What are you reading at the moment?

[murphy]

On 14/06/2020 at 21:50, swanlee said:

Sacrilegious ..... Bukowski depressing. The man lived his art. Love all his stuff.

 

But I have never got round to Ulysses. And that's because of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Pretty impenetrable and what's it about? A strict catholic upbringing, and the conflicting delights of masturbation & alcohol! What an effort.

 

With Kerouac I think it's the stylistic nature of his writing. Impromptu & innovative, it was the first time US literature had been written in that way. Also the subject matter, drugs, dropouts, jazz.

 

That said, I read it years ago, when I was a teenager, and wasn't overly impressed. Like you say zeitgeist and passable. 

 

Sorry.

 

Admittedly it was a very long time ago that I read Bukowski but I remember feeling bored and jaded with all the hedonism.  There seemed to be a complete lack of any thoughfulness, charm or humanity from what I remember.  Just remember wading through lots of LA piss ups and piss ups generally are a bit like dreams.  They can be spectacular in person but there's nothing more boring than hearing about someone else's.

 

 

[FerrisBueller]

3 hours ago, murphy said:

Oh...I am

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

I'm very partial to a sad poem about an old man's cock.  Cheers.

I'd like to clarify I did actually love the book, some genuinely heart-wrenching material in there. 

 

[Milo]

I'm currently pouring 20kg of cat litter into about 25 pots of paint

 

 

 

 

 

Jeez -misread the thread title 

Edited 18 June 2020 by Milo

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, Milo said:

I'm currently pouring 20kg of cat litter into about 25 pots of paint

By ?

[Dahnsouff]

The Body by Bill Bryson, bit of light relief

 

Got to the bit about antibiotics.

 

All relief has vanished.  

[Christoph]

Joe Abercrombie - A Little Hatred. If you enjoyed Game of Thrones or any type of "grimdark" fantasy books then the series by Joe Abercrombie is a must read. The first book is called The Blade Itself and i'd reccomend starting there. I was feeling a bit sad about Game of thrones being a let down and the books not being finished either. This kinda feels like Game of thrones if you followed a lot of the side characters rather than all of the main ones.  The newest book a little hatred is brilliant.

 

Also listened to Assassins Apprentice on Audible by Robert Hobb. Wasn't massively into it. It wasn't terrible but a bit slow and not a great deal happens. Feels a bit like a Slice of Life book. 

[Milo]

41 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

By ?

Terry Scratchett

[swanlee]

On 18/06/2020 at 09:23, murphy said:

Sorry.

 

Admittedly it was a very long time ago that I read Bukowski but I remember feeling bored and jaded with all the hedonism.  There seemed to be a complete lack of any thoughfulness, charm or humanity from what I remember.  Just remember wading through lots of LA piss ups and piss ups generally are a bit like dreams.  They can be spectacular in person but there's nothing more boring than hearing about someone else's.

 

 

No need to apologise. Not for everyone. 

 

Not sure what you read? As admittedly some of his stuff can be hit and miss and only for the hard-core fan.

 

Written when he was hungry, I always recommend the first two books to the uninitiated. No LA piss-ups in those. Just a succession of dreary dead-beat & dead-end jobs, frustrated artistic endeavour, a failed relationship or two and obviously alcoholic escapism.

 

And you are right, nihilistic & vacuous, there's not a lot of thoughtfulness. There is however a warmth that comes through in his earlier work (before the LA glitz) and I think its this and the sense of an individual's total abandonment that is beguiling & intrigues.

[Guest Kopfkino]

Not sure how I haven't read it before now but The Righteous Mind is a superb dive into moral psychology and how that influences our politics and religion. 

[Webbo]

Recently finished "I robot" by Peter Crouch. Quite a thin book but contains a lot of insight into the life of a professional footballer. 

 

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly. Superb as always. 

[ozleicester]

[Livid]

Not exactly reading but I subscribed to the Audible app and I’ve listened a couple and they’ve been fine.

 

I Love Camilla Lackberg’s Scandinavian crime novels but I’m listening to The Gilded Cage and it’s just not working as an audiobook. 

[Milo]

Blood Meridian.

 

Bit of a struggle, but worth it. Highly immersive - think The Revenant meets Tarantino...

 

  

[foxile5]

Pale Fire - Nabukov

 

Honest to god. This ****ing story. 

[Guest Kopfkino]

Hit up a couple of classics recently

 

Walden by Thoreau

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

 

Tried rereading BGE by Nietzsche but lost the will to live. 

 

Have just picked up 'Why we fight: the cognitive basis for war', short but expecting it a good one

[The Bear]

I'm reading the A Song Of Ice & Fire series (Game Of Thrones). 

 

I'm a big fan of the TV show and am coupling the reading of each book by watching the corresponding season afterwards. Finished book 1 and am watching the series.

 

Very enjoyable stuff. The books are very well written. 

[Haywood_6]

 

About to start this. Third book in the charlie priest series. Really like his work I've seen so far. Usually delivers very good characters and a clever plot.

[ozleicester]

I am loving this book, but im unable to explain why.

 

 

I would recommend it to everyone..  but again im not sure what makes it so involving, he is clearly a musical genius, but so humble, so driven but not that obsessive type... i just dont know... but read it, or better still listen to the audio, read by the man himself

Edited 19 August 2020 by ozleicester

[Otis]

Sniper One by Sgt. Dan Mills

 

[Blueman1967]

[oakman]

[swanlee]

The latest translation to be published here in the UK, and its one of Alexievich's earlier polyphonic works. As ever, a man-sized box of tissues may be required.

 

Edited 27 August 2020 by swanlee

[Guest Kopfkino]

Don't normally read too many novels but I've just finished reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Really really really good, really emotional (I don't get emotional at much), comforting and thought-provoking, particularly good read if your heads not in the right place at the moment.

[ozleicester]

Surprisingly (for me) more accessible than i expected.... About a quarter of the way through...Interesting but perhaps not as mind expanding as i expected (yet)

 

[foxile5]

Go set a watchman - Harper Lee