What are you reading?

[Blinder Data]

Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean by Alex von Tunzelmann

Don't often go for history books but I am loving this, mostly because I knew the vague details but none of the guts of it. It also brings countries besides Cuba into the equation, which is helpful because that's all we ever hear.

Things I've learned:
- Haiti and the Dominican Republic share a border! They're on one big island, like England, Scotland and Wales! Don't quite know how I never knew this before.
- Fidel Castro was a top sportsman and refused a big money offer from US basketball teams, including the New York Giants. Oh what might have been.
- Che Guavara was such a dirty scrote in his younger years that he bet that his pants would stand up by themselves, such was the level of filth down there - and he won!
- Marcel Duvalier, dictator of Haiti, is one of the scariest modern day leaders ever. Truly evil. You can tell just by looking at him.



It's rip-roaring stuff, I don't want it to end, and there are so many points I wish it could expand on. Recommended.

[Twit 2]

Francois, shurely?

Papa Doc doo doo doo doo doo doo!
Baby Doc doo doo doo doo doo doo!

[bgmnts]

Love that book so much

Not surprised, it is quite good. Reading The Hill of Dreams now, Machen is quite great! He should be more well known.

He was born a few miles down the road from me.

[Artie Fufkin]

Not surprised, it is quite good. Reading The Hill of Dreams now, Machen is quite great! He should be more well known.

He was born a few miles down the road from me.

Just bought it. Ta.

[Sin Agog]

I've read a few things by him (Pan, Hill, all two billion words of his translation of Casanova's memoirs), but did he ever do anything quite as otherworldly as The White People?  I feel like he went to a place in that one all yer Algernons, George MacDonalds, Lord Dunsanys, Vernon Lees, M.R. Jameses and the like only wish they could.  Sometimes these old horrors feel like more framing device than actual story, but the teen girl's account here feels way more visceral and...maybe even like a found footage thing than anything else in the genre.  If you really did go to faeryland, it'd be fucking horrifying, wouldn't it?  No wonder Lovecraft was such a fan of that one.

[bgmnts]

White People is next on my list. He is so descriptive, it's quite confusing and convoluted at times and my modern ADD brain gets tired but I do enjoy his painted pictures.

His reviews on Goodread are quite enjoyable.

[Artie Fufkin]

White People is next on my list. He is so descriptive, it's quite confusing and convoluted at times and my modern ADD brain gets tired but I do enjoy his painted pictures.

Just bought this as well. That's 2 books for £1.48 on Amazon kindle.

[marquis_de_sad]

I've read a few things by him (Pan, Hill, all two billion words of his translation of Casanova's memoirs), but did he ever do anything quite as otherworldly as The White People?  I feel like he went to a place in that one all yer Algernons, George MacDonalds, Lord Dunsanys, Vernon Lees, M.R. Jameses and the like only wish they could.  Sometimes these old horrors feel like more framing device than actual story, but the teen girl's account here feels way more visceral and...maybe even like a found footage thing than anything else in the genre.  If you really did go to faeryland, it'd be fucking horrifying, wouldn't it?  No wonder Lovecraft was such a fan of that one.

Agreed. Absolute masterpiece. First thing I ever read by him and was blown away.

It's here if anyone wants to read it online.

[Artie Fufkin]

Pan, particularly the ending, stayed with me for ages. Creeped the fuck outta me.

[bgmnts]

For Reasons, a guy named Raymond wants to experiment on putting a person into some sort of altered state. Mary was, like, super poor, and he took her in and fed her, so this is fair, he says. She agrees because of Stockholm-syndrome-like loyalty to this creep. Bad idea genes abound here, and then-- Mary and Raymond are basically out of the narrative.

Again with a really destitute person in the street, Herbert, an old school chum of Villiers. No, you're not supposed to know who Villiers is. Does he try to help his unfortunate friend? No, he just listens to his sad but vague story about his unfortunate marriage and how it ruined his life, then says 'bye and goes off and tells other people, because he appears to be a nosy gossip, and judgy, too.

Machen is by no means a great prose stylist, and this book is written in a confused manner. Many lurid events are hinted at then broken off with a-- leaving the reader to surmise what took place. It would be fine if the conclusions were obvious, but they aren't (even when I thought I got what had happened) and I found myself several time turning back trying to figure out if a person had died, or what.

[bgmnts]

Finished Hill of Dreams. Brilliant! Everything clicked at the end.

[ToneLa]

I had some bad news (for a fucking change) so The Road lost its appeal

So I paused it and switched to The Godfather

OMG. The writing style initially seemed unadventurous and clunky - and I think it is, really, but it's functional enough to suck you in - but Puzo is such an efficient storyteller. It's absolutely packed - varying characters, situations, you just buzz off it, lap it up, such energy, and still seems utterly definitive.

It's not unputdownable, but since I watched the films and fell in love aboot 15 years back or more, I'm wondering why the fuck I didn't enrich my appreciation earlier

[Ferris]

I had some bad news (for a fucking change) so The Road lost its appeal

Hope you're doing alright lad

[ToneLa]

Hope you're doing alright lad

Yes and no. My father is surgery-requiring ill: I hope that alone explains why The Road is a heavier read suddenly. Indeed, that's part of the attraction for McCarthy, no?

I am long past the point where I expect the world to care - there's always obstacles in every fucking corridor you walk down - there's always someone to question what you do, some fate you didn't want striking at the worst time - but thank you Ferris, because you are the first person to say that to me here.

And my answer is I'm fuckin alright, alright

Even if it's Godfather alright (who seriously would read The Road for a pick-me-up??)

It's good as well (The Godfather; it's lovely to proper lose yourself in a novel; the rest can get fucked for the time being)

[Ferris]

Glad to hear it my man. If you want to rant away, my inbox is open. Think of it like typing your thoughts into notepad, except I'll respond back with something witty.

I'd give The Road a miss for now, stick to some Terry Pratchett or something.

All the best & hope your dad is on the mend soon.

[ToneLa]

Glad to hear it my man. If you want to rant away, my inbox is open. Think of it like typing your thoughts into notepad, except I'll respond back with something witty.

I'd give The Road a miss for now, stick to some Terry Pratchett or something.

All the best & hope your dad is on the mend soon.

You're fuckin lovely.

I'd make you a caporegime!

[bgmnts]

Having warched the film first, The Godfather book was a very strange read. When you're spending half the time reading about a woman with an oversized vagina, it confuses you.

[mr. logic]

I tried to read it recently and just couldn't get past how awful I found the writing itself.

[ToneLa]

Having warched the film first, The Godfather book was a very strange read. When you're spending half the time reading about a woman with an oversized vagina, it confuses you.

Like half of The Godfather even focuses on women

Do yir dirty mind a favour bgmnts. Don't read IT!

[bgmnts]

Like half of The Godfather even focuses on women

Do yir dirty mind a favour bgmnts. Don't read IT!

I read it years ago. May hold up better on second reading. May even find the Lucy Mancini subplot endearing.

[Pingers]

Like half of The Godfather even focuses on women

Do yir dirty mind a favour bgmnts. Don't read IT!

If you're looking for summat to read to provide a bit of cheer, I recently finished Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. It's much lighter than what I'd normally read but it was enjoyable and entertaining and at times funny. Essentially, it turns out there's a division of the Metropolitan Police that deals with magic and ghosts. And sexy river nymphs.

Anyway, I hope your dad's ok.

[Pingers]

Just finished The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. It's a good rework of traditional folk tales in a modernity-meets-Grimm Brothers style, but not as good as Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber

[bgmnts]

Rape of the Fair County by Alexander Cordell.


Cymru am byth n all tha'.

[VaginaSimpson]

If you want to rant away, my inbox is open.

You're dirty.

[bgmnts]

Rape of the Fair County by Alexander Cordell.


Cymru am byth n all tha'.

To my shame, it did actually give me a weird sense of Welsh pride and nostalgia. It is very bizarre to read a novel in which your specific area is the setting, especially when the village you live in is mentioned, but the town the village is situated in didn't exist yet!

It definitely made me feel sadness for the plight of those poor, poor fuckers forced to work down the ironworks and my god it makes me appreciate the time we live in now.

The characters are all very relatable and true to  the setting, I can imagine people in a small close-knit community like Nantyglo or Blaenavon would talk and act and think like that.

Its a testament to how nice a read this is when I smashed it in the course of about 3 days.

Finally, it was more raunchy and vulgar and realistic than I thought it would be!

[gilbertharding]

Currently re-reading How the Dead Live by Will Self - for the first time since it came out.

I don't know why - it kind of jumped off the shelf. It's surprisingly affecting: my Mum died last summer, and the book is triggering memories as well as foreshadowing my own mortality.

I can half remember the twist at the end.

[Twit 2]

Off a recommendation on here, 'The Story of my Heart' by Richard Jefferies.

[Wentworth Smith]

Reading 'Marvel Comics the Untold Story' by Sean Howe. Surprised me by being really well written and not a hatchet job on Stan Lee as I suspected it might be before reading. His protestations of creating everything are there but Jack Kirby does the same thing. After he leaves the editing/writing Lee comes across more as a harmless old duffer than anything else. The real nutters are the parade of businessmen in the nineties who have no clue what they are doing.

[jobotic]

Having read a collection of short stories by Muriel Spark (The Go-Away Bird) I got out a collection of short stories by Doris Lessing. Have read a couple and they were very good (particularly The Eye of God in Paradise) but. like Spark, fairly unnerving so I fancied a laugh and it's Alan Partridge - Nomad (again).

When I'm done with that Beryl Bainbridge's The Bottle Factory Outing.

[Panbaams]

I've just started Nevil Shute's On the Beach. Lots of stiff upper lips in the face of impending doom.

It's a first edition, as it turns out. 10p from the RSPCA charity shop.