This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

baconsarnie

Meathlass wrote: »

Just finished King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild - an account of the Belgian colonisation of the Congo and the human rights movement in the early 19th century which exposed widespread cruelty and slavery there as part of the rubber trade.

I know it doesn't sound it but it's a great book, expertly researched and the writing just flows along. Roger Casement has a large part to play in the story too so very interesting. It's certainly made me think again about small lil Belgium.

It's a genuinely fascinating, harrowing read. Would really recommend it to anyone with an interest in history- and there is certainly a dearth of good books on Africa and imperialism in Africa.

Compu Global Hyper Meganet

I'm after reading and rereading "Dubliners" about 6 times in a row now and I'm amazed at how accessible and brilliant it is. I want to read Ulysses now, but I'm wondering if I would be better off reading the Iliad first so that I can appreciate it fully. It's available to download on project Gutenberg.

Anyone have any ideas? Ulysses has a terrible reputation, but like I say I thought Dubliners was immense. Should I jump straight in?

*By terrible reputation, I mean that it's supposedly overly high brow and pretentious.

adrian522

Compu Global Hyper Meganet wrote: »

I'm after reading and rereading "Dubliners" about 6 times in a row now and I'm amazed at how accessible and brilliant it is. I want to read Ulysses now, but I'm wondering if I would be better off reading the Iliad first so that I can appreciate it fully. It's available to download on project Gutenberg.

Anyone have any ideas? Ulysses has a terrible reputation, but like I say I thought Dubliners was immense. Should I jump straight in?

*By terrible reputation, I mean that it's supposedly overly high brow and pretentious.

Have you read "A portrait of the artist as a young man"?

eire4

Finished a re read of John Connolly's The Unquiet.

Ipso

Started Salem's Lot again yesterday.

Quality

Reading A long long way, Sebastian Barry

Irish book based in Dublin/France during WW1.

Some interesting things in the book, but I amnt convinced just yet

evil-monkey

The New Binary Press Anthology of Poetry: Volume I
Like to support contemporary poetry publishers based - particularly the independent ones. Decent diverse collection - has a few prestigious prizewinners in it so it's not your typical anthology fool of novices. Nice diverse collection.

Other than that A Clash of Swords - not much needed to be said on that, I'd think

Callan57

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome .... I need a light read after a couple of heavy, intense reads

Tom Joad

Callan57 wrote: »

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome .... I need a light read after a couple of heavy, intense reads

Enjoy - one of the funniest books I have read and you'll fly through it.

Tom Joad

Just finished One hundred Years of Solitude by Marquéz and starting on Wuthering Heights. Couldn't get into One Hundred Years of Solitude and really struggled to finish it - the characters were very confusing, the plot was rambling and a bit all over the place - its like the author was stoned when he wrote it .

IvyTheTerrible

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. It's the history of the people that stayed in the Dustbowl of the 1930's and how they survived. Very interesting.

niamh92

this week i am finally reading The Hobbit. made me feel bad that my 9 year old brother had read it when i havent so here i go

skeleton_boy

Lord of the Flies - Yes, I have a fantastic amount of classics to read for the first time.

Meathlass

Tom Joad wrote: »

Just finished One hundred Years of Solitude by Marquéz and starting on Wuthering Heights. Couldn't get into One Hundred Years of Solitude and really struggled to finish it - the characters were very confusing, the plot was rambling and a bit all over the place - its like the author was stoned when he wrote it .

One hundred years of Solitude is my favourite book though I regularly had to consult the family tree at the front of the book to figure out people's relationships to each other. I like the magical realism that he and Isabella Allende write.

Did Wuthering Heights for the Leaving so have a bias having studied rather than just read it but a good book also.

Tom Joad

Meathlass wrote: »

One hundred years of Solitude is my favourite book though I regularly had to consult the family tree at the front of the book to figure out people's relationships to each other. I like the magical realism that he and Isabella Allende write.

Did Wuthering Heights for the Leaving so have a bias having studied rather than just read it but a good book also.

Yeah that wrecked my head especially when the names were so similar - to me that's too much work - I like to get lost in a book and immerse myself in the story and if I'm checking notes or looking at family trees it's not for me.

But in saying that I can understand why some people would love it. Love in the time of cholera was on my list - is it much the same as One hundred years??

SarahBM

Finished the Bone Collector, which was very good. Just started the Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. Not sure I like it yet. A lot of characters to keep track of

Meathlass

Tom Joad wrote: »

But in saying that I can understand why some people would love it. Love in the time of cholera was on my list - is it much the same as One hundred years??

I hated Love in the time of cholera though Marquez has said it's his favourite book as it's based on the story of his grandparents. It just didn't work for me. The central conceit of a unrequited love affair, a naive hapless suitor and a life turned on the whim of a girl just left me cold. Beautifully written though and alot more accessible but I just couldn't care about the characters.

IvyTheTerrible

The Tent, a collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood. Delightfully strange.

Tom Joad

Meathlass wrote: »

I hated Love in the time of cholera though Marquez has said it's his favourite book as it's based on the story of his grandparents. It just didn't work for me. The central conceit of a unrequited love affair, a naive hapless suitor and a life turned on the whim of a girl just left me cold. Beautifully written though and alot more accessible but I just couldn't care about the characters.

Not really selling it to me:D. will put it on the long list that I will eventually get to.

Belle E. Flops

I am absolutely loving the Count of Monte Cristo so far.

I wish I had more time to dedicate to reading it but I'm so busy at the moment.
Every day I really look forward to when I get to read my few chapters before bed.

Such a great story.

SarahBM

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I am absolutely loving the Count of Monte Cristo so far.

I wish I had more time to dedicate to reading it but I'm so busy at the moment.
Every day I really look forward to when I get to read my few chapters before bed.

Such a great story.

Its on my list, as is the Man in the Iron Mask. I loved the Three Musketeers, but the sheer size of the Count of Monte Cristo puts me off a bit.

Callan57

Started Any Human Heart by William Boyd

eire4

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I am absolutely loving the Count of Monte Cristo so far.

I wish I had more time to dedicate to reading it but I'm so busy at the moment.
Every day I really look forward to when I get to read my few chapters before bed.

Such a great story.

It is a great read. I have read it a couple of times myself and loved it.

eire4

Finished a re read of John Connolly's The Reapers. Very enjoyable.

lsrec

Just finished Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler , a truly lovely book , really enjoyed it .

a0ifee

Reading How Many Miles to Babylon? by Jennifer Johnston for school. So glad our teacher picked it - what a great book!

machiavelli99

I've been reading "A supposedly fun thing i'll never do again" by David Foster Wallace. It's his non-fiction stuff, a collection of articles and essays. Really Brilliant. Here's an article about tennis which he wrote for Esquire that's featured in the book http://www.esquire.com/features/sports/the-string-theory-0796

johnayo

Just finished John Giles. A football Man.
Great insight of what went on in earlier days at big English Football Clubs. A must read for those of us of a certain age, and with an interest in football or just sport in general. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

emeraldstar

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I've started reading "The Fault in our Stars" by John Green. I'd seen/heard a lot of buzz about it without ever looking into it properly. I bought it last week because it was on offer, and the next day I saw it reviewed in the kids section of a magazine!!

I'm going to read it anyway. First few chapters are alright. The way it's written is a bit like reading a funny blog. It just has that kind of style about it. We'll see.

baconsarnie

Just started EL Doctorw's "Ragtime"

IvyTheTerrible

Stasiland by Anna Funder. Funder descibes the lives of people who lived behind the Wall. Fascinating and chilling.

RoutineBites

Mikhail Bulgakov's, "The Master and Margarita." Brilliant book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The frame narrative concerning The Passion is exceptional, you'd swear he came up with the basis of that story himself. Great satire too.

emeraldstar

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

baconsarnie

RoutineBites wrote: »

Mikhail Bulgakov's, "The Master and Margarita." Brilliant book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The frame narrative concerning The Passion is exceptional, you'd swear he came up with the basis of that story himself. Great satire too.

Love this book!

SarahBM

RoutineBites wrote: »

Mikhail Bulgakov's, "The Master and Margarita." Brilliant book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The frame narrative concerning The Passion is exceptional, you'd swear he came up with the basis of that story himself. Great satire too.

I liked the Passion bit too, but my god I, I thought it was awful.

Opinions differ, eh? :rolleyes:

Adr.

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke. First in the Dave Robicheaux series. Good writing, but the plot was all over the place and the central relationship didn't convince. Also, there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into the central character.

Next up: either 2666 by Roberto Bolano or Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

Callan57

Just picked up A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks

emeraldstar

Just finished Summer by Edith Wharton

emeraldstar

Daisy Miller by Henry James – only okay.

Now onto James' Washington Square – not very far into it but really enjoying this one already.

Meathlass

emeraldstar wrote: »

Daisy Miller by Henry James – only okay.

Now onto James' Washington Square – not very far into it but really enjoying this one already.

Loved Washington Square - studied it in college.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Trying to read Madame Bovary, but it's hard going. There's an entire chapter dedicated to describing the new town they've moved to, and not in a good Steinbeck kind of way, but in a "I might skip this chapter if it doesn't end soon" kind of way.

emeraldstar

A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett. Very dry, black humour and not at all what I was expecting. I liked it.

Meathlass

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Trying to read Madame Bovary, but it's hard going. There's an entire chapter dedicated to describing the new town they've moved to, and not in a good Steinbeck kind of way, but in a "I might skip this chapter if it doesn't end soon" kind of way.

It's about 10 years since I read it but it still kinda haunts me for some reason. On the one hand I wanted to give her a slap for not being satisfied with her life but on the other I almost agreed with her. Well worth sticking with it. The sense of a frustrated life, in her mind wasted in this small provincial town is throughly depressing.

eire4

Finished an emjoyable re read of John Connolly's The Lovers.

Daisy78

RoutineBites wrote: »

Mikhail Bulgakov's, "The Master and Margarita." Brilliant book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The frame narrative concerning The Passion is exceptional, you'd swear he came up with the basis of that story himself. Great satire too.

Reading it at the moment, on foot of many recommendations......... A hundred pages in and it's shaping up to be a great read.;)

Censorsh!t

Loved The Master and Margarita, one of the best books I've read.

I'm currently reading the first in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, The Gunslinger. So far, it's good enough, although I hop it will pick up a bit, if not now, then further into the series.

emeraldstar

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Finding it enjoyable so far, but I've heard it loses momentum towards the latter half.

Callan57

A Whispered Name by William Brodrick

baconsarnie

Goodbye, Colombus by Philip Roth.