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*What book are you reading ?

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lyra_kitten said:
He was a genius. :D Incidentally he's just received an official 'pardon' (gee, thanks :rolleyes: ) for his conviction for obscenity or whatever it was that he was convicted of
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Yeah, I think he's pretty cool. :D

He was granted a posthumous pardon last month - as you say, woohoo :rolleyes: - for an obscene performance in '64; I think they particularly objected to his use of the term 'cocksucker,' heh heh.

He said: well, there's a lot of them about.

And there were a load of cops in the audience that night.

:D
 
Hunter S. Thompson "Kingdom of Fear"

The most disorganised autobiography ever written, but has some absolutely fantastic passages about bizarre goings on in the hills of Colorado and plenty of FU Dubya.
 
Just finished Charles Bukowski Ham on Rye which was brilliant.

Now I'm starting the second part of the journey into Philip Pullman land...
hope it's as good as the first book!
 
Taken on Trust- Terry Waite
How he managed to remain so strong and philosophical throughout his whole capture including 4 years of solitary confinement I'll never know. an amazing man.
 
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

The fantastic prequel to the Cryptonomicon. Bigger than a brick and totally captivating.
 
Just found a copy of a book called Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce.

The reviews on the back got me interested,

' transposing the ambience of Chandler's noir LA to modern day Aber.. is a surreal idea , but price pulls it off'

'very black and very funny indeed... mixes satire, farce, fantasy and comic strip in a world where The Famous Five meets Raymond chandler'

First sentence.

The thing I remember most about it was walking the enrire length of the Prom that morning and not seeing a druid.

the 'tec's first client Myfanwy Montez.

After 3 pages I think I'm hooked.
 
Just finished the Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. It’s good but didn’t grab me as much as some of his others. So saying the plot still dragged me along on the usual Auster rollercoaster of trivial events with bizarre ramifications. He’s still a great writer
 
Hi
Ive just finished Animal Farm George orwell. Just started Captive State by George Monbiot well worth reading I think anyone else read it?
 
Claire Tomalin Life of Pepys. Essential for everyone who loves London, Sex, Politics and the Seventeenth Century. :)
 
Just finished Women by Charles Bukowski which is his usual high quality (although not as good as Post Office or Ham On Rye).

About to start On the Road by Kerouac. I just need to read the ludicrously long introduction and I'll be off.

Bit of a Beat feel to my reading at the moment. I've got Naked Lunch lined up for afters.
 
"The Righteous" by Martin Gilbert...

its basically the stories of the people who saved jews from the Nazi's, very interesting though incredibly depressing when it lists the numbers and ways people died... More a list than anything else, but worth the effort
 
Finished my Graham Greene autobiographies, which were very interesting - all about his experiences in Cuba, Vietna, Liberia, and working as a spy! and reading Heligoland by Shena Mackay. It seems quite good so far, and at least it's lighter than some of the other stuff I'm reading :)
 
I'm reading "Run" by Douglas E. Winter, a leanord-esque crime thriller, and "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham for fun, and "Emma" by Jane Austen for college.

Personally, i think Austen is shite, to much "being in love" without any of the juicy dirtiness or sex. Goddam Austen.
 
souljacker said:
Just finished Women by Charles Bukowski which is his usual high quality (although not as good as Post Office or Ham On Rye).

About to start On the Road by Kerouac. I just need to read the ludicrously long introduction and I'll be off.

Bit of a Beat feel to my reading at the moment. I've got Naked Lunch lined up for afters.
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I have tried to read naked lunch 3 times but can never get more than about 30 pages in :( maybe I'm not reading it in the correct state ;)
 
try reading easier burroughs books first... likw junky

naked lunch is far to random and spontaneously mad to just jump into
 
ringolevio said:
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. :D 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.
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i read this a couple of years back after picking up a copy in a greasy spoon caff-cum-second hand bookshop on orpington high street :eek:

you really get a sense of his manic, jazz style, and he's not afraid of painting himself in a sometimes thoroughly unpleasant light. his stuff on his family is particularly well nuanced, and he writes so fondly of his wife even though he knows he treats her badly. definitely a, um, dated attitude to women throughout...

currently i have been reading clive ponting's 'tragedy and farce', about the british civil service and whitehall in general. his 'right to know' was fascinating - the inside story of his high-profile trial under the osa for leaking documents proving the government was lying to parliament over the sinking of the belgrano during the falklands war - but this one is not quite as well pitched, and relies far too much on the crossman and castle diaries, and on susan crosland's biography of her husband tony. oh well, still worth reading.

also read magnus linklater & some other observer journo's 'not with honour', about the westland fiasco that saw the resignations of heseltine and brittan from the thatcher cabinet over disagreements and doubledealing. definitely worth reading for the high level access to senior figures from westland, sikorsky, the government and the city, as well as other players.

now back to the third reich book. i'll finish it some day...
 
hendo said:
Claire Tomalin Life of Pepys. Essential for everyone who loves London, Sex, Politics and the Seventeenth Century. :)
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an outstannding book .I never knew I was interested in Pepys until I started reading that book.It really puts you in among the filth of seventeenth century London
 
berlin - the fall by anthony beavor (just finished stalingrad by the same writer - fantastic book)

d-day - steven ambrose -

seem to be reading a lot about ww2 at the mo....mrs21 kicked it off with stalingrad and i've been playing catch up as she reads them...

might have to dig out by sven hassel collection next :D
 
i continue to duck and dive between books.

finished Morvern Callar yesterday. it did nothing for me, again.

started Vernon God Little, and Brink is ongoing.
 
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Quite heavy going after reading novels, but utterly fascinating and shocking! Preaching to the converted in my case, but I'd love to see what McDonald's customers make of it.
 
'The Shape of Water' by Andrea Camilleri. It's an Italian crime book with the typical ingredients: a simpatico detective who is well into his food, not too concerned about petty crime but coming up against the big political forces and corruption etc. A very pleasant read for a lazy saturday afternoon.

Recently finished 'Across the nightingale floor' by Lian Hearn which was recommended to me by friends whose taste in books I often share as on the same level as Philip Pullman. But it didn't really engage me and I found it quite cliched.:confused:Anyone else heard anything about it or read it?
 
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