Ilkeston_Fox Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 I've been having a WW2 moment with books recently. I've read a couple on the D-Day landings which weren't bad. I managed to catch the 'D-Day to Berlin' series on Yesterday which wasn't too bad, but alot of what we see on the TV is reconstructed which for me ruins what is being said. I like to visualise things as they were, not with perfect colour desmonstrations of taking a gun emplacement for example with paintball style smoke grenades Could anyone recommend books about Auschwitz and Valkyrie (I've seen the film, and while I thought it was good, films never have the same level of information that books provide.) Also if anyone has read factual accounts of The Troubles they'd like to recommend then please do so. Thanks.
FoxyPV Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Also if anyone has read factual accounts of The Troubles they'd like to recommend then please do so. Thanks. The Shankill Butchers by Martin Dillon is a truly chilling read.
Ilkeston_Fox Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 The Shankill Butchers by Martin Dillon is a truly chilling read. Cheers for that, I've made a note of that and will get it over the weekend.
FoxyPV Posted 14 June 2010 Posted 14 June 2010 Just finished The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson - :shiver:
Lillehamring Posted 16 June 2010 Posted 16 June 2010 just finished the very very good 'Focus' by Arthur Miller - an anti-Semite new yorker during ww2 has to start wearing glasses and suddenly is taken to be jewish - brilliantly dealt with and finely written story too... just starting 'big sur' by kerouac
Bellend Sebastian Posted 16 June 2010 Posted 16 June 2010 I got through a few on holiday... Richard Herring - How Not to Grow Up - Hardly profound, but very funny, and quite touching. Nathaniel Philbrick - Sea of Glory - In depth and very interesting account of a 19th century nautical expedition by the same bloke that wrote about the whalers caught adrift that ended up eating each other Harry Patch and some other bloke - The Last Fighting Tommy - A nice bloke but there's no getting away from the fact that he was only in the war for a very short time and spent most of the rest of his life as a sanitation engineer Bill Bryson The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Sentimental account of his early years, laugh out loud funny in parts and full of interesting trivia as always Luke Haines Bad Vibes - Britpop and My Part in its Downfall - Funny and acerbic account of the 90s music scene from the Auteurs/Black Box recorder front man in which he manages to slag off everyone from Suede to Paul McCartney, and usually with good reason Currently reading Das Reich by Max Hastings, an account of SOE and the French Resistance's campaign to stop the elite German division's attempts to reach Normandy and repel the Allied invasion after D Day. Had to delay starting this until I was on the plane as I think I would have got some funny looks from all the Germans in the hotel
FoxyPV Posted 16 June 2010 Posted 16 June 2010 Bill Bryson The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Sentimental account of his early years, laugh out loud funny in parts and full of interesting trivia as always Bill Bryson Have you read A Short History of Everything? - had me roaring with laughter
Bellend Sebastian Posted 16 June 2010 Posted 16 June 2010 Yes, loved it, a bit more involved than his usual stuff but still entertaining and interesting. I've read nearly all of his now and they're all great
Guest Bilo Posted 16 June 2010 Posted 16 June 2010 I've been having a WW2 moment with books recently. I've read a couple on the D-Day landings which weren't bad. I managed to catch the 'D-Day to Berlin' series on Yesterday which wasn't too bad, but alot of what we see on the TV is reconstructed which for me ruins what is being said. I like to visualise things as they were, not with perfect colour desmonstrations of taking a gun emplacement for example with paintball style smoke grenades Could anyone recommend books about Auschwitz and Valkyrie (I've seen the film, and while I thought it was good, films never have the same level of information that books provide.) Also if anyone has read factual accounts of The Troubles they'd like to recommend then please do so. Thanks. If you're looking for something that's factual without being too dry, I'd recommend Sybille Steinbacher's book. Amazon Link I've heard good things about this book regarding Operation Valkyrie as well. Valkyrie Book
Ilkeston_Fox Posted 17 June 2010 Posted 17 June 2010 If you're looking for something that's factual without being too dry, I'd recommend Sybille Steinbacher's book. Amazon Link I've heard good things about this book regarding Operation Valkyrie as well. Valkyrie Book Nice one, cheers for that.
Webbo Posted 22 June 2010 Posted 22 June 2010 The girl with the dragon tattoo-the first 80% of this book is a brilliantly gripping thriller. The last 100 pages after we've found out what has happened seem a bit superfluous. Still a good read and I'll be getting the sequels.
stez Posted 22 June 2010 Posted 22 June 2010 i'm reading 'starting the wave' 'by' brian little it's actually quite interesting.
FoxyPV Posted 1 July 2010 Posted 1 July 2010 Finished Jane Eyre - I had a tear in my eye at the end - can't beat a good ending
Lillehamring Posted 1 July 2010 Posted 1 July 2010 Finished Jane Eyre - I had a tear in my eye at the end - can't beat a good ending track down the orson welles movie of jane eyre, possibly my all time favourite movie....
BoneDog Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 I think this has been posted before but I couldn't find where it's at. I just had a go and it says I write like Cory Doctorow. Never heard of him before but he's probably alright cos I write like him so I might check him out! It's also probably a load of bollocks just made for advertising but I am willing to believe I write like a best-seller which is most likely the truth of the matter I Write Like Plus, it's about time some more good book ideas were mentioned. If you like a non-fiction book about characters from the past then this book is worth a read Attila the Hun - John Man Mounted archery is a shit-hot skill to have to impress the ladies with.
Zingari Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 I think this has been posted before but I couldn't find where it's at. I just had a go and it says I write like Cory Doctorow. Never heard of him before but he's probably alright cos I write like him so I might check him out! It's also probably a load of bollocks just made for advertising but I am willing to believe I write like a best-seller which is most likely the truth of the matter I Write Like Plus, it's about time some more good book ideas were mentioned. If you like a non-fiction book about characters from the past then this book is worth a read Attila the Hun - John Man Mounted archery is a shit-hot skill to have to impress the ladies with. dunno if it's accurate or just random but i got Edgar Allan Poe ( Was he a godless twat too ? ) think this deserves it's own thread
FoxyPV Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 Edgar Allan Poe ( Was he a godless twat too ? ) think this deserves it's own thread He was into necrophilia. Take from that what you will.
BoneDog Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 dunno if it's accurate or just random but i got Edgar Allan Poe ( Was he a godless twat too ? ) think this deserves it's own thread Yes I think he was judging by this quote of his, "All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry."
BoneDog Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 He was into necrophilia. Take from that what you will. Oooooh the kinky barstad!
Guest Bilo Posted 20 September 2010 Posted 20 September 2010 He was into necrophilia. Take from that what you will.
Lillehamring Posted 21 September 2010 Posted 21 September 2010 wow, i put in three very long pieces of prose, very different styles and texts one came up as david foster wallace, and the other two both came up as H P Lovecraft... spooky
MC Prussian Posted 21 September 2010 Posted 21 September 2010 A good book on how a passion for filmmaking combined with a personal story result in a movie made, starring Ed Harris:
MikeyT Posted 3 October 2010 Posted 3 October 2010 Just started reading The Kenneth Williams diaries, purely as i'm a fan of the Carry On films. Dunno how many people are old enough on here to remember him or those films, suspect there's a fair few though. Currently only up to 1952 in his diaries though, so another 6 years of diary entries till the first Carry On film was released. Good read so far though. He was a very interesting man,
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