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Books [split topic]

Started by Serge, August 06, 2010, 11:50:55 PM

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small_world

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on January 06, 2011, 12:17:31 PM
Currently on "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. Literary fiction chap goes vampire (ish). It's really good.

Yeah, I've just finished that. It was a beast.
I actually hadn't heard of it while reading it. And only found out about it once I'd finished it. I picked up my copy from the lost property desk where I worked. No one wanted it, and so I took it in.
I quite enjoyed it. Although lengthy there was plenty interest in it to keep you entertained. I didn't think much of his writing style, it was very basic. I like more arty writing.
It turns out though, it's part one of 3? With the story of Amy being told later on... Also, bought up as a film. I don't know I could do another two.

On the other hand, I've just started and finished The Road What a bloody marvellous read. I read it one sitting (well, lying in bed). And not rushed either. Beautifully written. Are all of his books like that? I don't like reading book after book by the same author, but it'd be good to keep in mind that I have someone to go to if I don't have anything lined up to read.

Anyway. I think this is my first post in this thread. And I've now realised I have a load of things I want to write... So, I'm going to head them all for ease of reply.

Reading
Like I said, I read The Road, in one go. Over about 4-5 hours. It's a short book, and the format lends itself to easy reading, especially the lack of standard conversational punctuation.
But what is a good reading speed. I've also just finished The Passage. That seemed to take ages.
Do you whip through some books and slow to enjoy others, or keep a fairly average reading speed no matter the book?
Also, does anyone horribly skim? I know someone who reads short passages and conversations and that's about it.

Kindle
Since finding it possible to download music and films, I rarely buy them. (Yes, I'll enjoy my eternal torture in Hell) I'm thinking of buying a Kindle or some other reader for the same reasons.
Is it easy to find books to download? Obviously they won't be as prevalent as films and music. But I'd imagine they'd be there.
Does it make reading less interesting? As with music. If it's possible to download almost anything, your level of tolerance and the amount of time you give to an album will change massively. Is it the same with reading? If I start a book I feel obliged to finish it. I've probably only ever dumped 3-4 books before the end.

Apocalypse
When I first started reading The Passage, I thought it was going to be a great apocalyptic story. It does take place in the aftermath, but it doesn't have that 'feel'. No where near what The Road captures.
Could you recommend me some apocalypse now?

Hmm. I thought I had more.
Ok.

jaydee81

Just finished reading C by Thomas McCarthy and boy did I wish I hadn't bothered.
I'm still none the wiser to knowing what the hell was going on.

the midnight watch baboon

Borrowed A Confederacy of Dunces today, really looking forward to getting stuck into it when the day is done. And it is night.

Regarding reading speeds, some books I find take me much longer than others, Freedom took me over a month, despite spending a coupla nightshifts ploughing through it when possible, but I can finish a more standard-plotted crime novel in a week or so, (and the fact they're approx 30% shorter than F).

Not read a book in one go for years, discounting The Old Man and the Sea as it's really quite short.

small_world

Confederacy of dunces. I didn't really get it while reading it. There certainly weren't any moments that I laughed at. And I do often laugh out loud (or lol as some may say) to a good book. Anything by bryson will get me going.
But when i think back to it it was incredibly enjoyable.

There's more I'd like to say so let us know when you've finished it.

mr. logic

I didn't like The Passage.  Well, I loved the first part, but when it went however many years in to the future I lost all interest.  Just boring.

What's the best Woodehouse book?  Just downloaded the lot.

Jemble Fred

The lot?? Seriously? He had well over 100 books published and I was only aware that a small fraction had been digitised. I suppose the proliferation of e-books must have moved the number on somewhat, but I'm still surprised that all his works are available online.

As for the best, that's up to you, isn't it? It's like saying what's the best colour. Start off with a variety of short stories – a Jeeves one, a Blandings one, a Ukridge one, and whichever you like best, move onto a full novel.

CaledonianGonzo

Perhaps he meant Barbara Wood(e)house?

Famous Mortimer

If you're stuck for a present for someone, "The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made" is a cracker. I got it from someone for Christmas and just read it - nice chapter length, lots of interesting original information, lots of interesting second-hand information, and it does more than a lot of books on Hollywood to expose just how shite the studios are.

mr. logic

Quote from: Jemble Fred on March 09, 2011, 08:40:25 AM
The lot?? Seriously? He had well over 100 books published and I was only aware that a small fraction had been digitised. I suppose the proliferation of e-books must have moved the number on somewhat, but I'm still surprised that all his works are available online.

As for the best, that's up to you, isn't it? It's like saying what's the best colour. Start off with a variety of short stories – a Jeeves one, a Blandings one, a Ukridge one, and whichever you like best, move onto a full novel.

Oh dear, possibly not, then.  It's called the 'complete collection', but they're most likely mugging me off.  Anyway, I read 'The Adventures of Sally', for one reason or another.  Tremendous.  I'm guessing I have to tell nobody here about the standard of humour, but I was a little surprised how tender I found it at times.  A real heart warmer.  It has a great cinematic quality, too, which I wasn't expecting. 

Favourite moment was the guy prentending his drum sticks were scissors at the exact moment Carmyle was trying to be romantic.     

Got that little tingle which comes with discovering (or rather, finally getting around to) the art of somebody who was both brilliant and prolific.

Famous Mortimer

I've just started reading Mark Kermode's autobiography, and it's surprisingly good (if a little short, if the size of the text is anything to go by). I've done a 180 on him in recent years - when I first heard him on Radio 1, and heard his love for the quite-good-but-not-the-best-film-ever "The Exorcist", my hackles were raised, and I happily ignored him for years.

But then someone sent me a link to a Youtube of his review of Sex and the City 2, and I realised he was actually a pretty decent fella. A few other reviews and I was back on track with him - and his explanation of why "The Exorcist" is the best film ever from this book, while I still don't agree with him, makes a lot more sense now (it's largely personal to him, which I never got before).

So, this is a good book, I think.

Jemble Fred

Quote from: mr. logic on March 09, 2011, 09:41:03 PM
Got that little tingle which comes with discovering (or rather, finally getting around to) the art of somebody who was both brilliant and prolific.

Lucky blighter. You know how Holly in Red Dwarf has the ability to delete all his Agatha Christie knowledge and then read them all again for the first time? I wish I could do that with Wodehouse. To read everything is quite a feat in the first place, but I'd managed it by 20. Now I get the odd scrap from being part of the Appreciation Society and reading the newsletter, but the idea of having a whole new novel to read is heaven.

CaledonianGonzo

Yeah - I was going to chime in with something similar.  I envy the lucky blighter that has scenes like Gussie Fink-Nottle presenting the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar or the hunting song bit from The Mating Season still ahead of him.

Vitalstatistix

I randomly picked up my first Wodehouse actually, Joy in the Morning, from a charity shop the other day. Is this a reasonable place to start? Does it make much difference?

Jemble Fred

It's a good one, but as I say up there, I'd always suggest an array of short stories if you're not sure about Wodehouse. Certainly, if you didn't like Joy In The Morning, I'd still suggest giving some different characters a go before giving up on the Master. If you weren't keen on Paul Calf, for instance, it would be odd to write off Coogan without seeing any Partridge.

CaledonianGonzo

'appen that Joy In The Morning is one of my personal favourite Wodehouse novels and almost certainly my favourite Jeeves & Wooster.  It'll be a great place to start, though tackling each individual 'series' in chronological order certainly also has its merits.

Vitalstatistix

Thanks, I'm looking forward to it...

CaledonianGonzo

Enjoy - though you won't be the first to wonder whether Plum was really as innocent as all that when it comes to talk of 'Pink Funnel' merging with 'Clam'.

Jemble Fred

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on March 10, 2011, 01:11:43 PM
Enjoy - though you won't be the first to wonder whether Plum was really as innocent as all that when it comes to talk of 'Pink Funnel' merging with 'Clam'.

I reckon he'd need a lengthy lecture to get the joke, myself. But maybe, if you go back in time to the turn of the century to prevent Wodehouse contracting mumps at a sensitive age, you might return to the present to find that he's celebrated as the 20th century's greatest lover and pornographer.

CaledonianGonzo

So he was a mangina too, was he?

Though yes, I don't doubt that it's merely a retrospectively amusing bit of symbolism to which its author was oblivious.

Jemble Fred

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on March 10, 2011, 01:41:52 PM
So he was a mangina too, was he?

Doesn't this only mean "tucking your genitals between your legs"? I know CaB's answer to Kirk from Dear John thinks differently, but I've only been vaguely browsing that horror thread.

But yes, sad to say – and it takes nothing away from his genius, in fact it fuelled it – it is generally believed that Wodehouse's teenage mumps made the squelchy side of life a physical impossibility for him, so he devoted his life to fictional innocent romance instead. There were rumours of a dalliance with a chorus girl at one point, but that too may have been platonic. It must have been horribly frustrating for poor Plum.

CaledonianGonzo

Well, I'll never be - it certainly makes sense in the context of his ouevre.

I doubt he'd have felt any recompense by the later use of the nomen 'Plum' as a synonym for testicle.

mr. logic

Sorry, I promise I won't keep doing this, but:

"He had realised in the silence that Grace rhymes with face and wanted to retire to his study for hours to write poetry"

Beautiful.

Either of you two fancy starting a thread on him?  My lack of any knowledge would be horribly apparant and it would turn in to a blood bath.

Jemble Fred

I remember starting one nearly ten years ago which contained some utterly horrific LOLDARK parodies by me in them – I think it's gone forever, thankfully, it was exactly the kind of thing which makes me despair about my younger verbwhore self.

I found this though, too old to be bumped though it is: http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=7271.30

Oh, and:

Quote from: mr. logic on March 10, 2011, 02:28:30 PM
Sorry, I promise I won't keep doing this, but:

Please, please do.

mr. logic

Cheers, Jemble.  I'll have a look at that now.

Cambrian Times

Finished reading this last night:


Both horrifying and heartbreaking in turns, but ultimately riveting and inspirational.

Famous Mortimer

I'm not doubting your enjoyment of the book (obviously), but her day job at a conservative think tank and regular-ish appearances on Fox News make me a little uneasy. Ah, I don't know, and this isn't the thread to get into it, and I agree with what she says in some ways (she's an atheist, she opposes conservative Islam - although I hope she mentions and is equally disgusted by the murders committed in the name of fundamentalist Christianity). Sorry, again. The internet is no good for splitting hairs like this.

I just finished reading "The Greatest Story Ever Sold", Frank Rich's 2006 book about George W Bush and the way his administration completely debased the concept of "truth" and spun a story which ended up with thousands and thousands killed and countries laid waste. It's fascinating, scrupulously researched and sad as shit.

Next up is James Morrow's "Towing Jehovah", about God dying and the angels getting a tanker pilot to tow His body to the North Pole to be preserved there. Looking forward to it.

Edible

Quote from: the midnight watch baboon on March 08, 2011, 06:28:43 PM
Borrowed A Confederacy of Dunces today, really looking forward to getting stuck into it when the day is done. And it is night.

Regarding reading speeds, some books I find take me much longer than others, Freedom took me over a month, despite spending a coupla nightshifts ploughing through it when possible, but I can finish a more standard-plotted crime novel in a week or so, (and the fact they're approx 30% shorter than F).

Not read a book in one go for years, discounting The Old Man and the Sea as it's really quite short.

I read A Confederacy... less than two weeks ago. The fact that i actually finished it must be a testament to it's quality (I had only finished two other books in the last three or four months). It really is hilarious - imagine a cross between The Comic Book guy from the Simpson's, Mr. Logic from the Viz and Nelson Swillie, and that will give you a rough idea of it's protagonist.

As for reading books in one go*, I've only ever done it twice: The perks of being a wallflower, and we all fall down.

*Surely by "go" you mean day, and not literally one sitting?

mr. logic

Slowly but surely working through In Search of Lost Times.  At times stunning, obviously, at other times....just get on with it. 

bluestar

Just 60 pages into James Carlos Blake's 'The Killings of Stanley Ketchel' but already I know this is one to savour. Ketchel was a middleweight boxer fighting during the first decade of the 20th century, becoming world champion in 1908. I know only a little about him, that he was a ferocious & fearless fighter both in & out of the ring, & was rather partial to a drink, a woman & a bit of a jolly-up. I'm deliberately delaying researching his life story until I've read the book but I'd be interested to know if anybody has read this or any of James Carlos Blake's other work? The book is not a straight biography but written as a novel & the style is incredibly engaging & evocative. I suppose Nick Tosches would be the closest reference point I could provide. 'Hard boiled', is that the phrase that used? I'm not entirely sure I know what this means or if it's entirely apt but if it's shorthand to describe a cool, clinical style, that wouldn't be millions of miles away. And yet there's humanity & warmth in there too. He writes women beautifully &, due to the subject matter, these are often women on the margins of society; Whores, drunks, misfits....."...freckles sprinkled across her cheeks like cinammon.....". Incidentally, is any writer ever described as 'soft-boiled'?  "He writes like a two minute egg....". I'm going to take my time with this one, 30/40 pages at a sitting, & try to make it last.

Toad in the Hole

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on March 27, 2011, 09:26:26 AM
I'm not doubting your enjoyment of the book (obviously), but her day job at a conservative think tank and regular-ish appearances on Fox News make me a little uneasy. Ah, I don't know, and this isn't the thread to get into it, and I agree with what she says in some ways (she's an atheist, she opposes conservative Islam - although I hope she mentions and is equally disgusted by the murders committed in the name of fundamentalist Christianity). Sorry, again. The internet is no good for splitting hairs like this.

I mean, if she got it on with that rabid neo-Con Niall Ferguson, the world would probably be fucked.  Oh, wait...