Books

[Eoin McLove]

I have pretty much zero interest in revisiting his work after The Quarry. The man cannot write dialogue, but insisted on doing it. Not for me.

[Mooncat]

Just started Glue by Irvine Welsh. Enjoying it so far, it's helping to scratch that Trainspotting itch.

[Maggot Colony]

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.

You might fare better with an author like Derek Raymond. He wrote the Factory Series which could be described as noir, but they're much bleaker and more existential than most novels from that genre. How The Dead Live in particular is phenomenal. The prose is spell-binding.

GBH by Ted Lewis is another one worth checking out. He wrote the Jack Carter books, but GBH is more like a Camus novel set in Lincolnshire.

Savage man, thanks for the tips. I'll keep an eye out. By the Factory series does that include Wasp Factory? I only know that book by name.

Edit.  I see that Wasp Factory was by Iain Banks. The only novel of his I've read was The Quarry and it was total dogshit.

Here's a good article on Derek Raymond and his Factory novels: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/doors-closing-slowly-derek-raymonds-factory-novels/

The Wasp Factory is great, a warped Gothic fucker of a novel. It's a lot different to his other work as far as I'm aware - The Player of Games is the only other book of his I've read.

[Eoin McLove]

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.

You might fare better with an author like Derek Raymond. He wrote the Factory Series which could be described as noir, but they're much bleaker and more existential than most novels from that genre. How The Dead Live in particular is phenomenal. The prose is spell-binding.

GBH by Ted Lewis is another one worth checking out. He wrote the Jack Carter books, but GBH is more like a Camus novel set in Lincolnshire.

Savage man, thanks for the tips. I'll keep an eye out. By the Factory series does that include Wasp Factory? I only know that book by name.

Edit.  I see that Wasp Factory was by Iain Banks. The only novel of his I've read was The Quarry and it was total dogshit.

Here's a good article on Derek Raymond and his Factory novels: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/doors-closing-slowly-derek-raymonds-factory-novels/

The Wasp Factory is great, a warped Gothic fucker of a novel. It's a lot different to his other work as far as I'm aware - The Player of Games is the only other book of his I've read.

Ah you have me with Gothic haha 😄

[ochoill]

Finally finished that other cunting yoke Neuromancer the other day.  I stand by everything already said, strong start, lovely aesthetic, nice writing, boring as fuck story that just trundles through the scenery.

Next off the shelf is Albert Camus "The Plague".  No idea what I am in for here but we'll see.

[Maggot Colony]

Next off the shelf is Albert Camus "The Plague".  No idea what I am in for here but we'll see.

I read The Plague during the first lockdown. It's very good, but probably wasn't the ideal book to be reading for my mental state!

Jesus, 2020 was a bizarre year. I spent most of it drinking too much, listening to power metal while gardening, and reading weird horror like Thomas Ligotti. Good times   

[Carnage]

I finished Life Here Below by Michael J Farrell yesterday, a collection of short stories - each with an oddness or surreal aspect to them, including a lot of religious elements (he's a former preist). A random pick up a year or two ago but enjoyable. He has an earlier collection which I'll keep an eye out for.

Started The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye, the fifth in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series - the second in David Lagercrantz's run - and it's grand, I suppose. The drop in quality from Larsson's trilogy was immediately noticable in the last book but the 'new' books continue the series well enough.

[Mooncat]

Next off the shelf is Albert Camus "The Plague".  No idea what I am in for here but we'll see.

I read The Plague during the first lockdown. It's very good, but probably wasn't the ideal book to be reading for my mental state!

Jesus, 2020 was a bizarre year. I spent most of it drinking too much, listening to power metal while gardening, and reading weird horror like Thomas Ligotti. Good times   

Pretty much the day after lockdown began I started reading The Stand, so a similar idea  It was a reread, but figured if ever there was a perfect time to read it! The first third of the book was the covid era. The middle third is where we're at right now. Let's hope we never make it to the final third of the book...