*What book are you reading? (part 2)
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May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
just started 'a fine dark line' by joe lansdale 
more east texas goodness.
more east texas goodness.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Yeah, it's quite complex, innit?Margaret Attwood - The blind assassin
Was a bit tired when I started it yesterday, and ended up getting out of bed for a pen and paper so I could write down the family relations cos I kept getting it confused
I had to read the first pages over and over, before being able to move on... Really confusing cast of characters which is hard to remember at first because everyone are seen from the narrator's POV (iirc)?
But it gets easier as the plot(?) moves on... very slowly.
I hated the book at first, really didn't like it at all... Then halfway through, I didn't really know what I thought... Then at the last third I'd changed completely and loved it- and at the ending, I cried and wanted to read it again...
Is it just me, or does this apply to nearly all of Atwood's books? It takes some time to warm to her style... It's not a way of writing that I'd usually enjoy, but she wins me over each time- no idea why.
Yeah, it's quite complex, innit?
I had to read the first pages over and over, before being able to move on... Really confusing cast of characters which is hard to remember at first because everyone are seen from the narrator's POV (iirc)?
But it gets easier as the plot(?) moves on... very slowly.
I hated the book at first, really didn't like it at all... Then halfway through, I didn't really know what I thought... Then at the last third I'd changed completely and loved it- and at the ending, I cried and wanted to read it again...
Is it just me, or does this apply to nearly all of Atwood's books? It takes some time to warm to her style... It's not a way of writing that I'd usually enjoy, but she wins me over each time- no idea why.
at least it's not just me! felt like a right twerp having to write it all down, but it was driving me nuts not being able to keep a handle on who was who etc...thought it was v important to the whole laura chase suicide to know exactly where people were in the equation.
oh no, I am liking it, lots. but then, I've loved everything else I've read by her. Think the worst to get into was Surfacing - even though it was really small, it was dense as fuck.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Yeah... The who's who takes some brain-wrinkling...
That said, the main character is one of the most memorable literary heroines I've encountered in a long time... Exactly because she's so flawed, and therefore inifinitely more human and (at least for me) likeable.
If you haven't finished TBA yet, you're in for a treat- The twist at the ending changes everything!
Bakunin
I am Noodle's bitch.
Michael Collins - Tim Pat Coogan.
This is probably the best biography of the Irish guerilla leader, freedom fighter and politician that's available at the moment. It's certainly a detailed read and gives a good account of what Collins was like as a person instead of merely some dry list of his considerable achievements in advancing the Irish cause.
Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in Irish history and The Troubles in particular.
This is probably the best biography of the Irish guerilla leader, freedom fighter and politician that's available at the moment. It's certainly a detailed read and gives a good account of what Collins was like as a person instead of merely some dry list of his considerable achievements in advancing the Irish cause.
Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in Irish history and The Troubles in particular.
Nah, have only just started it! So hush, laydee
Have already had some thoughts about who is the actual mother of Aimee, but I might be barking up the wrong tree with the whole idea of that. Will let you know when I've finished the book!
It was the opposite for me. I was liking the Robber Bride at first, then two thirds in I started hating it, and by the time I got to the ending I had completely lost interest.
I wanted to like Atwood, because I really like the film version of the Handmaid's Tale -- but the RB put me off her books forever.
that's sat on my shelf waiting for me to get round to it
That's a real shame, because she has written some excellent novels
which ones? I might give her a second chance at some point.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Perdido Street Station is the better novel imo.
Alias Grace, Surfacing, Life Before Man, The Edible Woman, and of course, The Handmaid's Tale...these are the ones I've read and really enjoyed
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
it is a great novel - also read the sequel recently, the iron council, which i really enjoyed
just started
Homocide: A year on the streets - David Simon
based on his experiences with the Baltimore Homocide squad in the 90s - from which came "the wire"
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
I am reading Existential Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy by William Barrett. It is a bit out of date, but I suppose that is to be expected.
Marty - tell me how you find Homicide: A Year on the Streets. I have heard it is quite good, it is on my list.
Marty - tell me how you find Homicide: A Year on the Streets. I have heard it is quite good, it is on my list.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
will report back, only bought it this morning on the way to work, about 20 pages in so far
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Sorry for lol'ing at your typo marty, but at Homocide.
at Homocide.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Don't let that book put you off!
'The Robber Bride' was pretty much all shite IMO, one of her few bad books (or, come to think of it, perhaps the only one?),
and not representative for her output in general... Please give her a second chance, only (for god's sake) with a different book!
Of course no authors are for everyone, but I'm pretty convinced you'd like her other books better, because... well, because they're so much better, for one thing.
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
Just bought David Peace's Tokyo Year Zero, 1980, and 1983 (read the first two in the quartet)
Also got The Road cos Jeffe recommended it, it's a comedy right? Good for a holiday?
Also got The Road cos Jeffe recommended it, it's a comedy right? Good for a holiday?
Yep. Imagine a cross between Viz, Terry Pratchett and those Wilt books
But in a post-apocalyptic setting.
kained&able
Here for the football.
I'm reading the slash autobiography.
dave
dave
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
Spent a few quid at lunchtime - got the new David Thompson brick, Have You Seen.
Also, Michael Chabon's A Model World and Junot Diaz's Drown, short story collections by two brilliant writers
I have read a few stories from Drown, and they are rather good.
I'm so relieved that I'm not alone in disliking the RB
The premise was already rather shaky from the start
it made me progressively angrier
and the ending felt so wrong
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Is The Blind Assassin good?
Well, I'm enjoying it, but that doesn't mean that you would
Certainly gets the old braincells working, and is written really well, I think.
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