The GF book thread

[Paul]

just finished yes man by danny wallace, very good. A touch of the dice man about it but still had me laughing out loud on the tube.

 

Just about to get my teeth stuck into Neal Stephensons Quicksilver but might be convinced that life's to short.

 

Might have a look at that Altered Carbon book

You won't regret it.

[Paul]

I was going to pick this thread up again soon anyway, but Jose Jones has prompted me to do so now. Of my holiday reads, I only got through a couple. With having young kids, I just can't devour books like I used to anymore. I read 1974 and also 1977, with 1980 and 1984 still to read. They are definitely dark and both were pretty good. However, the style is so similar to James Ellroy's that word plagiarism could almost be justified. The plot becomes a little oblique in places, but I'll deffo finish the quartet.

 

Cloud Atlas was very clever and quite enjoyable too. However, the connections between the stories and the overall theme/conceit is a little blurred. Worth reading, though.

 

The Illuminatus Trilogy is fucking nuts. The style is bizarre with jumps in person, place and time in the middle of sentences, never mind from paragraph to paragraph. The basic idea is entertaining, but, after seven hundred pages, I'm struggling to get it finished. I've just become bored with the plot not really going anywhere and the daft style.

 

I'll get back to this when I've read the others off my list.

[El Rojo]

I was going to pick this thread up again soon anyway, but Jose Jones has prompted me to do so now. Of my holiday reads, I only got through a couple. With having young kids, I just can't devour books like I used to anymore. I read 1974 and also 1977, with 1980 and 1984 still to read. They are definitely dark and both were pretty good. However, the style is so similar to James Ellroy's that word plagiarism could almost be justified. The plot becomes a little oblique in places, but I'll deffo finish the quartet.

 

Cloud Atlas was very clever and quite enjoyable too. However, the connections between the stories and the overall theme/conceit is a little blurred. Worth reading, though.

The Illuminatus Trilogy is fucking nuts. The style is bizarre with jumps in person, place and time in the middle of sentences, never mind from paragraph to paragraph. The basic idea is entertaining, but, after seven hundred pages, I'm struggling to get it finished. I've just become bored with the plot not really going anywhere and the daft style.

 

I'll get back to this when I've read the others off my list.

 

I'm halfway through that at the moment and finding it difficult to pick it up again. Black Swan Green was superior in every way, I think.

 

I've meant to check out that David Peace stuff. He's also written a novel on Brian Clough's 44 days with Leeds, which sounds interesting - Damned United.

[Paco]

The kiterunner by khaled hosseini..a very well written book

currently reading a very long engagement ...

 

 

what's it like? very long?

[Paul Don]

Can I just say that I think reading is ace. Had let myself slip over the last year or so and suddenly one evening during the winter, watching some dirge on the telly, decided enough was enough.

 

Have read at least 2 books a month since. Hardly prolific but I can honestly say that my love of the written word has been well and truly reawakened. Still love my PS2 though.

[Stu Monty]

Just finished Hornby's new novel 'A long way down' and thought it was pretty decent. The characters are really well rounded and the dialogue is sharp and funny. The concept is four people who all go to throw themselves off a building on New Year's Eve and meet each other and the story moves from there. Not that keen on the ending to be honest but overall it was quite a decent read.

[wiiksie]

Ive just finished 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink. Its about a german who gets friendly with an ex-SS female guard, just before she goes to trial for war crimes. Good take on jerry's attitude to the holocaust post 1945.

[gazelle]

The Dice Man - by Luke Rhinehart, pretty messed up - would be an interesting way to live..

[Captain]

I'm reading How to kill someone quickly on the Internet, the foreword is by Stuart Montagu.

[Stu Monty]

The Dice man is amazing.

 

I'm currently reading "Fences & Windows" by Naomi Klien and am enjoying it's information enormously.

[wiiksie]

I like the sound of The Dice Man.

 

No Logo is ace by the Klein bird.

[Stu Monty]

I like the sound of The Dice Man.

 

No Logo is ace by the Klein bird.

 

It is indeed. I read it whilst doing a degree in Marketing (and ruling at it) so I found it interesting to see the stuff on distortion and subverting of advertising.

 

Some of the stuff she has written on the dark side of globalisation is really enlightening.

[Bellflower]

Didn't we do this one a few months ago ? I'm still on the same book , The Civil War part 1 by Shelby Foote. Parts 2 and 3 still to go, should be finished about this time next year............

[DJLJ]

Perl Professional Programming. Learning a new language....

[The-Sir]

I've been reading Stephen Kings IT for what seems the past 6 months. I've been labouring through it and i WILL finish it but it just isnt hooknig me the way other books have :[

 

I have a few Bernard Cornwell books in my "to read" list but they'll have to wait for now.

[madstock]

I've (literally) just finished "Street Boys" by Lorenzo Carcaterra, which is loosely based on a series events in Naples during WW2.

 

Next up is Bill Clinton: An American Journey by Nigel Hamilton.

[stig-inge]

"Shankly" by Bill Shankly. I am about half way through it at the moment but it's not as good as I thought it would be.

[biglad]

Ive just finished 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink. Its about a german who gets friendly with an ex-SS female guard, just before she goes to trial for war crimes. Good take on jerry's attitude to the holocaust post 1945.

 

 

Just about to finish "Untold Stories" by Alan Bennett - not a bad read. Then moving onto "Berlin: The downfall 1945" by Antony Beevor.

[ScouseJim]

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell - Very well written account of a saxon warrior in 9th century England brought up by the Danes..

[The-Sir]

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell - Very well written account of a saxon warrior in 9th century England brought up by the Danes..

 

class read that, you read the first one? The battle scenes in them are amazing ;]

[BENIRL]

Paddy Whacked - Book about Irish gangsters in the states.

[RedKnight]

Just about to finish "Untold Stories" by Alan Bennett - not a bad read. Then moving onto "Berlin: The downfall 1945" by Antony Beevor.

 

Really good read that.

[Spy Bee]

The Dice Man is my favourite book. I have had a couple on the go. Just finished How to be Good by Nick Hornby and am also reading A Trip Round Ireland - With a Fridge.

[Cath]

Leviathan - Paul Auster.

Recommend it.

[biglad]

Really good read that.

 

Have you read Stalingrad by Antony Beevor?