What are you reading at the moment?

[swanlee]

On 29/09/2021 at 11:04, Zear0 said:

Steinbeck really is one of the greats.  Recently re-read Travels with Charley as it's one of my all time favourites.

Despite being a prodigious reader of literature from around the globe.

 

Sadly Steinbeck is massively underrepresented on my bookshelf.

 

This is directly related to the study of 'Of Mice & Men' at school. Which, whilst I enjoyed, regrettably meant the Steinbeck name became intrinsic to the musty smell of an uninspiring & drab comprehensive in Leicester. 

 

This i realise now needs to change - thx for the pointer - Travels with Charley on the wishlist!

Edited 1 October 2021 by swanlee

[Phil Bowman]

On 29/09/2021 at 11:15, drumbeat said:

Agreed, I read a lot of Steinbeck in my teens. 'Of Mice and Men' is popular I know but rightly so. The stories around the migrant worker communities worked for me, kind of like a 'Nomadland' of its generation!

Me too! Haven’t read much Steinbeck for years though. I think I might dig out Cannery Row for starters.

Well, for re-starters I suppose…

[foxile5]

Jay Rayner - Chewing the Fat. 

[David Guiza]

 

After ploughing through some classics and the like i've really been enjoying this. It's a deep dive into fan culture in Italy, and, thus far, it's done very well to stay fairly balanced on the subject. Learnt a lot of about the left/right divide between the clubs there and the power that fans have both in and out of the stadia.

 

Would certainly recommend it to @Voll Blau @SemperEadem and others who I've seen with a love of that culture. 

[SemperEadem]

17 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

 

After ploughing through some classics and the like i've really been enjoying this. It's a deep dive into fan culture in Italy, and, thus far, it's done very well to stay fairly balanced on the subject. Learnt a lot of about the left/right divide between the clubs there and the power that fans have both in and out of the stadia.

 

Would certainly recommend it to @Voll Blau @SemperEadem and others who I've seen with a love of that culture. 

Really good read yeah. He has done a few podcasts too which are very interesting.

[Stadt]

The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk. There's something so captivating about frontiers 

[String fellow]

Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright is great read for anyone who dislikes the letter e. This 50,000-word novel completely avoids using words which include e.

If you try writing down lots of groups of words in logical strings such that not any contain that important fifth symbol, you will know how tricky it is to do!

Equally, assembling one's sentences where the letter e exhibits itself everywhere requires considerable effort - perhaps something best avoided!

.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsby_(novel) 

[Countryfox]

Read these two while we were whizzing down the Atlantic to get to the Med ...   the Karin Slaughter one was very good and I really enjoyed it ...  clever plot and kept you turning to find out what happened next ...   would probably make a good film ..  good solid 8 out of 10.    But the other one ... well ...     absolutely loved it ! ...  real old Aggie Christie type fare about a group of people snowbound in a hotel ,,,  with a killer on the loose ...    brilliant !!   A real curl up with a good book jobby for a cold dark night ..   

 

(Think you might like it Webster ...   @Webbo).

 

 

[The Blur]

15 hours ago, Countryfox said:

Read these two while we were whizzing down the Atlantic to get to the Med ...   the Karin Slaughter one was very good and I really enjoyed it ...  clever plot and kept you turning to find out what happened next ...   would probably make a good film ..  good solid 8 out of 10.    But the other one ... well ...     absolutely loved it ! ...  real old Aggie Christie type fare about a group of people snowbound in a hotel ,,,  with a killer on the loose ...    brilliant !!   A real curl up with a good book jobby for a cold dark night ..   

 

(Think you might like it Webster ...   @Webbo).

 

 

 

I always have thought that thriller novels rarely translate well to cinemas.   I think the pacing is difficult to get right and the fact that largely thriller novels is dialogue heavy which feels more relatable to real world during reading instead of watching films if it makes sense?

 

The only thriller I can think of that has made the jump well is Until There Were None or Murder on Orient Express.   Perhaps that is because they are based around set pieces so they can easily ramp up the atmosphere?

[Countryfox]

1 hour ago, The Blur said:

 

I always have thought that thriller novels rarely translate well to cinemas.   I think the pacing is difficult to get right and the fact that largely thriller novels is dialogue heavy which feels more relatable to real world during reading instead of watching films if it makes sense?

 

The only thriller I can think of that has made the jump well is Until There Were None or Murder on Orient Express.   Perhaps that is because they are based around set pieces so they can easily ramp up the atmosphere?

Jaws ?? ..   James Bond ?? ..  

 

I can think of loads tbh .. 

[thursday_next]

I'm getting obsessed with people who appear on TV with a bookcase behind them. Don't have a clue what they're saying, I am more interested in the books, which are slightly too small to see. Nonetheless, you can pick up a pattern here. There are no fiction books to give an impression of not being serious. In fact, people who appear on TV give off the impression that they'd never read a fiction book in their lives. If they happen, purely by accident, to own a complete set of Harry Potter novels* you can bet your life that they're in the third spare bedroom along with the Da Vinci Code and 50 Shades of Grey and Shantaram. Shame, that. I would rather gain my impression of someone in public life by working out how they could possibly read the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

 

*No disrespect intended. J K Rowling is a fine novelist.

[jgtuk]

1 hour ago, thursday_next said:

I'm getting obsessed with people who appear on TV with a bookcase behind them. Don't have a clue what they're saying, I am more interested in the books, which are slightly too small to see. Nonetheless, you can pick up a pattern here. There are no fiction books to give an impression of not being serious. In fact, people who appear on TV give off the impression that they'd never read a fiction book in their lives. If they happen, purely by accident, to own a complete set of Harry Potter novels* you can bet your life that they're in the third spare bedroom along with the Da Vinci Code and 50 Shades of Grey and Shantaram. Shame, that. I would rather gain my impression of someone in public life by working out how they could possibly read the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

 

*No disrespect intended. J K Rowling is a fine novelist.

I'm also obsessed by the bookcase phonomenen. Some are quite obviously staged, as is the decoration in the room - portrait of a monarch, flag etc. - although lhe lack of fiction isn't an issue for me as I almost never read fiction myself, in fact I often get angry when I try. Irrational i know . 

I know lots of people who also never read fiction and I don't find it unusual. My bookcases are on display for any visitor to see and I think most are bored rigid (I also have my books organised in order of subject/genre ) I'm in the early stages of moving house so have started packing them into crates marked 'office' so my wife doesn't realise just how many I have.

Edited 30 October 2021 by jgtuk
Sp

[thursday_next]

1 hour ago, jgtuk said:

I'm also obsessed by the bookcase phonomenen. Some are quite obviously staged, as is the decoration in the room - portrait of a monarch, flag etc. - although lhe lack of fiction isn't an issue for me as I almost never read fiction myself, in fact I often get angry when I try. Irrational i know . 

I know lots of people who also never read fiction and I don't find it unusual. My bookcases are on display for any visitor to see and I think most are bored rigid (I also have my books organised in order of subject/genre ) I'm in the early stages of moving house so have started packing them into crates marked 'office' so my wife doesn't realise just how many I have.

 

Grant Shapps even has his name on an election placard on his bookcase, just in case there is anybody watching who isn't aware that it is Grant Shapps. He misses the final 's' out of his name to give the impression of studied untidiness, which I don't think is believable.

 

You're the opposite of me. The last non-fiction book I've read has been 'Fearless' by Jonathan Northcroft (who undoubtedly never reads the match threads on FT)  

 

On Goodreads there is a section devoted to '100 Novels that are Hard to Read'. I was somewhat surprised when I happened to notice that I own 19 out of the top 20 (with the exception being the Naked Lunch, which I don't want to read again). I'm not sure that I can trust Goodreads subscribers, though. Moby Dick, War and Peace and Anna Karenina are not hard to read, they're just long     

Edited 30 October 2021 by thursday_next

[The Blur]

3 hours ago, Countryfox said:

Jaws ?? ..   James Bond ?? ..  

 

I can think of loads tbh .. 

 

Sorry- I was thinking along the lines of murder mysteries.  

[swanlee]

On 30/10/2021 at 10:00, thursday_next said:

I'm getting obsessed with people who appear on TV with a bookcase behind them. Don't have a clue what they're saying, I am more interested in the books, which are slightly too small to see. Nonetheless, you can pick up a pattern here. There are no fiction books to give an impression of not being serious. In fact, people who appear on TV give off the impression that they'd never read a fiction book in their lives. If they happen, purely by accident, to own a complete set of Harry Potter novels* you can bet your life that they're in the third spare bedroom along with the Da Vinci Code and 50 Shades of Grey and Shantaram. Shame, that. I would rather gain my impression of someone in public life by working out how they could possibly read the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

 

*No disrespect intended. J K Rowling is a fine novelist.

I heard sometime ago that this is staged. In that if you are appearing on TV in some professional capacity, then you are 'advised' to position one's self infront of a bookshelf. It subliminally transmits to the audience an air of authority & intelligence, the bookshelf indicating the subject is educated, informed & well-read.

 

Having never been invited on Newsnight to discuss the topical issue of the day, I cannot verify with any certainty if there is any truth in this. But it could explain the absence of Harry Potter, 50 Shades of Grey & Marvel Annuals.

 

PS I bought a second-hand copy of Cosmos by Carl Sagan off ebay after spotting it on Professor Brian Cox's book shelf  

[SpacedX]

26 minutes ago, swanlee said:

PS I bought a second-hand copy of Cosmos by Carl Sagan off ebay after spotting it on Professor Brian Cox's book shelf  

I also recommend 'The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark'. Published over 25 years ago, but very prophetic and relevant today. 

Edited 6 November 2021 by Line-X

[swanlee]

 

 

My days, I dunno' why I should be surprised ...

 

His first book and it paints a depressing image of the english colonialist. I know Orwell is highlighting the inherent racism of the white man in India, I wouldn't advise though to any one sensitive to issues around political correctness.

 

Gin-soaked alcoholics with abhorrent views on race, even I'm struggling with some of the language and attitudes Orwell is putting into the mouths of his main protagonists.

 

Thoroughly engrossing read & insight though!

 

Edited 6 November 2021 by swanlee

[The Bear]

1 hour ago, swanlee said:

PS I bought a second-hand copy of Cosmos by Carl Sagan off ebay after spotting it on Professor Brian Cox's book shelf  

Brief History Of Time by Hawking is great too. 

[ozleicester]

this has been a reasonably tough one for my little mind...

 

but well worth the effort

[Milo]

So, eventually got round to finishing this. Did it in two chunks over the past 9 months or so. Bit of a beast, tbh.

 

I'm sure some of you are familiar with it ( @Buce ?), but for those who aren't, it's a hell of a story. I'd been wanting to read it for a while, but knew I had to set aside the time to invest in it. 

 

 

[Carl the Llama]

On 30/10/2021 at 12:35, The Blur said:

 

Sorry- I was thinking along the lines of murder mysteries.  

Tbf the whodunnit genre has lent itself well to television over the years, every Poirot episode is based on a novel is it not? 

[Buce]

16 hours ago, Milo said:

So, eventually got round to finishing this. Did it in two chunks over the past 9 months or so. Bit of a beast, tbh.

 

I'm sure some of you are familiar with it ( @Buce ?), but for those who aren't, it's a hell of a story. I'd been wanting to read it for a while, but knew I had to set aside the time to invest in it. 

 

 

 

Nope, I've never come across this but it looks like a good read.

 

By coincidence, I came across the author's name in another book I read recently written by a Melbourne career criminal ('Chopper' Reid), in the context of his stay in Pentridge prison.

Edited 10 November 2021 by Buce

[The Blur]

15 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

Tbf the whodunnit genre has lent itself well to television over the years, every Poirot episode is based on a novel is it not? 

I agree- I think it is both the serialised format that allows it more time to build up plot points and also I think we would associate TV with the everyday life compared to Hollywood level storylines in movies.  

[HighPeakFox]

Bob Mortimer's Autobiography - 'And Away...'

 

It's quite sad early on, which makes his later success and happiness all the more heartening.

[bovril]

Trying to read some Virginia Woolf again after first attempting at Uni and giving up again.