*What book are you reading ?

[Pickman's model]

My gf recommened reading The Life of Pi - i'm about half way through and so far pretty unmoved by it. Not that it isn't a good book just i'd been led to expect more Hate it when that happens

we read that in the book group. there's a twist! also, parts of it reminded me of edgar allan poe's "the narrative of arthur gordon pym".

 

[Pickman's model]

just finished "lenin" by robert service, and on to "religion and the decline of magic" by keith thomas. my plan this year's to read all the 'improving' books i've amassed, so after "religion..." it's straight to "demonic and spiritual magic from ficino to camponella" by walker. (can't remember if it's camponella or something else, tho )

 

[g force]

we read that in the book group. there's a twist! also, parts of it reminded me of edgar allan poe's "the narrative of arthur gordon pym".

Yeah I was told there was a twist which tbh is the only reason i'm still reading it. I'll probably get to end and decide I love it like a do with a few books - maybe it's a slow burner.

 

[Orang Utan]

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

A third through...not sure yet though but quite enjoying it...well you know what i mean

I've just started Middlesex which is very enjoyable.

Foo - you're right to dump Five Boys - it's rubbish

 

[foo]

I'm so glad I read Life Of Pi before reading any of the hype and before knowing it was a Booker prize winner. All the guff written about winners sometimes ruins the freshness of reading imo.

I enjoyed it.

 

[eme]

Tartt.....

I held off reading her first book as it was so hyped I dare not open it...but am in the middle of Little Friend which is brilliant! one of those 'Oh I can't wait til I've got some time to carry on reading' books.... so much so I almost missed my tube stop this am trying to finish a chapter!....

All the guff written about winners sometimes ruins the freshness of reading imo.

exactly!

mind you after LF I might give Secret History a go too...

 

[foo]

Foo - you're right to dump Five Boys - it's rubbish

Ah. ok. I shan't bother then.


I need something new to read!!!!!!!!

 

[foo]

I've read the book and heard her interviewed a couple of times and I think the detached (ish) style is just her trying to give full value to the womens stories and not put a spin etc on them....it could have come across as interfering/patronising to write more emotively IMHO, anyhow irrespective of the style the stories needed telling and she's done that so........thats the important thing isn't it?

I didn't see your reply till now cheg

I think I read it just after a spate of books by wordy imaginative people like McKewen (sp) so her style got on my nerves. I do take your points though, and think you're right.

 

[foo]

exactly!

Speaking of winners. Have you read Vernon God Little eme? If so, what did you think?

And anyone else of course.

 

[rebel warrior]

just finished "lenin" by robert service, and on to "religion and the decline of magic" by keith thomas. my plan this year's to read all the 'improving' books i've amassed, so after "religion..." it's straight to "demonic and spiritual magic from ficino to camponella" by walker. (can't remember if it's camponella or something else, tho )

'Religion and the decline of magic' is a class book and no mistake. With all your interest in witches and the supernatural tho pm, am surprised you are only just on to it now?

 

[Orang Utan]

All the guff written about winners sometimes ruins the freshness of reading imo.

So so true - I read Vernon God Little without its dust jacket, so I knew absolutely nothing about the story or the author and I am sure I enjoyed it more than I would have if I'd known about the author's colourful past and the novel's Booker nomination.

 

[eme]

Have you read Vernon God Little eme?

is that the one by the french guy who pisses people off being all (anti?*) intellectual?

no I haven't but may well do... liked the cut of his jib from what I can remember.... also if it's out in paperback... I have an aversion to hardbacks and to dustjackets too!! dunno why...



can't recall which!

 

[marty21]

staliongrad - anthony beavor - nearly finished it - exellent, will move on to his berlin book afterwards

d-day - stephen ambrose - just started it

having a bit of a ww2 period at the mo - mrs21 is also hoovering them up

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

 

[Orang Utan]

is that the one by the french guy who pisses people off being all (anti?*) intellectual?

Nope - that's not the fella - that sounds like Michel Houellebecq

DBC Pierre is the nom de plume of a Mexican-Australian whose name I forget - DBC stands for Dirty But Clean

 

[Orang Utan]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

what are you planning?

 

[Elpenor]

Currently I'm reading Graham Greene's volumes of autobiography - A Sort Of Life, and Ways Of Escape. Once I've read four or five novels by an author I usually get the thirst to find out more about them (if I like their work). I've been keen on Greene for years so I guess this a logical progression. I'm still in his early 30's, so he's not travelled in Africa or done any of his secret work yet, but his recollections are quite interesting, and 'bite-sized' which is good as I tend to read on the bus.

When they're done I have Heligoland by someone or other and The Leopard by Lampedusa out of the library, a rare pre-1900 book for me too.

 

[Pickman's model]

'Religion and the decline of magic' is a class book and no mistake. With all your interest in witches and the supernatural tho pm, am surprised you are only just on to it now?

read the bits about witchcraft years back, but i haven't read it from front to back before.

 

[rebel warrior]

Well I am currently reading the following...
-To kill a mocking bird - Harper Lee.
- Web of Deceit - Mark Curtis.
- Staying Power: A History of Black People in Britain - Peter Fryer

 

[foo]

I have an aversion to hardbacks and to dustjackets too!!

Me too Quite a handy aversion to have seeing as hardbacks are so bleedin' expensive!

I've got Vernon God Little in paperback - it's been out a while I think. I'm not sure what I think of the book tbh. A bit Catcher In The Rye, but I may be being unfair with that comparisson. I like it, and don't like it. Amazing use of language (ugly words convey beautiful images) and the 'parental knife' thing running through the book is excellent. I imagine it was written about the same kind of American culture that's shown in Steel Magnolias. Those women!

Worth a read imo.

 

[eme]

I imagine it was written about the same kind of American culture that's shown in Steel Magnolias. Those women!

they also feature quite heavily in Little Friend too!
am intrigued now about the Vernon God Little book now.... handy this thread innit?

 

[foo]

heh, I spied Little Friend on a (not so little) friend's table the other day so I might go and borrow it.

Yep, this thread is fab. If only I could join in with the book group. Ah! That's a point. I may scoot over there to see what you lot are reading at the moment so I can once again be one of your virtual members!

 

[Masseuse]

Oh Gosh, I HATED Little Friend! The first book in a long long time that I just couldn't finish, and I got 3/4 of the way through.

Loved Secret History tho.

 

[foo]

"Oh Gosh!" ???

You being Joyce Grenfell again today eh Massy?




<scarpers>

 

[eme]

Oh Gosh, I HATED Little Friend! The first book in a long long time that I just couldn't finish, and I got 3/4 of the way through.
Loved Secret History tho.

it's weird that cos it seems like people who've read both of her books only like one or the other!

 

[MysteryGuest]

Mark's Little Book about Kinder Eggs - Mark Pawson, London 1990

I'm now on my fourth reading of this obscure, mysterious classic, that seems to contain half-glimpsed endless labyrinthine corridors of meaning anew each time I immerse myself in it.

It is actually an all-time classic.

 

[girasol]

Reading The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart (I'm about halfway through).

It's very, well... 'meh'.

[page 9, woo hoo (for those of you with 40 posts/page )]

Just finished reading that! For the second time - First time was about 8 years ago. It's a very funny book! But, contrary to popular belief, following the dice is actually a pretty stupid idea *with hilarious effects*. I'm surprised (and glad) it never made into film...

Now reading Kiss me, Judas. Very painful read, as main guy has his kidney stolen by some kidney stealing woman... ouch! (Sorry, can't remember who wrote it and haven't got book on me)

 

[Erich Zann]

1984

Absolutely superb first page. The most memorable opening to any book I can recall. Everyone should read this and brave new world. Dystopia vs Utopia. Both pretty bad.

 

[ringolevio]

Lenny Bruce - How to Talk Dirty and Influence People

This is - surprise, surprise - an autobiography by LB which I've had knocking about for a while. Don't know *that* much about him apart from he was a gobby, 'offensive,' social satirist who pissed off the cops and took loads of drugs.

Sounds fair enough to me. Well, apart from the overdose, of course.

Only a hundred pages in but enjoying it so far - a funny man quite happy to mock himself.

 

[lyra_k]

Don't know *that* much about him apart from he was a gobby, 'offensive,' social satirist who pissed off the cops and took loads of drugs.

He was a genius. Incidentally he's just received an official 'pardon' (gee, thanks ) for his conviction for obscenity or whatever it was that he was convicted of.

I'm reading Disgrace by J M Coetzee; it's the first time I've read him, an I'm loving his detached style so far.