This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Callan57

An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray

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Nausea -- Jean-Paul Sartre.

Vim Fuego

tim_holsters wrote: »

Vim I'll be putting in an order with the book depository soon. I've never heard of Jesse Bullington but I'm all for blasphemy so I'm asking you to put your head on a block here. Should I go for it?

Definitely go for it, it's quite a unique read. It's very violent and chock-full of black humour, despicable acts and mythical evil beasts. The brothers speak like they're in the tv series Deadwood (despite starting in 1364 Germany). I really liked it. Plenty of reviews on amazon for more opinions. Jesus is a proper bitchswine according to the brothers.

Also, you can judge this one by its brilliant cover art:

tim_holsters

Good stuff. I'll get it next time I'm buying. Interesting what you say about Deadwood I loved that series.

brentan

There was something very weird about how the inhabitants of Deadwood went about their business in that dog eat world while looking and sounding like characters from Dickens or Jane Austin. I think the contrast between the uncivilised behaviour carried out by people speaking in such civilised, well-structured language added to the shock.

Vim Fuego

My favourite part of Deadwood was when Wild Bill used the c-word in the most devastating way in one of his exchanges with the character who plays cards and goads him (can't remember his name). Stunning profanity.

Back to the books, I've spent my entire day finishing Ender's Game. Really wonderful sci-fi, couldn't put it down. Written in 1985, I thought it was interesting that the internet in this world influenced politics in one of the subplots.

rmchmufc

currently reading a book called leadbelly, its about a real life gangland war that took place in melbourne over a ten year period. became interested when i watched the tv series underbelly which is based on the book.

Vim Fuego

So far today, I've gotten to the half-way point of Island by Richard Laymon.

It's told in the form of the journal of a 19-year-old guy who goes on holidays to the Caribbean with his girlfriend's family only to have their boat explode while they're on a deserted island having a picnic. The opening line is "Today, the yacht exploded".

Then the killings begin....

It's a horror I guess but I'm finding it more funny than anything else. The narrator Rupert is a sex-obsessed teen who can't stop describing his female companions' bikini bodies as well as the grisly stuff. I'm roaring through it and having a great time. It would be an excellent holiday book (unless you're going to the Caribbean and hiring a boat).

Nice intro from Dean Koontz as well describing his late friend's personality and his family. I've only discovered Laymon so it's sad to hear he's passed away, even if it was a decade ago.

tim_holsters

brentan wrote: »

There was something very weird about how the inhabitants of Deadwood went about their business in that dog eat world while looking and sounding like characters from Dickens or Jane Austin. I think the contrast between the uncivilised behaviour carried out by people speaking in such civilised, well-structured language added to the shock.

I'd go along with that.

tim_holsters

Vim Fuego wrote: »

My favourite part of Deadwood was when Wild Bill used the c-word in the most devastating way in one of his exchanges with the character who plays cards and goads him (can't remember his name). Stunning profanity.

Back to the books, I've spent my entire day finishing Ender's Game. Really wonderful sci-fi, couldn't put it down. Written in 1985, I thought it was interesting that the internet in this world influenced politics in one of the subplots.

I've heard of Ender's Game but knew nothing about it other than that it's sci-fi.

I've never really read sci-fi unless you count Philip K. Dick, until recently when I started on Iain M. Banks culture books. I read the first 2 and enjoyed them so I got the 3rd one. I think there's 11 in all. Very impressed with the ideas and imagination of Banks and good plots too.

Vim Fuego

tim_holsters wrote: »

I've heard of Ender's Game but knew nothing about it other than that it's sci-fi.

I've never really read sci-fi unless you count Philip K. Dick, until recently when I started on Iain M. Banks culture books. I read the first 2 and enjoyed them so I got the 3rd one. I think there's 11 in all. Very impressed with the ideas and imagination of Banks and good plots too.

Ender's Game would be similar to Player of Games, perhaps a little less sophisticated than Banks' Culture universe but I liked them both.

I've read up to Against A Dark Background with IMB so far, Player of Games remains my favourite.

tim_holsters

Vim Fuego wrote: »

Ender's Game would be similar to Player of Games, perhaps a little less sophisticated than Banks' Culture universe but I liked them both.

I've read up to Against A Dark Background with IMB so far, Player of Games remains my favourite.

I liked Player of Games more than Consider Phlebas. I'm hoping the upward trend continues with Use of Weapons.

Callan57

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Vim Fuego

About halfway through Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. Not sure how I feel about this one yet. It feels like an extended short story from Haunted (which I really didn't like) but it seems to be building up nicely to an inevitably messed up ending. I'll never look at another mass gang-bang video the same way again :pac:

I dunno, I used to lap up this mental sicko fiction back when I was younger (Irvine Welsh particularly) but I'm just not that bothered with it anymore.

Vim Fuego

I've finished Snuff. Not very good really, thought it was interesting to start off with that you're dealing with Mr. 600, Mr. 72 and Mr. 137, but it never really went anywhere interesting. Just random porn and non-porn facts, a 'meh' ending and a few gross bits. After reading this and Haunted, I'm starting to lose faith in Mr. Palahniuk. I have Survivor on my shelf, and if that doesn't pan out, I don't think I'll bother with the rest of his output.

I'm reading Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman now. Much better, I've finished the first couple of stories and liked them all, especially the story of the cat fighting off some unseen evil every night - The Price.

the_syco

Reading "Stealing the Network; How to Own the Box". Hacker fiction. Quite odd, but at the same time, entertaining.

Callan57

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

Vim Fuego

Finished Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. Most of my thoughts are in the Gaiman thread, overall it was quite good apart from the inevitable duff stories in the collection.

Now to continue on with my James Ellroy fascination and American Tabloid.

tim_holsters

Mennonite In A Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. An entertaining quick read with some genuine laugh out loud moments.

musical.x

Sourcery by terry pratchett

Bajingo

Coward at the Bridge by James Delingpole

Belle E. Flops

Have just started reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolfe at the moment. Also still reading the Portable Dorothy Parker.

Finished "Light of other days"; enjoying Middlemarch now

BizzyLizzie

Finished 'Room' by Emma Donoghue today and 'The Rule of Four' by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason yesterday. 'The Rule of Four' was rubbish imo but 'Room' was great. I read it from cover to cover today, really enjoyed it

Next up on the list is 'Starbook' by Ben Okri. I've read a few pages of it and it feels like it could be slow going but I've heard great things so I'm going to keep going

AnnyHallsal

Joe Dunthorne, Submarine, inspired by the film and the excellent price offered by HMV

Callan57

Finished The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde and I'm just starting on
I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson

AnnyHallsal

Ian McEwan, Amsterdam

Callan57

I've started Anne Enright's Yesterday's Weather ... I'm on the fourth story & really enjoying it.

Eramen

The Essential Tales of Anton Chekhov - a collection of his mostly later, and in my opinion, better - short stories.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Tales-Chekhov-P/dp/1862073007/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306354512&sr=8-2

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Reading Post Office by Bukowski. Hilarious so far, not dissimlar from working in retail

musical.x

started Wyrd sisters by Terry Pratchett last night.

Vim Fuego

American Tabloid by James Ellroy.

This is the fourth book of his I've read this year. I think I might just be a little too familiar with him as a result. The dialogue and the writing style neither blew me away or confounded me as it seems to do with many others.

That said, I was very interested in the Kennedy assassination a number of years back and had read a lot about it. To be able to weave a fascinating piece of fiction in between all this, from pre-election to death, using a majority of people that actually existed (mostly in secondary roles) is some feat.

That said, the telling of the story from the perspectives of the three main characters just felt a little too familiar to The Big Nowhere and LA Confidential. Not that this is a bad thing, more my fault for ploughing through so much of his work in a short time. I also really missed the LA setting and mostly the goings-on within the LAPD which was probably filled with more political backstabbing and in-fighting than the FBI, CIA and Presidential offices combined.

On the up-side, the three main characters are absolute gems. I lost track of the amount of times each of them commits "apostasy" (as Hoover is fond of saying) with their views of Cuba, the Kennedy family, the mob and the FBI determined by the fall-out from multiple events. The characters who end the story are not the same men as at the beginning.

It's a solid 4/5 for me. I couldn't stop reading but it just lacked that small bit of magic from the LA Quartet, especially LA Confidential which is my favourite so far. According to other reviews I've read, this is the last "great' Ellroy novel, which makes me sad to think I've seen the best of his work. I have The Cold Six Thousand on the shelf, I might just give myself a bit more time before diving into it.

AnnyHallsal

Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming Pool Library. He writes beautifully, but the novels remain gripping. Great combination.

Callan57

The Touch by Colleen McCullough

musical.x

Guards! Guards! by terry pratchett

Dibble

The Sea by John Banville

Asphyxia

Three Wishes by Gemma English

I started this a few weeks ago and I ended up forgetting about it :rolleyes: Four other books later I am picking up where I left off

epgc3fyqirnbsx

Crime and Punishment
Was afraid it was going to be a little heavy for morning bus reading but it's fine, two chapters in and highly enjoyable so far

Vim Fuego

Fevre Dream by George RR Martin.

Vampires on the Mississippi in the 1850's basically. Very atmospheric so far, about 50% in. Loving the main character Abner Marsh, a gruff steamboat captain.

Noticing a few things in this that may have been ripped off by True Blood (the tv series, not too interested in reading Charlaine Harris' books) but I won't say for fear of spoilers.

Anyway, firstbook of GRRM's I have read outside of the ASOIAF series. Nice to know I won't be waiting six years for another installment at least!

musical.x

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Callan57

Viking Odinn's Child by Tim Severin

emeraldstar

Made in America by Bill Bryson. Barely 20 pages in but loving it so far. Definitely my type of book.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tresell.

AnnyHallsal

Terence Rattigan: The Man and his Work

Callan57

The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough

Busi_Girl08

After abandoning it at approx page 380 nearly 3 weeks ago, I have given up on It.

Too drawn out. Same thing over again and again, it just made actually not care about what happens next.

So I have moved onto the next bewk - American Psycho

posy2010

Reading The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. I am about 2/3 of the way through and while it is sexist enough to be off putting at times, it is keeping my attention.

mikedone

Just finished "A Feast For Crows", part four of George R.R. Martin's "Song Of Ice And Fire" and about to start Joe Abercrombie's "The Heroes"

AnnyHallsal

Comic book this week. Neil Gaiman's Preludes and Nocturnes.

Niles

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.