Last Book You Read....

[Bairnardo]

2 hours ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

Glue is the third best Welsh novel after trainspotting and skagboys imo.

Interesting to see the poster who didn't like Shuggie Bain. I'm sure I'll read it at some point but I read in a review the fact the village the character lives in is called "Pithead" and that was a bit of a red flag to me - couldn't really have got less subtle could you. A friend of mine read it and said he felt you could tell the author hasn't actually lived in Scotland for about 20 years.

Glue and Skagboys are excellent. Think I will do Porno, Blade Artist then the latest one whose name I forget, then go back for A decent ride

[paul-r-cfc]

Marabou Stork Nightmares is my favourite from Welsh.

I was gonna mention this. Wonderfully surreal and so well written. Dark as sin as well of course, but that's what you pay for!

I read it on the plane to Stansted where we were getting a connection to dortmund for the Scotland game. Left it on the plane so bought it on Kindle and read it on my phone so I could read it on the second flight.

Crime is also really good. Totally different from most of Welsh's stuff being set in Florida but a good read.

[ilostmyself]

On 02/02/2021 at 11:13, ThomCat said:

Shuggie Bain - Disappointing tbh.  Shuggie's loyalty and stoicism throughout was rather poignant but the characters other than Agnes and himself are stereotype pantomime characters. There is no nuance or unpredictability - the author has set out to write a bleak novel and no light must get it.   If they novelized the "Scotch Mist" Dark place episode by a 'mis-lit' author it wouldn't be too far off the mark.

 

17 hours ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

Glue is the third best Welsh novel after trainspotting and skagboys imo.

Interesting to see the poster who didn't like Shuggie Bain. I'm sure I'll read it at some point but I read in a review the fact the village the character lives in is called "Pithead" and that was a bit of a red flag to me - couldn't really have got less subtle could you. A friend of mine read it and said he felt you could tell the author hasn't actually lived in Scotland for about 20 years.

I had a similar reaction to Shuggie Bain, lack of nuance and some of the characters are so stereotypical at times that it borders on parody.

I also couldn't get around the fact that the author was telling his own story and the arrogance of it. Shuggie is written as the only spark of light in a sea of harsh darkness and brutality which I suppose is a way someone who's been so far removed from their past as the author appears to be may see it.

[Craig fae the Vale]

Just finished "In the Clear Field" by John Garden. A weird little sci-fi about a form of sea creatures that become sentient and begin to take over the coasts. Weird, but I enjoyed it.

[Deanburn Dave]

Always looked forward to reading the next Jack Reacher book by Lee Child. Fast paced, page turners which were a simple but enjoyable read. Alas the latest book in the series is The Sentinel written by Lee Child with his younger brother Andrew Child and it's well below the standard I expected. I reckon Lee Child has just said to his younger brother "write a story with the character Jack Reacher in it and we'll split the cash".
It's a different writing style, different pace etc, etc....
I normally read a Jack Reacher within 4 to 5 days gladly squeezing in a chapter at every opportunity but this latest effort I dutifully limped through over a month. It was a real bore of a chore.

I read a few reviews on the book after I finished it and many share my disappointment.

Jack Reacher RIP.

[Monkey Tennis]

I read Humankind by Rutger Bergman.

I liked it.  His take on human nature is more generous than has often been offered, and he thinks a warped perspective of this has shaped many of our institutions.

He uses the dichotomy between Hobbes and Rousseau as a context, but  I think he overplays it and it serves his purposes less well than he imagines.

At times too, it gets a bit too anecdotal, with the outcomes sometimes sounding simplistically overblown. 

He's got interesting things to say though, unpicking the reality of the Milgram experiments and the Catherine Genovese murder.  He also makes interesting and counterintuitive sounding noises about empathy.

I don't see this as a desperately important book, but bits of it are thought provoking and have an application.  I'm glad I read it.

[coprolite]

4 hours ago, Xander Green said:

At this point, I finished reading Ulysses by Irish writer James Joyce. I tried to read this modernist novel several times already, but the maximum reached the third chapter. This time I read it in full.

Is it as good as the cartoon? 

Ulysee-ee ee-ee ee-ees, no one else can do the things that you do! 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

At this point, I finished reading Ulysses by Irish writer James Joyce. I tried to read this modernist novel several times already, but the maximum reached the third chapter. This time I read it in full.

Have you read Homer’s Odessy

[Monkey Tennis]

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

It's in the form of a memoir by a dying American pastor in the 50s, written for his young son to read when he grows up.     I liked it early on.  

The narrator was complex, clever and kind.  He got increasingly self indulgent as it unfolded though.  My scriptural knowledge probably isn't what it would need to be, to fully 'get' this book.

It had something though.

[Duszek]

On 02/02/2021 at 18:53, Bairnardo said:

Going back to Irvine Welsh, should I buy T2, or is that Porno rebranded?

I have read skagboys and trainspotting so what's next? Is it Blade Artist or Porno?

I read Marabou Stork Nightmares recently and enjoyed it. Has a Scottish football angle too.

[Duszek]

Spent last week at the in-laws so took some feel-good reading with me, a well-worn collection of Flann O’Brien (real name Brian O’Nolan, also known as Myles na gCopaleen) columns from the Irish Times. The funniest, most imaginative writer of the 20th century.

 

[murphy1970]

Just finished The Border, the conclusion to Don Winslow’s Cartel trilogy.

All three books are tremendous. The pace is relentless and if it wasn’t based on true events you’d be tempted to think it was a bit far fetched.

I doubt there’s a better fictional account of the Sinaloa Cartel and the US govt’s futile war on drugs.

 

[Craig fae the Vale]

Finished "There's Only One Danny Garvey" by David F. Ross yesterday and I can't recommend it highly enough. Looks on the surface to be a story about junior football, but it ends up delving deep into relationships and mental health. It's a fantastic read and has one of the best endings I can remember reading.

[SANTAN]

Just about to start Colour of Magic after reading Small Gods. I'm very excited. 

[Stellaboz]

21 minutes ago, Stormzy said:

Just about to start Colour of Magic after reading Small Gods. I'm very excited. 

Ah min. Colour of Magic and the Rincewind series are ok but far from the best stories in the Discworld. Small Gods is absolutely tremendous. 

If you're doing Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic then Sourcery I'd thoroughly encourage you to get them out of the road so you can then enjoy the Death series and my favourite, Guards/Sam Vimes. 

[SANTAN]

14 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

Ah min. Colour of Magic and the Rincewind series are ok but far from the best stories in the Discworld. Small Gods is absolutely tremendous. 

If you're doing Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic then Sourcery I'd thoroughly encourage you to get them out of the road so you can then enjoy the Death series and my favourite, Guards/Sam Vimes. 

A friend recommended Small Gods without me reading Terry Pratchet and after loving that one he's told me Colour Of Magic is the start of the series? 

I'm not clued up on the lore or the order or anything but after SG I need more!

[HK Hibee]

On 17/02/2021 at 03:44, murphy1970 said:

Just finished The Border, the conclusion to Don Winslow’s Cartel trilogy.

All three books are tremendous. The pace is relentless and if it wasn’t based on true events you’d be tempted to think it was a bit far fetched.

I doubt there’s a better fictional account of the Sinaloa Cartel and the US govt’s futile war on drugs.

 

Winslow is a great author and that trilogy is just fantastic. Read some of his other stuff ( eg San Diego or Southern California based) like Dawn Patrol. Almost as good. 

[Moomintroll]

3 minutes ago, Stormzy said:

A friend recommended Small Gods without me reading Terry Pratchet and after loving that one he's told me Colour Of Magic is the start of the series? 

I'm not clued up on the lore or the order or anything but after SG I need more!

Although most of the books are fine in any order I would recommend doing them in the order they were written as a lot of the characters develop brilliantly through the series, my main favourites being Sam Vimes, Detritus the troll and The Librarian. There is also the sense of progress in technology during the later books with various earth inventions coming into play & for example if you read making money before going postal you are getting the main  character back to front.

[Stellaboz]

9 minutes ago, Stormzy said:

A friend recommended Small Gods without me reading Terry Pratchet and after loving that one he's told me Colour Of Magic is the start of the series? 

I'm not clued up on the lore or the order or anything but after SG I need more!

There are different character series within the Discworld collection. Death, Guards, Rincewind and The Witches are a few of them. You can of course read all of them in order! And many characters show up in different series of course.

[Moomintroll]

56 minutes ago, Craig the Hunter said:

Finished "There's Only One Danny Garvey" by David F. Ross yesterday and I can't recommend it highly enough. Looks on the surface to be a story about junior football, but it ends up delving deep into relationships and mental health. It's a fantastic read and has one of the best endings I can remember reading.

Read that last month & really enjoyed it, the ending really did throw me as I didn't see it coming at all.