Books

[Eoin McLove]

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 

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

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.

[Caomhaoin]

He's very readable for a French learner too.

[Eoin McLove]

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.

[StoutAndAle]

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. 

[Eoin McLove]

Never heard of him. I must keep an eye out.

[StoutAndAle]

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.

[Eoin McLove]

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.

[Don Gately]

I liked the Crime part best myself too.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Do you believe in the resurrection of Lazarus yet Andy??

[Eoin McLove]

Sure I'd believe anything at this stage.

[Grim Reality]

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.

[Caomhaoin]

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!

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

lol

[StoutAndAle]

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.