This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Can I recommend this to ye, my 7 year old daughter got it from the library the other day and really enjoyed Bleak House:p

http://www.usborne.com/catalogue/book/1~FC~FC7~3848/illustrated-stories-from-dickens.aspx

Ha! I had this idea the other night to draw a sort of simple comic version of Great Expectations, just as a way to get me back into drawing every day. Sad to see someone has beaten me to it.

Callan57

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

Hidalgo

About a quarter through 'Chickenhawk' by Robert Mason.

Author was a US helicopter pilot who flew over 1000 missions in Vietnam in 1965-66. Pretty good read so far esp highlighting the lack of knowledge of soldiers like the author of what they were doing and why they were there as well as the kinks in the system of using the new cavalry of helicopters

Call Me Jimmy

Hidalgo wrote: »

About a quarter through 'Chickenhawk' by Robert Mason.

Author was a US helicopter pilot who flew over 1000 missions in Vietnam in 1965-66. Pretty good read so far esp highlighting the lack of knowledge of soldiers like the author of what they were doing and why they were there as well as the kinks in the system of using the new cavalry of helicopters

Absolutely great book, got it here and have read it twice. One of the best accounts of war I've read and that includes Band Of Brothers.

Hidalgo

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

Absolutely great book, got it here and have read it twice. One of the best accounts of war I've read and that includes Band Of Brothers.

Found it by complete chance in a 2nd hand book shop. Really well written in fairness.
The book that 'The Pacific' mini-series was based on is supposedly top notch also. Title is something like 'My helmet as my pillow' or something along those lines.

'The Cage' by Tom Abraham is another excellent first-hand account of Vietnam also, author spent time as a POW. Must dig it out for a re-read, havn't read it in a dozen years or so

Wyldwood

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Mine's from the library and it has to be brought back on Tuesday. I can't bring myself to renew it but I don't want it to beat me either so I have 400 pages to get through in 2 days :eek:

Take it back to the library and read the rest of it on www.gutenberg.org at your leisure

useurename

Breath by Tim Winton. Fantastic coming of age tale set in a rural setting near Perth in Australia.Loved it.Half way through Dirt Music by the same author.Not as good and three times longer.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

useurename wrote: »

Breath by Tim Winton. Fantastic coming of age tale set in a rural setting near Perth in Australia.Loved it.Half way through Dirt Music by the same author.Not as good and three times longer.

Love Tim Winton. Breath was fantastic. I liked Dirt Music but it got a bit weird at the end. Cloudstreet is brilliant too, bit long but I flew through it.

Aenaes

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

Absolutely great book, got it here and have read it twice. One of the best accounts of war I've read and that includes Band Of Brothers.

Agreed. I remember a feeling a great chilling sensation when reading the part of

a soldier running from chopper to chopper during an evacuation. All the pilots were refusing him as the weight would be too much but Robert Mason was able to take the soldier due to his mechanic/crew giving his helicopter more power than the standard helicopter. Makes you wonder what would have happened to that soldier had Mason not been able to take him along.

Anyway, I finished The Diary Of Anne Frank.

Now I'm starting Dark Green, Bright Red by Gore Vidal. It's the first time I've tried any of his work.

emeraldstar

Leave it to Psmith, by PG Wodehouse. It's the first time I've read one of his non-Jeeves & Wooster books. I have to say I don't find it quite so wonderful as J&W (that's next to impossible) but it's still great, of course.

Aenaes

I read two books last night. I finished Dark Green, Bright Red by Gore Vidal last night. It was good, short and engaging. Found it similiar to Mamista by Len Deighton or Mamista is similiar to Dark Green, Bright Red.

The other was The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez. Nice crime novel with mathematics thrown in. Made into a film with Elijah Wood and John Hurt.

Gamayun

The Proof and The Third Lie by Ágota Kristóf
Two follow up novellas to the brilliant The Notebook. The Proof is a solid piece of storytelling, it didn't grab me in the same way as its predecessor and the narrative seemed a bit rushed, enjoyable enough though. I found The Third Lie a bit of a disappointment to be honest, it seemed entirely comprised of mini-revelations and didn't flow very well. A pity as the first novella is one of the most memorable I've read.

The Necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop
A novella in the form of a necrophiliac's diary, what's not to like? :pac: A short, interesting read, well written in a calm, unspectacular style which makes you feel a lot less voyeuristic than it might have!

Also I read this New Yorker piece from 2005, about the English translations of the classic Russian novels. After reading this I checked my old copy of Crime and Punishment (Penguin Classics) to find it bore no mention of a translator! A quick google told me that it was translated by Constance Garnett who is completely vilified by the article. Comparisons with other translations show how she bent the meaning of the works to suit her, and even omitted parts (!), bilingual authors such as Brodsky and Nabokov hated her translations and made it known. This is probably why she's not credited on my copy. Interesting stuff.

Slattsy

Very slightly off topic, but is A Clockwork Orange worth a read yeah?

Callan57

Slattsy wrote: »

Very slightly off topic, but is A Clockwork Orange worth a read yeah?

Definitely not IMO, I thought it a load of rubbish. But that's just my opinion

fruvai

I think A Clockwork Orange is definitely worth a gander - it deals with very interesting themes and issues using a really creative fictional slang called nadsat (kind of a cockney rhyming slang/Russian amalgam) that is enormous fun to read after you've gotten the hang of it. It's not without flaws though (it can be a bit didactic and the ending is a damp squib) but I'd hardly call it rubbish. Maybe you should steer clear if you don't like books with highly intelligent but odious narrators (like Lolita's Humbert Humbert) and/or you are a bit squeamish at a bit of the old ultra-violence :eek:

Aenaes

I'm reading The Gold Train: The Destruction of the Jews and the Looting of Hungary by Ronald Zweig.

It's basically a train filled with millions worth of possessions of Hungarian Jews which headed out of Hungary in 1944 accompanied by cunning, desperate, or gullible passengers trying to reach an illusory Nazi stronghold in the Alps.

It sounds like some Nazi gold thriller but it's completely true.

SarahBM

Finished Misery by Stephen King last night. Great book. I think I would like to read more of his books.

Do I go back to the Count of Monte Cristo or will I read the Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared? Ive seen lots of people recommend it.

Though I should probably be reading my Molecular Biology notes, really.

IvyTheTerrible

SarahBM wrote: »

Finished Misery by Stephen King last night. Great book. I think I would like to read more of his books.

Do I go back to the Count of Monte Cristo or will I read the Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared? Ive seen lots of people recommend it.

Though I should probably be reading my Molecular Biology notes, really.

Count of Monte Christo, by a country mile!

Aenaes

SarahBM wrote: »

the Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared? Ive seen lots of people recommend it.

Friend of mine is reading this and recommended it to me, she reads quite alot so I'm expecting it to be good when I eventually get around to it.

Belle E. Flops

Finished Rosemary's Baby. It was good but I guess I was expecting more.

Starting Daphne Du Maurier's 'My Cousin Rachel' now. Looking forward to it because I really enjoyed Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

SarahBM

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

Finished Rosemary's Baby. It was good but I guess I was expecting more.

Starting Daphne Du Maurier's 'My Cousin Rachel' now. Looking forward to it because I really enjoyed Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

Saw the play My Cousin Rachel in the Gate last Nov and I was completely blown away! I am really looking forward to reading the book. I loved Rebecca !

a0ifee

school has taken over my time, but I'm starting Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks, looking forward to getting into it

Callan57

a0ifee wrote: »

school has taken over my time, but I'm starting Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks, looking forward to getting into it

A truly fascinating book IMO: probably my favourite Faulks book, and I've read all his books. Human Traces is amazing and absorbing.
Hope you like it as much as I did.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I finally defeated Nicholas Nickleby. It was a hollow victory.

Callan57

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

eire4

Finished a re read of Tim Pat Coogan's Where Green is Worn an enjoyable overview look at the Irish diaspora around the world.

Hells Belle

I love a horror in Oct so grabbed Carrie yesterday and I'm just finished very good story, Im really enjoying it. I'm looking for something else a little creepier along the lines of The Hounds of the Baskervilles/ Nocturnes but not as scary as IT (I still cross the road near storm drains 2 years after reading it), any recommendations guys?

Slattsy

Callan57 wrote: »

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Really enjoyed this. Loved the inventiveness of it, really remarkable stuff.

emeraldstar

Slattsy wrote: »

Really enjoyed this. Loved the inventiveness of it, really remarkable stuff.

Me too.

SarahBM

so I was reading on the train on the way back up to Dublin and I was thinking I should put all the books I have to read in a little pile so that I will look at them every day and be like "I have to read those before I buy more".

this is the "To Read Pile"

my to read pile by SazzyBM, on Flickr

Gamayun

I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge
Back of the net! Very good, Partridge-o-philes™ will not be disappointed (though you've all probably read it already!)

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Charming little tale featuring Norse mythology. This was written for World Book Day as part of an initiative to get kids reading, but despite being an aged haggard man-person I loved it. My copy had lovely illustrations by Brett Helquist.

I also read some short works*:
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Written as the journal of woman suffering from "temporary nervous depression", and confined to a bedroom by her physician husband. Eerie and powerful.
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry I remember reading this for school at some point (Junior Cert maybe?), It's somehow even more cloyingly sentimental and schmaltzy than I remembered, a Hallmark card in short story form.
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti (Sister of Pre-Raphealite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti no less) Narrative poem in the fairy tale mould, very enjoyable. The rhyming scheme seems quite complex in parts so I lost the flow a bit (not being a regular reader of poems) but that's my failing really isn't it .

*All Public Domain

Slattsy

SarahBM wrote: »

so I was reading on the train on the way back up to Dublin and I was thinking I should put all the books I have to read in a little pile so that I will look at them every day and be like "I have to read those before I buy more".

this is the "To Read Pile"

my to read pile by SazzyBM, on Flickr

I hate cats.

SarahBM

Slattsy wrote: »

I hate cats.

???? what has my to read pile got to do with cats.

I love cats my self.

Hidalgo

Hells Belle wrote: »

I love a horror in Oct so grabbed Carrie yesterday and I'm just finished very good story, Im really enjoying it. I'm looking for something else a little creepier along the lines of The Hounds of the Baskervilles/ Nocturnes but not as scary as IT (I still cross the road near storm drains 2 years after reading it), any recommendations guys?

Never got around to reading Carrie, but if you like S. King and horrors I'd highly recommend Salem's Lot. Possibly my favourite King novel (apart from The Dark Tower series)

Hidalgo

Started 'The Beach' by Alex garland 2 nights ago, one you'd fly through. dialogue is very well put together imo.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I've started Far From The Madding Crowd. Only a few chapters in but it's like oxygen after nearly dying of Nichols Nickleby.

Monkeybonkers

Finally finished Vanity Fair. It's going have to take something special to beat this as my favourite book of the year. I would highly recommend it to everyone. As I was coming near the end I was reading less and less each time to try and make it last a bit longer. They just don't write then like this any more.
Next up is either Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky OR Don Quixote. Not sure which to read first but I'm slightly leaning towards the Don.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Little bit off topic here but I think it was in this thread a while ago we were talking about Colm Toibín's Brooklyn being turned into a film starring Roony Mara.... it was supposed to shoot earlier this year, but obviously didn't..... I saw today that there's a new director on board and apparently Mara has been replaced by actual real life Irish person Saoirse Ronan. Nick Hornby has written the script.

Still think it's a weird choice to make into a film.... not a lot happens.

Gamayun

Monkeybonkers wrote: »

Finally finished Vanity Fair. It's going have to take something special to beat this as my favourite book of the year. I would highly recommend it to everyone. As I was coming near the end I was reading less and less each time to try and make it last a bit longer. They just don't write then like this any more.
Next up is either Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky OR Don Quixote. Not sure which to read first but I'm slightly leaning towards the Don.

When selecting books originally written in a different language it's essential that you research the best available translation.

A bad translation could turn you off a book or writer who you may otherwise love.

I'm not sure about Don Quixote, but for Dostoevsky you should be on the lookout for the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations. Here's their Bibliography.

It's really not worth reading an older, discredited translation just to save a few euros.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Gamayun wrote: »

When selecting books originally written in a different language it's essential that you research the best available translation.

A bad translation could turn you off a book or writer who you may otherwise love.

I'm not sure about Don Quixote, but for Dostoevsky you should be on the lookout for the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations. Here's their Bibliography.

It's really not worth reading an older, discredited translation just to save a few euros.

Interesting, I've read a few books translated from another language and have at times wondered if the original writing was terrible or if it was down to the translation of it.

Monkeybonkers

Gamayun wrote: »

When selecting books originally written in a different language it's essential that you research the best available translation.

A bad translation could turn you off a book or writer who you may otherwise love.

I'm not sure about Don Quixote, but for Dostoevsky you should be on the lookout for the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations. Here's their Bibliography.

It's really not worth reading an older, discredited translation just to save a few euros.

I was reading the introduction at the beginning of DQ and it deals with this very topic. It lists all the various translations, giving a short critique of each one. Naturally it concludes that the one which I am currently reading is the best of the lot. Think I'll just go with it regardless although it does sound like it makes a big difference, especially to DQ. Maybe I'll do a bit more research first. Thanks for the info Gamayun

Callan57

Just finished The Night Circus - I honestly did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It's a great read IMHO


This weekend I'm finally going to tackle The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

SarahBM

Callan57 wrote: »

This weekend I'm finally going to tackle The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

good luck with that! havent read anything other than science journals the last few wks. college gets in the way of my reading, I think I'll have to give it up. college I mean, of course :D:D

I am guaranteed to end up in Chapters this wknd. I have a credit note, so I technically wont be buying books. just taking them home :rolleyes:

eire4

Finished a re read of Tim Pat Coogan's 1916. Ineteresting how he draws some comparisons between the leadup to the rising and the current peace process especially post the good friday agreement.

Aenaes

I started Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote last night.

[-0-]

Just started Benjamin Franklin Unmasked by Jerry Weinberger.

Saorenza

Just back from a lovely week in London - read Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld when I was there - enjoyed it.

Also started The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill (picked it up in a second hand book shop and started it because it was set in London) and Mariana by Monica Dickens (which I am racing through and enjoying as much as when I read it as a teenager - also largely set in London.) I love reading books set where I am holidaying.

OT - we went to the biggest bookshop in Europe and also to a tiny packed second hand bookshop in Putney, where the diversity of my selection was commented on. We brought back 26 new books altogether!

Callan57

Saorenza wrote: »

Just back from a lovely week in London - read Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld when I was there - enjoyed it.

Also started The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill (picked it up in a second hand book shop and started it because it was set in London) and Mariana by Monica Dickens (which I am racing through and enjoying as much as when I read it as a teenager - also largely set in London.) I love reading books set where I am holidaying.

OT - we went to the biggest bookshop in Europe and also to a tiny packed second hand bookshop in Putney, where the diversity of my selection was commented on. We brought back 26 new books altogether!

Not flying Ryanair then?

Gamayun

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
2013 Booker Shortlisted, at just over one hundred pages this is a really novella . A first person account from the sceptical and weary mother of Jesus, beautifully written. I was initially a bit apprehensive about picking this up as I hate "spiritual" books (e.g. The Alchemist, Siddartha et al) but I wasn't to worry. Great.

The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis
Novelette originally written by 16 year old Jim Theis for a fanzine this has become somewhat of a classic due its awful prose and malapropisms. Great fun though, here's an excerpt:

"Thou hast need to occupy your time, barbarian",questioned the female?

"Only if something worth offering is within my reach." Stated Grignr,as his hands crept to embrace the tempting female, who welcomed them with open willingness.

"From where do you come barbarian, and by what are you called?" Gasped the complying wench, as Grignr smothered her lips with the blazing touch of his flaming mouth.

The engrossed titan ignored the queries of the inquisitive female, pulling her towards him and crushing her sagging nipples to his yearning chest. Without struggle she gave in, winding her soft arms around the harshly bronzedhide of Grignr corded shoulder blades, as his calloused hands caressed her firm protruding busts.

"You make love well wench," Admitted Grignr as he reached for the vessel of potent wine his charge had been quaffing.

:pac:

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
There's a lot of Sanderson recommendations over in the Sci-Fi & Fantasy forum so I thought I'd dip my toe in this standalone novella instead of jumping into one of the series. This was great, very enjoyable indeed. I'll definitely be reading more of Mr. Sanderson.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Almost finished Far From The Madding Crowd and am loving it. Batsheba Everdene is so different to most of the female characters in books of this era. She's quite a modern woman in fact. I assume it'll all end badly for her despite how brilliant she is, but still....