Books

[StoutAndAle]

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.

[Carnage]

I'm about 130 pages into The Firm by John Grisham, it's tedious as fuck for a 'page turner' TBH.

[StoutAndAle]

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.

[Carnage]

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.

[Eoin McLove]

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.

[StoutAndAle]

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.

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.

[Eoin McLove]

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.

[Carnage]

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.

[Pedrito]

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.

[Pedrito]

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

[nukeabuse]

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

[Pedrito]

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.

[nukeabuse]

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.

[nukeabuse]

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.

[Pedrito]

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.