Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Just finished 'Notes From The Underground' by Dostoevsky, great short read. Now reading 'The Double' which is in the same book.
*What book are you reading ?
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May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
May Kasahara said:Will be starting on Pat Barker's Regeneration this evening
I am absolutely loving this
No fuss, no flash, just brilliant writing and absorbing characters. MOAR!
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
She is certainly one of our greatest living writers. She has such humanity and sympathy for her characters. Even though she deals with the worst that humans can do to each other, at no point do you despair in our capacity for evil - she in fact helps us see better our capacity for compassion. Have you not read any Pat Barker before? You're in for a treat.
Dirty Martini
gets what he cant want
chooch said:
He's a very creepy individual.
I'm reading The Undercover Economist (your copy?), which is jaunty and jokey and a bit over my head.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Orang Utan said:
Very well put. I've only read Blow Your House Down before now, which is similarly clear and compassionate while dealing with terrible subject matter. Don't know why it's taken me so long to read more, really. I'm just a useless slacker.
Am especially pleased with Regeneration because it was my pick for book club which means that everybody will love me (at least until another of my choices is pulled out - they include Watchmen, House of Leaves and The End of Alice
).catinthenet
hungry 4 chat
Blah Blah Byron Rogers.. the man who went into the west.. thumbs up.
Yes. I've put the book into the never read again pile. Might offload it in the post to someone.Dirty Martini said:
bruvver's, I think, though I have one too. His microeconomics is much more convincing than his macro.
Now reading Seamus Deane Reading in the Dark, an Irish novel, and Tim Parks Adultery and Other Diversions- essays.
So, is it Irish by dint of it being written by an Irish writer? I'm just intrigued as to your description of it...chooch said:
Aye. It's not in Irish (if it was, i might call it a Novel in Irish). And it's not necessarily An Irish Novel, part of a Grand Tradition of Irish Novels branching from The European Novel. It's just a novel, by someone who would consider themselves Irish. It does resemble other novels that fit onto the bookshelf in my head marked Irish Novels, in that it's set in Ireland, and features some of the elements I'd expect to find in something of its period, which probably led me to draw attention to its Irishness in a way I wouldn't for a Scottish novel or an American Novel.
So, what period is it set in? And give us a synopsischooch said:Aye. It's not in Irish (if it was, i might call it a Novel in Irish). And it's not necessarily An Irish Novel, part of a Grand Tradition of Irish Novels branching from The European Novel. It's just a novel, by someone who would consider themselves Irish. It does resemble other novels that fit onto the bookshelf in my head marked Irish Novels, in that it's set in Ireland, and features some of the elements I'd expect to find in something of its period, which probably led me to draw attention to its Irishness in a way I wouldn't for a Scottish novel or an American Novel.
I'm intrigued now...I never refer to novels as Irish, or Scottish, or English...or European for that matter. Just isn't a category I would think of using, for reference purposes
It's a 'swift, masterful transformation of family griefs and political violence into something rhapsodic and heartbreaking' (thanks, Seamus Heaney)
Set between 1945 and 1970, in Derry. It's mostly about a boy trying to piece together his family history. Lots of whispered hints and unmentionable relatives. Against the background of the politics of living Irish in Northern Ireland.
Synopsis here.
I wouldn't often refer to Irish novels, or Scottish novels, or Jamaican novels, or Czech novels, or Russian novels, or whatever novels, but I would use it, rarely, as a shorthand for the cultural tradition of a particular kind of novel. Would you say it's helpful, or meaningful, or entertaining, to refer to, say, the Brothers Karamazov, as one of those interminable Russian novels?
Set between 1945 and 1970, in Derry. It's mostly about a boy trying to piece together his family history. Lots of whispered hints and unmentionable relatives. Against the background of the politics of living Irish in Northern Ireland.
Synopsis here.
I wouldn't often refer to Irish novels, or Scottish novels, or Jamaican novels, or Czech novels, or Russian novels, or whatever novels, but I would use it, rarely, as a shorthand for the cultural tradition of a particular kind of novel. Would you say it's helpful, or meaningful, or entertaining, to refer to, say, the Brothers Karamazov, as one of those interminable Russian novels?
Strumpet
gypsy girl
Am restless re: books right now.
After telling a work mate that I want something funny and light to read she has given me "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" lol If it makes me chuckle there are 7 others in the series apparently.
Tis the diaries of a young girl. Seems like it could be the female version of Adrian Mole
After telling a work mate that I want something funny and light to read she has given me "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" lol If it makes me chuckle there are 7 others in the series apparently.
Tis the diaries of a young girl. Seems like it could be the female version of Adrian Mole
chooch said:
Okay, now I understand why you used it as a term of reference. Still, quite damning when the reference you use to describe such a novel is 'Irish' when it's mainly due to the politics, innit? No offence whatsoever intended - just, interesting.
Re your last paragraph, no, I wouldn't say it's any of those 3 things to refer to the BK.
No offence taken.sojourner said:
Aye. Think it comes down to whether I feel I'm reading it comfortably- whether I can ignore its otherness. Even though I'm of Irish extraction, and even though it tracks quite closely some of the experiences of my relatives in Northern Ireland, I still feel I'm on the outside looking into this book. Maybe that's me not connecting with the characters or style, or maybe it's that I'm aware it feels alien because I get foolishly antsy or sentimental around Irishness, because of my own family links there, I'm not sure.
It is a tricky one. I think you can usefully describe something as an Irish novel, a European novel, an Afro-American novel. All would come with a dancing bear parade of caveats though.
Hmmm. That's interesting...your feeling of otherness and not-quite-being...chooch said:
Shit - we're getting into Sartre territory - run for the hills
I would describe Maya Angelou's autobiography as Afro-American, but it's not a novel, so...
I'm trying to think of stuff I've read that I would describe as 'ish'. Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon might be a good example...would I describe that as Afro-American? Perhaps I would. Would I describe Gogol's the Nose as Russian? Possibly. But I think I would always describe them as novels 'written by a Russian/Afro-American writer', rather than as Russian or A-A novels
chooch said:
I loved Atomised but gave up on him after being bored shitless by Whatever and Platform.
Is that a recommendation for The possibility of an island?
I'm currently reading Stump by Niall Griffiths, which is great if you like tales of Welsh junkies and alkies. He's usually compared to Irvine Welsh but for my money easily the better writer.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
A book about Anthony Zinni.
Reading Dark River by John Twelve Hawks. Have also read the Traveler, part one of his trilogy, by same author. Part one is definitely better. Also reading How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World by Francis Wheen again. A brilliant, often hilarious book . Essentially a scathing polemic aimed at Postmodernists, Premodernists and new age mystics.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Who he?Johnny Canuck2 said:
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