creativity that they weren't lacking in form. Anyway... tea and reading time 8)
Finished Tom O'Neill's "Chaos" - first 350 pages are rip roaring, then O'Neill goes into the weeds a bit - invoking conspiracy theories and making it a real fucking slog to get through - before turning it around for the last chapter. Worth a read.
Finally getting around to "Fargo Rock City" by Chuck Klosterman after having it on my shelf for a year or two. Decent enough so far. Definite smug, rock journo from the late 90s vibe to it though.
I prefer a physical book myself but if anybody's got the kindle app, you can get the entire works of George Orwell for (literally) pennies. Bargain or bargains, and reading sorted for the Christmas.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Works-George-Orwell-Aspidistra-ebook/dp/B08WHJLPKN/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=2CFQU04MVX30B&keywords=george+orwell+kindle+complete&qid=1639246593&sprefix=george+orwell+kindle+complete%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-4
I've been trudging through the unenjoyable mire of Emma and Dune for too long now. I think I'm throwing in the towel on both of them. Just not for me, either of them.
I decided to reread Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan and it was a joy to revisit as most of the detail had left my brain in the fifteen or twenty years since I first read it. Just incredible writing from a master.
Having wrapped it up this morning I decided to revisit Solar, another of his and one that didn't do much for me on its release but I'm really enjoying the second time round. Almost nothing from this book has stuck in my memory so it more or less feels like an entirely new experience.
Dune is a book for undivided attention, certainly not to be split with shite like Emma.
It's still not for everyone though, of course.
I'm about half way through Burmese Days by Orwell. Love the clear, crisp style, you can almost smell and taste the gaff, for better or worse. His point that Imperialism is essentially legalised robbery (even though he clearly views the natives as inferior) is a good one.
A clergymans daughter up next.
Orwell is great. I haven't read that book though. Reading Ecstasy, a book of short stories by Irvine Welsh at the moment which I'm really enjoying.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 12, 2021, 12:06:03 PM
Dune is a book for undivided attention, certainly not to be split with shite like Emma.
It's still not for everyone though, of course.
I don't think that giving it my undivided attention would have made any difference. I've found it daunting to open up for ten or twenty pages each night. Herbert falls into the trap, as I see it, that much Sci fi falls into and that is an anal attention to every detail about the world he's building but zero attention to the personalities of the people who populate the world. Almost every character is interchangeable with the next. It makes the reading of it an incredibly dull experience for me, but hey, I think the Star Wars films are a load of boring shite too. I think the genre, with occasional exceptions, isn't for me.
Quote from: Necro Red on December 13, 2021, 10:24:14 AM
Orwell is great. I haven't read that book though. Reading Ecstasy, a book of short stories by Irvine Welsh at the moment which I'm really enjoying.
Can't go wrong with Welsh. I went straight to Leith last time I was in Edinburgh looking out for landmarks and places he mentions in the books. Found fuck all bar one pub and the Hibs stadium :)
Sure I've mentioned this before but I met Irvine Welsh in a mate's gaff before. He was buying coke off his housemate. Got a pic with him anyway. haha.
Finishing "The dead school" by Patrick McCabe. Really enjoyed it. He has a thing for making suicide stories sound somewhat funny.
Also reading Michael Shellenberger's "Apocalypse Never," bold book against environmental alarmism to say the least.
McCabe never fully clicks with me for some reason, at least the two or three books I've read by him, The Dead School among them. I tend to enjoy them to a degree but can't seem to fully get into the spirit. There's a staginess to them or something that holds my suspension of disbelief at bay somehow.
I was listening to Shellenberger on Michael Shermer's show last week discussing his book. Against the grain thinking but certainly compelling. I'll have to keep an eye out for his book.
Edit. I'm ripping through Solar at a fair clip. No idea why it didn't hit the mark for me first time round as I'm loving it now. The protagonist is a dislikable old prick which might have been part of the problem but I'm even warming to him, flaws and all, this time. I'm eleven years older now which might have something to do with it :laugh:
The thing about Shellenberger is that serious environmentalists support his claims, it is the activists that don't. He has some valuable information in this book, I am also curious abkut his "San Fransicko" and the rise of drugs and violence in cities run by the democrats.
McCabe is class. This is the third book by him I am reading and I really like his style. This is the one I enjoyed the most though.
Shellenberger isn't going against science, by the sounds of it, but certainly against the popular narrative.
Bob Spitz's brand new Led Zeppelin biography. Read it over the course of last weekend. It's fairly shite. There's huge chunks taken from other LZ books and Spitz must not have access to the internet judging by the amount of facts that he gets completely wrong - names, dates etc.
Also and possibly most annoyingly - Spitz never listened to Zep in his life before deciding to write the book.
:laugh: :laugh: legend.
Haha, I'll be giving that a miss so! Richard Cole's one was fairly shite too.
Are there any decent Led Zep biographies out there? Hammer Of The Gods seems to be the standard but I'm told it's full of inaccuracies...
It probably is, but it's a great/must read.
Edit: Also, don't know about a general release date yet, but just to remind that the first ever official documentary is on its way.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10365912/
Quote from: open face surgery on December 13, 2021, 03:56:04 PM
Sure I've mentioned this before but I met Irvine Welsh in a mate's gaff before. He was buying coke off his housemate. Got a pic with him anyway. haha.
Ha ha ha. No way! He lives in Dublin so?
He was living there, pretty sure he's stateside these days.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 14, 2021, 09:51:35 AM
It probably is, but it's a great/must read.
"Hammer Of The Gods" is a decent read - but it's probably more myth-making than anything else. Steven Davis repeatedly stated "If it wasn't true, they would have sued me - wouldn't they?" - Plant said that they couldn't be arsed.
The Mick Wall one is more of the same - if I recall correctly.
As an aside - someone in Eason's must be on some serious drugs. €42 is their price for it!
https://www.easons.com/led-zeppelin-bob-spitz-9780399562426?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnuGNBhCPARIsACbnLzozcncidfJZJmq9LA2mKBOV4Db5xOHvr6UdICPR1waJxTmMp_E0HzIaAgBZEALw_wcB
Reading The Shining again after a few shit books in a row.
It really is a brilliant ghost story.
Jim Thompson - Pop 1280
S Craig Zahler - A Congregation of Jackals
Have Yukio Mishima's "Star" up next. Short enough.
Just started The Hunchback of Notre-Dame for the first time, enjoying it so far
Went for my chicken roll lunch and ended up picking up Heart of Darkness with a cool cover, Interview with a Vampire for the missus and some blind buy pulp paperback for a fiver all together.
Love a bargain!
Got a load of books in Chapters a few weeks ago for next to nothing in a closing down sale and got a copy of Heart of Darkness as well.
Is this the cover? https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_-fW0aumw0/WlecI1HKLCI/AAAAAAAAHrM/paK8KjjyVhULjCcVmM95NqbumacDBaFPQCLcBGAs/s640/HeartofDarkness01.jpg
Quote from: open face surgery on December 15, 2021, 08:58:37 PM
Got a load of books in Chapters a few weeks ago for next to nothing in a closing down sale and got a copy of Heart of Darkness as well.
Is this the cover? https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_-fW0aumw0/WlecI1HKLCI/AAAAAAAAHrM/paK8KjjyVhULjCcVmM95NqbumacDBaFPQCLcBGAs/s640/HeartofDarkness01.jpg
No, but had the choice between two, a more minimal similar one and this one, a more tongue in cheek pulp style. Half the price and cooler imo.
Ah, so that's where they got the name from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJajFENTXTk
Horsing through Baracuda by Christos Tsiolkas for a second time at the moment. I really enjoyed it when I read it a few years ago and I'm enjoying it as much this time around, although most of the story has gone out of my head at this stage. I know what it's building to which has me on edge... it ain't pretty.
About half way through 'A Clergyman's Daughter' as part of my Christmas Orwell binge. Does any fucker describe rural scenery better than him? Possibly an early form of and the inspiration for what we today call 'poverty porn' :)
Finished book four of the Christmas Orwell-athon, 'Keep the Apidistra Flying'. Magnificent novel! Very uncomfortable reading in parts and a 'maddening' protagonist but it's so real and visceral is it's portrayal of poverty, a poverty just a fanny hair above destitution.
I was surprised to read that the author was ashamed of it and it was written purely for cash.
Reread 'The Road to Wigan Pier' during this week too which is a tremendous read, of course . I'm going to ruin a book Chris probably cherishes by adding that it's one of Dr Peterson's most cherished too :)
I'm burning through 'Nosferatu The Vampyre' by Paul Monette. It's based on the screenplay for Werner Herzog's film (which incidentally inspired 'Stop the Black Coffins' by WOTH) and it's really good. It's one I picked up some time ago second hand for half of nothing and had forgotten about so I'm glad I found it again. The writing is great and the sense of dread comes across brilliantly. Not bad for €4 8)
I finished The Hunchback of Notredame a while back, absolutely brilliant stuff apart from one section early on which gets bogged down in the architecture of Paris. The cheapness of human life in medieval times never fails to make an impression. Great story.
Got a copy of the complete works of Marx and Engels for 2 quid the other day, including Lenin's mini biography of both. I'm reading Engels one about the origin of state, family etc. It's as dated as you'd expect it to be, and some of the historical 'facts' in the opening bit are dubious at best, but he's a readable auld bastard all the same.
Got a Henning Mankell novel in French too, because he's easy reading in English and therefore logic dictates that I won't tear it to shreds in frustration like I've been close to doing with a couple of others I bought, arrogantly, which are way above my level.
Quote from: Thorn on December 30, 2021, 12:03:39 PM
I finished The Hunchback of Notredame a while back, absolutely brilliant stuff apart from one section early on which gets bogged down in the architecture of Paris. The cheapness of human life in medieval times never fails to make an impression. Great story.
Must give that a go.
I picked up Moby Dick today so when I finish up Nosferatu I'll bate into it and try not to get myself too triggered by the racist, patriarchal, misogynist, whale-ist tone of writing :o
That's hilarious because lot of the feminists you see around have a fair amount of blubber.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 30, 2021, 11:49:34 AM
I'm burning through 'Nosferatu The Vampyre' by Paul Monette. It's based on the screenplay for Werner Herzog's film (which incidentally inspired 'Stop the Black Coffins' by WOTH) and it's really good. It's one I picked up some time ago second hand for half of nothing and had forgotten about so I'm glad I found it again. The writing is great and the sense of dread comes across brilliantly. Not bad for €4 8)
Have you read Bram Stoker's Dracula? I've only seen the film which is a chaotic mess but I'd love to get more into the Dracula lore, (closest I've read so far is a biography of Vlad Dracul), but all I've seen online is massively conflicting reports over whether Dracula or Nosferatu nails the creepy atmosphere better.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is both brilliant and irritating. It is written as a sequence of letters going back and forth between Jonathan and Mina and often gets bogged down in sentimental waffle. That said, the horror sequences are second to none. Nosferatu strips away much of the padding and goes for the throat (ah yeah), and is beautifully written and highly evocative. But the Dracula character in Dracula is so inhuman he makes your blood curdle. Read both, that's my advice. The stories are similar but far from identical with very different outcomes.
Ps. Carmilla is worth a look too. Not as good as Dracula, but historically interesting in that it pre- dates it and is still good in its own right as well.
Quote from: Blackout on January 02, 2022, 01:14:22 AM
That's hilarious because lot of the feminists you see around have a fair amount of blubber.
Excellent contribution. You should think about writing a book yourself.
The better looking ones tend not to be too feminist though (with the exception of some idiots in show business). Can't be denied :)
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 02, 2022, 01:19:27 PM
Quote from: Blackout on January 02, 2022, 01:14:22 AM
That's hilarious because lot of the feminists you see around have a fair amount of blubber.
Excellent contribution. You should think about writing a book yourself.
There he is. Like a moth to flame the resident SJW of metal warfare defends the rights of self-identifying victim groups everywhere.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 02, 2022, 08:14:28 AM
Bram Stoker's Dracula is both brilliant and irritating. It is written as a sequence of letters going back and forth between Jonathan and Mina and often gets bogged down in sentimental waffle. That said, the horror sequences are second to none. Nosferatu strips away much of the padding and goes for the throat (ah yeah), and is beautifully written and highly evocative. But the Dracula character in Dracula is so inhuman he makes your blood curdle. Read both, that's my advice. The stories are similar but far from identical with very different outcomes.
Ps. Carmilla is worth a look too. Not as good as Dracula, but historically interesting in that it pre- dates it and is still good in its own right as well.
Nice one, they're all going on the future purchases list then!
Bought Dracula (and Moby Dick, for that matter) 10 or 15 years ago, still haven't gotten around to either.
I have never read nor, to my knowledge, heard of Carmilla (just looked it up). Must rectify that. I remember thinking Dracula was amazing when I read it as a teen, evoked some imagery which has stayed with me ever since and despite various cinematic versions I've seen after. It was only ever the very, very ending which I always found a bit sudden personally, but small complaint.
More generally, do people have other recommended epistolary novels? Beyond Dracula, I can only really think of Frankenstein and Les liaisons dangereuses that I've read in the form.
Haha yeah, the ending of Dracula is so sudden it's as if Bram was given ten minutes to wrap the whole thing up. I read a Patricia Cornwall novel twenty years ago and it was intriguing and atmospheric all the way through until
*SPOILER*
the final chapter when the detective somehow, jarringly, ends up in a helicopter chase with the baddie and shoots him out of the sky! Suffice to say it was the first and last novel of hers I bothered reading.
Please feel free to spoil as many Patricia Cornwell books for me as you like.
Pat Nevin's "The Accidental Footballer" - solid so far, he gets lost a bit in himself sometimes (clearly not ghost-written) but it's definitely not the usual sport biography and he's an interesting character in the world of professional football.
While most of his Chelsea team-mates went to Malaga on a 2 week piss up, Nevin flew to Paris to follow the Cocteau Twins on tour and came back to training wearing a beret. :laugh:
Read Sea State by Tabitha Lasley over the hols. A bit of a mad book about a woman who heads to Aberdeen and writes a book about offshore workers on the oil rigs. Basically she goes on the lash for a few months, ends up with a married lad and comes home.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 05, 2022, 03:50:39 PM
Pat Nevin's "The Accidental Footballer" - solid so far, he gets lost a bit in himself sometimes (clearly not ghost-written) but it's definitely not the usual sport biography and he's an interesting character in the world of professional football.
While most of his Chelsea team-mates went to Malaga on a 2 week piss up, Nevin flew to Paris to follow the Cocteau Twins on tour and came back to training wearing a beret. :laugh:
Some of the best laughs you'll get out of a book come from sporting autobiographies. Paul Mersons one was hilarious, such a mess of a man.
I have no love for Cork GAA but Dónal Óg wrote a cracking book. The story about (former treasurer) Frank Murphy, a photo from a trip to Thailand and the Rock Sullivan...ah here😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I'm reading a book about Shackleton's disastrous trip to the south Pole in 1914 called Endurance. Despite its coffee book layout and bulk it's fantastic, written in the 1960s so some of the prose is a bit mental. Great read though.
More Steinbeck for me. 100 odd pages into Grapes of Wrath. Love it so far.
I read it years ago and really enjoyed it. I read Of Mice and Men a few years ago too and it was deadly.
At the minute I'm juggling between Moby Dick, Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchins and 7 (and a half. I don't know where to find a half symbol on my phone) by Christos Tsiolkas. All three are holding my interest so far.
Hold down the 1 button. 😉
Quote from: Don Gately on January 11, 2022, 07:41:42 PM
I'm reading a book about Shackleton's disastrous trip to the south Pole in 1914 called Endurance. Despite its coffee book layout and bulk it's fantastic, written in the 1960s so some of the prose is a bit mental. Great read though.
Bought that last year myself and still haven't gotten round to reading it yet.
Grapes of Wrath is certainly worth persevering with.
Currently half way through "You've Got Red On You" the making of Shaun Of The Dead. A great read, especially if you are a big fan of the movie as I am.
That sounds like fun! Great film and I like that scene.
Great film. The lads attacking the zombie with records must be the funniest scene ever in a horror film. Must check it out
Quote from: Don Gately on January 13, 2022, 12:57:02 PM
Great film. The lads attacking the zombie with records must be the funniest scene ever in a horror film. Must check it out
I can't recommend it enough, does go into great detail without becoming a chore to read. Great nerdy book
'From Bantry Bay to Leitrim' by Peter Somerville-Large, its about O'Sullivan Beare's long march in 1603.
The author comes across as a Trinity college smart alec in his interactions with local people as he was reproducing the winter march back in the early 70's. The historical background of the places he visited is decent enough though
Just starting Adam Kay's This Is Going To Hurt. Picked it up for a Euro during the summer, looking forward to it.
Finished Grapes of Wrath. A beautifully written exercise in misery. Something more lighthearted up next I think.
Dunno if you've ever gone down an Ian McEwan road but Nutshell is a short little ripper that will entertain you from the first sentence. It's fucking mental.
Nice one. I haven't but I've seen you on about him on numerous occasions.
He is spectacular in his skill. He was known as Ian McCarbre in his early years as he has a streak of darkness through his writing but he is fucking funny too.
Just a little way into Babylon by Paul Kriwaczek. History of early mesopotamian civilization(s). Fascinating so far and even more interesting in light of reading Persian Fire by Tom Holland last year, an excellent history of later Persian-Greek struggle in the region and the Mediterranean.
Quote from: Carnage on January 22, 2022, 01:12:36 AM
Just starting Adam Kay's This Is Going To Hurt. Picked it up for a Euro during the summer, looking forward to it.
Good read. The "de-gloving" incident is burned into my memory. :o
Nearly finished A Clockwork Orange. Strangly written and I'm quite enjoying it. A short read too
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 24, 2022, 09:20:14 AM
Quote from: Carnage on January 22, 2022, 01:12:36 AM
Just starting Adam Kay's This Is Going To Hurt. Picked it up for a Euro during the summer, looking forward to it.
Good read. The "de-gloving" incident is burned into my memory. :o
Legs were crossed at that bit alright, shades of the water pump story in Palahniuk's Haunted.
Coincidentally enough, I see there's a series based on it starting on one of the BBC channels soon.
I just finished Lords Of Chaos. It's the updated version.
I'd never read it before but was well aware of it for years.
If the News Of The World wrote a music biography.
The people involved seemed to have a serious horn for Varg!
Also I wouldn't want to see any of them on a jury. They would be roaring guilty before they knew what the trial even was even for.
Quote from: Circlepit on January 25, 2022, 10:58:16 PM
I just finished Lords Of Chaos. It's the updated version.
I'd never read it before but was well aware of it for years.
If the News Of The World wrote a music biography.
The people involved seemed to have a serious horn for Varg!
Also I wouldn't want to see any of them on a jury. They would be roaring guilty before they knew what the trial even was even for.
it's a fun read all the same. Sensationalised of course. I enjoyed the film too.
Oh I'm glad I read it. It made me want to go through the Burzum discography again.
Satanic Warmaster as well simply because the name is killer.
I'm reading Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads. So far so good.
Started the Road To Wigan Pier by Orwell. I'm a fan of the other books I've read by him and this is shaping up to be good. On to the Godfather after this then
Currently reading (and absolutely ripping through) "Seinfeldia" by Jennifer Armstrong.
Sounds like it's in much the same vein as Necro's "You've Got Red On You".
Goes into the minutiae of the Seinfeld universe without ever becoming excruciating or getting lost in the weeds.
Just started on Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light, the third part of the 'Wolf Hall' trilogy. The first two were fantastic, hoping for more of the same from this one.
Started The Dying of the Light by George Martin. Picked it up for fuck all a while back. Not loving the cut of its jib but it's early days yet
Quote from: Carnage on February 07, 2022, 05:40:45 PM
Just started on Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light, the third part of the 'Wolf Hall' trilogy. The first two were fantastic, hoping for more of the same from this one.
Brilliant books.
Yep, can't recommend them enough. I'd put off reading them for a long time as the previous one of hers I'd read (Beyond Black) was poor, until the protagonist's past was revealed. Silly decision, Wolf Hall in particular might be the best book I'd read in a decade at least.
Just couldn't get into Wolf Hall. I know I'm wrong.
Started reading Anthony Beevor World War 2.
Quote from: Don Gately on February 08, 2022, 09:54:56 PM
Just couldn't get into Wolf Hall. I know I'm wrong.
Started reading Anthony Beevor World War 2.
I love Beevors stuff but that book is a bit incoherent. His speciality is the eastern front and he spends too much time on it. Stalingrad and Berlin are two of the most engaging history books you can read though, outstanding achievements even if yer man from Peep Show didn't agree :)
Yes Caomhaoin I've heard that it is a bit muddled, I've read both Berlin and Stalingrad. Both fantastic. Early on in the book already and the battle of Finland seems to be missing!
Any others you'd recommend?
Theres a good podcast by Ray Harris Jr. about WW2
Quote from: Don Gately on February 09, 2022, 10:38:03 AM
Yes Caomhaoin I've heard that it is a bit muddled, I've read both Berlin and Stalingrad. Both fantastic. Early on in the book already and the battle of Finland seems to be missing!
Any others you'd recommend?
Theres a good podcast by Ray Harris Jr. about WW2
A time for trumpets is a very enjoyable read, it's about the battle of the Ardennes'44, which I find fascinating. The capability of the German army to (initially) totally outclass and dominate the allies 6 months before the end of the war almost beggars belief, even if they ran out of steam in a week.
Totally different period but if you can get a hold of Trevor Royles 'The Civil Wars' you're in for a treat. Rip roaring stuff, reads like a page turner of a novel, especially the later period events in Scotland with McColla Ghasda and Montrose/Argyll.
I read his one titled Culloden a few years ago, and was surprised to note that the titular battle was just a precursor to the meat and drink of the book, which is the seven years war.
Quote from: Born of Fire on June 27, 2021, 12:38:29 AM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 25, 2021, 11:15:39 PM
I finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth the other night. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.
As it happens I saw a review of this today and it seems like it's something I'd definitely be into so I must pick up a copy. The insanity of the golden age of polar exploration is fascinating stuff.
Nabbed this today for around a fiver (Amazon), looking forward to it.
Naked Lunch by Burroughs.
Tis lethal so it is. Cities of the Red Night is deadly too, first part of a trilogy I've been meaning to finish for years.
Quote from: Carnage on February 09, 2022, 01:41:24 PM
Quote from: Born of Fire on June 27, 2021, 12:38:29 AM
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 25, 2021, 11:15:39 PM
I finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth the other night. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.
As it happens I saw a review of this today and it seems like it's something I'd definitely be into so I must pick up a copy. The insanity of the golden age of polar exploration is fascinating stuff.
Nabbed this today for around a fiver (Amazon), looking forward to it.
Only got around to it recently myself. Really enjoyed it. I knew nothing of the expedition prior to this book. Interesting to see how some of the men never really recovered from the experience whereas Amundsen went on to become a giant of polar exploration. Thanks to the detailed diaries kept by the men on board it's being used as a case study in extreme isolation for possible manned missions to Mars.
Midway through Alfred Lansings 'Endurance' now. An expedition I'm much more familiar with. A far more dire situation to be in than the Belgica expedition but one in which the men fared better thanks to Shackletons leadership.
Restarting 'Midnight in Chernobyl' by Adam Higginbotham. I read half of it a few years ago and never got back to it.
I picked up Silas Marner by George Eliot and His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle today for the equivalent of around €6. Started into the first couple of pages of Silas Marner and I'm immediately intrigued. Kind of a dark and funny introduction to it.
Yeah, read Silas Marner last year and like all the best books it was nothing like I expected.
That was on for our Leaving Cert., to this day I haven't read it. What little I did read bored me to tears, but that was a long time ago, might be different now.
Nothing like the leaving cert to suck the enjoyment out of any book
I don't think I read any of the modern novels we had to do in full, for the Leaving or Inter. - Silas Marner, Lord Of The Flies, Typhoon. I answered the questions on books I had read instead. Probably did me no favours but I just couldn't get my head into them.
Same with the plays, enjoyable to watch, torture to read.
And forget poetry. At 15 I could rattle off every Iron Maiden lyric there was, but ask me to learn 4 lines of Tennyson or Yeats? No chance.
You knew at least one Coleridge though!
True!
Very good
I remember Silas Marner being a miserable read. Then we did Catcher in the Rye. Talk about chalk and cheese.
Reading a book at 15/16 is a different experience to reading it at 40.
I'd probably get more out of it now alright but it wouldn't be one I'd be rushing back to do a re-read.
Quote from: Carnage on February 13, 2022, 05:42:04 PM
That was on for our Leaving Cert., to this day I haven't read it. What little I did read bored me to tears, but that was a long time ago, might be different now.
Had that inflicted on our year too. A total waste of paper, and then our teacher decided to show us the film. Even Ben Kingsley couldn't save it from being just as crap as the book.
I finished up Silas Marner just now and I really enjoyed it. That's two George Eliot books I've read, both of which have been highly entertaining. I'll have to keep an eye out for more of her work.
Next up I've to finish Moby Dick, which is alright if a bit long winded, and In A Happy Life by Seneca, which is a short little ripper.
Edit. I would have despised Silas Marner when I was in school, so if that's your memory and experience of the book, maybe consider giving it a go again now. It's a mere 220 pages.
Seneca fantastic. I'd be very interested in the stoics myself.
Crazy how stuff that was written 2000 years ago can be so relevant today,
Humans is humans 8)
Controversial.
Reading GJ Meyer's big one on the Tudors. Started off slowly but he's got the gift of the gab that any history writer requires nowadays outside of stuffy academic stuff. Henry VIII, the most famous king of anywhere or of any time, has to be up there with the biggest pricks in the history of the universe. I suppose that's what makes him so fascinating.
The sidelines about the continental reformation remind you that, for all their tidying up of corruption and hocus pocus, the key tenet of Lutherism is that nothing you do can affect your destiny either way, it's a capricious, random gift from God. Might explain the behaviour of anabaptists and Covenanters and all these other screwballs who listened to Calvin and these boys.
Naked Lunch up next, for the comedown :)
Quote from: Born of Fire on February 12, 2022, 12:07:29 AM
Midway through Alfred Lansings 'Endurance' now. An expedition I'm much more familiar with. A far more dire situation to be in than the Belgica expedition but one in which the men fared better thanks to Shackletons leadership.
This was a great read. Those men were made of incredibly tough stuff, unbelievable that they all made it back alive. I must pick up the biography of Tom Crean down the line.
Cool to see that the wreck of the Endurance has now been discovered 107 years later too.
Moved on now to The Story Of Greece and Rome by Tony Spawforth. Liking it so far, it's a topic that could easily get bogged down in stuffy academic style writing but so far that's not the case.
I'm reading Kafka at the moment. A book of short stories with the Metamorphosis included. I have to say I was expecting a lot more really. The Metamorphosis was on my list for quite awhile and all, anyone else read it?
Same. I read it a few years ago and wasn't arsed with it. I think if I'd read it in my late teens or early twenties I would have got more out of it. It was pure grand.
I think I have the same book lined up (The Castle and The Trial are other ones in it, 4 or 5 altogether?). Looking forward to it.
The Trial is my favourite Kafka by miles, absolutely rattling anxiety and oppression in story form. You can see how elements of it ended up in so much other fiction too. Metamorphosis is grand, interesting but not a patch on The Trial. Have yet to actually go back and read The Castle.
My Austrian neighbour gave me a copy of Günter Grass - The Tin Drum , looking forward to getting stuck in to that
Quote from: ochoill on March 14, 2022, 05:55:11 PM
The Trial is my favourite Kafka by miles, absolutely rattling anxiety and oppression in story form. You can see how elements of it ended up in so much other fiction too. Metamorphosis is grand, interesting but not a patch on The Trial. Have yet to actually go back and read The Castle.
Good stuff, have a copy of The Trial also to read.
I lived in Prague and read alot of Kafka there in my early 20s. Really loved his writing. Currently reading Empire of Pain about Sackler family. Good so far.
I love Metamorphosis, though not even the bug story the most. There's just so much going on in it on every level.
Other than that, have still only read The Trial (one of my favourite endings in any book). Really must get on to The Castle as soon as possible.
I think his short stories are fantastic. There is a kafkaesque vibe going on.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on March 15, 2022, 09:08:28 PM
I love Metamorphosis, though not even the bug story the most. There's just so much going on in it on every level.
Other than that, have still only read The Trial (one of my favourite endings in any book). Really must get on to The Castle as soon as possible.
The Castle is good but not a patch on The Trial. Metamorphisis is great too. The phrase "Like a dog" goes through my mind at least once a day since I've read The Trial, usually for the most trivial of reasons.
Currently reading Lost Worlds by Michael Bywater. It's excellent.
Started Dr Sax by Jack Kerouac. It is very poetic in style and an easy read. It has been on my list for awhile
Recently read the Mark Lanegan autobiography. Bleak and totally captivating read. Highly recommended.
A Canticle for Leibowitz. A frustrating read in many ways. It could be argued that nothing really happens til the last 50 pages or so but lots of interesting philosophy at times. A bit like a debate with BSC. 😉
The Fireman by Joe Hill. 100 pages in and it's very good so far.
Started The Expanse books. On to the second one now. Fantastic sci fi. A definite page turner. For the budget the TV show had they did a brilliant job in adapting it.
Grit by Anita Duckworth
I finished Moby Dick last night. Dunno. 624 pages which could have been condensed to around 40 :laugh: A struggle for me.
Reading Paul Ham's one on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A very thorough look at both the development of quantum theory, the development of the bomb and how horribly Japanese people were existing even before they dropped the two boyz.
Some lash of clichés come directly from breakthroughs in nuclear physics.
Quote from: Emphyrio on April 26, 2022, 11:04:24 AM
Recently read the Mark Lanegan autobiography. Bleak and totally captivating read. Highly recommended.
A Canticle for Leibowitz. A frustrating read in many ways. It could be argued that nothing really happens til the last 50 pages or so but lots of interesting philosophy at times. A bit like a debate with BSC. 😉
The Fireman by Joe Hill. 100 pages in and it's very good so far.
Yeah read mark lanegan completely agree
Grim as fu#k but could not put it down.
Great insight into the grunge era. Miracle he made it to 57.
I haven't given much time to Screaming Trees, they always seemed like also-rans in that scene but Lanegan seems to have been in the thick of things with loads of the better known characters. As grim as the book is, he has some very funny stuff in there. The Liam Gallagher story is brilliant. What a knob.
Quote from: Emphyrio on April 27, 2022, 10:55:26 AM
I haven't given much time to Screaming Trees, they always seemed like also-rans in that scene but Lanegan seems to have been in the thick of things with loads of the better known characters. As grim as the book is, he has some very funny stuff in there. The Liam Gallagher story is brilliant. What a knob.
Was hoping he was going to kick the shit out of Gallagher 🤣 loved all the layne staley encounters as I'm a massive early alice fan. His solo work though hit and miss imo has some excellent albums. Whiskey for the Holy ghost is class. The level of talent he had, he should have been huge, whether with Screaming or solo but his substance abuse put a halt to that.
Still on a Sci-fi buzz and read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of those books that could be adapted for the big screen, surprised it hasn't really. Half way through The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh which is a handy read. I didn't know it involved a character from trainspotting which was a nice surprise.
Quote from: Necro Red on May 10, 2022, 10:14:00 AMStill on a Sci-fi buzz and read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of those books that could be adapted for the big screen, surprised it hasn't really.
I think there's a series in the works, I heard rumblings about it a couple of years ago. Excellent book, the basis for an album by Slough Feg, I believe. I must read more of his.
Stephen King had a short story inspired by it, and the idea of 'jaunting'. The Jaunt, collected in Skeleton Crew.
Quote from: Carnage on May 10, 2022, 10:27:00 AM
Quote from: Necro Red on May 10, 2022, 10:14:00 AMStill on a Sci-fi buzz and read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of those books that could be adapted for the big screen, surprised it hasn't really.
I think there's a series in the works, I heard rumblings about it a couple of years ago. Excellent book, the basis for an album by Slough Feg, I believe. I must read more of his.
Stephen King had a short story inspired by it, and the idea of 'jaunting'. The Jaunt, follected in Skeleton Crew.
That Stephen King story is excellent.
Picked up war and peace a few weeks back for 3£ for the craic along with a few sci-fi short story collections. Short stories where a mixed bag from ok to excellent, the highlight being deathbird by Harlan Ellison (the story, not the book of collected stories of his his work). Someone I've been meaning to deep dive as I've enjoyed anything I've read from him. Anyone any recommendations of his collections as he has alot of output. Have already read I have no mouth.
Didn't think I'd ever be in the mood for tackling war and peace, but smashed out 100 pages the other day. It's surprisingly engaging. Who knows if I'll ever get back to it though.
Quote from: Carnage on May 10, 2022, 10:27:00 AM
Quote from: Necro Red on May 10, 2022, 10:14:00 AMStill on a Sci-fi buzz and read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of those books that could be adapted for the big screen, surprised it hasn't really.
I think there's a series in the works, I heard rumblings about it a couple of years ago. Excellent book, the basis for an album by Slough Feg, I believe. I must read more of his.
Stephen King had a short story inspired by it, and the idea of 'jaunting'. The Jaunt, follected in Skeleton Crew.
Ah, cool. It really is top notch Sci-fi!
I picked up Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche recently but have been holding off on diving in until I cleared the small mountain growing beside the bed. Fuck that; time to wade in :)
Quote from: blessed1 on May 10, 2022, 05:09:06 PM
Quote from: Carnage on May 10, 2022, 10:27:00 AM
Quote from: Necro Red on May 10, 2022, 10:14:00 AMStill on a Sci-fi buzz and read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It is one of those books that could be adapted for the big screen, surprised it hasn't really.
I think there's a series in the works, I heard rumblings about it a couple of years ago. Excellent book, the basis for an album by Slough Feg, I believe. I must read more of his.
Stephen King had a short story inspired by it, and the idea of 'jaunting'. The Jaunt, follected in Skeleton Crew.
That Stephen King story is excellent.
Yeah that Stephen king story is brilliant
I recently re-read David Gemmel's Sword In The Storm and Midnight Falcon. By far my two favourite books of his. Absolutely loved his books when I was younger.
Also read a book called Snuff by Erik Enck and Adam Huber. I've read some extremely depraved books but this one is one of the worst I've read yet.
Just about done with "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azerrad. Two chapters left.
It's a decent read and perhaps one that I should have gotten to much earlier. It's clear that Azerrad personally doesn't like a few of the people that he's writing about. Rollins for one.
The title could easily be "Your Favourite Bands Are All Dickheads" too though.
Still don't get the gushing in regards to Sonic Youth - a band that probably sold more t-shirts than records.
Started Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" yesterday - a book that I've had on the to-read shelf for about 25 years or more.
Ripping through it.
Started back on Dune after taking a break for a while, enjoyed God Emperor but Herbert must have been on some pretty good psychedelics writing it. Heretics of Dune I'm finding much more of a slog to get through
The remains of the Day - Kazou Ishiguro
I finished up Beyond Good and Evil. Intense stuff that more often than not veers into insane territory. I'm not sure how practical his philosophy is if you were going to try to take it on fully as it is not so much superhuman as anti-human in many respects. Some of it you could loosely apply but in a very watered down way, but he is too much of an extremist in his thinking to be of much use for most people.
Cracking into The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley next. It's one that was recommended to me several years ago but I never found a copy until last weekend. I have a feeling it will be a lighter read than Nietzsche was!
I have it on the shelf but haven't got around to it.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 12, 2022, 01:12:07 PM
I finished up Beyond Good and Evil. Intense stuff that more often than not veers into insane territory. I'm not sure how practical his philosophy is if you were going to try to take it on fully as it is not so much superhuman as anti-human in many respects. Some of it you could loosely apply but in a very watered down way, but he is too much of an extremist in his thinking to be of much use for most people.
BGE can be read as a kind of critical companion to Thus Spake Zarathustra, subtitled - relative to your not incorrect impressions about BGE - "A book for everyone and nobody."
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the only other one of his I've read. I found it easier as it follows a sort of narrative but yeah, philosophically it is so extreme in its positions that you can't quite relate to it. It's philosophy for outsiders and very troubled minds, at least if taken literally. I can't help thinking that taking it any other way would be common and human (pejoratively speaking) in Nietzsche's eyes.
His schtick was certainly pretty idiosyncratic. Not going to recommend any secondary literature, but if you want to expand a little further, you could check out the pages on Zarathustra and BGE from the section "Why I write such excellent books" of Ecce Homo. As you can guess from the name of the section, opinions vary as to just where Nietzsche's own sarcasm meter was pointing when writing this latter book. You can look through those pages here. The bit on Zarathustra is only a few pages long, that on BGE only two paragraphs:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52190/52190-h/52190-h.htm#THUS_SPAKE_ZARATHUSTRA_A_BOOK_FOR_ALL_AND_NONE
Nice. I'll give them a look, cheers 8)
Nearly finished Day Of The Triffids which is a decent read. Seems like one of those books that's on lists of best Sci-fi novels. On to the Obituary biography next which I'm really looking forward to getting through
I read Day off the Triffids recently. It was entertaining but kind of silly, I felt. Still well written despite the silliness of the triffids.
One of my mates looking for recommendations for decent fantasy for their 10 year old outside of Harry Potter? Suggested the Terry Pratchett kids books to her but outside of that I'm drawing a blank
Eoin Colfer and the Artemis Fowler books would be my suggestion, my sisters (who were big Harry Potter fans) loved them. Also Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 14, 2022, 12:04:16 PMI read Day off the Triffids recently. It was entertaining but kind of silly, I felt. Still well written despite the silliness of the triffids.
I get what you mean by silly, it really is a product of its time
Finished "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" a week or so ago. Very much enjoyed it. Nice to have it expand on the film and explain some parts of it in more detail.
Currently flicking through the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly Irish Times articles book. Always fun. A brain sorbet.
I have a stack of books to read but no real inclination towards any of them. Found myself looking at books on Amazon earlier. I must be out of my mind - I have at least 30 new books at home waiting to be read.
Anyone else ever get like that?
I'd say I'm on around 150 unread books scattered around the place by now. I regularly go through phases where I can't get it together to sit and read for any length of time, so they just pile up. I've been reading this one for months now, but seldom manage more than 10 pages in a sitting. It'll pass.
Quote from: Carnage on August 03, 2022, 04:24:41 PMI'd say I'm on around 150 unread books scattered around the place by now. I regularly go through phases where I can't get it together to sit and read for any length of time, so they just pile up. I've been reading this one for months now, but seldom manage more than 10 pages in a sitting. It'll pass.
I think this was discussed before in this thread but I'll repeat it;
Since I got a smartphone - my attention span has gone to the wall. Years ago, I could read dozens of pages in a sitting and finish a book rapidly. These days, I find myself doing 10 pages (or so) and putting the book down.
One really odd thing that I've started doing in the last few years (in terms of reading) is flicking to the end of the book to see how many pages are in it.
Either that or on Kindle looking at the % remaining stat way too often.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on August 03, 2022, 04:35:14 PMQuote from: Carnage on August 03, 2022, 04:24:41 PMI'd say I'm on around 150 unread books scattered around the place by now. I regularly go through phases where I can't get it together to sit and read for any length of time, so they just pile up. I've been reading this one for months now, but seldom manage more than 10 pages in a sitting. It'll pass.
I think this was discussed before in this thread but I'll repeat it;
Since I got a smartphone - my attention span has gone to the wall. Years ago, I could read dozens of pages in a sitting and finish a book rapidly. These days, I find myself doing 10 pages (or so) and putting the book down.
One really odd thing that I've started doing in the last few years (in terms of reading) is flicking to the end of the book to see how many pages are in it.
Either that or on Kindle looking at the % remaining stat way too often.
I'm the same, could blast a book in a few days if it was a couple hundred pages. Used to do one every fortnight or so, not a heap by any means but it varied and was fine. Now? Jesus I'd be lucky to read three books a year, not that it stops me buying them. When I am reading I find it tough to get nore than 10-15 pages in a go, have to speak some parts out to get my head right on them, don't have the focus for it. I don't have much of a problem with reading otherwise though, as proven by absolutely chewing back long articles, wiki entries, group posts, reviews and forum threads online. Just books are gone difficult.
That said I got through Manufacturing Consent on my holidays and enjoyed it. Must force myself to start another one of the backlog on my shelf to see can I make a dent in it.
Quote from: ochoill on August 03, 2022, 04:46:29 PMI'm the same, could blast a book in a few days if it was a couple hundred pages. Used to do one every fortnight or so, not a heap by any means but it varied and was fine. Now? Jesus I'd be lucky to read three books a year, not that it stops me buying them. When I am reading I find it tough to get nore than 10-15 pages in a go, have to speak some parts out to get my head right on them, don't have the focus for it. I don't have much of a problem with reading otherwise though, as proven by absolutely chewing back long articles, wiki entries, group posts, reviews and forum threads online. Just books are gone difficult.
That said I got through Manufacturing Consent on my holidays and enjoyed it. Must force myself to start another one of the backlog on my shelf to see can I make a dent in it.
Perhaps it's because when we read threads and group posts they involve people that we know.
Far more entertaining to read about one of your friends who shit his suit trousers on the bus from Dublin to his in-laws house in Portmarnock on a random weekday than... I dunno... Dracula's carry on.
Been on a biography buzz the last while reading the Obituary biography Turned Inside Out, Rust In Peace bio and halfway through the Maiden one now. All quite good, maiden one is the most in depth I find. Mick Wall is fairly meticulous with his research
Quote from: StoutAndAle on August 03, 2022, 04:35:14 PMSince I got a smartphone - my attention span has gone to the wall. Years ago, I could read dozens of pages in a sitting and finish a book rapidly. These days, I find myself doing 10 pages (or so) and putting the book down.
One really odd thing that I've started doing in the last few years (in terms of reading) is flicking to the end of the book to see how many pages are in it.
I'm guilty of that too, just in the last few years. An odd one.
As for the smartphone thing, there's definitely something in that. At one point I was a voracious reader - when I worked nights as a security guard in a warehouse, I'd read a 300-400 page book a night - but in the last 10 years or so that's slowed down considerably. Attention span is definitely fucked, and it's probably a symptom of the bitesize nature of online/digital 'culture' (for want of a better word) seeping into the real world. Annoying.
That being said, I've just sat and read 40+ pages but, of course, now I have the phone in my hand again.
Ah it can be a cunt alright but I have disciplined myself in to reading 50 pages per day and a 100 on my days off and I'm pretty OCD about it now, I will literally tell the woman I haven't even got my book done yet and disappear into the cave, get an album on and plonk myself down, phone doesn't even come with me.
A couple of purchases today...
Richard 'Adolf' Dawkins- The River Out of Eden.
T. S. Eliot- The Wasteland and other poems.
Quote from: Necro Red on August 05, 2022, 10:12:51 AMBeen on a biography buzz the last while reading the Obituary biography Turned Inside Out, Rust In Peace bio and halfway through the Maiden one now. All quite good, maiden one is the most in depth I find. Mick Wall is fairly meticulous with his research
Just finished Mick walls AC/DC book, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be", there meself a few days ago. Great fucking read alltogether. I'm currently toying with the idea of reading the Dave Mustaine biography (or is it an autobiography?), "Hello ME, Meet The Real Me", but I'm a bit hesitant as I'm afraid it might make me dislike Mustaine even more than I do currently, which could ruin my enjoyment of the few Megadeth albums I like.
Nah, read it years ago and It didn't make me dislike him more ha ha. There is a bit of tough guy talk in it, but decent for the most part. Especially if you like the band
Quote from: Necro Red on August 22, 2022, 10:09:35 AMNah, read it years ago and It didn't make me dislike him more ha ha. There is a bit of tough guy talk in it, but decent for the most part. Especially if you like the band
Half way through Mustaines book at the moment. Funny to read in the context of 'Junior' Ellefson gettingthesack. He's mentioned his black belt about 5 times so far. Not a bad read for background on the first albums. Dave thinks he improved the artwork on the "Killing..." reissue.
I finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame last night. It was mostly very enjoyable.
Tonight I started into The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
Currently reading (and slightly struggling with) David Simon's "Homicide - A Year On The Killing Streets".
My struggle with the book comes not from the fact that it's not good. It's just very, VERY long.
Finally got around to finishing off the Dune books, think if it wasn't for the very final chapter it would have been a great ending, but I don't see myself going back to them other than the first three for a while. The last three were OK but became a bit of a slog
Picked up a few Terry Pratchett I hadn't got for something a bit lighter
I read Roger Moors Last man standing last week. He is a very funny fucker, I would recommend this and his autobiography. They are very well written and will have you laughing a lot. I finished The Trial by Kafka yesterday and wasn't blown away to be honest. I enjoyed it for the most part, but found it dragged a good bit. On to Eric Idle's book now which is decent so far. I need a laugh after The Trial ha ha
I picked up Lessons, the new Ian McEwan today. Been looking forward to this for months and it's a biggie. 500 odd pages. He usually doesn't run that long but it works for me. Everything else is on hold while I immerse myself 8)
East of Eden by Steinbeck. Really enjoying this, also loved Grapes of Wrath.
Must pick it up.
Quote from: Don Gately on September 22, 2022, 01:29:31 PMEast of Eden by Steinbeck. Really enjoying this, also loved Grapes of Wrath.
Have that on the shelf for years, never bothered reading it. Must dust it off.
East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath are de bizniz.
I picked up The Last of the Mohicans and Macbeth both by, I think, Maeve Binchy in an op shop this morning, along with a tape of Mozart symphonies, for $3.70 8)
Daniel Day Lewis wrote Laundrette of the Mohicans ya cultureless clown.
Hey, I can't even read. I just put them on the shelf in case I ever have a visitor.
I take it back. Pro move. Just be sure to crack the spines.
I but them pre-broke in op shops. I know what I'm doing.
Denis Wheatley - The Devil Rides Out
Really enjoying East of Eden, I hadn't read anything in ages. Good call from the boyz back a page.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on September 27, 2022, 12:07:17 PMDenis Wheatley - The Devil Rides Out
Used to love sneaking Wheatley's books from my Mum's collection as a young kid
Just nuzzling into Madhouse At The End Of The Earth by Julian Sancton now. Can't remember who recommended it here (McLovin?) last year but it's about time I dusted it off and got into it. Only 20 odd pages in yet so still very early days.
Haven't looked at a book in a while, been working through my pile of Empire back issues while drinking myself stupid the last month or so. Could do with getting out of that funk...
Yep, it was me.
I finished Lessons by Ian McEwan last night. Great read. Back into The Princess Bride tonight so 8)
Baader-Meinhof by Stefan Aust.
Just finished re-reading Naomis Room by Jonathon Aycliffe.
This is the only book that has ever genuinely scared me and it was still as good the second time around.
It's nice and short too at only 220 pages long and the ending is one of the darkest endings ive read in a ghost story.
Highly recommended.
Biographies of Parnell and Lemass
The Third Chimpanzee
How The Irish Became White
Currently getting through Dune and quite enjoying it. Bit mad I'm only getting around to reading this now.
I gave up on it. I still have it beside the bed (along with Emma- woeful shite) but all the books around it are getting devoured while those two are gathering dust.
Finished David Simon's "Homicide" - really worth the time. At points grim, sad, disturbing and occasionally hilarious - the writing is magnificent throughout.
It made me miss real journalism. There are only a few working at this level today - mainly sports writers.
I have Simon's other book "The Corner" on the shelf but I need a break from Baltimore for a bit.
To that end - picked up Charles Bukowski's "Post Office" and also "Hollywood". Never read any Bukowski.
Started with "Post Office" last night and I'm burning through it.
River out of Eden by Richard Dawkins.
I bought a giant hardback tome of Lovecraft stories with a forward by Alan Moore for $55. A bargain.
Could be the same one I have, comes in a hardback slipcase?
This is just a hardback with a bright cover depicting a Cthulu smashing a ship. Shite dust cover design actually but the hardback itself looks great.
Quote from: Thorn on October 21, 2022, 10:07:41 AMCould be the same one I have, comes in a hardback slipcase?
is that the huge one that has all his work in it? That's the one I have and it is brilliant. A huge book so it is. His writing is A1
Yeah it's monstrous. "The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft" by Leslie S. Klinger is the one I picked up today.
Cixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem came through the letterbox yesterday, looking forward to getting into that. A mate read the trilogy recently and reckoned it was the best sci fi he's read. TV series on the way next year apparently.
Quote from: Necro Red on October 21, 2022, 11:15:07 AMQuote from: Thorn on October 21, 2022, 10:07:41 AMCould be the same one I have, comes in a hardback slipcase?
is that the huge one that has all his work in it? That's the one I have and it is brilliant. A huge book so it is. His writing is A1
Yeah, I take it down, crack at it for a few days, then step back into the real world for a while, certainly couldn't attempt doing it front to back!
Started into it this morning. I read Alan Moore's introduction and I'm on Klinger's introduction now. Getting a great insight into Lovecraft's influences. I'll be tipping through it for some time to come methinks 8)
Quote from: Thorn on October 21, 2022, 10:45:35 PMQuote from: Necro Red on October 21, 2022, 11:15:07 AMQuote from: Thorn on October 21, 2022, 10:07:41 AMCould be the same one I have, comes in a hardback slipcase?
is that the huge one that has all his work in it? That's the one I have and it is brilliant. A huge book so it is. His writing is A1
Yeah, I take it down, crack at it for a few days, then step back into the real world for a while, certainly couldn't attempt doing it front to back!
I'm a freak, I read the whole thing front to back. Brilliant so it is! I definitely see myself going back and reading the odd short story.
I can't get into Lovecraft at all.
I think his ideas and everything are excellent but the writing is too hard for me to get into.
Quote from: Carnage on October 21, 2022, 12:40:54 PMCixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem came through the letterbox yesterday, looking forward to getting into that. A mate read the trilogy recently and reckoned it was the best sci fi he's read. TV series on the way next year apparently.
This is on my list. Lauded to the high heavens by various academics in the cognitive science, psychology type spheres.
Speaking of which, and inspired by seeing Alan Moore's name in here too, I just read, in a single long sitting, a book called Unflattening by Nick Sousanis. It's a philosophy of perception, imagination, and self, but conceived to be presented in comic book form. Absolutely class, highly recommended.
Picked up "In Cold Blood" on a whim for something to read while away - I forgot/subconsciously avoided grabbing anything from the pile at home to get through. Anyway it's great so far but I wouldn't normally be one for true crime novels. The writing and flow of this is very good.
Quote from: blessed1 on October 22, 2022, 11:40:43 AMI can't get into Lovecraft at all.
I think his ideas and everything are excellent but the writing is too hard for me to get into.
He took me a while to properly get into, but once I did I absolutely loved it. Try starting with Herbert West: Reanimator, it's one of the more straightforward stories
I finished up River Out of Eden. Dawkins has such clarity in his writing. He can even make a dense cunt like me understand these big ideas.
And now on to The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.
Quote from: ochoill on October 22, 2022, 02:56:17 PMPicked up "In Cold Blood" on a whim for something to read while away - I forgot/subconsciously avoided grabbing anything from the pile at home to get through. Anyway it's great so far but I wouldn't normally be one for true crime novels. The writing and flow of this is very good.
Great book
Read the new Anthony Bourdain biography "Down & Out In Paradise" over the last two or three days.
Comes across as pretty much a hatchet-job on Bourdain. Reads like Charles Leershen, the author, has a bit of an axe to grind. At every point he takes low pot-shots at his subject including his cooking skills, his writing, his drinking, relationships with his ex-wives and daughter.
Spoiler
It also has a slightly odd and ghoulish vibe at points - he was able to access Bourdain's Google search history, his text messages and most oddly - he stayed in the room where AB ended his life (he includes a photo of what Bourdain's view would have been on that fateful night also...)
Nobody is perfect - especially not a man who spent the first 40 years of his life desparately scrabbling around New York City, addicted to heroin and working dead-end jobs - Bourdain says as much in his own books, "Kitchen Confidential" and "Medium Raw", but this new biography is definitely tabloid hack in nature.
Anyone use that Blinkist? Considering giving it a go.
Reading Stalingrad by Anthony Beever at the minute.
Crazy shit altogether
Great book. Any of his on the eastern front are solid. That one you're on reads like a novel.
Bang on it really does. Can't put the thing down at all!
Quote from: astfgyl on November 19, 2022, 07:59:26 PMReading Stalingrad by Anthony Beever at the minute.
Crazy shit altogether
I've had that and his Berlin book on my to-read shelf for ages. I need to get around to them.
Finished "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson. You can really fly through it. I've never had any drug experiences to speak of so perhaps I'm missing something but I've done/seen a lot of mad shit where booze was involved.
I re-watched the film at the weekend after finishing the book. I've always liked Gilliam's version - for the most part, it not without its flaw - but reading the text informing the viewing of the film much more.
Just finished (completed?, achieved?) The Brothers Karamazov, no lack of Beginning, Middle or End there anyway.
Is it worth the effort? I gave up on The Idiot and ploughed through to the end of Crime and Punishment. I thought C&P was good in places and tedious in others so I'm reluctant to dive into any more Dostoevsky any time soon.
Exactly like that, good in places, tedious in others, like a lot of classics it was written predominantly as a serial for newspapers as far as I know so you get all this unnecessary wordage, different style completely to nowadays obviously.
Is it worth it? Yes, I thought it was a decent read alright, loaded with moral conundrums and philosophical quandrys, ..not that I totally 'got' all of them mind you, give it a go sure, if nothing else you can assess, like Ted, if his sense of commitment waned towards the end 😋
I'll put it on my 'before I die' list.
Yeah, probably one for the pipe and slippers alright
Crime and Punishment is one of my favourite books. Must try the Brothers. Currently reading the Chancellor, book about Angela Merkel.
Quote from: Caomhaoin on November 19, 2022, 05:47:54 PMAnyone use that Blinkist? Considering giving it a go.
Never considered it but it's on special offer at €20 for a year. Heard an ad for it during a podcast.
Brothers Karamazov is one of my favourite books, certainly my favourite by Dostoevsky. I'd say you'd want to be sure you're reading the best translation going. I read it in French, like a cunt.
I just finished Bryan Cranstons autobiography which was a decent handy read. Some actor to be fair now. Started The Drug and other stories by Crowley last night which I've been meaning to read for awhile. There's a level of achievement involved getting through a stack of books that has built up over a year ha ha
I'm reading Laurence Rees one on Auschwitz there. History lite, but sure it can't be all 'Roy Jenkins on Churchill' :)
East of Eden is still stuck in my head, what an absolutely class book.
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist
I picked up "Why the West Rules- For Now: The patterns of history and what they reveal about the future" by Ian Morris. Having listened to a few of his lectures recently and heard him interviewed I couldn't resist. He has a great way of communicating big ideas in a digestible way.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 23, 2022, 05:53:49 AMIs it worth the effort? I gave up on The Idiot and ploughed through to the end of Crime and Punishment. I thought C&P was good in places and tedious in others so I'm reluctant to dive into any more Dostoevsky any time soon.
I've read Dostoevsky in both English and Portuguese and it always seemed a bit more tedious in English. His books are a lot more about characterization than convoluted plots though.
I was recommended Mikhail Bulgakov's "The master and margarita" by one of my Russian students. According to him, the best Russian novel ever written, so I checked it online and it had great reviews...might be worth a try.
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy arrived today. I have another book to get through first but how long will i be able to hold out...
Colin Barrett, Homesickness
Toni Morrisson, Beloved
George Orwell 1984
Christmas reading
Quote from: O Drighes on December 02, 2022, 07:07:01 AMI was recommended Mikhail Bulgakov's "The master and margarita" by one of my Russian students. According to him, the best Russian novel ever written, so I checked it online and it had great reviews...might be worth a try.
I've read a chunk of this but stopped only because the edition I had was terrible; footnotes with spoilers! What I read was class though, keep meaning to grab myself another version of it.
I couldn't resist cracking in to The Passenger, the new McCarthy one. Let's go!
Yesterday I finished reading Clarissa by Samuel Richardson it is hefty almost a million words long. I began reading it in September.
Currently reading This is Happiness by Niall Williams, first of his books that I've read, enjoying it so far.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 23, 2022, 05:53:49 AMIs it worth the effort? I gave up on The Idiot and ploughed through to the end of Crime and Punishment. I thought C&P was good in places and tedious in others so I'm reluctant to dive into any more Dostoevsky any time soon.
Recently got Demons or Devils if you prefer along with The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot. After tackling Demons I'll leave the other too off for a while. It's great but a lot of work. Found myself having to note of the names of characters after they appeared.
Ha, the most impossible book I've read in terms of confusing names is The Taming of the Shrew. In theory it's an easy little romp where three suitors pretend to be each other, but their names are all in some archaic form of Italian completely removed from any familiar touchstones, making it difficult to remember who is who in the first place, never mind when they are all pretending to be each other. I fucked that one at the wall after twenty pages or so :laugh:
Quote from: Don Gately on December 23, 2022, 04:57:12 PMColin Barrett, Homesickness
Is that the Mayo lad? I read a short story collection by him a few years ago, t'was grand.
Yes Young Skins I'd say. I thought it was great.
That's the one. Good stuff, despite some of the dialogue not quite ringing true. I must look out for that one.
How Music Works by David Byrne. Just getting into it but it's an interesting perspective from the off. Making me feel like drawing out the oul modes and getting all medieval with em
Reading Atomic Habits and Amsterdam (Ian McEwan) over the Christmas, both nice and handy.
Žižek's book on Lenin on the other hand. Lie down ya Slovenian gimp. I'd sooner be a turkey convinced that Dec 25th was me birthday.
Amsterdam is a cracker. First McEwan I ever read.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 01, 2023, 04:16:32 AMAmsterdam is a cracker. First McEwan I ever read.
I bought it almost solely going by your reviews of his books here. Where should I go after this one?
I was rereading bits of my auld fellas copy of Rory Gallagher over the holidays too. Bit of a cautionary tale not to be overstretching yourself because when the decline came, it came fast and it came hard for auld Roar.
Most of his stuff is worth a look but Nutshell, Machines Like Me and Enduring Love are particularly deadly.
Avoid Saturday
I thought Saturday was a winner. What didn't you like?
Thought it's plot was just too unlikely, moved slowly, characters were not very engaging either.
Was that the house invasion one? If so, I thought it a decent read myself. Have nine Mc Ewan on the shelves so far after Mc Love put me onto him a good while back
Atonement is excellent
Quote from: Don Gately on January 02, 2023, 09:19:37 AMThought it's plot was just too unlikely, moved slowly, characters were not very engaging either.
Fair enough. I really enjoyed it. I re-read Solar recently having not really enjoyed it much when it came out and ended up loving it second time around. Sometimes it's the wrong time and place.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on December 23, 2022, 05:02:23 PMQuote from: O Drighes on December 02, 2022, 07:07:01 AMI was recommended Mikhail Bulgakov's "The master and margarita" by one of my Russian students. According to him, the best Russian novel ever written, so I checked it online and it had great reviews...might be worth a try.
I've read a chunk of this but stopped only because the edition I had was terrible; footnotes with spoilers! What I read was class though, keep meaning to grab myself another version of it.
He died before finishing the book and his wife finished it based on the notes he had. Maybe that explain the footnotes. I got the book now, but haven't given it a go just yet.
Finished Count of Montecristo today. Good book. So many classics so little time.
Ah well done.
Quote from: Pain Medicine on January 07, 2023, 07:40:58 PMFinished Count of Montecristo today. Good book. So many classics so little time.
Cool book. I read it myself recently.
Speaking of that, there's a two-movie adaptation of The Three Musketeers coming out later this year. Hoping it'll be deadly. It's French rather than Hollywood made, so that's a positive start anyway.
Savage. I love the 90s film version with Oliver Platt, Kiefer Sutherland etc. I have to pick up the book at some point.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 07, 2023, 08:39:32 PMQuote from: Pain Medicine on January 07, 2023, 07:40:58 PMFinished Count of Montecristo today. Good book. So many classics so little time.
Cool book. I read it myself recently.
Aye it's a fantastic read.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 07, 2023, 09:35:50 PMSpeaking of that, there's a two-movie adaptation of The Three Musketeers coming out later this year. Hoping it'll be deadly. It's French rather than Hollywood made, so that's a positive start anyway.
That sounds interesting will keep an eye out
Nearly finished The Passenger with Stella Maris lined up next. It's very good.
Just finishing 'The Football Factory' by John King, decent read even if he is quite indebted to Irvine Welsh. The film of the same name has almost nothing in common with it bar Chelsea and the names of some of the characters.
Astfjyl (sic), you'd get a kick out of it :)
I finished up The Passenger last night. I thought it was highly enjoyable and was a much easier and less barren read than some of McCarthy's earlier, more challenging novels. Looking forward to launching into Stella Maris tonight.
Reading a few essays by Bertrand Russell.
Jaysus he was a gas man, especially considering he was a philosopher.
I need a bit of a breather from Why The West Rules ~ For Now by Ian Morris so I'm starting into Macbeth. I haven't read it since school and couldn't make any sense of it as a kid. It's much easier now but I wonder if the story will interest me. Let's find out...
Macbeth is great, did it for the leaving cert. Demented video version too. Plenty of cleavage
The Roman Polanski version? I remember enjoying that when I saw it in school. It was only seeing the thing that made me understand it. I couldn't get it to come to life on the page as a young lad. I had a similar difficultly with Dickens in school but I have read a few of his books over the past few years and enjoyed them quite a lot.
Always enjoyed Shakespeare in school. Did Romeo and Juliet before moving school and then doing Merchant of Venice followed by Macbeth in Leaving.
I also read Merchant in school and it's one I intend to revisit.
I could never enjoy it on the page - absolutely hated it TBH - but seeing it performed is a game changer. Saw Othello in the Tivoli for school, it was an 'experimental' version (i.e. they ran around the room a bit) directed by Alan Stanford but it was hugely enjoyable.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 09, 2023, 08:50:45 PMI finished up The Passenger last night. I thought it was highly enjoyable and was a much easier and less barren read than some of McCarthy's earlier, more challenging novels. Looking forward to launching into Stella Maris tonight.
I was eyeing up both of those in the book shop today and debating whether to buy. Never read any McCarthy before, only know him from the movie versions of The Road and No Country For Old Men. I may have to take the plunge!
They are a good place to start as they are easily the most readable of his, from what I've read by him. Some of his classic stuff is tough going. Worth the effort, but a slog in places.
I liked All the pretty horses. Western Trt
Never seen Polanski's Macbeth actually, must give it a shot. The recent-ish one with Fassbender was decent, although they did cut a few lines I always thought to be fairly central.
Quote from: Born of Fire on February 17, 2023, 09:05:07 PMQuote from: Eoin McLove on January 09, 2023, 08:50:45 PMI finished up The Passenger last night. I thought it was highly enjoyable and was a much easier and less barren read than some of McCarthy's earlier, more challenging novels. Looking forward to launching into Stella Maris tonight.
I was eyeing up both of those in the book shop today and debating whether to buy. Never read any McCarthy before, only know him from the movie versions of The Road and No Country For Old Men. I may have to take the plunge!
It's a lovely looking set that but Easons were looking 50 odd quid for it. I got it on Amazon for 30
Discovered this morning that Nicol Williamson (Merlin in Excalibur) recorded an audiobook of The Hobbit back in 1974! :-*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB2OxArlI8Y
Jesus Son by Denis Johnson, reread
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on February 17, 2023, 09:12:53 PMNever seen Polanski's Macbeth actually, must give it a shot. The recent-ish one with Fassbender was decent, although they did cut a few lines I always thought to be fairly central.
I bought a copy of it on DVD on Saturday. Haven't seen it in twenty odd years.
I finished up reading Macbeth the other evening. Grand oul yarn in fairness to The Bard. Credit where credit's due, jenow.
Dipping a toe into The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper next (alongside Why the West Rules... which I'm still tipping through). Looks like it possibly will be a slow read but let's see how it goes.
Just read David Keenan's "For The Good Times".
Ostensibly, it's a novel about The Troubles during the period just before and up to the H3 strikes and Bobby Sand's death.
I'm not much for magical realism but this book is written exceptionally well (if you can crack/hack Keenan's writing style) and it has some fine humour dotted throughout.
Worth a read if you liked David Peace's "Red Or Dead" and Irvine Welsh's work.
Reading Wendy Erskine short story collection Dance Moves. Very good.
Couple of new books grabbed today.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. It's one of those books whose name has been in my head for a long time for some reason so let's see what it's all about. I read the first 34 pages today and it's immediately interesting.
Memento Mori- What The Romans Can Tell Us About Old Age & Death by Peter Jones (not the Dragon's Den dude). 40 pages in and it's easy and entertaining enough. We'll see.
I'm just about finishing the glass bead game by Hermann Hesse. I think it is very long winded and took ages to get through. Some interesting points in it, don't k ow if I'd recommend it to a casual reader though as it is heavy enough going
Quote from: Necro Red on March 28, 2023, 10:18:16 AMI'm just about finishing the glass bead game by Hermann Hesse. I think it is very long winded and took ages to get through. Some interesting points in it, don't k ow if I'd recommend it to a casual reader though as it is heavy enough going
I read Steppenwolf many years ago and found it aimless and boring. It was short enough as I recall, but I didn't make it to the end.
Tender is the night by the great gatsby himself. Great writing, really enjoying it.
Reading "Life" by Keith Richards at the minute. Enjoyable so far - better than most autobiographies.
I've always been more a fan of The Beatles than The Rolling Stones but at least Keef is honest in his account. McCartney currently seems to be trying to do (another) revisionist history of his own life and times.
Just about to finish The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. A great read, but not a patch on All the Pretty Horses, which was magnificent.
Gonna take a break from McCarthy (and from having to whip out my phone to translate the seemingly randomly inserted Spanish that McCarthy loves to use) by reading The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. Then I'll get stuck into Cities of the Plain.
As an aside, anyone into sci-fi would do well to check out the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, by Cixin Liu. Read it a couple of years ago and it made a hell of an impression on me. Amazing stuff.
I think I've given up on McCarthy. I've had a few of his on the shelf for about 10 years and I just can't be bothered with them. I found the ones I have read to be hit & miss.
Quote from: mishima on March 28, 2023, 08:17:52 PMAs an aside, anyone into sci-fi would do well to check out the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, by Cixin Liu. Read it a couple of years ago and it made a hell of an impression on me. Amazing stuff.
I have The Three Body Problem lined up, a friend read the trilogy and raved about it. There's a TV adaptation on the way an' all.
Quote from: Carnage on March 28, 2023, 08:32:25 PMI have The Three Body Problem lined up, a friend read the trilogy and raved about it. There's a TV adaptation on the way an' all.
Nice one. I'd love to be reading it again for the first time. It's so damn good.
And as for McCarthy, if you haven't read No Country for Old Men or All the Pretty Horses, give them a go.
I've read and enjoyed those two alright. Also read The Road (meh) and Blood Meridian (didn't enjoy it at all). I have Suttree, The Crossing and Cities Of The Plain gathering dust this long time and I'm in no rush to change that.
after a Google I'll definitely be picking up that remembrance of earth stuff.
Just finished sutree by Cormac, would put it up with some of his best ones but that top 5 list but would tough to pick.
Started ringworld for the first time, speeding through it but still on the fence if it's gonna turn stupid or not
Moby Dick, never read it, always one for the long finger.
Quote from: Don Gately on April 04, 2023, 07:38:15 AMMoby Dick, never read it, always one for the long finger.
I read it recently. Good luck :laugh:
Currently about halfway through The Andromeda Strain. It's grand, like. Entertaining. Very film-like in its execution and pacing.
Will get back to The Border trilogy after that I guess.
I joined the local library today and took out a copy of A Decent Ride by Irvine Welsh. I had never even heard of it before but it's off to a good start.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on April 16, 2023, 10:30:57 AMI joined the local library today and took out a copy of A Decent Ride by Irvine Welsh. I had never even heard of it before but it's off to a good start.
Juice Terry 😀
Have you read 'Glue'? He's a peripheral character in that.
No but he was in Porno in a fairly minor way too. I like him so far :laugh:
I have A Decent Ride here as well I'm only a few chapters in but it's not going well for Jonty :laugh:
Juice Terry was a legend in Glue and Porno
Jesus Christ, JT banging the chick in the taxi as he's dropping her off to the bridge to kill herself :laugh: the only problem I ever have with Irvine Welsh is that I can't stop fucking turning the pages when it's time to go to sleep. He's one of a kind.
History:A very short introduction by John H. Arnold
Quote from: Eoin McLove on April 04, 2023, 08:26:10 AMQuote from: Don Gately on April 04, 2023, 07:38:15 AMMoby Dick, never read it, always one for the long finger.
I read it recently. Good luck :laugh:
I'm really enjoying Moby Dick, even the chapters about the cetology!
Quote from: Don Gately on May 03, 2023, 10:03:51 AMQuote from: Eoin McLove on April 04, 2023, 08:26:10 AMQuote from: Don Gately on April 04, 2023, 07:38:15 AMMoby Dick, never read it, always one for the long finger.
I read it recently. Good luck :laugh:
I'm really enjoying Moby Dick, even the chapters about the cetology!
Jesus, I struggled through it. I found it a slog.
Finished Keith Richard's book. It was grand - honest (or what I assume is honesty anyway) - but it got really fucking boring and a slog to finish. I started to wonder at the halfway mark if most of it was just directly transcribed from Keef's ramblings into a Dictaphone.
The section detailing his life with his first wife, their addiction and attitude towards rearing their kids is bleak.
Also read Todd Barry's "Thank You For Coming To Hattiesburg" - a tour diary of a comedian playing smaller towns - great. Bone dry humour.
Currently reading Charles Bukowski's "Factotum".
Put Moby Dick down on Sunday and read a short story by Katherine Mansfield "The woman at the store". From 1912. Recommended.
Dunno whether anyone's bought from Bookworld.ie before, but I chanced it and nabbed 4 of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series from them there. Secondhand, came in at just over €20 when postage was added. It's a punt but sure we'll see how it goes.
Was in Eason in Limerick lately and saw 2 copies of 1984 side by side, one for 12.99, one for 2.99. the difference?: The cover. Both paperbacks. My story?: Pointless.
I think it only became public domain about 2 years ago, so now Wordsworth and the other bargain publishers can print it up.
Quote from: Carnage on May 16, 2023, 12:06:00 PMDunno whether anyone's bought from Bookworld.ie before, but I chanced it and nabbed 4 of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series from them there. Secondhand, came in at just over €20 when postage was added. It's a punt but sure we'll see how it goes.
Arrived today. 4 books, 3 different sized editions. 3 grand, 1 manky. Luck of the draw, can't complain really.
Should be in the pet peeve section but nothing worse than having a 5 or 6 book series lined up on the shelf all different sizes, editions and cover styles. But as you as say can't complain as not as if I'm doing to change it by buying the cheapest version of each book I can find
Quote from: Carnage on May 19, 2023, 03:21:39 PMQuote from: Carnage on May 16, 2023, 12:06:00 PMDunno whether anyone's bought from Bookworld.ie before, but I chanced it and nabbed 4 of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series from them there. Secondhand, came in at just over €20 when postage was added. It's a punt but sure we'll see how it goes.
Arrived today. 4 books, 3 different sized editions. 3 grand, 1 manky. Luck of the draw, can't complain really.
Shartlake :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Sorry
'In the Rogue Blood' by James Carlos Blake. Was talking about Blood Meridian with the girlfriends father and he gave me this. Very similar but different, if you're into McCarthy. Probably 10% more accessible than BM. Enjoying it so far.
Quote from: nukeabuse on May 20, 2023, 01:22:47 AMShould be in the pet peeve section but nothing worse than having a 5 or 6 book series lined up on the shelf all different sizes, editions and cover styles. But as you as say can't complain as not as if I'm doing to change it by buying the cheapest version of each book I can find
Even if I'm pirating books for my kindle I will turn my laptop back on and go looking for the 3rd book in a series from the publisher etc. that matches the others I've downloaded :laugh:
It's annoying if they don't match alright. Exceptions would be some crime series or the like that span decades, you're never gonna get them all to match.
Reading Murray Pittock's one in Culloden, another take on the great battle, maybe the definitive one. Masterful.
Anything to avoid the Allen Carr one so I can keep honking the vape.
Read War of the Worlds twice lately.
I enjoyed it that much.
Would love to see a proper film of that version rather than a modernised one
I must finish that book. Started it years ago, packed it away when I was moving house and never went back to it. What I had read was mighty though.
Avoid the recent BBC adaptation, it's awful.
It's a fucking smashing book as it is. Haven't seen any TV or film version that had a hope of living up to the book and I actually enjoyed the Tom cruise one as well as season one of the Gabriel Byrne one but I could see that the series was heading south so I left it alone.
Definitely finish that book man it's fuckin class
Well shit, guess I'm gonna have to buy that book and add it to the ever growing pile that I'll hopefully get around to reading this decade :laugh:
Quote from: Carnage on May 16, 2023, 12:06:00 PMDunno whether anyone's bought from Bookworld.ie before, but I chanced it and nabbed 4 of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series from them there. Secondhand, came in at just over €20 when postage was added. It's a punt but sure we'll see how it goes.
I've mentioned this before but thebookshop.ie based in Thurles is very good. Most books are between €1 and €4 - free shipping over €20.
I've rarely gotten a book in anything less than library condition at worst. Some look like they've been barley opened. You can find all sorts on it.
"Factotum" by Charles Bukowski - great read.
Currently reading "Beatles '66- The Revolutionary Year" by Steve Turner. Halfway through and it is excellent.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on May 29, 2023, 01:35:16 PMQuote from: Carnage on May 16, 2023, 12:06:00 PMDunno whether anyone's bought from Bookworld.ie before, but I chanced it and nabbed 4 of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series from them there. Secondhand, came in at just over €20 when postage was added. It's a punt but sure we'll see how it goes.
I've mentioned this before but thebookshop.ie based in Thurles is very good. Most books are between €1 and €4 - free shipping over €20.
I've rarely gotten a book in anything less than library condition at worst. Some look like they've been barley opened. You can find all sorts on it.
"Factotum" by Charles Bukowski - great read.
Currently reading "Beatles '66- The Revolutionary Year" by Steve Turner. Halfway through and it is excellent.
I actually know that fella and I keep forgetting about him. Must have a squint at what he has
Quote from: StoutAndAle on May 29, 2023, 01:35:16 PMI've mentioned this before but thebookshop.ie based in Thurles is very good. Most books are between €1 and €4 - free shipping over €20.
I've rarely gotten a book in anything less than library condition at worst. Some look like they've been barley opened. You can find all sorts on it.
I think I've bought from there before. The site's a pain to navigate, keeps bringing me to pages I'm not looking for.
Quote from: Carnage on May 29, 2023, 02:45:44 PMI think I've bought from there before. The site's a pain to navigate, keeps bringing me to pages I'm not looking for.
Yeah - you kinda have to know what you're looking for but - to give them credit - they've definitely improved the search function.
Currently reading Jurassic Park and enjoying it.
I just found out recently that there were only 3 years between the release of the book and the film.
Read it at the time (pre film), loved it. Would recommend Sphere and Eaters Of The Dead (filmed as The 13th Warrior) above it though. They're all I've read by him and I'd go 1. EOTD, 2. Sphere, 3. JP.
I'm nearly there on Wuthering Heights. I find it a bit tedious and am looking forward to it's end.
Also some John Cheever stories. Class
Quote from: Carnage on June 04, 2023, 01:34:54 AMRead it at the time (pre film), loved it. Would recommend Sphere and Eaters Of The Dead (filmed as The 13th Warrior) above it though. They're all I've read by him and I'd go 1. EOTD, 2. Sphere, 3. JP.
Good man! Added to the list now!
Quote from: mishima on June 03, 2023, 08:57:32 PMCurrently reading Jurassic Park and enjoying it.
I just found out recently that there were only 3 years between the release of the book and the film.
First book and to an extent the second one are decent reads. I loved the first but it did lead to the film being rather disappointing as a young lad at all the things that were left out.
Quote from: astfgyl on June 06, 2023, 12:24:12 PMQuote from: mishima on June 03, 2023, 08:57:32 PMCurrently reading Jurassic Park and enjoying it.
I just found out recently that there were only 3 years between the release of the book and the film.
First book and to an extent the second one are decent reads. I loved the first but it did lead to the film being rather disappointing as a young lad at all the things that were left out.
Aye, the film definitely got the Hollywood treatment.
Though I'm not sure how they'd have successfully portrayed Grant and the kids sneaking past a sleeping T-Rex sat on its arse as described in the book without it being hilarious! Just read that bit today!
Quote from: mishima on June 07, 2023, 08:37:23 PMQuote from: astfgyl on June 06, 2023, 12:24:12 PMQuote from: mishima on June 03, 2023, 08:57:32 PMCurrently reading Jurassic Park and enjoying it.
I just found out recently that there were only 3 years between the release of the book and the film.
First book and to an extent the second one are decent reads. I loved the first but it did lead to the film being rather disappointing as a young lad at all the things that were left out.
Aye, the film definitely got the Hollywood treatment.
Though I'm not sure how they'd have successfully portrayed Grant and the kids sneaking past a sleeping T-Rex sat on its arse as described in the book without it being hilarious! Just read that bit today!
Am I right in thinking they tried that scene in the second or third film, but without the Rex on its arse? Actually picked up the second book again lately for 50c thinking maybe one of the kids would go for it someday but I'll more likely end up rereading it myself tbh
Quote from: astfgyl on June 07, 2023, 09:48:05 PMAm I right in thinking they tried that scene in the second or third film, but without the Rex on its arse? Actually picked up the second book again lately for 50c thinking maybe one of the kids would go for it someday but I'll more likely end up rereading it myself tbh
I don't think I've ever seen any of the other films in their entirety.. Kinda curious to check them out now.
Quote from: mishima on June 08, 2023, 08:13:51 PMQuote from: astfgyl on June 07, 2023, 09:48:05 PMAm I right in thinking they tried that scene in the second or third film, but without the Rex on its arse? Actually picked up the second book again lately for 50c thinking maybe one of the kids would go for it someday but I'll more likely end up rereading it myself tbh
I don't think I've ever seen any of the other films in their entirety.. Kinda curious to check them out now.
https://twitter.com/ATRightMovies/status/1667836601676775425?t=tD2EOjQlK0oT7ivaJF5Q5Q&s=19
Happened to come across this today, film is 30 years old. The other films are pretty bad compared to the first, which was pretty bad compared to the book but is still the best of them
Just started 1984 by George Orwell. I'm very surprised how engaging it is from the outset.
Quote from: Don Gately on June 12, 2023, 11:22:09 AMJust started 1984 by George Orwell. I'm very surprised how engaging it is from the outset.
Reading it myself at the minute. Tis great stuff
Quote from: Don Gately on June 12, 2023, 11:22:09 AMJust started 1984 by George Orwell. I'm very surprised how engaging it is from the outset.
I read it again a few months back. You'll find yourself smirking at times about how relevant it is today.
Twenty years since I've read that. I must pick it up and have another look although I find the endless paralleling of it, and Brave New World, to THE CURRENT CLIMATE utterly fucking tedious at this stage. I remember the story in and of itself being a grim, oppressive and immersive experience.
I picked up In Ascension by Martin MacInnes over the weekend and it's off to a flying start.
Cormac McCarthy has passed away.
Quote from: ldj on June 13, 2023, 08:49:25 PMCormac McCarthy has passed away.
Lost a genius there, by far my favourite author.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on June 13, 2023, 12:13:32 PMTwenty years since I've read that. I must pick it up and have another look although I find the endless paralleling of it, and Brave New World, to THE CURRENT CLIMATE utterly fucking tedious at this stage. I remember the story in and of itself being a grim, oppressive and immersive experience.
I picked up In Ascension by Martin MacInnes over the weekend and it's off to a flying start.
I hadn't ever read it, had seen the old thing on telly but in the same vein the constant references to it on social media did put me off a bit. Like I can see why but it's like the more everyone goes on about something the more I'd be inclined to let the dust settle before digging in. Goes for films, series, social movements, albums and many more things.
Back to the thread, do many of you do as I do and be reading several books at once rather than simply ploughing through all of one before going to another? I've about 6 on the go at the minute depending on time place form etc.
Yeah, I've become shocking for juggling several books at once. I've no patience. When I pick up something new to libero next I can't resist having a sneak peek and then I'm sucked right in.
Just on the death of the great Cormac McCarthy I've decided to read all his books over the next year. I've read a few over the years but am going to go and do them all over. I bought The Orchard Keeper his first book today and will start there after 1984.
Never read anything by McCarthy. Are there standouts?
Blood Meridian. It's a horrible, bloody masterpiece.
I imagine blood meridian, although one of his best might be a hard entry point. No country for old men or the road are maybe more accessible but I use that loosely
His most recent two are easily his most accessible, but actually they are so accessible as to give you no preparation for his earlier, darker material. Still both worth a read.
I think the Border Trilogy, the Road and No Country are all very good and accessible. I read Blood Meridian but I struggled with it and would avoid that for a while.
No Country For Old Men was my first one, that was a grand entry level one. All The Pretty Horses was another one on the same level. The Road is bleak but fairly straightforward. I didn't enjoy Blood Meridian but I'm glad I read it. I have another few on the shelf but I don't think I can be bothered TBH.
I'll buy then off you
Nah, I'll dig them out and send them on to you, I'll give you a shout when I find them.
Well let me send you some in return what u into I've hundreds
Blood Meridian is up there with the likes of Moby Dick, although not as much of a slog. Same calibre. I probably could not count some of the horrible images in that book on two hands.
I would say most of his stuff is in the same vein, maybe start with No Country and then go either BM or the Border Trilogy. That being said must reread his stuff now. Never read City of God or the new one.
Sutree and child of God are a good mid point between the visceral blood meridian the 'nicer' feel off border trilogy. Sutree is genuinely hilarious at times.
Although a certain knife fight near the end of the border trilogy fkd me up as much as anything else he ever wrote
Quote from: Don Gately on June 15, 2023, 06:58:03 PMWell let me send you some in return what u into I've hundreds
Ah jaysus, I'm trying to get rid of books, not add to the to read pile! Thanks lad, you're grand. I think they're boxed up in the attic, had a quick look at the shelves yesterday, didn't spot them. I'll give you a shout once I have them all together.
Finished Jurassic Park and Eaters of the Dead in the last couple of weeks. Moved on to Sphere yesterday.
Eaters was great fun. Just a cracking auld yarn. Really need to watch it again one of these days.
After Sphere, I'll try to get my hands on Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage - Jeff Guinn. A few things reminded me of this story in the last while and then I saw this book mentioned online. Reviews seem very positive. Might as well give it a lash.
I'm flying through In Ascension by Martin McInnes at the minute. It's turned out to be a bit of a science fiction thing which I wasn't exactly expecting, and while I'm not a big fan of that genre in general, this book is superb. So well written, perfect pacing throughout and there's a real sense of intrigue building. I reckon it's only a matter of time before it gets turned into a Hollywood blockbuster. The last time I thought that was actually with another sci fi book by Tom Holt, called The Portable Door- a badly written book with a good idea at its heart that kept me engaged. I read it ten or fifteen years ago and this year the bloody film is out. So give In Ascension a decade or two and they'll haul Sigourney out of her coffin, reanimate her dust and have her back up on the big screen again. If that doesn't happen I'll give you all a tenner, my word is my bond.
Was camping at the wknd and talking to some other ppl camping the same spot, mentioned the book sapiens. Went to a hostel in Galway the next night and that was one of the 5 books of the take on, leave one shelf. Fairly entry level skimming the surface human history stuff but enough synchronicity for me to justify reading it.
Also 100 pages into book of the new sun, unsure how to feel about it so far. Not really enjoying the writing style but hoping it pays off
Sapiens is really good, as is all Harari. He's great at condensing a lot of information into digestible form.
But what I really want to know is, is it pronounced Sapiens or Sapiens?
Read Homo Deus which was great. Completely forgot to get Sapiens.
Sapiens is pronounced saypenis.
I've started Cormac McCarthys first book The Orchard Keepers. The writing is strong here boys. Finished 1984, what a great book.
I really struggled through the manifesto bit of 1984 but flew through the rest.
Still tipping away slowly on 1984. As great as it is in principle, it's not really a page turner in the traditional sense, more great observation of an obvious future outcome. I'm still of the opinion that Animal Farm is the better book.
Quote from: open face surgery on June 28, 2023, 12:01:28 AMI really struggled through the manifesto bit of 1984 but flew through the rest.
Same. Overdue a reread, it's at least 30 years since I read it.
Yes the manifesto part drags a bit and there isn't really anything in it that surprises. Still it's relatively short.
The ending is ferocious.
Quote from: Don Gately on June 27, 2023, 03:57:45 PMSapiens is pronounced saypenis.
How strange. I never realised there was a third pronunciation...
Needed a wee bit of a break from dense fantasy and wanted to read outside my usual genres for a bit so I picked up Meantime by Frankie Boyle, his debut novel which is a sort of gonzo whodunnit. It's about what you'd expect - Boyle running through his usual humour and tropes in an Irvine Welsh-esque structure - but it's easy as fuck to read and genuinely funny. Would recommend it.
Spent most of last year reading the Wheel of Time. Actually made it onto book eleven - the whole way through the slog - before I finally accepted that it was meandering, mundane shite with way too much time spent on one dimensional characters and the same goofy sophomoric battle-of-the-sexes dialogue endlessly.
Went through a breakup and left the remainder of the books in Dubland which may have something to do with it - I don't doubt it picks up again towards the end - but I'm never going back now. Fell on the sword of Wiki'ing the rest of the plot in the end as I literally had to just move on to reading something else!
I'm going to have to go back to the start with the Wheel Of Time books. I read the first 9 in a burst when that was getting me up to date. By the time the tenth had come out, I'd forgotten who half the characters were, which side they were on, etc. and was completely lost. I loved the first 5 or 6 but from then on I got the sense that he had no idea how he was going to end it all.
I tried to read those Wheel Of Time books and hated them. I think I got to book four before I gave up.
I'm back reading all my old David Gemmell books at the moment. He was always my favorite fantasy writer even if most of his books are similar.
I'm starting the Rigante series again and they are still really good.
I've never read any of his but he's on the list. The old man was a fan so there's probably a few in the attic.
Yeah Gemmell's great. No fucking about, just fist to the face fantasy that you could easily read after a few jars.
Got about half way through William Burroughs "The Soft Machine" on holidays there. Completely fucked and bizarre read so far, honestly couldn't even explain what is happening in it but it sort of implants the idea of a story in your head while you are reading it. In between lads hanging themselves to transfer their consciousness into someone else's body and large amounts of gay sex, there's some sort of outlandish sci-fi kick off it. I doubt it will end in any meaningful way but I'll finish it soon.
Quote from: blessed1 on July 04, 2023, 03:36:42 PMI tried to read those Wheel Of Time books and hated them. I think I got to book four before I gave up.
I'm back reading all my old David Gemmell books at the moment. He was always my favorite fantasy writer even if most of his books are similar.
I'm starting the Rigante series again and they are still really good.
I have very fond memories of going through rakes of Gemmell and Feist about 20 years ago. Highly enjoyable books. Didn't read a single one that I didn't get a good kick out of.
Gemmell's Troy series is brilliant, although he died halfway through the last one and you can nearly pinpoint when his missus took over to finish it
Quote from: Trev on July 04, 2023, 09:42:30 PMGemmell's Troy series is brilliant, although he died halfway through the last one and you can nearly pinpoint when his missus took over to finish it
Lion Of Macedon and Dark Prince are class as well.
Reading a book about the assassination of a landlord named Mahon in Roscommon during the Famine. He was the fella who owned the house in which the Famine Museum is currently located. Strokestown. I visited that museum years ago, not easily forgotten and on par with the cottiers cottages reproduced in Bunratty, the ones where people lived with their farm animals
Has anyone read Dan Simmons' Hyperion books? Always saw the name but read into the plot/style a bit more and I'm intrigued.
I've read the first two, never got around to the third and fourth. Very enjoyable, though the details escape me now. Like a sci fi Canterbury Tales.
I have the first one here but never got started on it at all
Just finished Al jourgensen's bio. Not a ministry fan at all but damn every paragraph is the wildest story you've ever heard. Some depraved junkie shit. I'm sure some of the stories are muddled in the druggy haze of time, but there's throw away comments about well known musicians that would be career enders if posted on twitter. considering that a few his accusations seemed to turn out true since the book was written im tempted to believe them. One story about r Kelly being a perv to his young daughter in the 90s and how it's a crime r Kelly isn't in jail yet being one of them. Book is for fans of brett Ellis and Irvine welsh
Hate Ellis but love Welsh. I was into Psalm 69 as a kid. I might grab it if I come across it in a book shop.
Love Ellis (for the most part) - never read Welsh. Is "Trainspotting" the place to start?
Read Phil Collins' autobiography on holiday after getting a recommendation. First half is decent, not excellent - after that the whole thing is fairly boring, unfocused and repetitive (much like Keef's "Life" memoir).
Currently reading Paul Murray's "An Evening Of Long Goodbyes" which is pretty good.
Also started Ted Kessler's "Paper Cuts: How I Destroyed the British Music Press and Other Misadventures" - which is excellent so far but I've put it down so that I can give it my full concentration once I have Murray's book out of the way.
I enjoyed Collins' biography more than I thought I would, but yeah - like most autobiographies it tailed off toward the end. The best one I've read lately was Elton John's, very warts and all.
I lost interest in Welsh a long time ago but what I've read I read in order. It probably makes no difference but lead characters in one book can turn up in another in cameos or smaller roles. So yeah, start with Trainspotting. There are a few different versions of it though, it's originally written in phonetic Edinburgh slang which is tough going 'til you get used to it. It was later published in 'standard English' which seemed pointless to me.
I'd also recommend Glue, Porno, Ecstasy and The Acid House.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on July 09, 2023, 03:49:38 PMHas anyone read Dan Simmons' Hyperion books? Always saw the name but read into the plot/style a bit more and I'm intrigued.
I read the first one a good few years ago. Well worth checking out.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on July 10, 2023, 03:59:04 PMLove Ellis (for the most part) - never read Welsh. Is "Trainspotting" the place to start?
Can't really go wrong with Welsh.
Start with Trainspotting or Filth and take it from there.
Trainspotting is unreal. I never knew there was am 'English' version. Sure the whole point of reading Welsh is to get all the Scottish slang. I think he is a master storyteller. At his best his balance of humor and human degradation is magical.
I'm currently tipping through Last of the Mohicans. It's not exactly gripping me but I'll keep at it and see if it improves.
To be clear Im only using those two authors for level of grimy content rather any particular writing style
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 10, 2023, 08:02:51 PMAt his best his balance of humor and human degradation is magical.
It's the degredation that turns my stomach - the bit in Glue or Porno with Spud and that lump of shite, that was the end for me. From what I gather it's nothing compared to what Filth offers and I just don't want to go there. I bought it years ago and it's just rotting on the shelf.
There's a scene in Porno that's as bad as anything I've read in terms of degradation, again involving Spud. Haven't read all the books though so there's every chance there's worse in those too.
At the session he read passages from his new work - The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs - including a lurid scene in which a man in his 20s has sex with an ancient woman, called a white witch, whose physical attributes are described in grotesque and lavish detail. These range from the "sagging corrugations" of her body to her "ludicrously extended clitoris" to the smell of the "slimy golden-brown fecal matter that lay saturating the incontinence pads below her".
Just found that while looking up his other books. Lovely.
The nastiest scene that stays with me is in Trainspotting with the dude in the wheelchair injecting gear into the abscess on his stump :laugh:
That scene in Porno, is it the tights/graveyard bit? Might be mixing books up. Either way I was disgusted.
Quote from: Carnage on July 11, 2023, 12:50:09 AMQuote from: Eoin McLove on July 10, 2023, 08:02:51 PMAt his best his balance of humor and human degradation is magical.
It's the degredation that turns my stomach - the bit in Glue with Spud and that lump of shite, that was the end for me. From what I gather it's nothing compared to what Filth offers and I just don't want to go there. I bought it years ago and it's just rotting on the shelf.
Yeah I'd be the same can't, hack Welsh at all, my copy of Filth is also rotting on the shelf however it has been read, a base level evisceration of humanity that no amount of crude humour and slang can redeem. Depressed even thinking about it. I'd always say the most outrageous and explicitly disgusting book I've read is De Sade's '120 Days In Sodom' but that had something of a twisted, surreal charm to it whereas Welsh's contemporary vulgarity and the whole prevailing atmosphere of urban decay and degeneration is just not a mindset I want to put myself in ever again.
:laugh: I love it even though it makes me want to have a shower after reading . I've never read de Sade. Good wanking material, I would wager.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 11, 2023, 06:15:56 AM:laugh: I love it even though it makes me want to have a shower after reading . I've never read de Sade. Good wanking material, I would wager.
It ain't no Babestation 🌋
Quote from: Carnage on July 11, 2023, 01:39:02 AMThat scene in Porno, is it the tights/graveyard bit? Might be mixing books up. Either way I was disgusted.
Yep, that's the one! The fuckin depravity
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 11, 2023, 06:15:56 AM:laugh: I love it even though it makes me want to have a shower after reading . I've never read de Sade. Good wanking material, I would wager.
Worked well for the lads in "Quills" at least
I was into all that craic in my 20s, Ellis, Welch etc. I think I just grew out of it.
Actually Shuggie Bain is a tough read that I would recommend.
Nearly finished reading In Cold Blood by Capote. Not gone on it to be honest, it isn't badly written mind, it just kind of drags I find. I'm finishing it out of being a stubborn fuck ha ha
I liked that book a lot but it is a bit draggy.
I'm reading the Barracks by John McGahern.
Just finished Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery
Quote from: Don Gately on July 14, 2023, 08:55:12 AMI liked that book a lot but it is a bit draggy.
I'm reading the Barracks by John McGahern.
Just finished Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery
The Barracks is incredible. I read it years ago and loved it.
Nothing Special any use? I read her book of short stories before, Show Them A Good Time, and found them all too samey and too full of teenage angst to take seriously. Fun fact, she is Ray from WOTH's sister in law. I hope she has improved her style because I couldn't get through it once the formula became so glaringly apparent to me.
I liked the book for the most part. She is a fine writer and her style worked well for the setting. If you are into Warhol and the Factory and all that then I would recommend it. If not then it might not be that interesting. I fairness what I like about her writing is that it is very unIrish.
The main character is dealing with teenage angst now that you mention it!
Who is WOTH?
Wreck of the Hesperus.
I found that the central character in every one of her stories that I read, before finally throwing in the towel, was an embittered, world weary, wise cracking neurotic chick who always alluded vaguely to some kind of past trauma. But it came off as a pose because the character was never developed beyond that point. We never found out what the cause of her anger was so it just seemed to me like generic teenage whinging rather than the result of anything substantial. And the central character as a result was insubstantial while the secondary actors were just props for her to vent her vapid rage. I mean, that was precisely the impression I got from every single story :laugh: Flattery needs to develop her one heroine and make her meaningful and interesting or abandon her and find another person with a more diverse set of characteristics. It became unreadable after three or four stories and I was hoping to like the book because I'm always excited by new and interesting writers and also the fact that she's the sister in law of one of my friends. But sure! I would be wary of buying another book of hers but maybe I'll chance it.
Try Wendy Erskine's last collection of short stories. Probably my book of the year so far.
Never heard of her. I'll keep an eye out.
Sweet Home or Satan is Real? Guess which one is calling to me more...
Dance Move, her last book.
Oh, that one didn't come up on my search.
I picked up a few books in an op-shop the other day so I'm starting into Silence by Shusaku Endo.
Read that before the film came out a few years back, didn't think much of either TBH.
I'm only 50 odd pages in but so far I'm enjoying it.
Currently about 1/3 of the way through Contact by Carl Sagan.
Liking it so far. Seems like I've made very little progress but that's just the pacing.
Had to nab American Prometheus cos Oppenheimer, but I'll not get that finished before the release cos it's a bit of a chonker.
Probably better off going into the cinema without any spoilers, anyway. Dying to know if he was able to get thon bomb made.
Wait, bomb? I though he was building a very accurate clock :o
Started Proust's ' Rememberance Of Things Past' today, so far so good after a 100 pages, reckon I'm going to be alright with it. If it gets too high falutin' I can always get the Welsh out.
Down and out in Paris and London - orwell.
Smashing through it, easy entertaining reading. I prefer homage to Catalonia but still prefer them over his non fiction.
Always makes me laugh seeing right wing people or billionaires quoting 1984 or animal farm when youve read any of his other work.
I started "Wake Up Sir" by Jonathan Ames. So far a very fun read, very witty and amusing. He has been on my list for quite some time now. I'm a big fan of the TV show Bored To Death which he wrote. If you like that then I'm sure you'll enjoy his books.
Quote from: Thorn on July 20, 2023, 07:59:23 PMStarted Proust's ' Rememberance Of Things Past' today, so far so good after a 100 pages, reckon I'm going to be alright with it. If it gets too high falutin' I can always get the Welsh out.
Yup I read Swanns Way a few years ago. I enjoyed the experience for the most part
200 pages in, all very sleepy, dreamy snoozy snooze French pastoral countryside on balmy Summer days with not much happening, wondering how this nascent mother complex develops though
Wasn't that the cough syrup in father Ted
:laugh: The very one!
Quote from: StoutAndAle on July 10, 2023, 03:59:04 PMCurrently reading Paul Murray's "An Evening Of Long Goodbyes" which is pretty good.
Well this one shit the course about halfway through. I persevered and finished but "An Evening Of Long Goodbyes" burned up all the goodwill generated in the first third of its 500 pages. Murray seems to have a good knack for comedy but this book became so bleak (almost a
fuck you to the reader) that I considered giving up with 5 chapters remaining.
I bought Murray's "Skippy Dies" the same day as this one but I'll be giving it a bit of time on the shelf before reaching for it.
Currently reading Stephen King's "On Writing" - which is part memoir and part craft manual for anyone with an interest in the creative process. Very interesting, quite funny - I'm ripping through it.
Oddly - I haven't read many of the man's books save for "Carrie", "Needful Things" and "The Talisman". As far as I can recall.
Any recommendations from the MW book club? With the caveat that I don't like fantasy books or sci-fi.
For me King's best is Misery andthe Shining.
I loved Misery, the film, but never read the book. I've only read IT by King and it was grand. Oh I read a cool short story by him years ago too about a dystopian future where the young men of the city/ country/ world (I can't remember the details) had to all walk for as long as they could and if you fell or stopped three times you would be shot. All the men get killed off until one is left standing, who gets declared the winner, but has descended into insanity by then. It was clever and enjoyable enough.
Dominic Pearse's new one on The Montrose. Shelled out 25 bar on the hardback version, preordered way in advance.
It's the first biography of the great man in a very long time, nice and readable but there's not much in the way of HOT SCOOPS considering he's dead almost 400 years.
In his own way, as astonishing as Alexander the Great. If that kind of scéal is your thing.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on July 31, 2023, 09:58:04 AMAny recommendations from the MW book club? With the caveat that I don't like fantasy books or sci-fi.
The Shining, Misery, Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, The Stand, It, Cujo, The Bachman Books (collection of 4 novellas), Night Shift, Skeleton Crew (the last two are short story collections). Basically you can't go wrong with most of his '70s and '80s stuff.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 31, 2023, 02:17:42 PMI loved Misery, the film, but never read the book. I've only read IT by King and it was grand. Oh I read a cool short story by him years ago too about a dystopian future where the young men of the city/ country/ world (I can't remember the details) had to all walk for as long as they could and if you fell or stopped three times you would be shot. All the men get killed off until one is left standing, who gets declared the winner, but has descended into insanity by then. It was clever and enjoyable enough.
[/quote the long walk part of the Bachman books. The Running Man wa another story as well as a school shooting story in that. Loved the Long walk read it many times.
Starting onto The Moviegoer by Walter Percy this evening. Kids and wife away and I'm looking forward to spinning a record loud, reading for a couple hours and working on a short story, bliss.
Book peeve.
When did used paperbacks become the new vinyl?
Following on from recommendations here - I decided to see if I could grab a few early Stephen King novels for myself. Popped into one of Cork's bigger bookshops that has a fairly large second-hand section.
Spotted "The Dead Zone" - a pretty tattered copy. €12.
"Misery" - again well-read €12.
"It" - €14
Certainly they were all over a tenner, if my memory is not 100% accurate on the exact price.
"The Shining/Carrie" (admittedly it was an omnibus in hardback edition) - it was over €20 and tea-stained!
Wandered over to the new book section when they had King's books in their new 21st century covers - basically the same price as second-hand!!! €12.50 for "Misery".
I know that I could probably get these titles for Kindle at 99p each or whatever but I feel that, to get the essence of them, I need a pulpy paperback (leave me to my foibles). Much like reading Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos, John Le Carre, etc.
Looking online - you can get these books brand new and delivered tomorrow for less than a tenner. This is why Amazon is winning.
Time to trawl charity shops I think.
That's a new one on me. Charity shops are the way to go.
Charity shops are great, yeah. That's where I do a lot of my book buying. Over here they area almost giving the things away.
Another vote here for charity shops. Majority of what they'll have is going to be shite but there's usually a gem or 2 to be found. I got 2 Stephen King books for about 6 euro the other day, a paperback copy of The Dead Zone and a nice hardback copy of Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
The ones over in England are pure goldmines compared to home.
There is a second hand bookshop in Inverness, can't mind if the name now, which is the biggest and best I've ever been in. Not charity shop prices but reasúnta.
I don't know how the likes of Easons are staying open ,the prices they charge. Apart from the prices in charity shops I also like the 'never know what you're going to get' factor. The only way to go indeed.
The only place to buy books here is a local shop (ridiculously expensive, Tesco (shite range) and the GSPCA shop (hit & miss, usually miss). When I'm heading over to Galway I always budget for a splurge in Charlie Byrne's and/or Bell, Book & Candle. I don't think I've ever been into either without coming out with a few unexpected finds.
Online hard to beat Kennys.ie in Galway
Quote from: Don Gately on August 04, 2023, 07:59:20 AMOnline hard to beat Kennys.ie in Galway
Yep. Kenny's is always reasonably priced for new books.
Oddly - I got the new Paul McCartney book "McCartney Legacy Vol. 1 1969-1973" on Eason's website for nearly half what Amazon wanted for it on pre-order.
Quote from: Carnage on August 03, 2023, 08:02:29 PMThe only place to buy books here is a local shop (ridiculously expensive, Tesco (shite range) and the GSPCA shop (hit & miss, usually miss). When I'm heading over to Galway I always budget for a splurge in Charlie Byrne's and/or Bell, Book & Candle. I don't think I've ever been into either without coming out with a few unexpected finds.
There's another second hand place caleed Aisling on Abbeygate St. too which appears to be listed as a Christian bookshop but I saw tons of Marvelgraphic novels and other stuff in there.
I went to both Charlie Byrne's and Bell, Book & Candle when I was in Galway a few weeks back. Came out of both with a few things. Bell, Book & Candle has the bonus of being next door to The Crane and magnificent pints of Guinness.
Quote from: Don Gately on August 04, 2023, 07:59:20 AMThere's another second hand place caleed Aisling on Abbeygate St. too which appears to be listed as a Christian bookshop but I saw tons of Marvelgraphic novels and other stuff in there.
I went to both Charlie Byrne's and Bell, Book & Candle when I was in Galway a few weeks back. Came out of both with a few things. Bell, Book & Candle has the bonus of being next door to The Crane and magnificent pints of Guinness.
Aye, and you never know who you'd bump into there. Dolores Keane was nice and chatty last time I was in, but that was a while ago now. Plus the barman's the spit of Rory McGrath.
I was in that Aisling place once but it was so pokey and busy I had to get out. The little place down the hill from it is gone now, I forget the name of it. Used to have a great selection for the size of it.
Yeah that Aisling shop has some good selection of comics but they are a bit overpriced. I did get a copy of Batman/Houdini which was cool and not badly priced at €20.
Bell,book and candle is definitely the best out of that lot I think.
Finished Stephen King's "On Writing" - a very good read. The way he writes about his accident is both harrowing and entertaining (bread and butter for King, I guess).
Started in on "It" after trawling second-hand shops and charity spots with no luck - I ended up getting it for my Kindle. Probably for the best- the paperback didn't seem too portable!
I'm reading The Stand at the moment, great craic
Started reading the Lord of the Rings omnibus to my kids (12,10,7) recently.
Fairly challenging book to read aloud given Tolkiens penchant for lists of hobbit surnames etc..but so far so good - enjoying it much more than the last time I read it about 20 years ago.
Possibly the last reading with the 12 year old 😢
Also, a great gateway book for Norwegian black metal :abbath: :laugh: (Gorgoroth, Grishnakh, Shagrat etc).
Love that, whatever passes on the love of books and the Death of Tiktok.
Amen to that, fair play to you stearl. I'm so glad my parents emphasised the importance of reading with us, we're all voracious readers in my family as a result, and my 9 year old nephew is the same. Great to see him not plonked in front of the Xbox.
Thanks guys.
They're pretty good readers FWIW (and also fairly hooked on video games if left to their own devices - excuse the pun :D). I promised I'd read it to them after reading the Hobbit a year or two ago.
The masterplan is to finish the book by December and then watch the Peter Jackson films over Christmas.
Good stuff. I am also an advocate for kids reading... I schedule 3 reading nights a week where we all plonk on my bed at around 8pm and read for 30 minutes. Any other reading the kids do (9and 14 years) is fine too but great to have a bit of time put aside.
I bought 2 copies of the Stand so myself and the 14 year old are reading it simultaneously. While also getting an arm workout
Still on American Prometheus, cos it's massive.
Oppenheimer 2 will be out before I'm done with it.
I have a few more added to the list that I have to get my hands on for when that's done.
I also got a couple of photography books with Japan as the subject. Really nice to look through them every now and then.
Currently reading Nineties by Chuck Klosterman. Nice fast read and a nostalgic walk through 90s pop culture. Insightful commentary too, I always enjoy his take on things, even when I don't agree with him.
Trying to get through Blood Meridian. My second attempt at it but I just struggle to get through. At times it's spectacular, but it's also bogged down by page after page of endless landscape descriptions (I get the landscape is supposed to be a main character), and real overuse of esoteric language really specific to central American landscapes/life so you're either constantly running to the dictionary, or just letting it go over your head. Perhaps this is intentional, to make you feel like a fish out of water like The Kid, but it still makes it a frustrating slog at times.
Yep, it's tough going but it's very rewarding.
A rewarding slog, in that sense very much like Moby Dick. Two masterpieces though.
I'm about two thirds through The Exorcist. The film is probably one of my favourites so was looking forward to the novel. Its more or less the same as Blatty did the screenplay and was heavily involved with Friedkin. Easy read too.
Its not as though it is strong with language as it is with atmosphere and the characters are as strong as the film. If anything his strength is the research gone into the sections of medical/mental examinations.
It is interesting how Blatty came from a comedy writing background to this. Theres a great hour long commentary on YouTube of him talking about it from one of the DVD releases. Anyways looking forward to the climactic chapters.
Read it a few years ago and loved it. Coincidentally I think it was as a bit of fluff after Blood Meridian. IFI are showing it on the 29th so gonna def head to that.
Exorcist was mint. Really picked up at the end. Would say its on par with the film. Some seriously great scenes and inner character dialogue stuff. I like the hopeful ending that Blatty wanted in the film but Friedkin wanted it less on the nose. Suppose it works for each.
Anyone here read any of the Garth Marenghi books? I loved Darkplace but never thought about reading the stuff.
I went straight back and watched the movie after reading The Exorcist. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Finished All the Pretty Horses, it's a great read and like the Road, very accessible.
Started Ring - Koji Suzuki the other night.
Saw the (Japanese) film about 20 years ago and loved it. So far, this is fairly decent.
'Tis interesting to see the changes that were made for the film version.
I picked up The Wren, The Wren, the new Anne Enright novel, yesterday and I'm getting stuck in. I found her last one, Actress, a bit dull by comparison with the other novels of hers I had read, but this new one is really good so far.
Quote from: CorkonianHunger on September 14, 2023, 12:42:30 AMAnyone here read any of the Garth Marenghi books? I loved Darkplace but never thought about reading the stuff.
Is the Garth Marenghi book not a faux-autobiography like the Alan Partridge ones? I haven't read it. I really liked the "Darkplace" TV series and Holness' other stuff like "Man To Man with Dean Lerner" but I don't think I could hack reading actual Marengi novels.
On a similar note - still reading Stephen King's "It". It's good so far but it's taking me an age.
Finally finished William Burroughs' "The Soft Machine" having read it in bits and pieces over the last few months. I don't even know how I feel about it or what happened. Some of it reads lovely and the general madness of it, the oppressive unknown systems and time travel, all great. But I haven't a fucking clue what actually happens in it, it is totally wild, the cut up method is impossible but also sort of lovely to engage with. Can't fuckin wait to read a normal book after it mind.
Horsing into Blood Meridian again. Read this 15 years ago and really struggled at the time.
I'm about 100 pages in and it reads easier than I remember. Of course I've read a bit of McCarthy ams the likes of Movy Dick since so maybe I'm a better reader than before!
Quote from: Don Gately on September 29, 2023, 08:55:28 AMHorsing into Blood Meridian again. Read this 15 years ago and really struggled at the time.
I'm about 100 pages in and it reads easier than I remember. Of course I've read a bit of McCarthy ams the likes of Movy Dick since so maybe I'm a better reader than before!
Recently started trying to reread it and had almost the exact same experience for about the same length of time. Might be different for you, but I found he eases you into the book at the start and then it gets really difficult. Once they're a few chapters in of properly touring from place to place in Mexico was when it started to become obtuse for me.
Quote from: Mooncat on October 01, 2023, 04:15:57 PMQuote from: Don Gately on September 29, 2023, 08:55:28 AMHorsing into Blood Meridian again. Read this 15 years ago and really struggled at the time.
I'm about 100 pages in and it reads easier than I remember. Of course I've read a bit of McCarthy ams the likes of Movy Dick since so maybe I'm a better reader than before!
Recently started trying to reread it and had almost the exact same experience for about the same length of time. Might be different for you, but I found he eases you into the book at the start and then it gets really difficult. Once they're a few chapters in of properly touring from place to place in Mexico was when it started to become obtuse for me.
Yes I thought that might be the case but I'm 150 pages in after the weekend and still enjoying it alot and getting through it easily enough.
Quote from: ochoill on September 28, 2023, 12:15:48 AMFinally finished William Burroughs' "The Soft Machine" having read it in bits and pieces over the last few months. I don't even know how I feel about it or what happened. Some of it reads lovely and the general madness of it, the oppressive unknown systems and time travel, all great. But I haven't a fucking clue what actually happens in it, it is totally wild, the cut up method is impossible but also sort of lovely to engage with. Can't fuckin wait to read a normal book after it mind.
I've only read Naked Lunch and Cities of the Red Night. Can definitely recommend the latter. Once I ever get around to having time to read fiction again, high up on my list is the other two parts of the Red Night Trilogy.
Quote from: ochoill on September 28, 2023, 12:15:48 AMFinally finished William Burroughs' "The Soft Machine" having read it in bits and pieces over the last few months. I don't even know how I feel about it or what happened. Some of it reads lovely and the general madness of it, the oppressive unknown systems and time travel, all great. But I haven't a fucking clue what actually happens in it, it is totally wild, the cut up method is impossible but also sort of lovely to engage with. Can't fuckin wait to read a normal book after it mind.
I only started Junky and am enjoying it. I've read Naked Lunch and thought it was mental ha ha. I will read more of his stuff for sure
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on October 02, 2023, 10:18:32 AMI've only read Naked Lunch and Cities of the Red Night. Can definitely recommend the latter. Once I ever get around to having time to read fiction again, high up on my list is the other two parts of the Red Night Trilogy.
Soft Machine is also part of a trilogy so I will eventually get to the next two in it too. I definitely enjoyed SM as completely arseways as it is but you would definitely need to be in the form for it.
Quote from: Necro Red on October 02, 2023, 10:35:08 AMI only started Junky and am enjoying it. I've read Naked Lunch and thought it was mental ha ha. I will read more of his stuff for sure
Junky is meant to be sort of autobiographical right? I heard of it in name only. Naked Lunch, someday I will read it, I was actually looking for it when I found SM for a fiver instead in the bookshop. Definitely will go back too but yeah jesus I needed something different after it lol
I finished The Wren, The Wren, the new Anne Enright, and really enjoyed it. Her last one, Actress, didn't do anything for me so I was glad that this one was more engaging.
Started into Victory City by Salman Rushdie and it's off to a flying start unlike his last one, Quichotte, which was pure grand. I listened to an interview with him the other day and, Allahu Akbar, he seems to be well on the mend. He lost an eye which is fucking insane to think about, but seems to be otherwise strong and healthy and he is back writing. Legend.
Added a few more charity shop finds to the ever growing pile of books that I need to get around to reading. One of them being a copy of Moby Dick for €2. There's a bookmark still in it a quarter of the way through, guess that's the target to beat :laugh:
:laugh:
Fuck Moby Dick. One of the few books I ever gave up on. Often think about it, there's still a copy on the shelf here someone gave to me as a gift. Someday maybe I'll tackle it again and get through it. If only there was some sort of literary thematic comparison for this
All I can say is, it's worth it. Or is that just something people who've read it all say..? Only one way to find out! :laugh:
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on October 04, 2023, 03:20:44 PMAll I can say is, it's worth it. Or is that just something people who've read it all say..? Only one way to find out! :laugh:
Could be a while before I find out given how fuckin slow my reading has gotten all while the stack of books keeps growing!
I did love In The Heart of the Sea and that disaster did influence the writing of Moby Dick but that was a real easy read, Moby Dick for beginners perhaps :laugh:
Finished Ring a week or so ago and enjoyed it.
A lot less creepy than the film, and just very different in general, but still a great read.
Currently on Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. Very entertaining, to say the least.
Once that's finished, I have a fair few to choose from.
Moby Dick is on the kindle but I reckon I'll put that off a bit longer :P
Coincidentally, it's the only book I've ever read in full on a Kindle, on holidays years ago.
Still reading "It" by Stephen King. It's fine and all but it appears to be going on forever with no end in sight.
I'd recommend reading Moby Dick a chapter a day and you'll get through it. Chapters are relatively short and you'd be done by Christmas. You could be reading something else at the same time
Softly, softly, catchy whaley.
Quote from: Don Gately on October 06, 2023, 08:56:46 AMI'd recommend reading Moby Dick a chapter a day and you'll get through it. Chapters are relatively short and you'd be done by Christmas. You could be reading something else at the same time
Not a bad idea. I usually read stuff side by side anyway but it's books and manga, most of Soft Machine was punctuated with volumes of Attack on Titan when it got particularly head melting.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on October 05, 2023, 12:58:34 PMStill reading "It" by Stephen King. It's fine and all but it appears to be going on forever with no end in sight.
Finally finished. There were a few points where I nearly gave up. There's vast swathes of this book where nothing happens and all the prose, no matter how well written, seems pointless/endless.
Some of the latter plot points are utter shit - King must have had a smoke before sitting at his typewriter. And the there's one scene which is completely unnecessary and grim.
"It" could have been 500 pages shorter, still told the same tale and been more enjoyable.
I have "Carrie", "The Shining", "The Dead Zone" and "Misery" but I think I'll take a break and head to non-fiction for a bit.
Yeah it's way too long.
Indeed. For what it's worth, Carrie, The Shining and The Dead Zone are all better reads, Misery isn't bad either.
I read "Carrie" when I was a teenager - after seeing De Palma's film adaptation which is very good. It's part of a three-book collection with "Misery" and "The Shining" so I'll read it again.
As a matter of interest - but slightly off-topic - there's an absolute raft of classic '70s/'80s horror movies (US slasher/Italian giallo) after appearing on Amazon Prime in the last week.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on October 16, 2023, 01:17:14 PMAs a matter of interest - but slightly off-topic - there's an absolute raft of classic '70s/'80s horror movies (US slasher/Italian giallo) after appearing on Amazon Prime in the last week.
A mate drew my attention to one called Call Girl of Cthulu, gonna give it a go next weekend :laugh: :abbath:
Reading Knut Hamsun's Hunger atm
Started "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King but I think that I need a break from Maine for a minute so I put it down last night and began Bob Mortimer's "The Satsuma Complex". Enjoyable, slightly surreal fun so far.
EDIT: I was not being a smartass about Maine. I only read about the current goings on there just now.
Red sky at morning by Paul Lynch now. Finished this in 3 days. Fantastic read. Language is a bit overwrought but if you like Cormac McCarthy this is recommended.
I just finished The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas. Wonderful stuff as always with him.
East, West by Salman Rushdie next 8)
Got Sebastian Barry's new one "Old God's Time" as a present so just getting onro that. Nice to get a book you mightnt have picked yourself and enjoying it.
Interspersed with Wendy Erskine's debut story collection Sweet Home and a bit of Checkhov.
I just read Night Shift by Stephen King. It's a collection of short stories he wrote throughout the 70s. Lots of them went on to become full length books or films (the proto versions of The Stand and Maximum Overdrive are in there, for example). An enjoyable fast read, the stories are all only around 15-30 pages each and the majority of them are enjoyable. Good shout if you want to get your King fill but aren't in the mood for an 800 page tome. I remember feeling the same way about It, such large swathes of it are just completely dull character exposition. The Stand on the other hand was class most of the way through for a huge book (though still not without its longwinded moments).
Also reading a cool oral history called Don't Look Back in Anger about the era of Cool Britannia (ugh, that term...). It's an awesome look back at capturing the pop culture, politics, and general zeitgeist of the 90s with Britpop, art, Blair/Major, Euro 96, film, fashion etc. The oral history style of it really makes you feel like you're back there, having a really interesting discussion about it with mates. Fun nostalgia ride.
If you enjoyed that, give Luke Haines' Bad Vibes a go - it's part an Auteurs memoir, part a deconstruction of the whole Britpop scene. Equally funny and vitriolic.
Quote from: Don Gately on November 16, 2023, 12:44:25 PMGot Sebastian Barry's new one "Old God's Time" as a present so just getting onro that. Nice to get a book you mightnt have picked yourself and enjoying it.
Interspersed with Wendy Erskine's debut story collection Sweet Home and a bit of Checkhov.
I will keep an eye out. I've enjoyed anything of his that I've read.
Currently rereading The Exorcist. I haven't read it since I was about 13, I'm 43 now so wanted to see if it still holds up. It's very well-written, I was engrossed after the first few pages, and while I thought it might be tame by today's standards I was a bit shocked by the graphic descriptions of black masses.
Also reading Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. His style can be jarring, the lack of quotation marks makes it hard to follow, but so far it's a very good, albeit depressing read.
I haven't read Requiem but the film was well done.
It was. But it was GRIM!
Yep, ..might dig it out for Xmas Eve actually
Read last exit to Brooklyn guys, fantastic book.
Picked up a copy of The Hobbit in a charity shop. I've read LotR numerous times down the years but have never actually read The Hobbit. I know that it's a much lighter affair but I'm sure that delving back into that world will probably bring on an urge to read LotR again!
Have read LOTR a couple of times myself but only read the hobbit once. Maybe if I'd tried that one first it'd be better but as it stands it feels like reading the better one first sort of ruined it
I read it as a kid. I can't remember much now but that I enjoyed it. I might read it to my son when he's a bit bigger.
Quote from: Don Gately on November 18, 2023, 10:07:03 AMRead last exit to Brooklyn guys, fantastic book.
Grim as all fuck buy ya, great book. Must keep an eye out for Requiem. Truly disturbed the first time I saw that.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 18, 2023, 08:29:31 PMI read it as a kid. I can't remember much now but that I enjoyed it. I might read it to my son when he's a bit bigger.
I simplified the language a little bit where necessary (say, "red" rather than "crimson" or whatever), and hopped over a couple of short asides, but our wee fella followed it along grand. It's really nicely written, and I'd already revisited it in my 20s.
On the other hand, his granny gave him a copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe so we went through that too, couple of months ago, and I was shocked at how badly written it is, pretty much in every sense.
Might be an idea to try read something to my young lads again now that I've pretty much banned them from YouTube and the associated mind rot that comes with letting them have at that. Dunno if the hobbit would be the right start but maybe I'd enjoy it more myself that way too.
Mad the way some people would never read a book of any description. Actually I wonder if there's any correlation between never reading books at all and at the same time devoting one's life to one? Maybe not tbh.
Started into a thing about a lad that fell foul of the Russians a few years ago the other day but then I was heading to the jacks and the closest book was A Game of Thrones so now I've flitted on to a reread of that instead. Great writing in those first 3 or 4 books
Blazing through East, West by Salman Rushdie and it's so good. A short book of short stories so quite an easy read but jam packed with great ideas. The Auction of the Ruby Slippers stands out in particular so far for its prescience.
Just finished Anthony Kiedis' autobiography. Refreshingly open and honest, even about the grittiest and darkest parts of his life. Also one of those narrators who realizes what a cock they were and is trying to be humble and contrite about it, while completely self-unaware that they're still quite obviously a cock :laugh: Excellent read though, couldn't put it down, some life he's had.
Finished The Exorcist, still reading Requiem but needed a break from the bleakness so started Guerrilla Days in Ireland by Tom Barry which is a different form of bleak. Some of the accounts of the behaviour of the Tans and Auxiliaries would make your blood boil.
I see former Unearthly man Paul Lynch won the Booker. Fair play.
We're they an old Irish doom band?
Sorta Cynic/Death inspired stuff
Ah cool. I'll keep an eye out for his novel.
Looks like Dymocks, a major book chain over here, has a few of his novels in stock. I think I'll give him a shot.
I've read a few most recently Red Sky at morning. Which once you get through the Cormac Mccarthy inspired style is a great read. Black Snow is similar in style but Beyond the Sea eschews this style and is more contemporary.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on November 27, 2023, 08:43:12 AMI see former Unearthly man Paul Lynch won the Booker. Fair play.
Ha, didn't know that, pretty cool :abbath:
Any links to Unearthly?
Reading Manufacturing Consent at the minute.
Tbf it's only confirming my previous thoughts about the nature of media in the old days but it's nice to have it presented as it is. Learning nothing new in principle but still shocked at the figures and case studies involved.
Thank god we've moved on from all that these days, with the Trusted Media Initiative and fact checking to the extent that we could only trust the framing of things to be presented exactly as things are without bias of any description.
Finished The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy a couple of weeks ago. Probably my least favourite of anything I've read by him so far. Not that it was bad, it just wasn't as captivating as earlier works. There were some really superb passages throughout, however. As expected.
Currently on The Count of Monte Cristo and I can't put it down. Have been at it for what seems like ages and I'm only about 20% of the way through it. (Unless there's a load of padding/discussions at the end, included in whatever version I nabbed).
Very well paced, compelling and simply a joy to read so far.
I read The Count of Monty Cristo a few years ago. Great old yarn.
I'm blazing through the new Ken Follett brick, The Armour of Light, and as ever with him it's great.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 29, 2023, 09:56:35 AMAny links to Unearthly?
No weve had this discussion on here / MI once every few years
Let's keep the tradition alive so.
I picked up Paul Lynch's Beyond the Sea in the library today and I'm flying through it. Not bad at all.
Any Pynchon fans here? Looking at reading some over the hols
Quote from: Don Gately on December 07, 2023, 08:52:11 AMAny Pynchon fans here? Looking at reading some over the hols
I picked up Gravity's Rainbow a year or two ago based purely on the cool title. I haven't got to it yet but maybe I'll line it up next. Or next-ish...
Quote from: Don Gately on December 07, 2023, 08:52:11 AMAny Pynchon fans here? Looking at reading some over the hols
I'd recommend starting with The Crying of Lot 49 to see if you like his style. It's a novella so it's not as daunting as some of his longer books. If you like that then give V and Gravity's Rainbow a go, they're both great books.
Richard O'Rawe - Stakeknife
OK thanks lads
Currently reading Hamlet. My Shakespeare is limited to Merchant of Venice and Macbeth which we did in school. Enjoying this. Check out the Hardcore Literature site/podcast with Benjamin McEvoy. Superb.
I have finally been struck down by Covid so I threw an order in for a couple of books which will hopefully arrive while I'm off work.
Goth by Lol Tolhurst and Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.
I am burning through The Dare by John Boyne this morning and enjoying it immensely. He has a real knack for paring his writing down to the bare essentials, and a gift for spinning a captivating yarn.
That Tolhurst one is on my list, as is his Cure book.
Always wondered about Boyne's stuff, didn't know where to start but sure I might just dive into that one.
It's great stuff. I just finished up The Dare. Only took a couple of hours to get through. It's aimed at a young audience but his story telling is so good it will appeal across the board.
And now, The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Just nabbed it there, sure we'll see how it goes.
Stuck it on my Amazon list too
The Crucible was a great little read. Maddening stuff :laugh:
Read the following on my Covid week;
Joe Posnanski - "Why We Love Baseball" - brilliant (but only if you love baseball)
Bob Mortimer's "The Satsuma Complex" - good fun.
Stanley Tucci's autobiography "Taste" - grand.
Ted Kessler's "Paper Cuts: How I Destroyed the British Music Press and Other Misadventures" - excellent
My wife is burning through that Stanley Tucci book and loving it.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 20, 2023, 09:21:17 AMMy wife is burning through that Stanley Tucci book and loving it.
It's a light read, done in a few hours - one or two interesting recipes in it as well.
The Tooch does ignore some of the more Janus-headed parts of his life though. As most autobiographies do.
How so? I know nothing about his life.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 20, 2023, 09:58:38 AMHow so? I know nothing about his life.
He talks a lot about his family, being a good family man, his love for his first wife who passed away, his current wife and stuff like that. He never mentions the fact that he left his first wife for a year or two, not long after she gave birth to his kids, to shack up with Edie Falco.
Nor does he mention that his first wife was previously married to Alexander Scott - brother of Cameron Scott, both sons of George C.Scott. Her husband left her high and dry, broke and had to put her life back together with 2 kids who Tucci adopted.
Tucci co-directed "Big Night" with Cameron Scott - a year or two after Tucci had married his first wife who had been abandoned by Scott's brother. If Hollywood lore is to be believe - the bould Alexander would haunt the production like a spectre causing trouble.
Interesting.
Edith Wharton- The Ghost Stories. Zero expectations. Let's go 8)
Somehow ended up with no books this Christmas. I bought my wife that new Blindboy one and she read a few bits out to me last night that were pretty funny so I will probably give that a go soon. The impossible backlog is hidden behind the christmas tree at the minute so I can pretend I am caught up until the tree finds it's way out to the bin.
Prophet Song (and Goth) showed up today. A week's holidays have begun today for me so I'm getting stuck in. I plan on spending an inordinate amount of the next week with my nose buried in books. Let's hope my plan comes to fruition. 8)
Got a couple of books off the brothers for Christmas. One about the making of The Downward Spiral and the other was William Burroughs The Soft Machine which is making my skin crawl before I even start reading it. Happy days!
Quote from: astfgyl on December 27, 2023, 12:39:07 PMwas William Burroughs The Soft Machine which is making my skin crawl before I even start reading it.
Why so?
Quote from: Thorn on December 27, 2023, 05:30:04 PMQuote from: astfgyl on December 27, 2023, 12:39:07 PMwas William Burroughs The Soft Machine which is making my skin crawl before I even start reading it.
Why so?
I just know it's going to be graphic descriptions of a load of sick shit going on and odd perversions. I've seen a couple of excerpts from it before. And then it's going to be cut up so it'll be like mulholland drive at the same time.
Last book the same fella got me was the works of kafka, so he has previous but also knows me very well
Oh right, hehe, I haven't read Burroughs ,sounds....interesting.
Picked up beautiful leatherbound copies of brothers karazamov, dead souls, and utopia for a pound a piece in the local Oxfam earlier. Great haul
Indeed, well done.
Quote from: nukeabuse on December 28, 2023, 12:35:05 AMPicked up beautiful leatherbound copies of brothers karazamov, dead souls, and utopia for a pound a piece in the local Oxfam earlier. Great haul
That's some score, mine are all 2nd or 3rd hand cheap paperbacks
Got Morrissey's autobiography for Christmas. Really enjoying it so far. I'd read Johnny Marr's last week, which was much more of a straightforward take on The Smith's history and beyond, so it's laid the foundations nicely for Morrissey's flowery prose.
Found Marr's to be fairly poorly written, and he could seriously have done with a ghostwriter to draw out more insight and depth, but the book is interesting just because The Smith's (and him) and are so talented so it's great to hear anything about their history.
Morrissey's takes a few pages to adjust to the style, but once you do it's a pleasure to read. So many great lines, and I love that he took on writing his autobiography in the style of classic literature (plus the little joke/egotrip of having it as a Penguin Classic on release...). I've heard it gets a bit insuffrable and whily in the second half, but so far it's great!
Just finished Prophet Song. I don't know if I liked it or not. It was ok, I suppose, but a bit one dimensional somehow. I know the story is grim so it's supposed to be heavy but it lacked dynamic. Some of it was very good and the overall concept was creepy, but I found Lynch's poetic style a bit overbearing this time, where I think it worked in Beyond the Sea. To be honest, I had hoped for a lot more from it.
Perhaps because it was all told from one perspective it lost potential depth. There were five or six interesting characters who he could have inhabited to bring it all a bit more to life. Having one protagonist was effective in building a sense of how the system is used to frustrate citizens, but you could achieve that still by giving the perspective of the husband, the two elder sons, the daughter and the father with dementia. Might have been interesting to get their different perspectives and how the family slowly gets torn apart by the "machine".
Got it for Xmas so looking forward to reading it next.
Finished the Scott Burns book there which is brilliant. A must read for death metal fans. I got Shane Embury's autobiography there which I'm really enjoying. Really cool to get the lowdown on the early Napalm Death days. He seems like a sound dude.
I'd love to read both of those but their respective price tags rule that out. In terms of music-related reads, Ian Glasper's Subhumans book is next on ny list.
Quote from: Carnage on January 02, 2024, 10:31:39 AMI'd love to read both of those but their respective price tags rule that out. In terms of music-related reads, Ian Glasper's Subhumans book is next on ny list.
I got one as a present so not so bad. I'm eying up that Hetfield book of his guitars at the moment. Not cheap either mind.....
Anyone read Michael manns heat 2 book and is it any good?
Quote from: Blizzard Beast on January 08, 2024, 07:52:00 PMAnyone read Michael manns heat 2 book and is it any good?
I have not read "Heat 2" (which I think is a shit name for the book) but I've heard Mann talk about it on a few podcasts. He's now going to make it into a film apparently.
I think, given that Mann is a master director, that I would wait for the movie.
That said - it's £2.99 on Amazon currently - Kindle edition.
I see Colin Barrett's first novel is out "Wild Houses", looking forward to it, love his short stories.
Reading Prophet Song, very good
I enjoyed Young Skins, haven't read the second collection yet. He didn't waste any time getting a novel written.
Hoping to pick up Mike McCormack's This Plague Of Souls during the week, I've loved everything else he's put out.
Currently reading Joe Hill: 20th Century Ghosts, a short story collection (including The Black Phone). Only a couple of stories in, it's alright so far.
Finally finished Blood Meridian. After dipping in and out here and there for months I just committed to it and read the second half in a couple of evenings. Loved it in the end, though it was a hard go. Kind of similar to Heart of Darkness or Moby Dick where it feels like a real achievement to have finished it. Loved the kid, Judge, and Glanton characters. Plus the ambiguous ending (and also ambiguous epilogue) were really cool and required some thought afterwards. Been a while since I just lay in bed thinking about a book for like a hour after I finished it. Really good stuff. I think the whole dance scene is McCarthy telling us that we need to participate in the dance, otherwise evil wins unopposed. Interesting thought for current times (or any time really...).
.
Just realized I posted this in the wrong topic...
Anyways:
Did anyone ever reading the Fighting Fantasy series? The ones where you choose your own adventure by picking the paragraph numbers based on which choices you make? I just started re-reading them again as an adult (they were originally out in the 80s/early 90s) and I've gotta say they are a lot of fun. They're also fairly adult for books that were aimed at tweens/teens. There was one scene in House of Hell that had devil worshippers sacrificing a virgin and smearing the blood on themselves. The 80s, eh?
Quote from: Mooncat on January 18, 2024, 07:01:35 PMDid anyone ever reading the Fighting Fantasy series? T
I used to love those FF books back in the 80s/90s. They were pure enjoyment. I was baffled as to how they arranged the pages and paragraphs - I was a thick young fella.
I have one or two of them at home which have survived house moves.
It was one of those childhood pipe-dreams to read all the series but I never got next or near it, the school library had 3 of them and Waterstones only seemed to stock the same 10 or so titles. (I had the same thing with "The Hardy Boys" and "Asterix" - of which I still pick up the latter if I spot one in a second hand shop, great craic.)
Ripped through "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King. Absolutely brilliant. I don't read a lot of fiction, definitely not sci-fi and the like but this was class.
Then I watched David Cronenberg's movie adaptation starring Christopher Walken. Very enjoyable and a bit of 80s craic.
Picked up a copy of "Salem's Lot" for a long haul flight next month.
Was in a bookshop in Amsterdam. They had wrapped books with clues on the wrapping. Picked up the one that said nautical adventure. Turned out to be Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. Enjoying it so far, even if a bit rambling.
Starting Ubik by Philip K Dick with a few mates at the end of the week.
Quote from: Mooncat on January 18, 2024, 07:01:35 PMJust realized I posted this in the wrong topic...
Anyways:
Did anyone ever reading the Fighting Fantasy series? The ones where you choose your own adventure by picking the paragraph numbers based on which choices you make? I just started re-reading them again as an adult (they were originally out in the 80s/early 90s) and I've gotta say they are a lot of fun. They're also fairly adult for books that were aimed at tweens/teens. There was one scene in House of Hell that had devil worshippers sacrificing a virgin and smearing the blood on themselves. The 80s, eh?
I bought a load of these a few years back and I see the price of them has ahot up. They're great, I would recommend the 'Sorcery!' books as well (written by Steve Jackson), if you haven't read them.
Picked up the Irvine Welsh omnibus for €1.50 in a charity shop. Started "Trainspotting" last night and burned my way through over 100 pages.
Never read any of Welsh's stuff before.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on January 25, 2024, 09:41:17 AMPicked up the Irvine Welsh omnibus for €1.50 in a charity shop. Started "Trainspotting" last night and burned my way through over 100 pages.
Never read any of Welsh's stuff before.
You are in for a treat. One of the best, in my opinion. Trainspotting is so fucked up. The film seems like a Disney cartoon by comparison. The cold blooded evil of Begby chills me every time I read him but also the humor in the books is deeper, darker, more substantial and laced with existential horror. Disturbing stuff on many levels but incredibly addictive.
I finished re-reading Lessons by Ian McEwan. Not his finest work perhaps but still a good read. I hope there is yet more to come from him.
I've started into Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee which I picked up for half nothing in an op-shop over the new year. I read Youth and Disgrace by him 20 or more years ago. I remember liking them to a degree but cannot remember a single thing now. Luckily I also nabbed a cheap second hand copy of Youth so I'll revisit that later. Slow Man is really good so far (40 pages in). The writing style is right up my street full of subtle humor that may have been a bit too subtle for my younger self.
Joined the library last week with the kids. A great move. Now they are hopping off the books and so am I.
Thank god they forgot about all the ones I never brought back
Quote from: astfgyl on January 26, 2024, 01:02:52 AMJoined the library last week with the kids. A great move. Now they are hopping off the books and so am I.
Thank god they forgot about all the ones I never brought back
It's grand and handy, we all have library cards here too. I don't use mine much (they haven't had what I have been looking for when I went in) but you can order in books from other Libraries if they have them. The other two get books every fortnight roughly, grand for the kids books too since most are only a fleeting interest.
I must look it up again but using your library card you can get digital magazines, ebooks and audiobooks for free too.
Working my way through Leningrad-State of Siege by Michael Jones. He does a great job of getting deep into the details without it feeling like you're reading a textbook
Also makes you wonder how the USSR became such a power with the vast amount of incompetence and political backstabbing going on
Picked up The Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising along with Stephen Kings Four Past Midnight in the charity shop today. Looking forward to getting stuck into them somewhere down the line. Have quite the tower of yet to be read books to pick from once I've finished up Salems Lot!
Get Red Dragon too, great read. Don't be in any rush to read Hannibal Rising, it's not great.
Picked up second hand copies of :
Cujo (Stephen King): Apparently King was so monged when he wrote it that he can't remember writing it.
1984 (George Orwell): My copy dates from 1984 no less. Classic.
I read both of those around the same time, fifth year in school (1993). Enjoyed both, but the manifesto section in 1984 is torturous.
I gave up on 1984. It's an interesting idea but it's not fun to read
Currently reading Liam Lynch: To Declare a Republic by Gerard Shannon which makes a nice change of pace from Charles Townshend's The Republic which is far too detailed.
Also reading Lost River by J. Todd Scott, a fictional novel about the opioid crisis in Appalachia. It's very gritty, the writing reminds me of Don Winslow - the author is a DEA agent so the stories feel authentic.
Quote from: Carnage on January 27, 2024, 02:50:33 AMI read both of those around the same time, fifth year in school (1993). Enjoyed both, but the manifesto section in 1984 is torturous.
Ya. Had to labour through the manifesto at a rate of a few pages a day for however long it took.
It helps in terms of understanding the book as a whole, but I'd probably skip it on a reread.
Quote from: leatherface on January 26, 2024, 10:28:49 PMPicked up second hand copies of :
Cujo (Stephen King): Apparently King was so monged when he wrote it that he can't remember writing it.
1984 (George Orwell): My copy dates from 1984 no less. Classic.
I just re-read Animal Farm at the weekend. So good. Always slightly preferred it to 1984. Depressing as fuck though. I was about to say it's even more relevant today than when it was written, but I think, sadly, it's super relevant in absolutely any era. The part with Boxer always gets me, although it's a mix of sad and infuriating throughout. Also put me in the mood to watch The Death of Stalin.
Just read JG Ballard's 'High Rise ' again which reminded me to order more of his stuff, I've only the three on the shelves
Quote from: Mooncat on January 31, 2024, 04:32:57 PMI just re-read Animal Farm at the weekend. So good. Always slightly preferred it to 1984. Depressing as fuck though. I was about to say it's even more relevant today than when it was written, but I think, sadly, it's super relevant in absolutely any era. The part with Boxer always gets me, although it's a mix of sad and infuriating throughout. Also put me in the mood to watch The Death of Stalin.
Animal Farm is a great little read. Flew through it in an afternon. The Death of Stalin is a masterpiece :laugh:
Just finished Philip K Dick's Ubik with two other friends (we read in sync). Its very good, keeps.you guessing till the last page and melts the brain at points.
Started reading Wild Houses by Colin Barrett, one you would fly through.
Been re-reading some Bukowski; Factotum and Women. Both great. Also started into his poetry for the first time and really enjoying it too. He has a way of sucking you into his world, even though his existence is pure drudgery.
About halfway through Great Gatsby for the first time. He's a good writer, though I'm not super engaged by the story yet. Obviously have to wait until the end to judge, but so far it's not quite punching up to it's greatest novel ever (one of them) status for me.
This thread seems to exist as a 'now reading' space, but I'd also like to hear what everyone's favourite books ever are.
For me I'd say:
Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerny
Women - Bukowski
Please Kill Me - The Oral History of Punk Rock
Scar Tissue - Anthony Keidis (he's a tit, but I'm totally absorbed by his story)
Our Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azerrad (discovered so many amazing bands from this book, and turned me onto underground and independent music in general)
Animal Farm - Orwell
The Devil Rides Out - Dennis Wheatley
For me it's got to be my battered old copy of the 3 Lord of the Rings books in one. I spent many a night engrossed in those pages until the wee hours as a young lad. Tolkien was phenomenal at crafting an insanely rich and vivid world.
Runner up for me would be Endurance by Alfred Lansing. The story of Shackletons expedition to Antarctica. Incredible story of resilience and survival.
I read Endurance last year, fantastic
My own personal favourite books are, Great Expectations, A confederacy of dunces by John Kennedy Toole, Butcher's Crossing by John Williams, Small things like these by Clare Keegan. 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Blood Meridian by Cormac mc Carthy, Infinite Jest by David Wallace.
Just finishing up Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler, his dramatized account of the Stalinian show trials. Powerful stuff. For the metal reference, Koestler and a friend later came up with the idea of a book collecting personal accounts of famous intellectuals (incl Koestler himself) who had liberated themselves from either membership of or influence from the international Communist party. That book was called The God That Failed :abbath:
Quote from: Mooncat on March 25, 2024, 11:27:12 PMThis thread seems to exist as a 'now reading' space, but I'd also like to hear what everyone's favourite books ever are.
I'm a big Bukowski fan myself. As you say, he has a gift for turning what was probably a bleak first-hand experience into something far more entertaining and infinitely readable.
I get a brain lock when I think about my favourite books but off the top of my head I would say;
"The Commitments" and "The Van" by Roddy Doyle.
Nearly everything by Bukowski.
"American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis
Nearly everything by Sue Townsend
"How I Escaped My Certain Fate" by Stewart Lee
The Clive James autobiography series (certainly the first three)
"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" by Peter Biskind
"England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage
"Everything" by Simon Price
Quote from: Mooncat on March 25, 2024, 11:27:12 PMOur Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azerrad
Really great book. I just started "Sellout" by Dan Ozzi yesterday but I think that you may enjoy it (if you like Azerrad's book that much) and also Andy Greenwald's "Nothing Feels Good".
Some great books mentioned above. I love The Devil Rides Out, and A Confederacy of Dunces is the funniest novel I've ever read.
My own personal favourites:
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh
Wise Blood - Flannery O'Connor
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War - Karl Marlantes
Ham on Rye - Charles Bukowski
A Night in the Lonesome October - Roger Zelazny
Stone Junction - Jim Dodge
My favourite would be Mary Doria Russell: The Sparrow. Tragedy wrapped in sci fi, the reveal at the end is devastating.
I can maybe do favourite novels of all time:
Lord of the Rings has to be in there for me too.
Dune (Herbert)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (PK Dick)
Slaughterhouse 5 (Vonnegut)
Good Omens (Gaiman/Pratchett)
The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky)
Giovanni's Room (Baldwin)
Nausea (Sartre)
The Fall (Camus)
Lolita (Nabokov)
They're all ones I've either read at least twice each or, in the case of the Dostoevsky and Nabokov, want to read again as soon as I find the time.
Some mentioned above that I want to read but haven't yet are A Confederacy of Dunces and The Road.
The Sparrow doesn't ring a bell, must add it to the list.
It's one I read every ten years or so, I'm overdue a re-read, come to think of it. There's a sequel (Children Of God) that's not quite as good, but manages to compound the guilt factor.
A lot of my other favourites have been mentioned, I'd add The Dice Man by Luke Rinehart & The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy among others.
East of Eden worth a read also. I read Matterhorn way back , good book.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on March 26, 2024, 09:13:54 AMQuote from: Mooncat on March 25, 2024, 11:27:12 PMThis thread seems to exist as a 'now reading' space, but I'd also like to hear what everyone's favourite books ever are.
I'm a big Bukowski fan myself. As you say, he has a gift for turning what was probably a bleak first-hand experience into something far more entertaining and infinitely readable.
I get a brain lock when I think about my favourite books but off the top of my head I would say;
"The Commitments" and "The Van" by Roddy Doyle.
Nearly everything by Bukowski.
"American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis
Nearly everything by Sue Townsend
"How I Escaped My Certain Fate" by Stewart Lee
The Clive James autobiography series (certainly the first three)
"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" by Peter Biskind
"England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage
"Everything" by Simon Price
Quote from: Mooncat on March 25, 2024, 11:27:12 PMOur Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azerrad
Really great book. I just started "Sellout" by Dan Ozzi yesterday but I think that you may enjoy it (if you like Azerrad's book that much) and also Andy Greenwald's "Nothing Feels Good".
Forgot about American Psycho! For some reason I'm really drawn to 80s New York yuppie fiction. American Psycho, Bright Lights Big City, and Bonfire of the Vanities are the holy triumvirate of that genre.
Thanks for the other recommendations!
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on March 26, 2024, 09:38:27 AMI can maybe do favourite novels of all time:
Lord of the Rings has to be in there for me too.
Lolita (Nabokov)
I've only ever read the Two Towers (in impatient expectation of the second film coming out). Really must set aside the time and get lost in that trilogy properly for the first time.
Lolita I found hard to get through. It starts off like one of the best books I've ever read, the writing is so incredible. About halfway through I found it got really wearing though, like Nabakov is so in love with his own prose and himself that it became a bit insufferable (oddly enough I had a similar experience with My Booky Wook by Russell Brand, though the wearing out happened much sooner there). Must revisit it also though, it's been a good 20yrs since I read it.
Haha, love the comparison! :laugh:
I don't entirely disagree on the prose, but I got into it as adding to Humbert's schtick pretty nicely. I only read it about 8 years ago, first Nabokov I'd attempted, and was blown away by how unexpectedly (to me) rich it was, psychologically, morally, philosophically, all the rest, and with poetic sentences like this creeping up out of the blue: "I was weeping again, drunk on the impossible past." Sure that could be a Warning lyric! :laugh: :abbath:
Watching Lolita From A Distance.
Dorothy McArdle - Irish Republic
Beresford- 10 men dead
Houellebecq- Atomised
Collected Poems of Nazim Hikmet
Quote from: Mooncat on March 27, 2024, 01:13:36 AMForgot about American Psycho! For some reason I'm really drawn to 80s New York yuppie fiction. American Psycho, Bright Lights Big City, and Bonfire of the Vanities are the holy triumvirate of that genre.
Thanks for the other recommendations!
It sounds like you might enjoy Joshua Ferris' "Then We Came To The End" too. It's set in the late 90s/early 00s in Chicago but has the same vibe as Ellis/McInerney.
I presume that you've read "Slaves Of New York" by Tama Janowitz? The other member of their little brat pack?
The Strength to Perv.
Just coming back to report on Wild Houses by Colin Barrett. This guy is some writer. At first sigt its a crime caper about a lad getting kidnapped in Mayo because of a drug debt.
Seedy as fuck, I recognise alot of the geography around Ballina from going there for years as a gassur
There's a lot of psychological depth to this and the loneliness and grind of living in a shithole is explored.
I think the story would resonate with a lot of us here because of some of the cunts in this that we would have all put up with.
Recommended.
Just finished re-reading 'A Thread of Violence' by Mark O'Connell, looking at the Malcolm MacArthur/GUBU case which nearly brought the Haughey government down in 1982. It's an interesting read (especially for someone like myself who wasn't aware of the case beforehand) but the author inserts too much of himself into the mix.
Also, sorry to be "that" guy but I have a book out at the moment:
"dethrone god" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dethrone-god-Christopher-Owens/dp/B0CVX57CSQ/)
Quote from: TheRuts on April 02, 2024, 10:47:57 PMJust finished re-reading 'A Thread of Violence' by Mark O'Connell, looking at the Malcolm MacArthur/GUBU case which nearly brought the Haughey government down in 1982. It's an interesting read (especially for someone like myself who wasn't aware of the case beforehand) but the author inserts too much of himself into the mix.
I enjoyed it too - having known nothing about the case but I also had the exact same thoughts about O'Connell's personal narrative.
MacArthur's crimes and some of the events after the fact are wildly outlandish and yet, somehow, completely representative of 1980s Ireland.
Have you read the John Banville book "The Book Of Evidence" which is referenced a few times in "A Thread Of Violence"? I have haven't read it yet but I am curious.
Quote from: TheRuts on April 02, 2024, 10:47:57 PMAlso, sorry to be "that" guy but I have a book out at the moment:
"dethrone god" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dethrone-god-Christopher-Owens/dp/B0CVX57CSQ/)
Best of luck with the book.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on April 03, 2024, 09:54:26 AMHave you read the John Banville book "The Book Of Evidence" which is referenced a few times in "A Thread Of Violence"? I have haven't read it yet but I am curious.
I did pick it up last year but I've yet to get round to reading it as I'm currently on 'The Neon Bible' by John Kennedy Toole which I'm thoroughly enjoying. I could never get through 'A Confederacy of Dunces' but I'm tempted to give it another go after this.
And thank you for the well wishes.
Quote from: TheRuts on April 02, 2024, 10:47:57 PMAlso, sorry to be "that" guy but I have a book out at the moment:
"dethrone god" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dethrone-god-Christopher-Owens/dp/B0CVX57CSQ/)
Unavailable on Amazon at the moment but I'll keep my eye out for it, best of luck with it.
Quote from: Carnage on April 03, 2024, 09:48:39 PMQuote from: TheRuts on April 02, 2024, 10:47:57 PMAlso, sorry to be "that" guy but I have a book out at the moment:
"dethrone god" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dethrone-god-Christopher-Owens/dp/B0CVX57CSQ/)
Unavailable on Amazon at the moment but I'll keep my eye out for it, best of luck with it.
Thank you for pointing that out and for the well wishes, try this link. (https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Christopher-Owens/dp/B0CVX57CSQ)
Nice one, cheers. 👍
Quote from: Don Gately on March 29, 2024, 08:12:22 AMJust coming back to report on Wild Houses by Colin Barrett. This guy is some writer. At first sigt its a crime caper about a lad getting kidnapped in Mayo because of a drug debt.
Seedy as fuck, I recognise alot of the geography around Ballina from going there for years as a gassur
There's a lot of psychological depth to this and the loneliness and grind of living in a shithole is explored.
I think the story would resonate with a lot of us here because of some of the cunts in this that we would have all put up with.
Recommended.
Sounds really interesting, have ordered it from the library. Have you read his other stuff?
Yes have both of his short story collections. Really like Young Skins
Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Really enjoyed this and completely different to what I was expecting.
Just started to Kill a Mockingbird, another book that had eluded me.
Frankenstein is savage.
I just finished The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. There were a few elements that irked me in a minor way but overall it was really good. Arguably a bit long at 600+ pages (!) but it kept me turning the pages throughout. Nice black ending to it, too. Could work well as a film.
Currently reading To Be the Man by Ric Flair. Very fast and entertaining read. Moves along just exactly like you'd expect it to with not much insight (though some interesting stuff about the politics of wrestling) but stuffed full of entertaining stories. Very short childhood and pre-wrestling section too, you're into the wrestling road stories within 15min or so :laugh:
I'm about halfway through Cixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem at the moment, in advance of watching the Netflix series. It's grand so far, very strange and I'm not sure where it's all heading yet. Lots of technical jargon but handy enough to follow, I'm aware that it's the first part of a trilogy so could go anywhere at this point.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on April 18, 2024, 03:47:37 PMFrankenstein is savage.
I just finished The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. There were a few elements that irked me in a minor way but overall it was really good. Arguably a bit long at 600+ pages (!) but it kept me turning the pages throughout. Nice black ending to it, too. Could work well as a film.
Must check out Bee Sting, I tried Skippy dies a few years back bit gave up. I can't remember why...probably something else came my way.
Anyone read A Little Life or the Goldfinch?
Quote from: Carnage on April 18, 2024, 04:25:45 PMI'm about halfway through Cixin Liu: The Three-Body Problem at the moment, in advance of watching the Netflix series. It's grand so far, very strange and I'm not sure where it's all heading yet. Lots of technical jargon but handy enough to follow, I'm aware that it's the first part of a trilogy so could go anywhere at this point.
Does this mean the Game of Thrones lads have taken into another unfinished book series or that there's a finished trilogy that you've just not read yet? A dangerous game if that is the case
Edit: Actually, thinking about that, ASOIAF is never going to be finished is it. Fair annoying the way that turned out
No, the trilogy's finished alright. A friend read all three and recommended them highly.
Yeah, Martin's gonna pop his clogs before it's close to being finished. It'll ve the same as the Wheel Of Time series, finished by another author.
Quote from: Carnage on April 19, 2024, 07:26:17 PMNo, the trilogy's finished alright. A friend read all three and recommended them highly.
Yeah, Martin's gonna pop his clogs before it's close to being finished. It'll ve the same as the Wheel Of Time series, finished by another author.
At this point it probably wouldn't even be that jarring; it's so many years since I read Dance With Dragons that I can't remember his writing style at all.
Quote from: Mooncat on April 19, 2024, 10:21:22 PMQuote from: Carnage on April 19, 2024, 07:26:17 PMNo, the trilogy's finished alright. A friend read all three and recommended them highly.
Yeah, Martin's gonna pop his clogs before it's close to being finished. It'll ve the same as the Wheel Of Time series, finished by another author.
At this point it probably wouldn't even be that jarring; it's so many years since I read Dance With Dragons that I can't remember his writing style at all.
Aye, same here. The momentum is entirely gone and I don't feel like rereading the rest of it in anticipation. I only read the books about 2017 or 2018 and I've lost hope so I can only imagine how long ago that happened for anyone who'd been in on it from the start. Fuckin waster so he is really. One chance at a serious legacy after the travesty of the TV series and he doesn't have it in him. Couldn't even be arsed reading the sample chapters and there's rakes of them up online already. Really fucked it up.
Don't think I have any interest in reading it if someone else finishes it out either.
Anyway that sounds like I'm bothered but it's not even that, it's just a crap end like the series - unfinished and unsatisfactory.
I just finished up a re-read of Disgrace by J.M.Coetzee. I thin when I read it before I was a bit upping to be fully impacted by its brilliance. Or maybe I loved it and have forgotten, but it is a fantastic read. Monumental? Possibly so. And as i mentioned in the Mourning Beloveth thread, a clear influence on A Disease for the Ages. I recently read Slow Man by him, which was interesting but this hit harder. I also read Youth a couple of decades ago but it is completely gone from my memory so I think I'll have to keep an eye out for it and any more of his books.
Just seen CJ Samson has passed away. I liked the Shardlake books.
And just as a Disney+ series based on them is about to come out. I've read the first 2, enjoyed them and have the rest on the shelf. Might get into Sovereign when I've finished the ones I'm currently on.
"'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King. Very enjoyable. Not as good as "The Dead Zone" but good fun. Looking forward to watching the film.
Is Stephen King's "The Stand" worth reading?
As in - if I watched one of the TV adaptations - would I be as well off?
I read "It" a few months back and found myself flicking to the back to see how many pages were left. There's a great 650 page novel within the 1200 pages.
The Stand is great, well worth reading. There are a few different versions, you want the complete, unabridged version. I saw the '90s TV version at the time, thought it was OK at best and from the bits I saw on a recent repeat, it's aged badly. I haven't seen the more recent one.
I read the Stand last year. It was good, not sure if it was worth all the time though.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on April 30, 2024, 03:00:41 PM"'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King. Very enjoyable. Not as good as "The Dead Zone" but good fun. Looking forward to watching the film.
Is Stephen King's "The Stand" worth reading?
As in - if I watched one of the TV adaptations - would I be as well off?
I read "It" a few months back and found myself flicking to the back to see how many pages were left. There's a great 650 page novel within the 1200 pages.
I have both The Stand and The Dead Zone in the waiting to be read pile, I'll get there someday! Salems Lot was a good read but I just got done with Pet Semetary and I enjoyed that a lot more.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on April 30, 2024, 03:00:41 PM"'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King. Very enjoyable. Not as good as "The Dead Zone" but good fun. Looking forward to watching the film.
Is Stephen King's "The Stand" worth reading?
As in - if I watched one of the TV adaptations - would I be as well off?
I read "It" a few months back and found myself flicking to the back to see how many pages were left. There's a great 650 page novel within the 1200 pages.
Also loved Salem's Lot and had a similar experience with It, just too overly long with no real justification for it, though I did still get sucked into its world and enjoyed it (terrible ending notwithstanding).
The Stand is definitely up there with his best, some scenes just leave you with your mouth hanging open. Can be
slightly draggy in parts as well, but tons of really engaging characters.
I reread it right at the start of covid and the whole first 3rd was a real trip to read in those times :laugh:
Quote from: Born of Fire on April 30, 2024, 06:25:59 PMI have both The Stand and The Dead Zone in the waiting to be read pile, I'll get there someday! Salems Lot was a good read but I just got done with Pet Semetary and I enjoyed that a lot more.
"The Dead Zone" is brilliant - you can really rip through it. The David Cronenberg adaptation starring Christopher Walken is great craic as well.
I haven't read "Pet Sematary" yet.
Quote from: Mooncat on May 01, 2024, 12:18:48 AMAlso loved Salem's Lot and had a similar experience with It, just too overly long with no real justification for it, though I did still get sucked into its world and enjoyed it (terrible ending notwithstanding).
The Stand is definitely up there with his best, some scenes just leave you with your mouth hanging open. Can be slightly draggy in parts as well, but tons of really engaging characters.
I reread it right at the start of covid and the whole first 3rd was a real trip to read in those times :laugh:
Sound. I think I'll pick up "The Stand" so.
I enjoyed "It" but I could have been done much sooner. And yeah, the ending is bunk.
Any fans of 'Revival' by King? I picked it up after years of ignoring his output and really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to any fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Quote from: Xworx on May 01, 2024, 09:27:46 AMAny fans of 'Revival' by King? I picked it up after years of ignoring his output and really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to any fans of Lovecraftian horror.
I only started in on his novels last year (teenage read of "Carrie" notwithstanding) after I had read his book about his writing process.
I'll add that to the list. Though I picked up a fair few of his secondhand recently.
Never heard of that one but it sounds interesting. The most recent King book I read was From A Buick 8 (2002), a christmas present from my father. It's ridiculous but enjoyable enough. I read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Gerald's Game around the same time and hated both, so I just left him behind then.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on May 01, 2024, 09:45:45 AMQuote from: Xworx on May 01, 2024, 09:27:46 AMAny fans of 'Revival' by King? I picked it up after years of ignoring his output and really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to any fans of Lovecraftian horror.
I only started in on his novels last year (teenage read of "Carrie" notwithstanding) after I had read his book about his writing process.
I'll add that to the list. Though I picked up a fair few of his secondhand recently.
If you're still in your early days of King the other ones I'd recommend are Pet Sematary and The Shining. The Shining in particular is quite different from the film, but just as good. Romped through Misery pretty quickly too.
Cujo and Christine are good too. In fact, the first one I thought was poor was The Tommyknockers, so everything up to that. Even The Eyes Of The Dragon, his (now out of print) fantasy novel I enjoyed.
Quote from: Carnage on May 01, 2024, 04:42:26 PMCujo and Christine are good too. In fact, the first one I thought was poor was The Tommyknockers, so everything up to that. Even The Eyes Of The Dragon, his (now out of print) fantasy novel I enjoyed.
I've been trying to read Tommyknockers for about the past 3 years lol. Keep on starting it and giving up. Apparently he wrote it in a blizzard of cocaine...
Sounds about right. I remember nothing about it other than hating it. There were ads for it on the radio at the time (1990-ish) so I couldn't wait to read it, but it was such a disappointment that I rarely went back to him after that.
I thought the Tommyknockers wasn't the worst when I read it but I sort of unwittingly gave up on King at some point as well. Did read the short stories again lately but haven't tackled a novel of his in a while. I have Misery there which I haven't read though so I might give that a shot soon
Do, it's a cracker.
Got a box set of LOTR + The Hobbit a few years back and never read them for whatever reason, flew through the Hobbit and now I'm bet into the first LOTR book, should have read them ages ago, they're class!
Quote from: Mooncat on May 01, 2024, 04:28:10 PMIf you're still in your early days of King the other ones I'd recommend are Pet Sematary and The Shining. The Shining in particular is quite different from the film, but just as good. Romped through Misery pretty quickly too.
Sound I'll add "Pet Sematary" to the list. I have a fair stack to read that I've found second-hand over the last while;
"The Dark Half"
"The Shining"
"Misery"
"Doctor Sleep"
"The Outsider"
"If It Bleeds"
"Full Dark No Stars"
I read It and thought it was ok but way too long and kind of one dimensional. For think I'd bother my arse with anything else.
Yes I'd agree, the Shining is top notch though and Misery also. His Bachman books was a good read too, 4 short novels.
I read the one about JFK too and it's draggy.
Actually read Libra by Dan de Lillo if you want a good read about JFK assassination.
Read Dying of the Light by GRRM over the last couple of days. Had started it a year or two ago but didn't get past the first couple of chapters. Randomly picked it up then the other day and flew through it. Not bad actually, and a pretty scaldy finish for the protagonist.
Went down the library then and found The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King, which I think Carnage told me about here before. Looking forward to that now hopefully it's decent.
I bought Knife by Salman Rushdie today. Looking forward to that even though it is likely to be somewhat on the harrowing side.
Re-reeading The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy.
Just started reading The Lord of the Rings. I was back home last weekend so I grabbed the massive illustrated edition which has been sitting in my room gathering dust for years. I couldn't get into it as a teenager, I was more into Stephen King and Clive Barker and didn't have the patience for the pacing of the book.
Currently halfway through the first book and I'm completely engrossed. It helps that I've only seen bits of the movies so I'm not overly familiar with the story.
Currently struggling my way through this:
(https://125226589.r.directcdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PURE-Cover-600.jpg)
Written in quite a pedestrian style and there are one or two moments which you would think would spark off a side conversation regarding certain people's psychological states but are swiftly glossed over.
I finally picked up The Satanic Verses. I tried to read it when I was around 13 but it was a bit too complex for me :laugh: hopefully at the far side of 40 it'll be more enjoyable.
I picked up Grace by Paul Lynch and I'm 65 pages in. I'm enjoying this a lot more than I enjoyed Prophet Song which felt a bit one dimensional to me. Beyond the Sea was very good too, so for now he's winning 2/1.
Yep Prophet Song was fine but a bit one dimensional as you say.
Around the same time I read Sebastian Barry's Old God's Time. It wouldn't be a book I'd pick up for myself but got it as a present. It's a great book, strange too.
I must pick up Old God's Time. Ice enjoyed anything I've read by Sebastian Barry. I'm ping ponging between Grace and The Satanic Verses. Two winners.
Reading Cities of the plain by Cormac McCarthy. Enjoyed much of the Crossing but there is certainly 100 pages or so that drags, first 120 odd pages is some of his best writing though.
Read Stephen King's "The Outsider". It was pretty decent. Apparently there's a TV series too.
Spoiler
I bought it under the impression that King had made a decision to write a straight-up crime novel with a procedural investigation/"Law & Order" style narrative.
The series is good, well worth a watch. The book's on my list.
Started reading Irvine Welsh's "Porno" the other day.
It's pretty good so far but I'm not burning through it like I did with "Trainspotting" a few months back.
Finished up Grace by Paul Lynch just now. I think this one is his masterpiece. Truly great. His poetic style suits the mystical nature of the story.
Started reading Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. The press quote on the front talks about it being a vision of hell and holy fuck that is such an apt description. Written in an interesting style too, kind of like Trainspotting, and just as bleak. Only a few chapters in and it's already one of the grimiest, grubbiest, most graphic books I've read. The one violent scene early on had almost a Cormac McCarthy type feel to it.
Apparently it was super influential to the likes of the Beat poets, Velvet Underground etc as well.
Quote from: Count Magnus on May 01, 2024, 09:27:46 AMAny fans of 'Revival' by King? I picked it up after years of ignoring his output and really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to any fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Just finished "Fairy Tale" by Stephen King. There's even more Lovecraft in it. Not a bad read though it kind of changes up plots halfway through. I would have liked more exploring of the world.
Just started "The Long Earth" by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. So far, so good...
Quote from: Mooncat on June 17, 2024, 04:51:17 PMStarted reading Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. The press quote on the front talks about it being a vision of hell and holy fuck that is such an apt description. Written in an interesting style too, kind of like Trainspotting, and just as bleak. Only a few chapters in and it's already one of the grimiest, grubbiest, most graphic books I've read. The one violent scene early on had almost a Cormac McCarthy type feel to it.
Apparently it was super influential to the likes of the Beat poets, Velvet Underground etc as well.
It gets much, much worse. Enjoyed the style of it but ya, it's grim.
I saw the firm at the time, I gather it's very tame in comparison.
Currently reading Sovereign by C.J. Sansom, the third Matthew Shardlake book. Wary of watching the series (based on the first book), these things rarely transfer to the screen well.
Onto The Chamber of Secrets with the little lad. Has to be said, even way back then, Rowling had a gratuitous nasty streak a mile wide, so much so that it seems to have been stronger than her concern for writing well. Compare Dahl, who was under fire again a couple of years ago for fatphobia, but at least still put creative thought, lots of it even, into his objectionable-to-some physical descriptions, plus the emphasis was usually more on greed, as far as I remember. Bruce Bogtrotter, of the chocolate cake fame in Matilda, is even made a hero of. Rowling, on the other hand, within two pages, just gives you (speaking of Harry's cousin Dudley) "his fat legs," "his fat bottom," "his fat face." So, unlike with Dahl where I read everything, I find myself dropping most instances of the word "fat" when reading Harry Potter aloud, because unless you read it with the tone of disgust the author clearly had in her mind when writing it, it has absolutely no literary value I can see at all.
Give me a fucking break :laugh:
About what? The difference between describing an overweight person creatively versus lazily? That's all I'm saying. Dahl is the former, Rowling the latter. I've only read one and a bit of her books now, but it's struck me several times that it's when her writing is weakest.
Quote from: Mooncat on June 17, 2024, 04:51:17 PMStarted reading Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. The press quote on the front talks about it being a vision of hell and holy fuck that is such an apt description. Written in an interesting style too, kind of like Trainspotting, and just as bleak. Only a few chapters in and it's already one of the grimiest, grubbiest, most graphic books I've read. The one violent scene early on had almost a Cormac McCarthy type feel to it.
Apparently it was super influential to the likes of the Beat poets, Velvet Underground etc as well.
Great book I've read it twice, and will read it again soon
One of the greatest books ever written and was hauled through the English courts on obscenity charges. It was also pivotal to Morrissey as a Smiths LP bears the name of one of the pivotal chapters. But really, anything Selby Jr wrote is excellent (Requiem For a Dream, The Room, The Willow Tree).
Author Dennis Cooper has listed some of his favourite books of the year so far.
https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/ (https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/)
Might be of interest to some on here looking for inspiration on what to read. Oh, and he listed my own book (which was very nice of him).
I picked up two new books yesterday
This Spoke Zarathustra by Neitzsche which I've read, or mostly read before. I wanted to re-read it and finish it and it was going for $8. Couldn't pass it up.
Blueback by Tim Winton. I've read two of his other books- Cloudstreet and The Shepherd's Hut- both of which were brilliant reads that captured different sides of modern Australian life. Blueback it turns out is a book for kids and I read it all in one go yesterday in a couple of hours. A charming little tale that gives yet another perspective on the Aussie experience. Even though it is pared back, simply told and very short his skill as a story teller isn't diminished by those constraints.
I took into that Nietzsche one but I didn't really get it I think.
The Laibach album about it is brilliant though, to the extent that it makes me think the book might be worth another go.
Have the album on again now it really is quite something
I've never listened to Laibach.
They're unique if nothing else. They come off like a pisstake band at times but it's too good to not like.
Did get as far as taking the book off the shelf last night after it was brought up. I'll leave it on the shelf in the jacks now and hopefully it'll get past the being brought out of the jacks test and get finished
Laibach are lethal. Any Nietzsche I've read has taken a few goes but has been good (Antichrist and Zarathustra but nothing else).
Brought David Toop's "Ocean of Sound" abroad with me to finish. A history of ambient music but not presented directly as, more collections of interviews and thoughts on it with people involved in parts of the genre for decades. Jumps years and sections to keep it flowing well. Interesting read so far.
Also have a scanlation of Shimeji Simulation for a re-read - gave it a go a few months ago and loved it, rose well up the list of favourite Manga, but there's only online scans of it translated, no official english release. It deserves one. Mind melting slice of life, existentialist yuri, two girls meet and become friends in a relatively normal situation that rapidly descends into reality folding in on itself but everyone mostly trying to live with it. A "slow apocalypse" as someone described it online.
Didn't know Laibach had a Zarathustra concept album, must check it out. The most annoying person I've ever worked with in my life was the first person I ever heard of them through, when I was 20. Instant turn off that never fully went away even after hearing an album I enjoyed :laugh:
Zarathustra is tough to get through as literature. It can be done, just enjoying the words and images (depending on quality of translation too), but it's a bit like reading the scriptures to an unfamiliar religion. If you want to get into it, I'd always recommend reading (at least) either The Joyful Science or Human All Too Human first.
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on June 23, 2024, 01:06:45 PMDidn't know Laibach had a Zarathustra concept album, must check it out. The most annoying person I've ever worked with in my life was the first person I ever heard of them through, when I was 20. Instant turn off that never fully went away even after hearing an album I enjoyed :laugh:
Zarathustra is tough to get through as literature. It can be done, just enjoying the words and images (depending on quality of translation too), but it's a bit like reading the scriptures to an unfamiliar religion. If you want to get into it, I'd always recommend reading (at least) either The Joyful Science or Human All Too Human first.
Have been unfairly turned off many a decent band in the exact same fashion :laugh:
I'll keep an eye for the ones you mentioned there if it helps to crack that nut
Quote from: TheRuts on June 22, 2024, 06:20:35 PMAuthor Dennis Cooper has listed some of his favourite books of the year so far.
https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/ (https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/)
Might be of interest to some on here looking for inspiration on what to read. Oh, and he listed my own book (which was very nice of him).
Hello what is your book? Pm me if you prefer
Dennis Cooper is a great writer.
Picked up Solenoid, by Mircea Cartarescu yesterday. Won the Dublin literary award.
Quote from: Don Gately on June 24, 2024, 08:30:22 AMQuote from: TheRuts on June 22, 2024, 06:20:35 PMAuthor Dennis Cooper has listed some of his favourite books of the year so far.
https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/ (https://denniscooperblog.com/mine-for-yours-my-favorite-fiction-poetry-non-fiction-music-film-art-and-internet-of-2024-so-far/)
Might be of interest to some on here looking for inspiration on what to read. Oh, and he listed my own book (which was very nice of him).
Hello what is your book? Pm me if you prefer
Dennis Cooper is a great writer.
Good interview here. I'm going to buy this book from kennys.ie
https://www.thepensivequill.com/2024/02/dethrone-god.html?m=1
Zapruder would have wept. Brilliant
I finished The Satanic Verses this evening. It was a bit long winded for me, but not bad.
Starting into a re-read of The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. When he's good, he operates at another level.
Thus Spake Zarathustra was my favourite of the Nietzsche stuff but not been reading that type of thing for years now. Won't say I understood it fully, but the half-novel style was quite pleasant to work through. I like that type of philosophy writing when it's presented to you in a story form. Like Dostoevsky for example.
I'm a terrible reader. I pick difficult, factual, non page turners too often and I've no problem dropping a book if its not doing it for me. The latest one I've dropped off on half way through is Earthsea by Ursula la Guin. Tis good though and I might go back to it. Fantasy gear.
Started The Master and Margarita (bulgakov) a few days ago. Brilliant so far. The Russian gear is something else.
That's one I have to go back to and finish, loved what I read of it. Someone gave me an edition that has footnotes with spoilers in them! >:( So head-wrecking I set it aside about 60 pages in and then forgot to buy a better version.
Quote from: Grim Reality on July 08, 2024, 11:01:54 PMI'm a terrible reader. I pick difficult, factual, non page turners too often and I've no problem dropping a book if its not doing it for me. The latest one I've dropped off on half way through is Earthsea by Ursula la Guin. Tis good though and I might go back to it. Fantasy gear.
I read it, I enjoyed it, but it's more contemplative fantasy. I certainly wouldn't hold it in the esteem it seems to be regarded.
Finally getting into Burroughs' The Soft Machine and I'm only on chapter 3 but I've burst out laughing at least once on every page and the wife thinks I'm reading some sort of comedy book and I really don't know if I am or not. It's quite something
Re reading Infinite Jest, summer sorted.
I just started Dan Jones - 'Crusaders: An Epic History Of The Wars For The Holy Lands' after re-reading 'The Templars: The Rise And Fall Of God's Holy Warriors' recently.
Also, I went into a book shop earlier while killing time before a medical appointment, and spotted Paul Brannigan's 'ERUPTION - The Eddie Van Halen Story' so I said I may as well pick it up. It was only 12 quid.
It also seems to have been released under the name 'Unchained' which is a bit odd. Still, I had a gander earlier and it seems to have good reviews from the likes of Classic Rock and the guitar magazines, so I'm looking forward to reading it.
I started into The Prince by Machiavelli last night. Just getting a few handy tips.
Reading too many fucking books. I've a habit of reading 2 or 3 at the same time which is manageable, but I lost my mind recently and decided to juggle the following - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, The Two Towers by Tolkien, Money by Martin Amis, Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts.
Quote from: Count Magnus on July 25, 2024, 09:08:08 AMReading too many fucking books. I've a habit of reading 2 or 3 at the same time which is manageable, but I lost my mind recently and decided to juggle the following - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, The Two Towers by Tolkien, Money by Martin Amis, Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts.
God almighty, that's a nightmare. The Stalingrad book worth reading is General Zhukhovs book in 2 parts.
Just finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.
Recently finished The Hundred Years War on Palestine too by Rashid Khalidi. A very good overview of the process of settlement and population replacement from the early 20th century onward. While it's obviously written by a Palestinian with considerable personal connection to the events, it doesn't exactly read like a manifesto. He is quite scathing of the failings of various Palestinian leaderships and factions, for their own contributions to the whole miserable affair.
Simon Sebag Montefiores Jerusalem might be up next, or Peter Frankopan's Silk Roads.
Quote from: boozegeune on August 01, 2024, 12:35:21 PMJust finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.
I've been told great things about Kevin Barry over the years - I've only read "City Of Bohane" and found it a bit of a slog. I might take a flick through "The Heart In Winter" next time I'm in a book shop.
Quote from: boozegeune on August 01, 2024, 12:35:21 PMPeter Frankopan's Silk Roads.
Just looked this up. It sounds great.
Reading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.
Quote from: boozegeune on August 01, 2024, 12:35:21 PMJust finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.
Which Discworld? I've been dipping in and out of The Last Continent myself lately
Back on a Discworld buzz myself after years of not reading any Pratchett. Finished Wyrd Sisters recently, and currently reading Mort.
Quote from: Mooncat on August 01, 2024, 04:16:57 PMReading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.
What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.
Quote from: Count Magnus on August 02, 2024, 08:51:10 AMBack on a Discworld buzz myself after years of not reading any Pratchett. Finished Wyrd Sisters recently, and currently reading Mort.
I love Mort! There's one character in it that's near and dear to me as it happens...
Actually got a fresh copy of it not too long ago as well
Quote from: Eoin McLove on August 02, 2024, 09:59:50 AMQuote from: Mooncat on August 01, 2024, 04:16:57 PMReading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.
What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.
He uses the entire book to just throw everyone around him under the bus, particularly Vinnie, whom I feel a solid 10% of the book is just a rant about.
He also does that really insecure macho boasting thing the whole way through. By the end you'll have heard many times about how tough he is, how many fights he's won, how everyone knows not to fuck with him, how rich he is, the nice things he can buy, how he gets the hottest chicks etc etc. Just one of those eye-rolling cringe guys.
Sounds like the Tyson book I read in that there was only so many bitches and bottles of hennessey before it got boring. Cut that stuff out and the remaining 20 pages would have been okay
Quote from: Mooncat on August 02, 2024, 11:26:16 PMQuote from: Eoin McLove on August 02, 2024, 09:59:50 AMQuote from: Mooncat on August 01, 2024, 04:16:57 PMReading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.
What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.
He uses the entire book to just throw everyone around him under the bus, particularly Vinnie, whom I feel a solid 10% of the book is just a rant about.
He also does that really insecure macho boasting thing the whole way through. By the end you'll have heard many times about how tough he is, how many fights he's won, how everyone knows not to fuck with him, how rich he is, the nice things he can buy, how he gets the hottest chicks etc etc. Just one of those eye-rolling cringe guys.
Haha, oh no. I actually want to read it now out of curiosity!
I picked up Resolution, the new one by Irvine Welsh. Flying through it and it's as instantly intriguing and addictive as usual with him.
Yeah just finished it a couple of days ago. Ray 'Cuntybaws' Lennox is back :)
I was in Embra with a German pal last week and he's a Welsh fanatic, insisted on going to to a Hibs match, to the 'fit ay the walk' and into a boozer named 'Mother Superior'.
Rereading 'The Boer War' by Thomas Pakenham.
It's a bit 'niche', even for those interested in history, but it's maybe the most impactful non-fiction book I've ever read. The research, the pathos and the insights are excellent. Like Hastings and Beevor after him, he manages to make even the machinations of the British war office circa 1900 into a Davinci Code-esque page turner. Most lads find the late Victorian period a touch dry, and most lads would change their minds after reading thon.
Masterful.
Quote from: astfgyl on August 02, 2024, 12:38:08 PMQuote from: Count Magnus on August 02, 2024, 08:51:10 AMBack on a Discworld buzz myself after years of not reading any Pratchett. Finished Wyrd Sisters recently, and currently reading Mort.
I love Mort! There's one character in it that's near and dear to me as it happens...
Actually got a fresh copy of it not too long ago as well
Bought a copy of Mort and Reaper Man with the original Josh Kirby artwork, and found an old copy of Hogfather when I was back home at the weekend. I'm not a fan of the newer covers.
I was a huge Pratchett fan as a teen, and dismissed him for some reason when I was 17. I was probably too busy being edgy listening to Marilyn Manson and reading Christopher Pike! It's great coming back to his style of writing. Looking forward to spending some time in the Discworld again.
Quote from: Mooncat on August 01, 2024, 04:16:57 PMReading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Bukowski is the man. I've never read much of his poetry though. Bit and pieces only over the years.
Glad that you enjoyed that Dylan Jones book on David Bowie. Apparently his book on 1995 is great too but I haven't read it.
I started re-reading through the Discworld books from the start, I am just about to finish Thief of Time.
The only one I actually didn't absolutely love has been Interesting Times - I thought his attempts to satirize ancient Chinese culture was clunky and came across as awkward. Also the story seemed to drag.
On the non-fiction side, I read Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum. Very interesting, really helped explain Russia's current attitude towards Ukraine. Harrowing at times.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on August 06, 2024, 10:42:51 AMQuote from: Mooncat on August 01, 2024, 04:16:57 PMReading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).
Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).
Bukowski is the man. I've never read much of his poetry though. Bit and pieces only over the years.
Glad that you enjoyed that Dylan Jones book on David Bowie. Apparently his book on 1995 is great too but I haven't read it.
One of the things I like about his poetry is that it doesn't read like poetry, more like prose. If you read it with the line breaks it's weird, but if you just read it as complete sentences it just reads like his books. More a collection of his thoughts, opinions, and observations than poetry. I love getting sucked into his world. So many of the poems take about 30secs to read, but have you putting the book down and thinking for several minutes afterwards.
Have one chapter left of LOTR The Return of the King to read before completing the entire series, started with The Hobbit back in March or April, usually only have time to read a chapter a night.
Have to say it was absolutely fantastic, well worth it and should have read it years ago (could see myself re-reading at some point too), off next weekend so might as well fire up the films with some good beer and pipeweed :abbath:.
Quote from: ldj on August 17, 2024, 08:08:07 PMHave one chapter left of LOTR The Return of the King to read before completing the entire series, started with The Hobbit back in March or April, usually only have time to read a chapter a night.
Have to say it was absolutely fantastic, well worth it and should have read it years ago (could see myself re-reading at some point too), off next weekend so might as well fire up the films with some good beer and pipeweed :abbath:.
I didn't think much of The Hobbit but the Lord of The Rings ones are flawless. My major gripe with those was that there had to be an end to them. I fucking hoovered them up so I did.
It's been about five or six years now as well I might get away with a re reading soon enough hopefully
It's twenty something years since I read LOTR. I should give it another spin one of these years. I loved it.
Just finished Savage Night by Jim Thompson. The darkest of the noir writers, his stuff never fails to shock and surprise me.
Tokyo Express - Seicho Matsumoto, recommended for mystery, crime buffs.
I'm a third of the way through Bob Mould's autobiography at the moment, it's not bad. Maybe I was spoiled by Peter Hook's Joy Division book, that went into quite a bit of detail about pretty much every element of their career but this seems to be fairly vague in places, skips over a lot of specifics. I'm enjoying it though, just coming to the end of the Hüsker Dü period so there's still plenty to go.
It inspired me to go looking for the HD CDs (I own none of theirs and all of Mould's), I'm assuming they're mostly out of print as the prices for secondhand are fairly hefty.
I'm reading The Room by Hubert Selby , follow up to Last Exit to Brooklyn, which is one of my favourite books.
Quote from: Carnage on September 19, 2024, 12:45:22 AMI'm a third of the way through Bob Mould's autobiography at the moment, it's not bad. Maybe I was spoiled by Peter Hook's Joy Division book, that went into quite a lit of detail about pretty much every element of their career but this seems to be fairly vague in places, skips over a lot of specifics. I'm enjoying it though, just coming to the end of the Hüsker Dü period so there's still plenty to go.
It inspired me to go looking for the HD CDs (I own none of theirs and all of Mould's), I'm assuming they're mostly out of print as the prices for secondhand are fairly hefty.
Warehouse: Songs and Stories is still available on Amazon and I'm pretty sure I saw it in Tower not so long ago, but the rest of the catalogue seems to be harder to find. I can't comment on the quality of Warehouse, but I don't think it's as well regarded as their earlier releases.
It's decent but you could tell their hearts weren't in it. Just going by the book the animosity between Mould and Hart was coming to a head at that point.
Yeah, had a deeper look after that last night and the Warner albums are a bit easier to find, the earlier/SST releases are the pricey ones. The label has them for reasonable prices but I assume they're coming from the U.S., postage and customs charges would drive the price up.
Quote from: Carnage on September 19, 2024, 09:53:29 AMIt's decent but you could tell their hearts weren't in it. Just going by the book the animosity between Mould and Hart was coming to a head at that point.
Yeah, had a deeper look after that last night and the Warner albums are a bit easier to find, the earlier/SST releases are the pricey ones. The label has them for reasonable prices but I assume they're coming from the U.S., postage and customs charges would drive the price up.
I really rate "Warehouse Songs And Stories" - it's a bit self indulgent and overly long but it's also the culmination of HD's growth over 7 years. There's some absolutely classic tracks on it - mainly Mould's contributions "Could You Be The One?", "Ice Cold Ice", "Up In The Air", "Bed Of Nails" and "Friend, You've Got To Fall".
I would have thought that you could get HD records - especially CDs - relatively cheaply these days. I picked up new vinyls of "Zen Arcade" and "Candy Apple Grey" for less than $20 each in the US. (That was about 15 years ago though!)
Had a quick look at Amazon US there. Some of the used CDs are reasonable. If the CDs are sold by or if an order is fulfilled by Amazon then you won't be reamed
too much in my experience.
A great Saturday afternoon/evening cans and records pairing is the twofer of "Zen Arcade" and The Minutemen's "Double Nickels On The Dime".
I'll have a look there, as Discogs isn't great either. Some reasonable prices but again, mostly shipping from the sates.
Quote from: Carnage on September 19, 2024, 12:45:22 AMI'm a third of the way through Bob Mould's autobiography at the moment, it's not bad. Maybe I was spoiled by Peter Hook's Joy Division book, that went into quite a lit of detail about pretty much every element of their career but this seems to be fairly vague in places, skips over a lot of specifics. I'm enjoying it though, just coming to the end of the Hüsker Dü period so there's still plenty to go.
It inspired me to go looking for the HD CDs (I own none of theirs and all of Mould's), I'm assuming they're mostly out of print as the prices for secondhand are fairly hefty.
Sad to hear it's only not bad. I've had that one on my shelf to read for a few months and been looking forward to it. I absolutely fucking love Husker Du. Hearing 'I'll Never Forget You' for the first time was world-changing for me. That part where he's screaming it so hard that his voice cracks is one of my favourite moments in music ever.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 19, 2024, 10:42:48 AMA great Saturday afternoon/evening cans and records pairing is the twofer of "Zen Arcade" and The Minutemen's "Double Nickels On The Dime".
Fuck yeah! If I had to somehow come up with a top 5 albums of all time, I'd say both of these would make it, and I have done that twofer with cans many times. Also a strange coincidence but both these albums were released on the day I was born! I fucking curse SST for being such a shitshow and these albums not getting the full success they deserved.
Actually, given this is the book thread, the book about the rise and fall of SST 'Corporate Rock Sucks' is a really good read. It's fun to go through it and listen to each band/album on the way through. There's also a cool podcast called Mojack where they go through every SST release in order and talk about it. Also a good one to listen to the podcast episode and then listen to the album/EP after. That'll keep you busy for a while!
Oh don't get me wrong, it's very enjoyable. I'm just comparing it to the last music bio I'd read, which went into minute detail about every aspect of that band's activity. Keep looking forward to it, it's well worth reading. I'm still less than halfway through it and the band have just split, so there's plenty of HD material.
Just ordered both of the Peter Hook books (the Joy Division and New Order ones) based off of this thread. Really looking forward to them.
I haven't read the New Order one but the Hacienda book is also pretty good. Shows how clueless they all were and how cavalier Tony Wilson was when it came to spending money.
Starting into On the Origin of the Species by Tom Clancy.
Quote from: Mooncat on September 19, 2024, 05:37:05 PMJust ordered both of the Peter Hook books (the Joy Division and New Order ones) based off of this thread. Really looking forward to them.
My buddy bought me a copy of the Joy Division one for my birthday last week. Apparently it's be out of print for a few months.
I have put it next up on my list.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 19, 2024, 11:34:42 PMStarting into On the Origin of the Species by Tom Clancy.
That the one where Jack Ryan goes to the Galapagos and shoots everything?!
Recording the lizards... WITH A BAZOOKA!
The New Order book arrived today. Jesus christ it's a beast. Like War and Peace size!
https://www.easons.com/a-history-of-heavy-metal-andrew-oneill-9781472241450?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg_Sr67rUiAMVB5xQBh14qQLbEAQYASABEgJWNPD_BwE
Bought this purely as a holiday read for a week abroad with the family. Virtually unreadable. I get that many aspects of heavy metal are so inherently ridiculous that it warrants a humourous approach, but every second line is a "hilarious" quip or anecdote. Had to abandon after three chapters
Was given it for Xmas last year. Read a bit of it but your man is a melt.
Yeah he used to have a 'funny' column in Terrorizer which would have put me off reading any book of his.
Quote from: Mooncat on September 19, 2024, 05:37:05 PMJust ordered both of the Peter Hook books (the Joy Division and New Order ones) based off of this thread. Really looking forward to them.
they are good reads, funny parts in them too. Hooky can tell a tall tale, I imagine some of his stories have taken certain liberties ha ha
I read You Were Never Here by Jonathan Ames over the weekend. Fairly short book, but excellent. I couldn't put it down. I've only read two of his books and have enjoyed both so I'll definitely check out more of his material. He wrote the TV show Vored To Death too which I love
Quote from: Necro Red on September 30, 2024, 11:11:10 AMI read You Were Never Here by Jonathan Ames over the weekend. Fairly short book, but excellent. I couldn't put it down. I've only read two of his books and have enjoyed both so I'll definitely check out more of his material. He wrote the TV show Vored To Death too which I love
Great writer. I don't know which other ones you've read but I recommend "I Pass Like Night", "What's Not To Love" and "My Less Than Secret Life" also.
"Bored To Death" was brilliant, Ted Danson was class i it. I never got around to watching Ames' other show "Blunt Talk" though.
Started in on Hooky's "Unknown Pleasures" - very, very enjoyable so far.
Quote from: Necro Red on September 30, 2024, 11:11:10 AMI read You Were Never Here by Jonathan Ames over the weekend. Fairly short book, but excellent. I couldn't put it down. I've only read two of his books and have enjoyed both so I'll definitely check out more of his material. He wrote the TV show Vored To Death too which I love
I read Wake Up Sir and loved it. Blunt Talk is a good laugh and I'm fairly sure it got canned like Bored To Death
Read Eyrie by Tim Winton
Quote from: Don Gately on October 03, 2024, 10:33:51 AMRead Eyrie by Tim Winton
I've read Cloud Street and The Hut (or something like that... The Cabin...) He's a superb writer.
Eyrie is brilliant,
I'll keep an eye out for it so. Cheers.
Did a reread 20 and 30 years later respectively of 1984 and Animal Farm. Was gonna read Orwell's essays to give the background of 1984 til I realised I'm not doing a treatise on the fuckin thing and wasn't arsed. Both brilliant books.
Got a collection of Ernest Hemingway short stories for a couple of quid, the drunken auld bollix can spin a yarn, fair play to him. Loves blood sports :)
Sent the auld lad a copy of Christopher Moore's 'Lamb' to cheer him up after he had surgery there. Considering he struggled to stay with 'Down and Out in Paris and London' because 'a lot of this is bullshit', he's hard to please but he loves this one. 'Gas'. High praise from a cantankerous Kerryman :)
I enjoyed Down And Out... a lot, read it a year or two back. Animal Farm and 1984 are bothe excellent too, though it's been at least 30 years since I read them. I have The Road To Wigan Pier here, I must get into that.
Never read a word of Hemingway, been meaning to for a while. That Ken Burns series on him is well worth a watch.
Road to Wigan Pier is an excellent book, if a bit grim. I think it's Jordan Peterson's favourite non-fiction book, make of that what you will. DAOIPAL is one of those books that's like a warm cup of cocoa, pure comfort reading. Very funny in parts.
Coming up for air is the best of his novels if you ask me. I've never been fishing but I really, really wanted to give it a lash after reading thon.
Quote from: Carnage on October 06, 2024, 12:00:24 PMI enjoyed Down And Out... a lot, read it a year or two back. Animal Farm and 1984 are bothe excellent too, though it's been at least 30 years since I read them. I have The Road To Wigan Pier here, I must get into that.
Never read a word of Hemingway, been meaning to for a while. That Ken Burns series on him is well worth a watch.
I'd start with 'A Farewell to Arms' with Hemingway, based on his time in Italy in WW1. Class book, straightforward writing style suits me as well :)
Noted, thanks.
I like his short stories , the Snows of Kilnanjaro is interesting
Just started a re-read of Lolita. Holy shit, I forgot how in-depth he goes into the rationale and justification for being a pedo. Interesting experience reading a book with incredible writing, but on such a horrible topic. 'Nymphet' has to be one of the grimiest terms in literature.
Ryan Dennis: The Beasts They Turned Away - it's an American writing about rural Ireland and it shows in some of the words & terms used. I can't figure out what I think of it yet (I'm about halfway through). An old man takes in a silent, unnamed child who wears a cow's skull over his head and is thought to be cursed by the locals. Meanwhile an unpopular young farmer is trying to drive the old man out and buy his land. Part The Field, part (the early section of Mike McCormack's) Crowe's Requiem, it's an odd one.
I've read Lolita but can't recall enough to comment, it's on the shelves, no doubt to be taken out again one day, .....that book you're reading sounds interesting Carnage, might look around for that.
Yeah, it's OK. Not really hitting the mark but I still have around 90 pages to go so we'll see.
Started reading Rising by Brian Keene. A zombie apocalypse book, but the zombies are more like the deadites from Evil Dead in that they talk and taunt you etc (plus are also demons possessing people, rather than actual zombies). Enjoyable enough so far. Bit like a watered down Stephen King. In terms of writing style that is, the action/violence isn't watered down at all.
Just got through Wolf Hall and 'got through' probably speaks for itself. I found it hard going, a continuous series of conversations between an ever revolving cast off characters that I couldn't build any relationship with at all. There were some passages that really brought to the fore the brutal reality of life in that period (having money to tip the hangman to ensure a quick drop as opposed to a long torturous dangling :o ) but overall, tough going for me . I'd just previously finished Les Miserables and found that a breeze for the most part in comparison. Still, I'll go on with the next in the Wolf Hall series over the next while and also might pick up the DVD of the first series to maybe get some grip on the characters. The whole motley crew of them!
Quote from: Thorn on November 20, 2024, 01:26:18 AMThe whole motley crew of them!
Wolf Hall: Spandex and Hairspray through the middle ages.
:laugh: Wenchs, Wenchs, Wenchs.
I've been reading We Need To Talk About Kevin. I'm about half way through it, and while it isn't badly written I've Ben finding it a bit of a slog. It's written as letters so not a conventional read. Anyone else ever read it? I got the autobiography on Garbage the other day and I'm motoring through it
Quote from: Necro Red on November 27, 2024, 11:20:41 AMI've been reading We Need To Talk About Kevin. I'm about half way through it, and while it isn't badly written I've Ben finding it a bit of a slog. It's written as letters so not a conventional read. Anyone else ever read it? I got the autobiography on Garbage the other day and I'm motoring through it
I read it fifteen or sixteen years ago and liked it. But I've read one or two other Shriver books in more recent years and thought they were merely good, not great, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up now.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 27, 2024, 11:32:16 AMQuote from: Necro Red on November 27, 2024, 11:20:41 AMI've been reading We Need To Talk About Kevin. I'm about half way through it, and while it isn't badly written I've Ben finding it a bit of a slog. It's written as letters so not a conventional read. Anyone else ever read it? I got the autobiography on Garbage the other day and I'm motoring through it
I read it fifteen or sixteen years ago and liked it. But I've read one or two other Shriver books in more recent years and thought they were merely good, not great, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up now.
yea, it's decent enough. Not mind blowing now. I'll finish it anyway. Mad to read more Jonathan Ames.
Quote from: Mooncat on October 19, 2024, 12:10:30 AMStarted reading Rising by Brian Keene. A zombie apocalypse book, but the zombies are more like the deadites from Evil Dead in that they talk and taunt you etc (plus are also demons possessing people, rather than actual zombies). Enjoyable enough so far. Bit like a watered down Stephen King. In terms of writing style that is, the action/violence isn't watered down at all.
I read this first as Brian Keenan - the fella who was held in Beriut for several years.
Anyone read "A little life" by Hanya Yanagihara
I breezed through Limberlost by Robbie Arnott, a young Australian (Tasmanian perhaps?) writer. Really good stuff. Powerful, in fact. Next up is Dusk by the same author. Let's go.
Always judging a book by its cover has once again paid off.
Just finished Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe, sterling stuff, must hunt down some more by him.
Yes good read, the right stuff also good
Quote from: Thorn on December 11, 2024, 05:10:01 PMJust finished Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe, sterling stuff, must hunt down some more by him.
Love that one too. For some reason I'm really into the yuppie genre in general. American Psycho is an obvious one, but if you liked Bonfire of the Vanities, maybe check out Bright Lights, Big City. Similar to Bonfire, though without the legal angle. It's possibly my favourite book ever.
Cool ,I'll stick that on my list, thanx man
Currently flying through The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks. I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan, besides Dune and Hyperion, but this is brilliant stuff.
Quote from: Mooncat on December 12, 2024, 05:48:15 PMQuote from: Thorn on December 11, 2024, 05:10:01 PMJust finished Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe, sterling stuff, must hunt down some more by him.
Love that one too. For some reason I'm really into the yuppie genre in general. American Psycho is an obvious one, but if you liked Bonfire of the Vanities, maybe check out Bright Lights, Big City. Similar to Bonfire, though without the legal angle. It's possibly my favourite book ever.
Quote from: Thorn on December 12, 2024, 07:56:55 PMCool ,I'll stick that on my list, thanx man
Another shout here for McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City".
On the same note - I arrogantly recommend "Then We Came To The End" by Joshua Ferris which is set in an ad agency during the tech slump of the late 1990s.
I'll stick that on the list too Stout, cheers
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
I finished up Caledonian Road by a Scottish writer named Andrew O'Hagan this morning. A bit of an epic at over 600 pages but a real breeze to read. Highly engaging stuff. He is new to me so I'll have to pick up his earlier works.
I bought Flames by Robbie Arnott this afternoon after watching Sonic 3 in the cinema (oh my god was it good? Yeah it was amazing! Really? I was hoping to go and see it, it's worth it? No, it was complete and utter dogshit, but at least I caught a few Zs). A young Aussie writer, I've recently discovered him and read a couple of his recent releases which were excellent. This is his first one from 2018/19 and it's off to a great start.
Dune (Frank Herbert).
Picked up recently second hand, OG film poster art, will see if better than the movie (or vice versa).
Quote from: leatherface on December 29, 2024, 06:37:38 PMDune (Frank Herbert).
Picked up recently second hand, OG film poster art, will see if better than the movie (or vice versa).
I gave up on it. An incredibly dull piece of writing.
I found it gripping, once I got used to his style. Very matter of fact and deadpan, but the constant plotting within plots kept me engaged.
I found the lack of differentiation between characters a chore. The only one who stood out was the one added for comic relief and he was like a cartoon pirate. I found the whole thing a bit thick :laugh: I can't take the plot seriously if I can't take the characters seriously.
Quote from: Carnage on December 29, 2024, 08:56:14 PMI found it gripping, once I got used to his style. Very matter of fact and deadpan, but the constant plotting within plots kept me engaged.
only read it awhile back too. I enjoyed it for the most part, it is a long read to be fair.
Currently reading Dracula. Really enjoying it so far, except for the annoying aside that I can't help but read Jonathan Harker's diary entries in Keanu Reeves' voice...
"and he, uhhhh, like totally crawled down the wall like a lizard dude. Most non-triumphant."
:laugh: yeah that would kind of ruin the atmosphere alright
Quote from: Mooncat on December 30, 2024, 07:36:03 PMCurrently reading Dracula. Really enjoying it so far, except for the annoying aside that I can't help but read Jonathan Harker's diary entries in Keanu Reeves' voice...
"and he, uhhhh, like totally crawled down the wall like a lizard dude. Most non-trumphant."
:laugh: superb atmosphere building in that book. It is a bond long winded in places but well worth a read. Can't wait to see Nosferatu on Sunday 8)
Quote from: leatherface on December 29, 2024, 06:37:38 PMDune (Frank Herbert).
Picked up recently second hand, OG film poster art, will see if better than the movie (or vice versa).
Edit. The films are great but the book is far superior. In all honesty the book should be 3 films are the amount the left out was vast.
Have just read the first 3. Dune, Messiah and Children of Dune. I read Dune a few years back. Fantastic book that gets better as it goes on. The underlying thems of religion and politics are fascinating. Messiah and Children of Dune were great in their own way. Messiah is a short book any and Children of Dune builds on Paul's prophecies and how his children use that knowledge.
Started God emperor this week. It's getting weird now. I'll finish the 6 books by Frank Herbert anyway. By all accounts the later books written by the son are dismal in comparison.
'Voices from the Grave' Ed Moloney, after watching 'Say Nothing' on Disney. I'll probably only read the 1st half.
The Revenant by Michael Punke, film was based on this, it's a great read, reminds me of John Williams Butchers Crossing which is sublime.
Is that non-Amazon affiliated new and second-hand online Irish bookstore that ships worldwide and which I possibly imagined still going (if it ever was)? Want to grab the Redwall series to re-read with the wee lad (as excuse).
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 29, 2025, 05:46:52 PMIs that non-Amazon affiliated new and second-hand online Irish bookstore that ships worldwide and which I possibly imagined still going (if it ever was)? Want to grab the Redwall series to re-read with the wee lad (as excuse).
Dunno what site you're looking for but I came across this one recently, they seem to have good offers for series/collections. I haven't used them yet so don't know how they are on delivery:
https://www.books2door.com/
Cheers, nice one. Yeah, they had the first six for a decent price. Ended up grabbing the first four second-hand (with better cover art!) from betterworldbooks.com though. Also TIL that there are 22 Redwall novels. That is too many :laugh:
You're screwed if he gets into Discworld so!
Haha, yeah. Think I slipped off the edge of the disc around number 17. Hopefully the wee fella will be reading for himself by the time he's ready for Pratchett anyway :laugh:
Probably, yeah but you never know - my bedtime reading when I was a kid was the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I'm sure a lot of it went over my head then but my old man read me the Tarzan, Pellucidar, John Carter Of Mars, Carson Of Venus etc. series religiously and I loved it all. Kids 'get' a hell of a lot more than we twig.
Ah yeah, for sure they do. It's even interesting in itself what things they ask questions about and what they just kind of allow "passively" sink in even though there's a pretty high chance they haven't understood several key words. Either way: no, feck off, I'm not reading my kid 40 discworld novels :laugh:
475 pages into The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard. I wasn't sir if it was good or bad but I was interested enough to keep going with it and I'm coming to the realisation that it is indeed very good.
Just getting into Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential now. Early days but it's OK so far.
Quote from: Carnage on February 01, 2025, 11:51:04 AMJust getting into Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential now. Early days but it's OK so far.
I read that twenty odd years ago and loved it but watching his TV shows these days, being older and more experienced in the world, I find his persona a bit contrived. He's entertaining to a degree, but a bit of a knobhead :laugh:
I'm getting that from the book and, having only watched bits and pieces of his shows, it's not coming as much of a surprise. Still, the documentary on him from a year or two ago was interesting and the book is holding my interest so far.
I have to say, though never a high end one, I've worked in plenty of kitchens and most of the 'revelation' I've come across so far are completely fictional.
I have to say I found the book pretty boring. Much prefer his TV persona later on. I mean he's a TV presenter so of course it's a bit contrived, but he's still well-spoken and entertaining. He Certainly has more depth than your average bland/big presenter. He's into good music too and not shy about shouting it out, which is always a plus.
Bosnian novel, apparently part 2 of a trilogy
The Days of the Consuls by Ivo Andrić. Interesting so far
Meat Puppets - Too High to Die
I love an oul oral history and this one is pretty great. Also a nice look at the independent scene and SST etc in general in that era. A nice easy, fast read. Plus it'll take you on a trip through their surprisingly excellent discography.
Got Bob Mould's autobiography lined up, plus Rip It Up, a history of post-punk as well, (not to mention the two Peter Hook books I need to get into as well, gah!).
Quote from: Mooncat on February 07, 2025, 09:44:54 PMMeat Puppets - Too High to Die
I love an oul oral history and this one is pretty great. Also a nice look at the independent scene and SST etc in general in that era. A nice easy, fast read. Plus it'll take you on a trip through their surprisingly excellent discography. Full of entertaining stories and tidbits.
Got Bob Mould's autobiography lined up, plus Rip It Up, a history of post-punk as well, (not to mention the two Peter Hook books I need to get into as well, gah!).
If We Burn - Vincent Bevins
Looks at the vast protests in the 2010's (Arab Spring, Turkey, Ukraine, Sao Palo), how they came about, how they fell apart and how it was co-opted by right wingers across the globe. A through and eye-opening read at times although the author seems surprised at how conservatives could also use social media to get their message across.
Started into The Holotropic Mind last night. Heavy stuff. I feel like it could be described as trip thoughts, but properly elucidated. Looking forward to reading what more is in there because I'm only about 60 pages in and my poor little mind was expanded to bits
The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt. So far so good
Quote from: Don Gately on February 15, 2025, 09:33:38 AMThe Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt. So far so good
Good book. I read it years back.
I finished The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard the other night and have just begun the third party of the trilogy (of course I haven't read part one yet) called The Third Realm. I like this dude's style.
Nearly finished 'Heat 2'. It's a bit like reading fan fiction.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on February 16, 2025, 01:32:43 AMQuote from: Don Gately on February 15, 2025, 09:33:38 AMThe Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt. So far so good
Good book. I read it years back.
I finished The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard the other night and have just begun the third party of the trilogy (of course I haven't read part one yet) called The Third Realm. I like this dude's style.
Have you read My Struggle, I've the first 3 read
Quote from: Don Gately on February 16, 2025, 10:17:44 AMQuote from: Eoin McLove on February 16, 2025, 01:32:43 AMQuote from: Don Gately on February 15, 2025, 09:33:38 AMThe Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt. So far so good
Negative. I only came across him with Wolves... is it worth a read? Instantly getting drawn into The Third Realm here.
Good book. I read it years back.
I finished The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard the other night and have just begun the third party of the trilogy (of course I haven't read part one yet) called The Third Realm. I like this dude's style.
Have you read My Struggle, I've the first 3 read
First ne is a tough read , deals with his family's alcohol addiction. Pretty intense and grubby , second one is about growing up and becoming a father so I could relate a lot, found myself nodding along to alot of it. Something addictive about the style of writing.
I must start volume 4 soon.
Nice. I'll keep an eye out for them.
Quote from: Blankety Blank on February 16, 2025, 09:35:48 AMNearly finished 'Heat 2'. It's a bit like reading fan fiction.
Sorry, not adding anything to the conversation with this one but the words "fan fiction" strike fear into my heart. There are not many things worse
Almost finished Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. He's becoming one of my go-to authors, his novels are entertaining and a pleasure to read even when I'm knackered.
Quote from: Maggot Colony on February 18, 2025, 04:12:29 PMAlmost finished Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. He's becoming one of my go-to authors, his novels are entertaining and a pleasure to read even when I'm knackered.
What would you recommend as a starting point?
Page 1... :-[
Quote from: Mooncat on February 18, 2025, 09:17:42 PMQuote from: Maggot Colony on February 18, 2025, 04:12:29 PMAlmost finished Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. He's becoming one of my go-to authors, his novels are entertaining and a pleasure to read even when I'm knackered.
What would you recommend as a starting point?
I'd recommend Killshot which is the first novel of his I read. It's a cracking story involving a pair of hitmen and a married couple. I don't want to give too much away, but the dialogue is great and the plot is very unpredictable.
The only other novels I've read by him are Out of Sight and Get Shorty, both of which were made into films. Get Shorty is excellent. Out of Sight is good, but I wouldn't recommend it over the other two.
Herself got me Leonard's Four Novels of the 1980s collection for Christmas. Looking forward to getting stuck into those.
Quote from: Mooncat on February 18, 2025, 09:17:42 PMWhat would you recommend as a starting point?
Quote from: Maggot Colony on February 19, 2025, 10:24:36 AMI'd recommend Killshot which is the first novel of his I read. It's a cracking story involving a pair of hitmen and a married couple. I don't want to give too much away, but the dialogue is great and the plot is very unpredictable.
The only other novels I've read by him are Out of Sight and Get Shorty, both of which were made into films. Get Shorty is excellent. Out of Sight is good, but I wouldn't recommend it over the other two.
Herself got me Leonard's Four Novels of the 1980s collection for Christmas. Looking forward to getting stuck into those.
Leonard at his best is like Stephen King - just a joy and breeze to read. I started with "Get Shorty" back when the film came out.
I'd recommend "Swag", "Rum Punch" (made into "Jackie Brown" by Tarantino), "The Hunted", "Maximum Bob", "Glitz" and the Raylan Givens books - paraticularaly "Pronto", "City Primeval" and "Riding The Rap". The last book, simply called "Raylan", which was also Leonard's last book is OK too.
Quote from: astfgyl on February 17, 2025, 03:43:41 PMQuote from: Blankety Blank on February 16, 2025, 09:35:48 AMNearly finished 'Heat 2'. It's a bit like reading fan fiction.
Sorry, not adding anything to the conversation with this one but the words "fan fiction" strike fear into my heart. There are not many things worse
You'd be right. An unnecessary sequel that's currently be made into a film.
Just finished Brian Cox' autobiography (the actor, not the scientist). It's alright. He's a lot more of a luvvie than I'd have taken him for, the majority of it concerns his lengthy theatrical career with the film stuff fairly flown through. He's fond of dropping names and not a bit shy about slagging people off (though he does cop out a bit in the afterword).
Worth a read, but far from essential.
I've been reading loads lately so allow me to dump some of my thoughts here.
Currently reading Babel by RF Kuang. So far so good, a bit of a Phillip Pullman type low fantasy/alternate history feel to it.
Best novel I've read this year so far is Lapvona, by Otessa Moshfegh from a couple of years ago. Grim and miserable medieval stuff, intense and violent but also atmospheric and even at times a little funny. She lays it on thick and is sometimes cartoonish with her depictions of the feckless lord, clapping, engorging himself and drinking his way through a famine, but somehow it just works for me.
Also read Samantha Harvey's Orbital, winner of the man booker. For such a tiny book it felt so long. Some nice prose but far inferior to her earlier novel The Western Wind. I don't get why Orbital rose to the fore but there you go.
For non fiction Mesopotamia by Gwendolyn Leick and Assyria by Eckhart Frahm. Mesopotamian civilisations a bit of an obsession of mine recently. Assyria is a brilliant popular history book about that particular society, published last year. Gwendolyn Leicks book is older and more archaeologically focused, she picks 10 Mesopotamian cities and gives a detailed essay on each, from archaeological evidence to their historical significance and role, to their founding Myths and place within babylonian culture. Brilliant stuff.
The Language Puzzle by Steven Mithen. How we talked our way out of the stone age is the subtitle of this book, and that's essentially what it is. Trying to piece together the earliest possible traces of human speech and covers it with a degree of real academic, scientific rigour. Really interesting topic if you're into linguistics and prehistoric stuff. A bit much at times, I skimmed through the section where he describes in great detail the anatomy of the fucking ear canal of a chimpanzee - its entirely relevant to the study and he's a real scientist at work but I can just take yourbword for it Steven.
Final recommendation for history is The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia. This is basically a full global human history using the sea as its framing device. Don't know how else to summarise it, I guess be prepared to hear a lot about trade. Doesn't drone on endlessly about this battle or that armada, definitely more about seafaring, navigating, settling, trading, empire building and he moves through all of these time periods and every corner of the world at a decent enjoyable clip. Utterly fascinating and couldn't recommend it highly enough if these sweeping histories are your bag. Generally the less specific a history book the more skeptical I am, but this is a masterpiece.
Quote from: boozegeune on March 26, 2025, 10:51:37 PMI've been reading loads lately so allow me to dump some of my thoughts here.
Currently reading Babel by RF Kuang. So far so good, a bit of a Phillip Pullman type low fantasy/alternate history feel to it.
Best novel I've read this year so far is Lapvona, by Otessa Moshfegh from a couple of years ago. Grim and miserable medieval stuff, intense and violent but also atmospheric and even at times a little funny. She lays it on thick and is sometimes cartoonish with her depictions of the feckless lord, clapping, engorging himself and drinking his way through a famine, but somehow it just works for me.
Also read Samantha Harvey's Orbital, winner of the man booker. For such a tiny book it felt so long. Some nice prose but far inferior to her earlier novel The Western Wind. I don't get why Orbital rose to the fore but there you go.
For non fiction Mesopotamia by Gwendolyn Leick and Assyria by Eckhart Frahm. Mesopotamian civilisations a bit of an obsession of mine recently. Assyria is a brilliant popular history book about that particular society, published last year. Gwendolyn Leicks book is older and more archaeologically focused, she picks 10 Mesopotamian cities and gives a detailed essay on each, from archaeological evidence to their historical significance and role, to their founding Myths and place within babylonian culture. Brilliant stuff.
The Language Puzzle by Steven Mithen. How we talked our way out of the stone age is the subtitle of this book, and that's essentially what it is. Trying to piece together the earliest possible traces of human speech and covers it with a degree of real academic, scientific rigour. Really interesting topic if you're into linguistics and prehistoric stuff. A bit much at times, I skimmed through the section where he describes in great detail the anatomy of the fucking ear canal of a chimpanzee - its entirely relevant to the study and he's a real scientist at work but I can just take yourbword for it Steven.
Final recommendation for history is The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia. This is basically a full global human history using the sea as its framing device. Don't know how else to summarise it, I guess be prepared to hear a lot about trade. Doesn't drone on endlessly about this battle or that armada, definitely more about seafaring, navigating, settling, trading, empire building and he moves through all of these time periods and every corner of the world at a decent enjoyable clip. Utterly fascinating and couldn't recommend it highly enough if these sweeping histories are your bag. Generally the less specific a history book the more skeptical I am, but this is a masterpiece.
The Language Puzzle sounds promising. I'll keep an eye out for it.
Re read "The Universe in your Hand" by Christophe Galfard. Great popular science book about the universe and quantum world.
Now on to "Parallel Worlds" by Michio Kaku. Again a popular science book but far more depth. Both books show how insane our universe is.
I have Orbital on the shelf waiting it's turn. Currently reading House Of The Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was part of an old family collection of classics but I always avoided it because I thought it was some sort of Gone With The Wind type thing but far from it, actually another connection my brain was making was Seven Sisters For Seven Brothers, but again no,..it's no sort of wistful love story at all ..it's good ,enjoying it and flying through it.
Finished Fisherman's Blues by Mick Donnellan there. Mad, starts off like a Ken Bruen (RIP) book before getting weirder and weirder as it goes on. It's set in Galway, Purgatory and Hell (some might say they're all the one), so take from that what you will. Self published, I'd say - the spelling and formatting were all over the place and the cover looks very amateur. Lots of elements don't work but it was good craic.
Picked off the shelf at random: Munich by Robert Harris. Hard to go wrong with anything of his (apart from The Fear Index, that was shite).
Imperium was great and the one about the popes
Conclave, yeah it was decent. If you liked Imperium then the rest of the trilogy (Lustrum & Dictator) are just as good. Pompeii is worth a read too, though it's more of a mystery than political intrigue.
I've enjoyed all of his that I've read apart from The Fear Index as I mentioned above. I just found it cheesy and predictable, with a 'twist' that was well telegraphed and has been aped a hundred times since.
Picked up a few Clive Barker books on the cheap, only know his stuff like Hellraiser and the other films adapted from his stories, but never read any of his novels. Hundred or so pages into Sacrament and it's pretty good so far
Anne Enroghts "The Green Road"
Quote from: Don Gately on April 06, 2025, 07:49:38 AMAnne Enroghts "The Green Road"
I read that years ago and loved it. The best thing I've read by her.
Dracula: Dacre Stoker/JD Barker. A very good and very worthy prequel, which came as a bit of a surprise.
Robert Harris: The Ghost
I picked this up after seeing the film adaptation when it came out, and had left it on my shelf in the hope that I'd forget the twist and go into it blind. No such luck (as it turns out, all I can remember is the twist) but I might as well give it a go anyway, he's generally great.
Generation X by Doug Coupland
He's a very snappy writer. Lots of quotable lines and a fun revisit of late 80s/early 90s culture.
Quote from: Mooncat on May 12, 2025, 06:01:24 PMGeneration X by Doug Coupland
He's a very snappy writer. Lots of quotable lines and a fun revisit of late 80s/early 90s culture.
I've had Hey Nostradamus! on the shelf for a while, haven't gotten around to it yet.
My cousin Rachael by Daphne du Maurier
Rereading Barkskins by Annie Proulx at the moment. She is a force of nature. Utterly fucking brutal! Savage stuff.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 14, 2025, 08:48:29 AMRereading Barkskins by Annie Proulx at the moment. She is a force of nature. Utterly fucking brutal! Savage stuff.
I read Close Range last year, and was blown away by the writing. Funny, haunting, and brutal. She's in the same league as Cormac McCarthy.
55 Miles to the Gas Pump is one of my favourite short stories:
https://www.somanybooks.org/eng102/55MilestotheGasPump.pdf (https://www.somanybooks.org/eng102/55MilestotheGasPump.pdf)
Quote from: Maggot Colony on May 14, 2025, 10:00:23 AMQuote from: Eoin McLove on May 14, 2025, 08:48:29 AMRereading Barkskins by Annie Proulx at the moment. She is a force of nature. Utterly fucking brutal! Savage stuff.
I read Close Range last year, and was blown away by the writing. Funny, haunting, and brutal. She's in the same calibre as Cormac McCarthy.
55 Miles to the Gas Pump is one of my favourite short stories:
https://www.somanybooks.org/eng102/55MilestotheGasPump.pdf (https://www.somanybooks.org/eng102/55MilestotheGasPump.pdf)
Yeah she's good. Barkskins is particularly cruel, following woodsmen over the 300 years of European settlement of Canada. Main characters will be unceremoniously axed (hehe) without a backwards glance, the world keeps turning.
Thanks must check it out, the Shipping news is a great book
I read it a long time ago. I remember liking it but can't remember it now. The film is very good.
Yeah, Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore, good show.
Quote from: Carnage on May 12, 2025, 12:25:46 PMRobert Harris: The Ghost
I picked this up after seeing the film adaptation when it came out, and had left it on my shelf in the hope that I'd forget the twist and go into it blind. No such luck (as it turns out, all I can remember is the twist) but I might as well give it a go anyway, he's generally great.
I finished this the other day. Enjoyed it, even with the awareness of the twist - though that reveal was so hamfisted that it almost ruined it altogether.
I read John Boyne's The Dare yesterday, nice quick read, very decent.
Onto Maura McHugh: The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams), a collection of horror short stories. Just read the one so far, not bad.
Quote from: Carnage on May 31, 2025, 12:09:51 PMQuote from: Carnage on May 12, 2025, 12:25:46 PMRobert Harris: The Ghost
I picked this up after seeing the film adaptation when it came out, and had left it on my shelf in the hope that I'd forget the twist and go into it blind. No such luck (as it turns out, all I can remember is the twist) but I might as well give it a go anyway, he's generally great.
I finished this the other day. Enjoyed it, even with the awareness of the twist - though that reveal was so hamfisted that it almost ruined it altogether.
I read John Boyne's The Dare yesterday, nice quick read, very decent.
Onto Maura McHugh: The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams), a collection of horror short stories. Just read the one so far, not bad.
The Dare was good. I read it a few years ago.
Been pretty much reading nothing but nonfiction/ History this year.
Paxton - Anatomy of Fascism
Evans - Coming of the Third Reich (1st in a trilogy)
Ellsberg - Doomsday Machine
Lindqvist - Exterminate all the brutes
Got around to Hedges - The Greatest Evil is War
All very much recommended :)
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 31, 2025, 12:25:46 PMThe Dare was good. I read it a few years ago.
It might have been your recommendation that put me onto it, it was someone in this thread anyway. Reminded me of Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha a bit, but was much better.
Quote from: Pat Twisted Wrath on May 31, 2025, 12:33:48 PMPaxton - Anatomy of Fascism
All very much recommended :)
That's a serious list, I've just downloaded Paxtons book. Thanks for the recommendation
Quote from: Carnage on May 31, 2025, 12:42:22 PMQuote from: Eoin McLove on May 31, 2025, 12:25:46 PMThe Dare was good. I read it a few years ago.
It might have been your recommendation that put me onto it, it was someone in this thread anyway. Reminded me of Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha a bit, but was much better.
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha was deadly, but I read it a long time ago. Don't know how well it stood the test of time.
I didn't think much of it TBH. Can't remember much about it other than the format/tone (adult events seen from a child's perspective), I was on a Doyle binge at the time and found it lacking compared to the other ones I'd read.
Quote from: Pat Twisted Wrath on May 31, 2025, 12:33:48 PMBeen pretty much reading nothing but nonfiction/ History this year.
Paxton - Anatomy of Fascism
Evans - Coming of the Third Reich (1st in a trilogy)
Ellsberg - Doomsday Machine
Lindqvist - Exterminate all the brutes
Got around to Hedges - The Greatest Evil is War
All very much recommended :)
Ah, here it is, Stephen King's 'The Shining'. ;)
Quote from: Thorn on May 31, 2025, 04:07:47 PMQuote from: Pat Twisted Wrath on May 31, 2025, 12:33:48 PMBeen pretty much reading nothing but nonfiction/ History this year.
Paxton - Anatomy of Fascism
Evans - Coming of the Third Reich (1st in a trilogy)
Ellsberg - Doomsday Machine
Lindqvist - Exterminate all the brutes
Got around to Hedges - The Greatest Evil is War
All very much recommended :)
Ah, here it is, Stephen King's 'The Shining'. ;)
Nearly had an aneurism trying to remember where this reference was from :laugh:
Outstanding stuff!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Quality.
The tin drum by Gunther Grass
Quote from: Don Gately on June 02, 2025, 07:17:25 PMThe tin drum by Gunther Grass
I read that years ago. A strange, but very good book.
Almost finished reading My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. Not as good as Rebecca, or Jamaica Inn, but still very gripping and well-written.
Quote from: Maggot Colony on June 03, 2025, 12:16:21 PMQuote from: Don Gately on June 02, 2025, 07:17:25 PMThe tin drum by Gunther Grass
I read that years ago. A strange, but very good book.
Almost finished reading My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. Not as good as Rebecca, or Jamaica Inn, but still very gripping and well-written.
Haha I just finished my cousin Rachel, a bit saggy in the middle but good nonetheless
Been enjoying a re-read of Salem's Lot this week. He really has a way of sucking you into his world, and also a way of pushing certain nostalgia buttons that really speak to you. The "look at me" scene and the Danny Glick in the coffin scenes were both fantastic! Proper horror.
Now I'm in the zone and a King-a-thon is the last thing I need with the 20 other books on my nightstand :laugh:
Yeah I ended up getting about 30 King books out of SVP last year for nowt. He's fucking great.
Yeah spent mist of my youth reading King, loved the Bachman books, the Shining and Misery
This is in answer to the post in the non metal thread:
I read The Mist not too long ago as well and the film is every bit as good as the book. Both endings are bleak but in different ways and in a way the film actually offers a bit more hope although that's pushing it a fair bit tbf
I see they're making The Stand into a movie. Or is that old news?
Think I heard something about that. I vaguely remember the old two part one starring the slow lad from Coach
That was a big thing at the time, it hasn't held up well. Lieutanant Dan, Max Headroom and Molly Ringwald were in it too, if memory serves. There was a more recent remake a few years ago that was apparently awful.
I'm an idiot, not sure how I posted this in the wrong forum. Anyway here's it copied over:
Just finished The Mist by Stephen King. A nice quick read. I'd seen the film before but this was the first time with the book. I enjoyed it, but I think the film might actually be better. It adds some bits and pieces that improve it all I think. The film really accentuates that Lovecraftian tone of it as well.
Trying to read some King I haven't read before so I've got Christine and Cujo on the nightstand for next (I've seen both of those films too).
Started into the mighty and epic tome that is The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich this evening. 650 pages or so. It looks daunting and has sat on the shelf for a few years but it is incredibly interesting from the start and completely accessible in its style. 50 pages in already.
Just started reading Lovecraft for the first time, I picked up a collection of his stories. Started with The Call of Chthulu as it feels like the most famous one. Gotta say I thought it was just ok. The writing style doesn't translate especially well to modern times (i had the same feelings about Dracula). I can imagine how for its time it would have been groundbreaking and scary, but I found it a bit meh to be honest. I'll read a few more though to be sure. Maybe the idea of secret cults and conspiracies just pales today in comparison to the very real, much scarier ones!
It did inspire me to rewatch The Void afterwards though. That's a fun one. It's like a greatest hits of other, better horrors lol.
Yeah I've a big slab of a thing - his complete works - and I was so nonplussed by it I use it as a stand for my PS5 (it deadens the vibration from the disc drive nicely :laugh: ).
Picked up "Music As Medicine" by Daniel Levitin over the weekend. Really enjoyed his "This Is Your Brain On Music", so I'm looking forward to starting this one.
Just finished Cujo. I enjoyed it enough though it was quite rambly at times. A 400 page book that could easily have been 300 or less. The sections from the dog's perspective were a cool idea. Gotta rewatch the film now!
Just started Men in Love by Irvine Welch, a direct sequel to Trainspotting. Welch is definitely milking it but I love these characters so I'm delighted to be back in this world.
Also reading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. The plot is a bit convoluted but the dialogue is excellent.
Porno was the direct sequel to Trainspotting, is Men In Love a follow on from that?
Just finished The Cabin At The End Of The World, hone invasion story where the invaders demand a sacrifice to prevent the apocalypse. M. Knight Shyalaman directed a film adaptation a couple of years ago, although key plot points and the ending are different. Both versions recommended.
A new Welsh is always welcome.
I picked up a nice hardback copy of Eyrie by Tim Winton in a charity shop today for $4. The first 20 pages have me hooked but I'm halfway through a re-read of Ian McEwan's The Children Act in anticipation of his forthcoming novel, so I'll try to resist :-X
Quote from: Carnage on July 24, 2025, 02:04:03 PMPorno was the direct sequel to Trainspotting, is Men In Love a follow on from that?
Men in Love is set right after the events in Trainspotting. Porno was set 10 years after.
Ah right. I lost track of Welsh years ago TBH.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on July 24, 2025, 02:18:31 PMA new Welsh is always welcome.
I picked up a nice hardback copy of Eyrie by Tim Winton in a charity shop today for $4. The first 20 pages have me hooked but I'm halfway through a re-read of Ian McEwan's The Children Act in anticipation of his forthcoming novel, so I'll try to resist :-X
Ah great book, I may have recommended this here. Im struggling through new Murakami " the city and its uncertain walls" not great.
Spotted that new Welsh book the other day. Was surprised he went back to the well, but feck it, they've always been a good read.
Been reading the original Trainspotting after the mentions of Irvine Welsh in this thread. My first time reading it actually, despite loving the film. Really enjoying it so far, it's very reminiscent of Last Exit to Brooklyn, except Scottish. Took a little while to get into the flow of reading the dialect but now I'm flying through it.
It's so much darker and funnier than the film, which is great in its own right too.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on August 05, 2025, 03:53:43 AMIt's so much darker and funnier than the film, which is great in its own right too.
I actually can't believe how good it is, every other line is amazing. It's so insightful. Might be just because I'm removed from back home for 10yrs that it's having extra impact on me, but holy shit I can't put it down. It's really capturing a kind of life and humour that just doesn't exist out here in the same way.
Quote from: Mooncat on August 05, 2025, 09:17:53 PMQuote from: Eoin McLove on August 05, 2025, 03:53:43 AMIt's so much darker and funnier than the film, which is great in its own right too.
I actually can't believe how good it is, every other line is amazing. It's so insightful. Might be just because I'm removed from back home for 10yrs that it's having extra impact on me, but holy shit I can't put it down. It's really capturing a kind of life and humour that just doesn't exist out here in the same way.
I think most of his books are of a high quality, the ones I've read at least.
Finished reading Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession this evening, enjoyed it a lot, blasted through it. Interesting story, without ruining it the general gist is a mountain just appears outside a small town and it goes through years of little interlocking stories of how it affects a group of people.
Got through a little book of Dostoyevsky short stories before that, some were good, some did nothing for me to the point I can't even recall them now. The Meek One was decent and took up most of the book.
I've Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses queued up to start next.
Quote from: ochoill on September 01, 2025, 11:11:09 PMFinished reading Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession this evening, enjoyed it a lot, blasted through it. Interesting story, without ruining it the general gist is a mountain just appears outside a small town and it goes through years of little interlocking stories of how it affects a group of people.
Got through a little book of Dostoyevsky short stories before that, some were good, some did nothing for me to the point I can't even recall them now. The Meek One was decent and took up most of the book.
I've Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses queued up to start next.
Ghost Mountain sounds interesting. I may pick it up.
Quote from: ochoill on September 01, 2025, 11:11:09 PMFinished reading Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession
I'm a big fan of Hession's first two books, particularly "Leonard & Hungry Paul" but I haven't gotten around to "Ghost Mountain" yet. The cover painting (much like "Panenka") is striking.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 02, 2025, 08:38:37 AMQuote from: ochoill on September 01, 2025, 11:11:09 PMFinished reading Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession
I'm a big fan of Hession's first two books, particularly "Leonard & Hungry Paul" but I haven't gotten around to "Ghost Mountain" yet. The cover painting (much like "Panenka") is striking.
Oh no, I didn't enjoy Leonard & Hungry Paul at all. I'll give this a miss :laugh:
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 02, 2025, 08:38:37 AMQuote from: ochoill on September 01, 2025, 11:11:09 PMFinished reading Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession
I'm a big fan of Hession's first two books, particularly "Leonard & Hungry Paul" but I haven't gotten around to "Ghost Mountain" yet. The cover painting (much like "Panenka") is striking.
Never read his other books but will give them a go after this. It was the cover and idea that grabbed me, turned out different than I expected but still very good.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 02, 2025, 09:09:44 AMOh no, I didn't enjoy Leonard & Hungry Paul at all. I'll give this a miss :laugh:
A short lived curiousity :laugh: I won't lie, the first few chapters I wasn't sure if it was grabbing me but suddenly I was most of the way through the book. Enjoyed the style of it a lot.
I liked hungry paul alot is Panenka any good though we have that but wife didnt rate it.
Im currently reading Far from thr madding crowd by Thomas Hardy
Grabbed the new Ian McEwan, What We Can Know. Sceitimíní.
Edit. I just finished this. Superb. A slow start to it, much like his last one, Lessons, but once it gets going it's really good. Some really funny parts in it, some harrowing stuff and a little bit of dark brutality which calls back to some of his earlier writing. The man is getting on so who knows how many more novels we'll get from him, but I really hope there'll be more. He has such a distinctive voice but is so endlessly creative with it/ in it.
Kim Gordon: Girl In A Band - Don't bother. It was interesting when she talked about Sonic Youth (each album gets a chapter, though even that tails off toward the end) but otherwise she turns an early life that could have been interesting into a borefest, and extended sections on the New York art scene in the '80s are terminally dull. Unitentionally ironic snobbery is all over it. I'll give her credit for being quite restrained about the marriage breakup - aside from the opening chapter, which could have been called Thurston Is A Big Meanie And I Hate Him.
Quote from: Carnage on September 23, 2025, 01:54:08 PMKim Gordon: Girl In A Band - Don't bother. It was interesting when she talked about Sonic Youth (each album gets a chapter, though even that tails off toward the end) but otherwise she turns an early life that could have been interesting into a borefest, and extended sections on the New York art scene in the '80s are terminally dull. Unitentionally ironic snobbery is all over it. I'll give her credit for being quite restrained about the marriage breakup - aside from the opening chapter, which could have been called Thurston Is A Big Meanie And I Hate Him.
Like visual art? What was her involvement in that scene?
Miles Davis's bio
Such a fun read. He's so blunt with the way he talks that it's really engaging. The style is very informal, like he's just talking to you over a drink at a bar, and it's a refreshing read because it's so direct, including all the vulgarities of the ways you'd talk to your mates in private :laugh: Particularly given you'd rarely read a bio like this anymore since everyone is careful with what they say now. Full of good stories though and well worth a read if you're into jazz.
Quote from: Mooncat on September 23, 2025, 05:57:48 PMQuote from: Carnage on September 23, 2025, 01:54:08 PMKim Gordon: Girl In A Band - Don't bother. It was interesting when she talked about Sonic Youth (each album gets a chapter, though even that tails off toward the end) but otherwise she turns an early life that could have been interesting into a borefest, and extended sections on the New York art scene in the '80s are terminally dull. Unitentionally ironic snobbery is all over it. I'll give her credit for being quite restrained about the marriage breakup - aside from the opening chapter, which could have been called Thurston Is A Big Meanie And I Hate Him.
Like visual art? What was her involvement in that scene?
Some of that, 'performance' stuff as well. She worked for people in the scene as an assistant too. She seems to regard herself primarily as a vusual artist, despite being exclusively known as a musician. I'd assume it's to distance herself from Moore and the band, she's quite dismissive of the others without being outright critical of them.
Quote from: Mooncat on September 23, 2025, 06:00:45 PMMiles Davis's bio
Such a fun read. He's so blunt with the way he talks that it's really engaging. The style is very informal, like he's just talking to you over a drink at a bar, and it's a refreshing read because it's so direct, including all the vulgarities of the ways you'd talk to your mates in private :laugh: Particularly given you'd rarely read a bio like this anymore since everyone is careful with what they say now. Full of good stories though and well worth a read if you're into jazz.
Two recommendations for you, Mooncat;
- "As Serious As Your Life" by Val Wilmer (not a typo) from the mid 1970s.
- "Three Shades Of Blue" by James Kaplan from last year.
I picked up the new Irvine Welsh, Men in Love, which is a direct follow up to Trainspotting. High hopes.
Quote from: Carnage on September 23, 2025, 01:54:08 PMKim Gordon: Girl In A Band - Don't bother. It was interesting when she talked about Sonic Youth (each album gets a chapter, though even that tails off toward the end) but otherwise she turns an early life that could have been interesting into a borefest, and extended sections on the New York art scene in the '80s are terminally dull. Unitentionally ironic snobbery is all over it. I'll give her credit for being quite restrained about the marriage breakup - aside from the opening chapter, which could have been called Thurston Is A Big Meanie And I Hate Him.
Yeah, felt the same about this. Was looking forward to reading it but gave up about half way through. Bit of a slog tbh.
If you still have it, the chapters about the albums are worth a read. Otherwise I'd leave it.
Quote from: StoutAndAle on September 24, 2025, 12:41:47 PMQuote from: Mooncat on September 23, 2025, 06:00:45 PMMiles Davis's bio
Such a fun read. He's so blunt with the way he talks that it's really engaging. The style is very informal, like he's just talking to you over a drink at a bar, and it's a refreshing read because it's so direct, including all the vulgarities of the ways you'd talk to your mates in private :laugh: Particularly given you'd rarely read a bio like this anymore since everyone is careful with what they say now. Full of good stories though and well worth a read if you're into jazz.
Two recommendations for you, Mooncat;
- "As Serious As Your Life" by Val Wilmer (not a typo) from the mid 1970s.
- "Three Shades Of Blue" by James Kaplan from last year.
Thanks for the recs! I'll look those up.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on September 25, 2025, 08:09:07 AMI picked up the new Irvine Welsh, Men in Love, which is a direct follow up to Trainspotting. High hopes.
Def interested to hear what you think, I've been eyeing this one up too.
Just picked up a book called The Light at the End, which is supposedly the first splatterpunk novel. Set in New York in 1984 (it was written in the 80s too) about a vampire. Should be a good Halloween season read. I've only read the first chapter, but it was really good! And very of its time and place, which I was hoping for.
Finished up Men In Love. Entertaining but a lot lighter than Trainspotting et al. Fun, but not essential.
I picked up Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq today, knowing none of his earlier work. I've also started tipping through Enduring Love by Ian McEwan for the third time (maybe fourth?) so I'll bounce between those two for the next while.
Reading The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James 👻
I'm about halfway through that, one I pick up now and then as a palate cleanser.
I'm re-reading some Anne Rice books. On Queen Of The Damned now. Thought it wouldn't really hold up since I read it when I was younger but it's still just as good. There's a serious amount of depth and atmosphere to it. Some parts come off like historical fiction it's so well written.
Getting on much better with the sequel to Wolf Hall than then the original, flying through it.
The Exorcist. Genuinely a good read, assumed it would be pulpy. But was quiet literary, some absolutely beautiful lines yet one of the few horrors ive read that made me feel errie.
Ya, it's class.
Must give it a go some time.
Ya The Exorcist is great. If you liked that I would recommend a book called Naomi's Room. It's one of the few books to genuinely creep me out and is quite short too and really well written. Author is from northern Ireland too.
The sound and the fury by William Faulkner, round 2 with this beast it won't defeat me again
Just started Faith, Hope And Carnage by Nick Cave and Seán O'Hagan. An extended interview/conversation between the two, coming not long afteŕ covid, the death of Cave's son, Ghosteen, etc. Been looking forward to this one for a while.
Just started it myself, it's very good thus far.
Quote from: Don Gately on October 25, 2025, 12:10:28 PMThe sound and the fury by William Faulkner, round 2 with this beast it won't defeat me again
I hated that when I read it before and it took me far too long to register the structure, which was so blatantly obvious once the penny dropped. I would have had to go back to the start and begin again but I was so fucking fed up of it that I didn't care who was who and what was happening by that point :laugh: probably one I should revisit at some point with that little extra bit of knowledge. "But really... maybe not...
Quote from: blessed1 on October 25, 2025, 11:00:11 AMYa The Exorcist is great. If you liked that I would recommend a book called Naomi's Room. It's one of the few books to genuinely creep me out and is quite short too and really well written. Author is from northern Ireland too.
I read Naomi's Room earlier this year, probably my first horror book since The Omen, Exorcist ones about 25 years ago. Really good.
Any other horror recommendations?
Quote from: Emphyrio on October 25, 2025, 01:54:10 PMQuote from: blessed1 on October 25, 2025, 11:00:11 AMYa The Exorcist is great. If you liked that I would recommend a book called Naomi's Room. It's one of the few books to genuinely creep me out and is quite short too and really well written. Author is from northern Ireland too.
I read Naomi's Room earlier this year, probably my first horror book since The Omen, Exorcist ones about 25 years ago. Really good.
Any other horror recommendations?
Bentley Little - The Mailman. Similar to Stephen King when he's at his best.
To Reign In Hell - Stephen Brust. This one is very cool. About the fall of
Satan.
The Moorstone Sickness - Bernard Taylor. Very good folk horror.
Headhunter - Michael Slade. Serial killer thriller.
The Treatment - Mo Hayder. Very dark thriller about child abuse. There's actually a movie based on it that's excellent as well.
Survivor - J.F Gonzalez. Very gory splatter type book about snuff movies.
Ravenous Ghosts - Kealen Patrick Burke. Short story collection from a great Irish author.
I would also try some of Jonathon Aycliffe's other books. Especially the The Vanishment and The Talisman. The Talisman is very influenced by The Exorcist and just as good imo.
And while I'm at it I may as well plus one of my own stories lol
I had one of my short stories published in an anthology called Screams From The Ocean Floor. It's a cosmic horror type tale if you are into that sort of stuff.
One I read recently was The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams) by Maura McHugh, a collection of folk horror short stories. Very enjoyable, she's an American based in Claregalway and most of the stories are Ireland-set.
Excellent, a note made of them. Just gotta get through a fairly large collection of just-started Matthew Stover books.
Picked up Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee. I'll be juggling now :-X
Quote from: Eoin McLove on October 25, 2025, 01:19:32 PMQuote from: Don Gately on October 25, 2025, 12:10:28 PMThe sound and the fury by William Faulkner, round 2 with this beast it won't defeat me again
I hated that when I read it before and it took me far too long to register the structure, which was so blatantly obvious once the penny dropped. I would have had to go back to the start and begin again but I was so fucking fed up of it that I didn't care who was who and what was happening by that point :laugh: probably one I should revisit at some point with that little extra bit of knowledge. "But really... maybe not...
Yes I gave up 1st time round but I listened to Hardcore literature episode on this and decided to give it a go. Im armed with a better idea of what is going on in the first section anyway.
Quote from: Don Gately on October 27, 2025, 08:11:17 PMQuote from: Eoin McLove on October 25, 2025, 01:19:32 PMQuote from: Don Gately on October 25, 2025, 12:10:28 PMThe sound and the fury by William Faulkner, round 2 with this beast it won't defeat me again
I hated that when I read it before and it took me far too long to register the structure, which was so blatantly obvious once the penny dropped. I would have had to go back to the start and begin again but I was so fucking fed up of it that I didn't care who was who and what was happening by that point :laugh: probably one I should revisit at some point with that little extra bit of knowledge. "But really... maybe not...
Yes I gave up 1st time round but I listened to Hardcore literature episode on this and decided to give it a go. Im armed with a better idea of what is going on in the first section anyway.
I'll have to give Hardcore Literature a listen.
Was given a Kindle as a birthday present the other day so I nabbed Heat 2 by Meg Gardiner and Michael Mann. It's set both in the aftermath of the film and a few years beforehand, with bits of various characters' backstories thrown in. It's fairly good so far (about 100 pages in).
Heat 2 was great. Right amount of pulp and nerdy Mann-isms.
You can definitely tell a load of the research he did about the Triple Frontier for Miami Vice turned up in it.
I never really watched Miami Vice when it was on, I'd imagine it's aged badly too, I'd hardly go back and watch it. I enjoy Mann's obsession to detail alright.
Quote from: Carnage on October 31, 2025, 06:31:06 PMI never really watched Miami Vice when it was on, I'd imagine it's aged badly too, I'd hardly go back and watch it. I enjoy Mann's obsession to detail alright.
If you're in any way curious just go back and watch the first episode. It's more or less a TV movie directed by Mann himself and plays just like one of his films. It's really good! The rest of the show isn't to that level, more like a lower budget tv version, but that first episode is quality if you like Michael Mann.
I might give it a look, Manhunter is a personal favourite.
What heat 2 is a book ? And youre reading it?
With my eyes!
Yeah, he initially wanted to follow it up as a book because most of the actors would be too old now, but I gather that there was enough interest that he's going to recast and film it.
Ok i thought we had strayed into movie thread here, phew!
Thinking of getting Lonesome Dove for Xmas anyone read that here?
Also Eoin did you read Eyrie by Tim Winton I seem to remeber you starting it
Quote from: Don Gately on November 04, 2025, 07:48:22 AMThinking of getting Lonesome Dove for Xmas anyone read that here?
Also Eoin did you read Eyrie by Tim Winton I seem to remeber you starting it
I did. It was good but maybe not quite as gripping as some of his others. But as with all of his stuff it's well worth a look.
Horsing through Stewart Home's "Fascist Yoga" currently, having just finished the Swiz biography, and dipping in and out of some Ligotti stories. Apparently it takes being out of the country for me to actually have time to read.
Getting through Annihilation. I've never read anything by Houellebecq and maybe something is getting lost in translation, but it's pretty fucking badly written. Just a mess in many ways. The way he jumps from character to character, the narrating voice uneasily moving between them making the reading a bit unclear. And his style isn't artistic so it stands out as being sloppy rather than being used for effect, or to create a sense of obscurity. Also some of the sentences (again, this might be down to translation issues) are just plain fucking bad.
"He was surprised to see Prudence break away from his grip..."
What? He saw her break away from his grip. Is that how you experience someone letting go of your hand? You observe the action with your disembodied eyeballs, like you are watching a scene on the telly, and your body, your fucking hand, has no part to play? Just fucking annoyingly thick details like this all over the gaff, pissing in my shit.
Flying through a second read of Memnoch The Devil by Anne Rice. This book is brilliant. It's like her version of Paradise Lost. A real pity her stuff turned kinda shit after this one.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on November 05, 2025, 11:38:40 AMGetting through Annihilation. I've never read anything by Houellebecq and maybe something is getting lost in translation, but it's pretty fucking badly written. Just a mess in many ways. The way he jumps from character to character, the narrating voice uneasily moving between them making the reading a bit unclear. And his style isn't artistic so it stands out as being sloppy rather than being used for effect, or to create a sense of obscurity. Also some of the sentences (again, this might be down to translation issues) are just plain fucking bad.
"He was surprised to see Prudence break away from his grip..."
What? He saw her break away from his grip. Is that how you experience someone letting go of your hand? You observe the action with your disembodied eyeballs, like you are watching a scene on the telly, and your body, your fucking hand, has no part to play? Just fucking annoyingly thick details like this all over the gaff, pissing in my shit.
I saw this in the bookshop at the weekend and thought about picking it up - didn't in the end because when I read the blurb on it, I was certain I background half-watched an adaptation of it while my wife had it on telly a few months back. Anyway now glad I didn't if that's what it is like.
Picked up Paul Lynch "Prophet Song" instead, a friend told me it was great, but I am still slowly reading All The Pretty Horses (badly, it didn't take to me like all the other McCarthy I have read) so it'll be another week or so before I get into it.
Also ate through more volumes of Frieren over the last few days but I assume that is to be relegated to the very dead comic thread.
I didn't like All the Pretty Horses either. I don't think I even finished it. Wasn't into Prophet Song for that matter, but I thought Grace and Black Snow were very good. :-X
I'm almost finished Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. The prose is excellent as usual but the plot is convoluted as fuck. Looking forward to finishing it so I can start reading something with goblins in it like The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman.
Also reading Money by Martin Amis which is funny and disturbing. It's similar to American Psycho but without all the killing.
Embarrassed to say as a Waterford man that I didnt know until about 5 years ago that there's a plaque to do with Raymond Chandlers time in the town on the side of a building not far from the Theatre Royal
Quote from: Maggot Colony on November 06, 2025, 09:27:11 AMI'm almost finished Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. The prose is excellent as usual but the plot is convoluted as fuck. Looking forward to finishing it so I can start reading something with goblins in it like The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman.
Also reading Money by Martin Amis which is funny and disturbing. It's similar to American Psycho but without all the killing.
Money is class. Have London Fields here but have yet to fully crack into it.
Time's Arrow is the only Amis I've read, enjoyed it at the time but can't remember a lot about it now.
I've only read London Fields by Martin Amis and I didn't like it. I must try another because I know he is held in high regard.
Ok Prophet song for me was disappointing certainly not booker winning material. Black Snow and Red Sky in morning are excellent. I love All the pretty horses, but my favourite McCarthy is Suttree and would recommend it. It was his last book before Blood meridian which is also great but the change in style is noticeable.
Martin Amis is hit and miss, I've read a good few of his bit nothing really stands out . Dead babies is funny but a bit thin.
Im on the last section of. The sound and thf fury, its tough but very worthwhile.
I read Atomised and another Houllebeq book i cant remeber was it Lanzarote?, both porn fests
What next?
I have Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee lined up next. He is an incredible writer so I have high expectations.
Read Racket. Biography of our best ever tennis player Conor Neiland. Shows how the other 99% of tennis players live and it ain't a pretty life. Solid book.
Halfway through The Sisters Brothers. Good black comedy western. Very well written as is bounces along quite easily.
I see Phillip Pullman released the final part of the Book of Dust trilogy a couple of weeks ago - The Rose Field. Must pick it up.
Currently reading The Watchers by A.M. Shine. I wanted to give the book a read before watching the fillum, and have only just discovered that he's from Galway, and that the book is (sort of) set in Connemara. Interesting enough, about 100 pages in.
I enjoyed Heat 2, as someone said previously it's quite pulpy, but I found it quite cinematic as well, Mann (or Gardiner, but I'm leaning toward the former) has the knack of getting that across in print. The movie should be good.
Still dipping in and out of Faith, Hope And Carnage, really enjoying it. The miserable weather is making it too dark to read properly so I'm on the Kindle more often.
I finished Annihilation earlier. A bit of a chore so it was. Even at the climax Hoellebecq managed to annoy me by making (yet another) reference to The Matrix. Fupp off, ye fuppin grasshole!
On top Waiting For The Barbarians by Coetzee now. It's immediately more compelling and beautifully crafted.
Bought Lonesome Dove today
I'm about to start Ulysses. Wish me luck.
See ya next Summer
I've started in on Peter Hook's Joy Division book Substance. I'm not too far in but it's already great craic. He can def tell a tale!
I love that Martin Hannett would call Joy Division one genius and three Manchester United supporters :laugh:
Unknown Pleasures, no? I read that recently, it's mighty.
I'm sure it is in Unknown Pleasures, but it's mentioned right at the start of Substance too. Just like a quick recap of the end of Joy Division plus a few bits and pieces.
Ah right, Substance is the New Order one I take it? I've read Unknown Pleasures and The Hacienda one, got more out of UP but both wrre great reads. I must get Substance, I can take or leave most of New Order's output but the man tells a good yarn.
Finished up Waiting for the Barbarians last night. Very powerful stuff. Coetzee is a master, no question.
Quote from: Carnage on November 27, 2025, 07:32:57 PMAh right, Substance is the New Order one I take it? I've read Unknown Pleasures and The Hacienda one, got more out of UP but both wrre great reads. I must get Substance, I can take or leave most of New Order's output but the man tells a goid yarn.
I actually have Unknown Pleasures as well but haven't read it yet either. Only reason I started with Substance is I'm already super familiar with Joy Division, whereas New Order I only really know one album plus a few singles. Plan is to read the book and listen to all the stuff alongside it as it comes up. It's a fucking brick of a book though, so will probably take some time. He definitely spins a good yarn though.
The amount of detail he goes into is great as well, the Hacienda one had lists of every gig, setlists and the like. The way money was pumped into it was obscene. Tony Wilson was some chancer...
I picked up The Emergency by George Packer. I'm not familiar with his work. I think he's generally a writer of politics and this is a turn towards literature for him.
Finished this one just now and it was good. Sometimes it felt a bit heavy in its attempt to reimagine the culture war stuff and the final attack from the Yeomen came off as somewhat ludicrous and comical, rather than the threat to society it was supposed to represent, but overall the writing was strong and the story engaging. Worth a go if you have any interest in civilizational collapse/ dystopian themes.
Finished The Sisters Brothers. A very enjoyable read. Not a whole much happens but it reads so well. Highly recommend.
Finished Bethany Hughes' Istanbul last week, really enjoyable read if you're into popular history. She covers a massive amount of time from Byzas to modern day Istanbul but still manages to make it breeze by.
To keep that buzz going and get a bit more involved I'm reading The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire by Ryan Gingeras. Obviously more focused and detailed, and enjoying it a lot already. Gets into to nitty gritty of the politicking around the end of one state and birthing of another.
Sounds interesting. I'm intending in the new year to read more factual and less fiction so will check that out ,thanks.
Picked up some Norn Iron literature:
Milkman - Anna Burns
The Bogside Boys - Eoin Dempsey
Translations - Brian Friel
Collected Poems - Seamus Heaney
I've read Translations before, but none of the others.
CHAOS, The Truth Behind The Manson Murders.
Written by Tom O'Neil.
Great read, ideal as a stocking filler for your nieve friend who doesn't think conspiracies are real.
Finished reading Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill. It's a gritty as fuck short story collection containing desperate characters committing desperate deeds. It's very good. The writing is similar to Donald Ray Pollock.
Diving into Dostoevsky's 'Demons' today, hope his interest doesn't begin to wane towards the end.
Quote from: Mooncat on December 02, 2025, 05:18:06 PMPicked up some Norn Iron literature:
Milkman - Anna Burns
The Bogside Boys - Eoin Dempsey
Translations - Brian Friel
Collected Poems - Seamus Heaney
I've read Translations before, but none of the others.
Read Milkman a few years back , good read
I thought Milkman was shite :laugh:
The new Jon Nödtveidt and Chuck Schuldiner bios just arrived. Has anyone given them a read yet? I'm not sure what to expect from the Nödtveidt book, I can see it either being very interesting or a bunch of edgy garbage.
https://forum.metalwarfare.com/index.php?topic=3024.0
Haven't bothered with it, here's a link for the thread.
Quote from: tonictitan on December 17, 2025, 02:02:48 PMThe new Jon Nödtveidt and Chuck Schuldiner bios just arrived. Has anyone given them a read yet? I'm not sure what to expect from the Nödtveidt book, I can see it either being very interesting or a bunch of edgy garbage.
Keep us updated with how it goes, I think there's a lot of people on here toying with picking it up. It was really expensive though from what I remember?
Supposed to be ridiculous, non objective shite.
Just finished up the fourth Harry Potter book with the young fella. Bit sick of the whole thing at this stage tbh, and as we advance I am more and more perplexed at how many of my friends were mad for them in their 20s when they were first coming out. Story lines are grand, the actual writing is mediocre at best.
Quote from: Mooncat on December 17, 2025, 04:59:07 PMQuote from: tonictitan on December 17, 2025, 02:02:48 PMThe new Jon Nödtveidt and Chuck Schuldiner bios just arrived. Has anyone given them a read yet? I'm not sure what to expect from the Nödtveidt book, I can see it either being very interesting or a bunch of edgy garbage.
Keep us updated with how it goes, I think there's a lot of people on here toying with picking it up. It was really expensive though from what I remember?
£40 plus shipping from Cult Never Dies. It's more than I'd have liked to have paid but I always found the whole thing fairly interesting so I figured it might be worth the gamble.
Hopefully by the time I've finished it I'll at least understand what "anti cosmic metal of death" is supposed to mean.
I read The Martian by Andy Weir last week. Not bad, as you'd expect it went into a lot more detail than the film, which was welcome. Worth a go.
Just finishing Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, which is alright at best. Very genteel and ever so English. I like crime novels but this is just a bit light, which I was expecting to be fair. Grand holiday reading I suppose, a friend called it 'an airport book', that'll do.
I picked up The Emergency by George Packer. I'm not familiar with his work. I think he's generally a writer of politics and this is a turn towards literature for him.
Finished this one just now and it was good. Sometimes it felt a bit heavy in its attempt to reimagine the culture war stuff and the final attack from the Yeomen came off as somewhat ludicrous and comical, rather than the threat to society it was supposed to represent, but overall the writing was strong and the story engaging. Worth a go if you have any interest in civilizational collapse/ dystopian themes.
Next up- To A God Unknown by John Steinbeck.
Don't know that. Good title and I love Steinbeck so will have a look.
I like Steinbeck , Grapes of wrath is a favourite.
Ive a 50 voucher from Easons , looking at Name of the Rose, reread
The Idiot , Dostoyevskey
Shogun , James Cl....something
Wind in thr willows to read with my daughter
The Name Of The Rose and Shogun (Clavell 😉) are both great reads, I must read more of that Clavell series.
Quote from: open face surgery on December 22, 2025, 02:35:19 PMDon't know that. Good title and I love Steinbeck so will have a look.
Powerful stuff right from the start. His writing is just phenomenal.
I picked up a new book today by a new(ish) Australian writer, Andrew Pippos. The book is called The Transformations. It's his second novel and I'm flying through it. It's always a pleasure to discover an exciting new writer.
I finished up To A God Unknown which was really really good.
The Transformations was great too so I grabbed Pippos's debut, Lucky's . It's slower to grab me, but I have a feeling I'll love it once it clicks.
Read A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames and have started the second one The Wheel OF Doll which im most enjoying. Great writer, flying through these now. I have the 3rd one lined up too as its a trilogy. Cool LA vibes from this series
Finished reading Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe - I think someone recommended it on this thread. A very effective ghost story that's more disturbing than I expected. I'd say more but I don't want to spoil anything.
Currently reading:
Cured: A Tale Of Two Imaginary Boys - origunal Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst's memoir from his tenure with the band, built around his friendship with Robert Smith. Very enjoyable, flits between detailed recollections and general musings on the period. The timeline jumps around a bit at times and glosses over some stuff but it's a decent read. Just don't expect the level of detail Peter Hook goes into, for instance.
Mick Herron: Slow Horses - the first in the novel series that the Gary Oldman show is based on. Nabbed it for the Kindle on a whim yesterday and am flying through it, nice mix of bitterness and humour. I must get onto the TV programme, it has a great cast for a start.
I thought the Lol Tolhurst book was a bit middle of the road. It started going around in circles pretty quickly.
Stop the presses: Super Hans' autobiography 'Moreish' to be released in 2026!
Quote from: Maggot Colony on January 09, 2026, 09:16:46 AMFinished reading Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe - I think someone recommended it on this thread. A very effective ghost story that's more disturbing than I expected. I'd say more but I don't want to spoil anything.
I must go back to those posts cos I'm sure I asked for other horror recs. Got sidetracked subsequently. Although not having much luck with a couple of fantasy series til I recently started the Divine Cities trilogy.
Started reading Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Only a few chapters in but the writing is top quality.
Quote from: Maggot Colony on January 13, 2026, 11:34:11 AMStarted reading Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Only a few chapters in but the writing is top quality.
Read that last year, enjoyed it yeah. If you like this kind of thing try Hangover square by Patrick Hamilton.
Its a fantastic book and better thsn BR.
Currently midway through Lonesome Dove.after a slow build up this is rocking along nicely now. 450 pages in and loving it. It may well be one of my favourites if this keeps up .
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 09, 2026, 11:20:33 AMI thought the Lol Tolhurst book was a bit middle of the road. It started going around in circles pretty quickly.
There was a bit of that in it alright but I enjoyed it. A sort of potted history of The Cure, jumped about a bit but held my interest. The post-Cure section was pretty dull though, thankfully it was short enough.
Quote from: Don Gately on January 14, 2026, 01:25:43 PMQuote from: Maggot Colony on January 13, 2026, 11:34:11 AMStarted reading Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Only a few chapters in but the writing is top quality.
Read that last year, enjoyed it yeah. If you like this kind of thing try Hangover square by Patrick Hamilton.
Its a fantastic book and better thsn BR.
Never heard of Hangover Square. I'll stick it on the never-ending list. Thanks
Finished up Lucky's by Andrew Pippof just now. This, his debut, won him awards and it was decent enough but somehow failed to fully capture me. I preferred his second novel, The Transformations (which I read first). Still, nice to have some new talent on the radar.
Next up: Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
Curious about Orbital myself, it sounds interesting.
Reead Flesh by David Szalay winner of the 2025 booker prize, not sure what i made of it, didn't realy like any of the characters in it. I was pulled along by the story bit it left a metallic taste on the mouth.
Let us know how Orbital went Eoin.
Knew I had that Orbital. Sitting here watching t.v. and it's there on the shelf beneath, couldn't remember a thing about it and even after pulling it out there and flicking through I'm still not much wiser. Safe to say it didn't leave much of an impression but it'll no doubt get another go at some stage, it's only a wee thing after all.
It's short, but I'm only in page 12 and it feels densely written, like a lot of information is packed into every page. She's only seeing the scene at the moment so maybe it'll pick up in pace one a lot develops. That said, the writing style is beautiful and the information she is imparting is fascinating so far.
I couldn't get through American Psycho, it's a little too much. The movie completely changed the book and turned it into a bizarre comedy, erm.. no. If you think the movie is funny, read the book.
I've only read one Easton Ellis book and I thought it was dogshit.
I read that one and swore I'd never read another, it was torturous.
Currently on Robert Harris' Act Of Oblivion, dealing with the fallout of Charkes I's execution and the hunt for those that signed his death warrrant. Only 70 or 80 pages in but it's as good as you'd expect so far. Harris must bury himself in research.
Finished Prophet Song last week. Enjoyed it a lot, bleak and well written, good pace to the story in it. You can see how it is going to pan out from early on but it stays interesting right through.
Started Solaris soon after but am only three chapters in at the minute. Good so far, just only have a few minutes each day to read it at the minute on lunch breaks really.
I absolutely love Bret Easton Ellis, and American Psycho the book is very definitely a comedy as well. It just also happens to go in incredibly heavily on the gore compared to the film. I did find I would just skip over the paragraphs where he describes what everybody wears, but that aside it's one of my favourite books. Less Than Zero and Rules of Attraction are also really good. Glamorama was a bit of a slog.
Yeah loved American Psycho too, read most of his other stuff but didn't find it memorable.
Currently reading Alternative For the Masses. It's an oral history of alternative music focusing mainly on the period from about 1990-1995. It's really good so far and features a great cast of people who were around at the time. Oral histories are one of my favourite kinds of non-fiction to read; I've read most of the other ones that focus on various music scenes and movements. It only came out a few months ago so I was excited about there being a new one.
Finished up Nesting by Roisín O' Donnell just now. Very enjoyable, if quite dark and disturbing in nature.
Now on to Departure(s) by Julian Barnes 8)
What did you make of Orbital, out of curiosity?
Quote from: Thorn on February 09, 2026, 08:10:47 PMWhat did you make of Orbital, out of curiosity?
I liked it. It's interesting in that nothing really happens; there's no story. There are characters who have their own lives but their lives are far away and they exist in a state of suspended animation while the world turns in front of them. It's about the earth itself maybe? An unusual read but beautifully written and observed (or imagined!). I'll have to try another of her books at some point and see what else she can do.
Yeah that's a fair enough summation, I'll probably go back to it at some stage. Kudos for not resorting to aliens or big nasty space monsters to liven it up I suppose. It actually reads like what it would feel like to be floating in space I imagine. Calming but ultimately going nowhere.
Quote from: Thorn on February 10, 2026, 05:02:27 AMYeah that's a fair enough summation, I'll probably go back to it at some stage. Kudos for not resorting to aliens or big nasty space monsters to liven it up I suppose. It actually reads like what it would feel like to be floating in space I imagine. Calming but ultimately going nowhere.
Yeah, and just observing the earth going through its cycles. The writing really carries it.
That to me sounds interesting, will pick it up at some stage.
Currently reading Inspector Imanichi Investigates, by Seicho Matsumoto. I really like this guy writing, I read Tokyo Express last summer and really liked it.
Just finished Into Thin Air. It was fucking awesome.
I'd been meaning to read it since I reread Into The Wild last year, but only just got around to it now and read the entire thing in a weekend. I haven't done that with a book in years.
Krakauer is a great writer and it's engaging the whole way through. You can really put yourself on the mountain with him, and the events invoke just about every emotion there is to offer.
Interestingly, I did find him a little bit self-serving too, like regularly making himself look good. potentially to help obscure that when it became time for hero time, he frequently got himself offside and looked out for himself (the depiction of him in the Everest film is quite different from the depiction of himself in the book).
That minor quibble aside though, couldn't recommend this one enough.
He did something similar in Into The Wild, if memory serves. Inserted a lengthy aside about how great a mountain climber he was into a story that had nothing to do with it. It's a while since I read it so maybe I'm misremembering it, but I found it quite irritating at the time.
Quote from: Carnage on February 17, 2026, 06:25:17 PMHe did something similar in Into The Wild, if memory serves. Inserted a lengthy aside about how great a mountain climber he was into a story that had nothing to do with it. It's a while since I read it so maybe I'm misremembering it, but I found it quite irritating at the time.
He did a whole chapter about his solo ascent attempt of the Devil's Thumb in Alaska near the end. Whereas I agree it was a bit self-serving to add that in there, I actually really enjoyed the chapter and his account, which was pretty hair-raising. I think throughout that book he's trying to make the comparison that someone on the fringes like Chris McCandless reminds him of himself a bit and that's why he's so intrigued by him. It's a fair comparison, but yes it also does come across that Krakauer has a fairly high opinion of himself. Throughout Into Thin Air he consistently implies that's he just as good as any of the guides.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on February 09, 2026, 11:21:59 PMI'll have to try another of her books at some point and see what else she can do.
I read The Western Wind by her last year, it was one of my favourite books of the year, can highly recommend.
Quote from: boozegeune on February 26, 2026, 09:33:41 AMQuote from: Eoin McLove on February 09, 2026, 11:21:59 PMI'll have to try another of her books at some point and see what else she can do.
Beauty. I'll keep an eye out. Cheers 8)
From my last post: finished Solaris, great book, lovely sci fi. The general story on the ship over the planet is good but the history / geographic / biological descriptions of the planet itself hold it together. Just reads great.
Ripped through Slaughterhouse Five after that, had never read it before, totally class. Didn't know what to expect going into it but loved the way it is put together. Definitely one I would read again.
Started Neuromancer the other day, had it on the shelf a while. Already enjoying it, the writing is lush and - maybe because of how used to seeing the aesthetic we would be nowadays - the imagery vivid.
(Tore through more Chainsaw Man and Delicious in Dungeon in the middle of those too).
Quote from: ochoill on February 26, 2026, 10:51:12 AMFrom my last post: finished Solaris, great book, lovely sci fi. The general story on the ship over the planet is good but the history / geographic / biological descriptions of the planet itself hold it together. Just reads great.
Her writing is so good. Her descriptive prowess is what really makes it. There's a particularly original, or new to me, take on how the Earth looks to the naked eye from that vantage point that really struck me. That musty have come from someone who doesn't some time in space. Remarkable writing.
Edit. I was thinking of Orbital. I've never read Solaris, but I'm not a sci fi nerd.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on February 26, 2026, 10:57:50 AMEdit. I was thinking of Orbital. I've never read Solaris, but I'm not a sci fi nerd.
I don't read a ton of Sci Fi myself but enjoyed this a lot. I would read anything really it wouldn't bother me but just never know where to start with Sci Fi outside of grabbing classics and going from there. I saw Orbital in Easons the other day and went to pick it up based on this thread here but put it back to force myself to read what I already have on the shelf at home first :laugh:
Quote from: ochoill on February 26, 2026, 10:51:12 AMStarted Neuromancer the other day, had it on the shelf a while. Already enjoying it, the writing is lush and - maybe because of how used to seeing the aesthetic we would be nowadays - the imagery vivid.
Neuromancer has one of the best opening lines of any book. Great description.
I loved Solaris, wasn't sure about Slaughterhouse Five, I must give it another look, it was one of my Dad's favourites.
Quote from: Carnage on January 26, 2026, 10:54:37 AMCurrently on Robert Harris' Act Of Oblivion, dealing with the fallout of Charkes I's execution and the hunt for those that signed his death warrrant. Only 70 or 80 pages in but it's as good as you'd expect so far. Harris must bury himself in research.
Finished this the other day, really enjoyed it - apart from the ending, which felt rushed and anticlimactic. It's (loosely) based on actual events and characters, so he's limited in what he could do with the story but as the finale is wholly fictional, he could have sexed it up a bit I feel. Still a good read, as most of his are.
Also finished Val McDermid's Report For Murder, a pageturner about an intrepid reporter trying to clear the name of her friend's who's been banged up for the obvious. Crime novels generally aren't high art anyway but this was very average, with very stilted dialogue and not much of a twist. Fairly misandrist too (every woman is complex and caring (the few men are brutes and thugs). Wouldn't be inclined to read more of hers, so that's that itch scratched.
Just about to start Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I thought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was very overrated so wasn't going to bother with this 'til I saw Alan Moore giving it high praise. The premise is interesting and it's a short read (245 pages) so I'll give it a go.
Quote from: Carnage on February 27, 2026, 10:43:02 AMJust about to start Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I thought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was very overrated so wasn't going to bother with this 'til I saw Alan Moore giving it high praise. The premise is interesting and it's a short read (245 pages) so I'll give it a go.
Finished this, it was fantastic. Pissed all over JSAMN. Reminded me of The Wasp Factory if anything, a very odd book but very satisfying. I'd advise going in blind.
Reading The Idiot by Dostoyevsky
Quote from: Don Gately on March 03, 2026, 09:32:08 PMReading The Idiot by Dostoyevsky
I just started Crime and Punishment. Looks like it's gonna be a meaty one!
Crime and Punishment was decent. The Idiot was a slog and Igave up on it pretty quickly. Might be due a revisit.
Well we ll see , i enjoyed Crime and Punishment, ive always loved Russian literature.
Reading The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien about a war criminal who flees to the Wesht to become a healer. Very well-written. It's bleak but there's enough humour injected to keep it from becoming a joyless slog.
Also reading Jurassic Park which is surprisingly well-written and a lot more violent than the movie.
Indeed. In the book the dinosaurs also have guns.
I haven't got to that part yet but the dinosaurs are listening to gangsta rap so the guns can't be far behind.
Guns dont kill people raptors do
Quote from: nukeabuse on March 05, 2026, 12:50:26 AMGuns dont kill people raptors do
Class :laugh:
The book is awesome. It's interesting how a bunch of scenes from it were used in the Lost World film too. The Lost World book, while prob better than the film, is nowhere near as good as the first book.
I must read more of his, the three I have read (Jurassic Park, Eaters Of The Dead and Sphere) were all good craic.
Just started Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews, I love a bit of (post-) Cold War intrigue. Saw the fillum when it came out but can't remember much about it.
Just finished up The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. An epic family tale that paints a stunning and brutal portrait of Alaska, and what its extreme nature can do to people.
Next up- Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin. I've never read anything by him before but I'm familiar with his name. Let's see what he has to offer.
I've read a load of Rankin's Rebus books, all great noirish crime novels (I must get back to them actually, I have a few sitting on the shelf). Best read chronologically as there are recurring characters and subplots in the background, but probably not essential to do so.
Just read Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. It's a pretty short book and a fast read. Kind of a combination of Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men in a lot of ways. Really enjoyed it. His writing is just levels above most authors.
Quote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 01:35:19 AMJust read Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. It's a pretty short book and a fast read. Kind of a combination of Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men in a lot of ways. Really enjoyed it. His writing is just levels above most authors.
cool one of the few of his I've yet to read. Have you tried Suttree?
Quote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 01:35:19 AMJust read Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. It's a pretty short book and a fast read. Kind of a combination of Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men in a lot of ways. Really enjoyed it. His writing is just levels above most authors.
Yeah I loved Child of God, only read it last year. Only one of his I struggled with so far is "All The Pretty Horses". Didn't have the patience at the time, moved on to something else.
Quote from: Carnage on February 26, 2026, 11:16:00 AMQuote from: ochoill on February 26, 2026, 10:51:12 AMStarted Neuromancer the other day, had it on the shelf a while. Already enjoying it, the writing is lush and - maybe because of how used to seeing the aesthetic we would be nowadays - the imagery vivid.
Neuromancer has one of the best opening lines of any book. Great description.
I loved Solaris, wasn't sure about Slaughterhouse Five, I must give it another look, it was one of my Dad's favourites.
Just coming back on this because I am still dragging my heels through Neuromancer. I enjoy it while I am reading it but nothing particularly makes me want to pick it up now while I am in the middle section of the book. First parts were great though. Will finish it out. Usually I only read one thing at a time but I've started into a few other bits alongside this just to get over the hump of it (which might equally just be my own mind as much as the book itself).
Quote from: ochoill on March 13, 2026, 09:08:01 AMQuote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 01:35:19 AMJust read Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. It's a pretty short book and a fast read. Kind of a combination of Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men in a lot of ways. Really enjoyed it. His writing is just levels above most authors.
Yeah I loved Child of God, only read it last year. Only one of his I struggled with so far is "All The Pretty Horses". Didn't have the patience at the time, moved on to something else.
I think I bailed out on All the Pretty Horses. Must revisit.
Quote from: ochoill on March 13, 2026, 09:11:50 AMQuote from: Carnage on February 26, 2026, 11:16:00 AMQuote from: ochoill on February 26, 2026, 10:51:12 AMStarted Neuromancer the other day, had it on the shelf a while. Already enjoying it, the writing is lush and - maybe because of how used to seeing the aesthetic we would be nowadays - the imagery vivid.
Neuromancer has one of the best opening lines of any book. Great description.
I loved Solaris, wasn't sure about Slaughterhouse Five, I must give it another look, it was one of my Dad's favourites.
Just coming back on this because I am still dragging my heels through Neuromancer. I enjoy it while I am reading it but nothing particularly makes me want to pick it up now while I am in the middle section of the book. First parts were great though. Will finish it out. Usually I only read one thing at a time but I've started into a few other bits alongside this just to get over the hump of it (which might equally just be my own mind as much as the book itself).
I struggled with Neuromancer. Don't think I even finished it.
Anyone recommend any Lovecraft? Was out for a walk and listened to Call of Cthulhu on Spotify. Thought it was fine... Wonder if its worth exploring his stuff any further...
Or any recommendations for cosmic horror stuff generally? Ive been reading nothing but non-fiction for the last year and could do with a change!
Quote from: Pat Twisted Wrath on March 13, 2026, 01:29:06 PMAnyone recommend any Lovecraft? Was put for a walk and listened to Call of Cthulhu on Spotify. Thought it was fine... Wonder if its worth exploring his stuff any further...
If you're an audiobook guy HP Podcraft have some excellent story readings for free, a particular favorite of mine is haunter in the dark.
Bbc radio did a fantastic rendition of at the mountains of madness and shadow over innsmouth too that are both top tier.
Cant go wrong with any of them imo!
Quote from: Pat Twisted Wrath on March 13, 2026, 01:29:58 PMOr any recommendations for cosmic horror stuff generally? Ive been reading nothing but non-fiction for the last year and could do with a change!
The Fisherman by John Langan is one of the best cosmic horror novels I've read in recent years. Stephen King's Revival is equally great.
If you're looking for short stories then A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos is a very strong Lovecraftian anthology.
Cheers lads, I'll check those out :abbath:
Quote from: Maggot Colony on March 13, 2026, 02:35:39 PMIf you're looking for short stories then A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos is a very strong Lovecraftian anthology.
The same editor (S.T. Joshi) has a series of short story collections called Black Wings Of Cthulhu, I think there are six volumes. The two I've read are hit and miss as all of these things are, but some good stuff to be found.
Quote from: ochoill on March 13, 2026, 09:08:01 AMQuote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 01:35:19 AMJust read Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. It's a pretty short book and a fast read. Kind of a combination of Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men in a lot of ways. Really enjoyed it. His writing is just levels above most authors.
Yeah I loved Child of God, only read it last year. Only one of his I struggled with so far is "All The Pretty Horses". Didn't have the patience at the time, moved on to something else.
The only McCarthy I've read so far is the last 2 he came out with The Passenger and Stella Maris. I liked the setting of the former but found it dull enough otherwise. I liked Stella Maris much more despite the format, Alicia was just a much more interesting character than Bobby.
I have copies of All The Pretty Horses and The Road. I know The Road is unrelentingly grim but sounds like I won't fare much better with All The Pretty Horses!
So far I've read No Country For Old Men, Blood Meridian, and Child of God. Loved them all. I have The Road at home too, but haven't gotten around to it. No Country is the most straightforward read out of the three. The film follows it pretty closely.
Blood Meridian is one of the toughest books I've ever read. The kind of book you start several times and quit on before you actually finish. It's definitely the most impactful one though. Almost more an experience than a book. You just have to accept it's tough to follow and then just roll with the experience from sentence to sentence rather than any huge overarching understanding, almost like abstract art.
I keep hearing Suttree is really good, and the mention a few comments back there is another to add to the list. I must pick it up.
Quote from: Emphyrio on March 13, 2026, 10:19:32 AMQuote from: ochoill on March 13, 2026, 09:11:50 AMQuote from: Carnage on February 26, 2026, 11:16:00 AMQuote from: ochoill on February 26, 2026, 10:51:12 AMStarted Neuromancer the other day, had it on the shelf a while. Already enjoying it, the writing is lush and - maybe because of how used to seeing the aesthetic we would be nowadays - the imagery vivid.
Neuromancer has one of the best opening lines of any book. Great description.
I loved Solaris, wasn't sure about Slaughterhouse Five, I must give it another look, it was one of my Dad's favourites.
Just coming back on this because I am still dragging my heels through Neuromancer. I enjoy it while I am reading it but nothing particularly makes me want to pick it up now while I am in the middle section of the book. First parts were great though. Will finish it out. Usually I only read one thing at a time but I've started into a few other bits alongside this just to get over the hump of it (which might equally just be my own mind as much as the book itself).
I struggled with Neuromancer. Don't think I even finished it.
Aye I'm in the same boat. Read it years and years ago and felt like I didn't appreciate it so I gave it another go a couple of years ago. Did nothing for me. Couldn't get into it at all.
Currently on Post Captain. Book 2 out of 20(!!!) in the Aubrey Maturin series (Master and Commander is based on these novels).
Digging them so far but the naval warfare terminology is a bit much!
And seeing as Dan Simmons died last month, I figured I should read more than just Hyperion and The Terror (both of which I enjoyed, especially The Terror), so I've started into The Song of Kali. A few chapters in and I have a good feeling about it.
Quote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 05:50:04 PMBlood Meridian is one of the toughest books I've ever read. The kind of book you start several times and quit on before you actually finish. It's definitely the most impactful one though. Almost more an experience than a book. You just have to accept it's tough to follow and then just roll with the experience from sentence to sentence rather than any huge overarching understanding, almost like abstract art.
Spot on.
Quote from: Mooncat on March 13, 2026, 05:50:04 PMSo far I've read No Country For Old Men, Blood Meridian, and Child of God. Loved them all. I have The Road at home too, but haven't gotten around to it. No Country is the most straightforward read out of the three. The film follows it pretty closely.
Blood Meridian is one of the toughest books I've ever read. The kind of book you start several times and quit on before you actually finish. It's definitely the most impactful one though. Almost more an experience than a book. You just have to accept it's tough to follow and then just roll with the experience from sentence to sentence rather than any huge overarching understanding, almost like abstract art.
I keep hearing Suttree is really good, and the mention a few comments back there is another to add to the list. I must pick it up.
Blood Meridian is excellent , I went half way through before and eventually restarted it and found it far easier to read second time around.
Love his western novels including the border trilogy bar the second half of the Crossing which drags but the opening 100 pages or so is McCarthy s finest writing . The Road is an easy read , but don't think it's anywhere near his best. Suttree is excellent as I said , it's a funny book in ways its almost like Bukowski meets Faulkner hard to describe but actually my favourite of his.
Killing Rage - Eamon Collins
Couldn't put this one down. An IRA man's account of his involvement in the Troubles. Thing is, he's an excellent writer and offers really interesting insight and reflection. Plus really detailed accounts of his, and the IRA's operations and workings. Probably the best Troubles book I've read.
Quote from: Carnage on March 05, 2026, 06:06:10 PMJust started Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews, I love a bit of (post-) Cold War intrigue. Saw the fillum when it came out but can't remember much about it.
Finished this yesterday, it was alright. A lot less of the sex (particularly the Sparrow School) than the film, though the bits that were there seemed shoehorned in. Another gimmick that seemed forced - every chapter mentioned food of some sort and then ended with the recipe, utterly unnecessary. Worth a rwad though, the actual espionage elements were well done.
Just finished up Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin. It was grand. I love watching crime TV shows but the genre never really does it for me in book form for some reason.
Next up: Satantango by László Krasznahorkai. Looks potentially interesting. Let's... find... oot
Quote from: Mooncat on March 26, 2026, 05:49:32 PMKilling Rage - Eamon Collins
Couldn't put this one down. An IRA man's account of his involvement in the Troubles. Thing is, he's an excellent writer and offers really interesting insight and reflection. Plus really detailed accounts of his, and the IRA's operations and workings. Probably the best Troubles book I've read.
I need to add that to the list. I was obsessed with books on the Troubles for a while.
A Secret History of the IRA by Ed Moloney is a very good book on the Provos. The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party tells the story of the Official IRA after the split with the Provos.
I also highly recommend Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh by Toby Harnden.
Currently reading Geezer Butler's autobiography. It's OK, a bit dry and matter of fact, but it's holding my attention anyway.
Finished Evans' "The Third Reich in Power". Thought it was excellent. Need a break from the Nazis so "The Third Reich at War" will have to wait! :laugh:
Quote from: Maggot Colony on March 30, 2026, 10:33:31 AMQuote from: Mooncat on March 26, 2026, 05:49:32 PMKilling Rage - Eamon Collins
Couldn't put this one down. An IRA man's account of his involvement in the Troubles. Thing is, he's an excellent writer and offers really interesting insight and reflection. Plus really detailed accounts of his, and the IRA's operations and workings. Probably the best Troubles book I've read.
I need to add that to the list. I was obsessed with books on the Troubles for a while.
A Secret History of the IRA by Ed Moloney is a very good book on the Provos. The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party tells the story of the Official IRA after the split with the Provos.
I also highly recommend Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh by Toby Harnden.
I've heard a couple of other recommendations for Bandit Country too, I'll check it out!
And yeah, they're fair engrossing in general the ol' Troubles books. The Secret History one sounds good too. I've got one on the Shankill Butchers lined up as well that I've heard is fairly harrowing.
Quote from: Mooncat on March 30, 2026, 11:21:49 PMI've got one on the Shankill Butchers lined up as well that I've heard is fairly harrowing.
Is that the Shankill butchers book by Martin Collins? I got about half-way through that, but I couldn't stomach reading about the depraved deeds those animals committed. Eoin McNamee wrote a brilliant novel loosely based on the butchers called Resurrection Man.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on March 29, 2026, 12:53:35 PMNext up: Satantango by László Krasznahorkai. Looks potentially interesting. Let's... find... oot
Slogging my way through this crap. Jesus, it's a pain in the hole so far. It reads like some kind of stream of conscious drivel, and if it doesn't start taking shape soon I am going to chuck it. "Winner of the Nobel Prize In Literature 2025"... ask me fuckin hoop!
Quote from: Maggot Colony on April 01, 2026, 08:31:49 AMQuote from: Mooncat on March 30, 2026, 11:21:49 PMI've got one on the Shankill Butchers lined up as well that I've heard is fairly harrowing.
Is that the Shankill butchers book by Martin Collins? I got about half-way through that, but I couldn't stomach reading about the depraved deeds those animals committed. Eoin McNamee wrote a brilliant novel loosely based on the butchers called Resurrection Man.
Martin Dillon? Read that as a teenager. Can't remember fuck all about it now though.
God I am fuckin struggling through Neuromancer, just didn't expect it to be like that at all. It's fine when actually reading it but nothing actually makes me want to pick it up in between. A few pages an evening, about half way through. It's fine but I dunno something just doesn't grab me with it beyond the aesthetic it sets out. Still, fuck it,ay as well see it out now.