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Last Book You Read....


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55 minutes ago, Gnash said:

Moby Dick was quite good and not too difficult to understand.  

The Satanic Verses, though - no idea what was going on there.

Read that last sentence in Partridge's voice 

27 minutes ago, Academically Deficient said:

Coincidentally the book I've got on the go is about real, random meetings between famous people. Joyce features in 2 episodes, one with Marcel Proust at which he turns up late to a dinner, stays silent unless it's to contradict people and generally behaves like a dick. By the time he warms up and fancies making a night of it, the others leave him in the taxi and scraper to another do.

Knausgaard clearly consciously sees himself as a modern day Proust and his book is filled with him being an arse if that's your thing!

Edited by NotThePars
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50 minutes ago, Academically Deficient said:

Coincidentally the book I've got on the go is about real, random meetings between famous people. Joyce features in 2 episodes, one with Marcel Proust at which he turns up late to a dinner, stays silent unless it's to contradict people and generally behaves like a dick. By the time he warms up and fancies making a night of it, the others leave him in the taxi and scraper to another do.

"Scrapering to a do" sounds like peak Joyce

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I found a web site called shmoop.com, which gives a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of many classic books. It's a student reference but written in a fairly irreverent style, it can help pick up on important bits you might have missed while reading. Symbology, theme, relevance and whatnot. It helped me get through Ulysses at (I think) the third attempt. Can't say I enjoyed it and I have no intention of reading it again but...as to what it's about:

Spoiler

Bloom is aware that his wife Molly is planning to get her hole with another fella so he (Bloom) finds excuses to keep himself out of the house all day and thus, avoid the awkwardness of catching her at it. Yes, he's that much of a loser. So we hear in excruciating detail where he goes, with whom he interacts and everything he does, which includes at one point, having a sly Sherman while watching a wee dirty on the beach. Every chapter is written in a different voice and style, including the script of a play, stream of consciousness and extremely dull.

That said, I've been told that "Anyone who says they understand Ulysses doesn't understand Ulysses." so take from that what you will.

Edited by Shotgun
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Is anyone else cursed by feeling compelled to finish a book once they've started? An English teacher at school told me you should always do that and despite being terrible advice, it's stuck with me. Even though I'm now in my late 50's, I still have a stupidly difficult time stopping mid-book no matter how little I'm enjoying it. Ulysses, referenced in my post above is one example where I 'did' manage to stop (twice) but even then, I came back and finished it eventually.

I'm currently listening to a 30 CD audiobook called 'Saigon', by British author, Anthony Grey. It's a historical epic novel spanning 5 decades and is based on the history of Vietnam from French colonial days of the 1920's to the debacle that was The American war and the fall of Saigon in the 1970's. That's the sort of thing that's usually right up my đường phố and being a fan of that part of the world and its history, I'd like to make it through to the end. But dear Lard, it's turgid, clichè ridden stuff. Trying to decide if, after 18 hours with over 20 to go, I should stick at it.

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3 hours ago, Shotgun said:

Is anyone else cursed by feeling compelled to finish a book once they've started? An English teacher at school told me you should always do that and despite being terrible advice, it's stuck with me. 

Yes, maybe because we're a similar age. I think it's from the same miserable Scottish philosophical outlook as "always finish your dinner even if you hate it. Somebody went to the bother of making it,  you ungrateful wee b*****d"

(Pseuds Corner Alert...)

I now follow the advice of Mon*****ne because theres too little time left to waste it on a boring book. Johann Cruff's tedious autobiography being the most recent one to go to the charity shop.

20200728_070128.jpg

Edited by Academically Deficient
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I found a web site called shmoop.com, which gives a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of many classic books. It's a student reference but written in a fairly irreverent style, it can help pick up on important bits you might have missed while reading. Symbology, theme, relevance and whatnot. It helped me get through Ulysses at (I think) the third attempt. Can't say I enjoyed it and I have no intention of reading it again but...as to what it's about:
Spoiler

Bloom is aware that his wife Molly is planning to get her hole with another fella so he (Bloom) finds excuses to keep himself out of the house all day and thus, avoid the awkwardness of catching her at it. Yes, he's that much of a loser. So we hear in excruciating detail where he goes, with whom he interacts and everything he does, which includes at one point, having a sly Sherman while watching a wee dirty on the beach. Every chapter is written in a different voice and style, including the script of a play, stream of consciousness and extremely dull.

That said, I've been told that "Anyone who says they understand Ulysses doesn't understand Ulysses." so take from that what you will.

On the subject of note taking, I was thinking about buying a notebook and taking my own notes when reading. I've read 6 (and a bit) books since February but two of them seem to have just disappeared from my mind completely. I honestly couldn't say more than one or two extremely vague things about them. Its not like I hated them either. I remember after reading one of them (Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari) I wanted to read the next in the series, Homo Deus.
I don't normally read this frequently but it's not like I remember the recent ones and have "naturally" forgotten the earlier ones. The two that I forgot were in in the middle. Maybe its a fiction/non-fiction thing as I seem to remember fiction better.
Anyone else just completely forget books they read or take notes as they're reading?
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8 minutes ago, charger29 said:


Anyone else just completely forget books they read or take notes as they're reading?

Yes, me. Used to work with a woman who regaled me with great chunks of plot from the thrillers she read. I thought "how the f**k do you remember all that?".

I don't worry about it now, but it is weird how you can spend so long engrossed in a really good book and then.....whoosh.....gone.

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Guest JTS98
1 hour ago, Academically Deficient said:

I don't worry about it now, but it is weird how you can spend so long engrossed in a really good book and then.....whoosh.....gone.

 

1 hour ago, charger29 said:

Anyone else just completely forget books they read or take notes as they're reading?

 

1 hour ago, Academically Deficient said:

 

Yeah. I've borrowed books from friends before only to realise a few chapters in that I've read them before. I do take notes with certain books. It depends.

I can't remember who it was, but I heard an author on a podcast a few years ago say that it can be hard for writers not to take it personally that a book that takes you up to five years to get published will essentially be totally forgotten by most people who ever read it as soon as they put it down. They pour blood, sweat, and tears into this thing for years and then most readers bash through it in a week or so and never give it another thought.

I suppose that could be quite a dispiriting thought.

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1 hour ago, JTS98 said:

 

I suppose that could be quite a dispiriting thought.

So you're saying that there's no point in me finishing my magic-realist novel about a young lad from Lanarkshire who worships an impossibly beautiful girl from afar (TV's Judith Ralston). The fates, and her family's disapproval conspire to prevent their great love from materialising until, one day...

Actually, you're probably right👍

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2 hours ago, Academically Deficient said:

Yes, me. Used to work with a woman who regaled me with great chunks of plot from the thrillers she read. I thought "how the f**k do you remember all that?".

I don't worry about it now, but it is weird how you can spend so long engrossed in a really good book and then.....whoosh.....gone.

Some people just have incredible memories. I'd love to know their secret.
Names just refuse to stick for me. I could have just finished a book and if someone asked me to name three of the main characters I would be struggling. The second I picked up the book again everything would come back to me.

42 minutes ago, JTS98 said:

I can't remember who it was, but I heard an author on a podcast a few years ago say that it can be hard for writers not to take it personally that a book that takes you up to five years to get published will essentially be totally forgotten by most people who ever read it as soon as they put it down. They pour blood, sweat, and tears into this thing for years and then most readers bash through it in a week or so and never give it another thought.

I suppose that could be quite a dispiriting thought.

I've never thought about it that way before. There's TV series which I've rewatched many times, albums which I've listened to god knows how many times but I don't think I would ever reread any book more than 2-3 times.

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1 hour ago, oldbitterandgrumpy said:

In the age of Audible you're listening to a 30 CD audiobook?

Fair enough.

I order them from the library, rip them onto my computer then download them to my phone when I'm ready to listen to them. It's all free and as I go through dozens a year that way (I listen when walking the dog or driving) it's well worth the effort. You can get materials from most of the libraries in the state and many of the neighbouring ones so it's rare I can't find what I want. Sometimes they're e-book downloads but then you have to finish them within 3 weeks. With the CDs, I can bank a few and choose whichever one I'm in the mood for.

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Finished The Mirror and the Light today - 900 pages so it took a few weeks. I reckon the three book series on Cromwell are among the best I have ever read. Mantel will probably win the Booker Prize for the third time with this one.

Don't think I have ever "known" a character as well as Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall was a struggle to get into initially (every time she uses "He" it means Cromwell, takes a while to adapt) but the rewards are definitely worth it.

Just a stunning insight into Henry XIII and how life was around the royals at that time.

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20 hours ago, Angusfifer said:

Congratulations to anyone who has completed Ulysses and can explain what it is all about. I'm convinced Joyce was at the capers 

Molly gets pumped off Boylan.

Stephen mopes about. 

Edited by Detournement
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43 minutes ago, Saigon Raider said:

Finished The Mirror and the Light today - 900 pages so it took a few weeks. I reckon the three book series on Cromwell are among the best I have ever read. Mantel will probably win the Booker Prize for the third time with this one.

Don't think I have ever "known" a character as well as Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall was a struggle to get into initially (every time she uses "He" it means Cromwell, takes a while to adapt) but the rewards are definitely worth it.

Just a stunning insight into Henry XIII and how life was around the royals at that time.

At start of lockdown I got right into the Radio 4 serialisation of this and the tv version of Wolf Hall. Loved them both. The books might have to wait till I retire.

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Recent reads:

Lanark - Alasdair Gray
An incredible piece of work. One of those which you think "what sort of person could come up with this?". The book has four parts, two detail the life of an eccentric artist and two describe a journey through the sort of dystopian otherworld you'd expect to find if Orwell and Dali collaborated. Gray doesn't always manage to pull it off, and it's tough reading at times due to the bizarre nature of what he's attempting to describe, but parts are brilliant. Perhaps a little overambitious 7/10.

Italo Calvino - If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
More nonsense, again overambitious and not quite pulling it off. Written in the second person, it starts off talking about how you bought the book you're currently reading. Then it has the first chapter of the actual book. After reading some of the second chapter you realise it's a completely different story, so then it's back to the second person detailing your trip back to the bookshop to return it for the correct book. But it's again a different book altogether! So it goes on, alternating between the reader's quest to get to the bottom of the fake book nonsense and first chapters of ten different books of ten different genres.
It's a great concept and some of the first chapters are great, but I only read it to the end as it was my last English-language book. He's clearly a gifted writer, and I'd give him another shot but... 4/10

Jane Austen - Persuasion
Brilliant. You know how it's going to end from quite early on, but it's excellently written. You already know if this book would interest you, so I'll just say that it's one of her best 9/10.

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
A multi-generational look at a Korean family who spend most of their life in Japan. Spanning the Japanese colonisation and WWII up to the eighties, it's a very useful primer on the lives of Koreans in Japan. Fitting eighty years into 500 pages is a tough task though and you're just getting snippets and deaths of major characters are mentioned in passing. It's quite a mixed story, engaging at times, but the quick pace of time means you don't really care for any of the characters. The central character is by far the least interesting, just a wire form for the more colourful characters to be draped around.
The book got rave reviews and finished top of a few year end lists but I imagine more for the topic than the contents. That said it's a pretty easy, often engaging read. 6/10.

Javier Marias - Thus Bad Begins
A twenty-three year old gets a job assisting a famous Spanish film director, getting entangled with his personal and family life. The main theme of the book is the balance between forgiveness and justice, seen through the twin lenses of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and a wife's deceit. It's a tough book to read at times: hundred word sentences, two page paragraphs and endless analysis of people's actions to the point where one short conversation takes place over three chapters. Marias is clearly a very accomplished writer and it's easy to see why he's touted for the Nobel. At first I thought the book was pretty dire, but by the end I really enjoyed it. Not for everyone, but 8/10

Leo Tolstoy - The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
It's Leo fucking Tolstoy. 10/10

Ryunsuke Akutagawa - Rashomon and Other Stories
A collection of eighteen short stories by the early 20th century Japanese writer. The stories are grouped together, so the tragi-comedies are in one section, the retellings of folk tales are in another, and so on. It is, of course, a mixed bunch. However, the final section consists of his autobiographical stories and these are very good indeed, especially having read the highlights of his life's work beforehand. One of these "The Life of a Stupid Man" is an truly incredible work, almost poetic as he describes 54 scenes from his life. The final story in the book ends mid-story with (something like, I don't have it to hand) "No, this is all too much. I don't have the energy to carry on. Why can't somebody just strangle me in my sleep?" Needless to say, he committed suicide, his last words being "I have a strange sense of unease about the future". 10/10 for the highs, some of the stories are 4/10 quality though.

Edited by DiegoDiego
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Jasper fforde - The Constant Rabbit. If you like your racist allegories with big ears and a sexy wee scut, this is the one for you. Overtly comedic but with a serious subtext, this is a nice wee page turner. Bit of inter species sexual tension as well.. I love this guys stuff, as he isn't afraid to take a mad idea and run with it (see his nursery crimes unit novels)
Highly recommended.[emoji195]

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Started The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - love myself some fantasy (ooer) from time to time. This is highly rated (4.53 on Goodreads) and has started really well. The day after I started there was an article in the Guardian about author's who are massively slow finished book series' and Patrick Rothfuss' name came up. This will then be the 3rd series where I am waiting on the final instalment - Game Of Thrones, Gentlemen b*****ds by Scott Lynch and this one.

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