Books

[StoutAndAle]

Still reading "It" by Stephen King. It's fine and all but it appears to be going on forever with no end in sight.

[Don Gately]

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

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Softly, softly, catchy whaley.

[ochoill]

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

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.

[StoutAndAle]

Still 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. 

[Eoin McLove]

Yeah it's way too long.

[Carnage]

Indeed. For what it's worth, Carrie, The Shining and The Dead Zone are all better reads, Misery isn't bad either.

[StoutAndAle]

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.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

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.

A mate drew my attention to one called Call Girl of Cthulu, gonna give it a go next weekend   

[Don Gately]

Reading Knut Hamsun's Hunger atm

[StoutAndAle]

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.

[Don Gately]

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.

[Eoin McLove]

I just finished The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas. Wonderful stuff as always with him.

East, West by Salman Rushdie next 

[Don Gately]

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.

[Mooncat]

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.