*What book are you reading ?

[ViolentPanda]

Children of Kali by Kevin Rushby. Interesting in parts.

 

[Orang Utan]

My mum sent me Nabokov's Invitation To A Beheading for my birthday. A typically grim Mum present but this one actually looks readable. I've read Lolita and that is an astonishing delight, so I have hopes for this. Anyone read it?

 

[tufty79]

'what a carve up!' by jonathan coe.

only just started it this morning, so will have to reserve judgement for a while. though i like what i've read so far.

that book made me stop eating meat :s

 

[sojourner]

It does take off after a bit, the first 30 pages or so are a bit heavygoing.

Cheers DM - think I'll give it a while to try and forget the first part then, and try in a coupla months or so

 

[tastebud]

that book made me stop eating meat :s

already veggie & have been for a while, so i should be safe.

 

[Brockway]

Pandora's Handbag by Elizabeth Young. Non-fiction. Published in the mid-90s. A collection of her newspaper and magazine articles on music, literature and drugs. Highly recommended.

 

[tastebud]

My mum sent me Nabokov's Invitation To A Beheading for my birthday. A typically grim Mum present but this one actually looks readable. I've read Lolita and that is an astonishing delight, so I have hopes for this. Anyone read it?

no, but i'd like to.

'an astonishing delight' is exactly the right way to describe lolita

 

[Pieface]

I just bought Lolita so I'm looking forward to the astonishing delight now

 

[sojourner]

I just bought Lolita so I'm looking forward to the astonishing delight now

I had to give up on it when I read it - daughter was 9 and it was just a bit too disturbing for me

It's been sat there waiting for me to try it again - perhaps now she's a lot older I could do it

 

[Orang Utan]

It's such a feast of the English language - you want to take your time to savour it though, no matter how tempted you are to gobble it all down at once

 

[Santino]

It's such a feast of the English language - you want to take your time to savour it though, no matter how tempted you are to gobble it all down at once

Christ, I hate that kind of writing.

Still, horses for different folks and all that.

 

[Orang Utan]

Christ, I hate that kind of writing.

Normally I do, but Nabokov is different. For instance, I can't stomach WG Sebald.

 

[sojourner]

I have almost finished We Need to talk about Kevin, and have got ants in me pants about what the denouement is gonna be, having read loads of people on here talk about how shocking it was!!!


If anyone dares to put a spoiler up, I will find out where you live, and you will be the sorriest you have EVER been. EVER. Roight?

 

[Orang Utan]

I have almost finished We Need to talk about Kevin, and have got ants in me pants about what the denouement is gonna be, having read loads of people on here talk about how shocking it was!!!


If anyone dares to put a spoiler up, I will find out where you live, and you will be the sorriest you have EVER been. EVER. Roight?

An alien comes down and eats them all

 

[sojourner]

An alien comes down and eats them all

 

[maya]

My mum sent me Nabokov's Invitation To A Beheading for my birthday. A typically grim Mum present but this one actually looks readable. I've read Lolita and that is an astonishing delight, so I have hopes for this. Anyone read it?

No but had a discussion with a friend recently where we both agreed that while Nabokov's language is amazing, pick up almost any of his books and you'll see this greatness marred by the inevitable drift into the usual kiddy fiddler waffling territorium... *

(* ...See? Now you have to read the book, to prove me wrong! )

 

[MightyAphrodite]

The Corrections...Jonathan Franzen

never heard of it, borrowed it from a mate...bet its gonna be crap

 

[Orang Utan]

The Corrections...Jonathan Franzen

never heard of it, borrowed it from a mate...bet its gonna be crap

You'll lose the bet then! It's amazing

 

[MightyAphrodite]

You'll lose the bet then! It's amazing

isit? ....great, i picked a winner

now i'll start it.



*i picked it cause i liked the cover.

 

[sojourner]

I have almost finished We Need to talk about Kevin, and have got ants in me pants about what the denouement is gonna be, having read loads of people on here talk about how shocking it was!!!

Finished it this morning. Denouement was good, but not as brilliant as my fevered mind had worked it up to

Really enjoyed this book though

 

[Orang Utan]

So you didn't like the alien spaceship? It was a bit far-fetched wasn't it?

 

[Boogie Boy]

I've just finished reading 'The Sleeper Awakes' by HG Wells, which is a horrible, nasty little book with a distinctly racist subtext which does little to encourage me to read anything further by Wells.

BB

 

[maya]

I've just finished reading 'The Sleeper Awakes' by HG Wells, which is a horrible, nasty little book with a distinctly racist subtext which does little to encourage me to read anything further by Wells.

BB

You could say that of almost any british author 1600- 1950+, can't you, though?
The British Empire, colonism, imperialism- racist and etnocentric ideologies/thought seeping through every pore of society and education, upbringing etc... Most people and many writers at that time did hold racist views, some more than others and a few didn't, not that that is an excuse but it was a different time and racism was more prevalent and common at that time...

(And continued to be up until the late 1960's and 70's...)

What I'm trying to say is not to applaud racism, because racism is a horrible thing-
but you should remember that Britain has a deeply disturbing, deeply racist past...
And remember that that past was not long ago, just a bit over 40 years ago... It's closer than you think
These people didn't exist in a vacuum- Something shaped their beliefs and that something was the society of their day.

 

[Boogie Boy]

You could say that of almost any british author 1600- 1950+, can't you, though?
The British Empire, colonism, imperialism- racist and etnocentric ideologies/thought seeping through every pore of society and education, upbringing etc... Most people and many writers at that time did hold racist views, some more than others and a few didn't, not that that is an excuse but it was a different time and racism was more prevalent and common at that time...

(And continued to be up until the late 1960's and 70's...)

What I'm trying to say is not to applaud racism, because racism is a horrible thing-
but you should remember that Britain has a deeply disturbing, deeply racist past...
And remember that that past was not long ago, just a bit over 40 years ago... It's closer than you think
These people didn't exist in a vacuum- Something shaped their beliefs and that something was the society of their day.

My initial response to your reply was to simply post a set of rolling eyes, but afterwards I felt that that would not be entirely fair. I would like to ask you if your intention in writing was to be patronising, because as I read over the text again I find myself quite taken aback.

BB

 

[chooch]

The New Spaniards by John Hooper.

I liked that.

Just finishing The White Album, another Joan Didion. Not quite as sharp as Slouching Towards Bethlehem but still some very fine writing in there.

 

[onemonkey]

Junkie - William Burroughs

Never read any of his before.. it's okay but he does seem a bit cold and distant so far

 

[sojourner]

Junkie - William Burroughs

Never read any of his before.. it's okay but he does seem a bit cold and distant so far

I love that book - it was a different take on the life of an addict, as compared to the people I was knocking round with at that time


I'm reading Disobedience by Naomi Alderman, for book club. It's fucking shite - chicklit for dykes. I'm seriously considering another flounce if they're gonna continue picking vacuous bollocks like this

 

[Rollem]

'the memory keepers daughter' - kim edwards

 

[maya]

My initial response to your reply was to simply post a set of rolling eyes, but afterwards I felt that that would not be entirely fair. I would like to ask you if your intention in writing was to be patronising, because as I read over the text again I find myself quite taken aback.

BB

yeah, probably... tried to be ironic in a patronising way, but failed.

i'll have to mention that i've never read anything by wells, nor did it seem especially tempting, judging from your description.

 

[intrikat]

Finally started Jeanette Winterson's The Lighthousekeeper, after also reading The Passion both very whimsical and she really does the story-within-a-story well.