Last Book You Read....

[HK Hibee]

On 03/02/2021 at 02:05, 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.

Train spotting has to be the best but Glue is a much better story on friendship. Didn’t hurt that it was set in west Edinburgh (where I went to school)

[NotThePars]

Just finished Water, Wasted by Alex Branson which is about a death of a teenage boy in a small town that leads the divorced mother and father of another teenager that died in the town to revisit the death of their daughter and reconnect with each other and other protagonists. There’s also a talking goat, a creature wearing a human suit, and Bigfoot which might have something to do with the novels their daughter wrote.

I really enjoyed it. I didn’t know what to expect from Branson’s writing as his comedy improv podcast, Episode One, is really hit or miss but this had a lot of heart to it and was more emotionally deep than I anticipated.

There’s a lot of diversions into the daughter’s fantasy writing which is where he clearly excelled before this as well as random segments about the history of a German colony in the American south and some other digressions. There’s a lot of focus on grief and the forgotten populations of the small town American south that I think is explored really well. The conclusion leaves most of the threads unresolved and under-explained but I still found it satisfying.

Would recommend.

[Craig fae the Vale]

4 hours ago, Perkin Flump said:

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

It took me completely by surprise as well, but when I thought back at the book as a whole, there were seeds planted the whole time. Masterfully written. Met David F. Ross at an event before lockdown as well and he's a cracker of a guy too.

[Dan Steele]

5 hours 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!

Aw, man, it"s any excuse to hit the Scottish Government, isn't it?

[Moomintroll]

1 minute ago, Craig the Hunter said:

It took me completely by surprise as well, but when I thought back at the book as a whole, there were seeds planted the whole time. Masterfully written. Met David F. Ross at an event before lockdown as well and he's a cracker of a guy too.

First book of his I have read which is pretty remiss of me given that he is a fellow Killie fan, will be downloading a few more when I have cleared my current queue.

[Blootoon87]

The Second Coming by John Niven.
God takes a one week holiday, which is about 500 years in human time. He gets back to heaven to see what's been going on in earth in the half millennia he's been away and is, to use Pie and Bovril parlance, seething and on the verge of tears at the shitshow that has unfolded in his absence.
The only way to remedy this is to send Jesus down again to spread the good word. Funny stuff.

[Stellaboz]

The Second Coming by John Niven.
God takes a one week holiday, which is about 500 years in human time. He gets back to heaven to see what's been going on in earth in the half millennia he's been away and is, to use Pie and Bovril parlance, seething and on the verge of tears at the shitshow that has unfolded in his absence.
The only way to remedy this is to send Jesus down again to spread the good word. Funny stuff.

One of his best, either this one or The Amateurs.

[SANTAN]

23 minutes ago, The Skelpit Lug said:

Aw, man, it"s any excuse to hit the Scottish Government, isn't it?

I consciously acknowledged that after typing but thought nah nobody will mention it

[SANTAN]

23 minutes ago, The Skelpit Lug said:

Aw, man, it"s any excuse to hit the Scottish Government, isn't it?

I consciously acknowledged that after typing but thought nah nobody will mention it

[Monkey Tennis]

I'd been given that Richard Osman book, The Thursday Murder Club for Christmas and wasn't entirely sure about it.

It's good fun though.  It's intricately, if improbably, plotted and it moves along quickly with dozens of short chapters.  The idea of old people with surprisingly alert minds investigating crimes isn't exactly new, but Osman makes a good job of it.  

It's very English I suppose, but smart arsed enough to just about stay the right side of twee.  Its jacket is covered with people saying it's 'laugh out loud funny'.  As is usually the case with such things, it's not.  It's gently amusing though.

I'd say it's more Ben Elton than Chris Brookmyre, but it's worth reading.

[DiegoDiego]

Mr Small - Roger Hargreaves.

The protagonist, Small, is indeed very small, no bigger than a pin. He begins this story unemployed and living in a house of fitting size at the bottom of a garden. For motivations unknown Small decides it's about time he got a job, so he goes to talk to his friend, Mr Robinson, in whose garden his house is located. Small has some difficulty in gaining an audience with Robinson, due to the extreme distance for one of his size, and the difficulty in attracting Robinson's attention once at his door. Eventually he succeeds with the help of the postman (this is a new postman, Mr Stamp having retired after becoming a victim of the long arms of Tickle in an earlier story).

Once inside Small explains his desire for employment. Robinson's connections prove invaluable to Small as he arranges for him to work in a mustard factory. Unfortunately, Small's size prevents him from carrying out his duties effectively. So Robinson then uses his confection connection to get him a job at the sweet shop, but Small ends up trapped in a jar of sweeties. Similar misfortunes of stature lead to him to leave jobs at the match factory and the farm. Eventually, Robinson finds suitable employment for Small with the local writer, to whom Small recounts his adventures, leading to the book we are reading.

Hargreaves uses Small as a reflection of the characters which inhabited many postmodern novels of the time. Books he thought focused too much on experimenting with new styles of and approaches to writing and, in doing so, neglected the fundamental elements of the writers craft, which he believed begins with creating realistic characters the reader cares about.

Small is representative of a typical character in the postmodern literature Hargreaves railed against: there is no substance, no fleshing out, no knowledge of how he came to be. As a result, the character is useless when placed into real situations, unable to reflect upon, change, or even understand the greater world in which we live. The only place such a poorly thought out character can thrive is in the mind of its own creator, who is so caught up in his avant garde experimentation he has not only failed to create a viable protagonist, but resorts to plagiarism when in need of a plot. 

By this point Hargreaves was already known as The Bad Boy of British Books due to his controversial subject matter, an approach which had gained him considerable notoriety, fame, and plaudits. However Mr Small proved to be a turning point in his relationship with the literary world as they did not take kindly to his scathing criticism of the state of writing. It's probably the book which cost him the Nobel. Although some came round to Hargreaves' way of thinking, even today many writers continue to ignore his warnings yet manage to claim the prizes so cruelly denied to Hargreaves.

[mathematics]

On 19/02/2021 at 12:49, Stormzy said:

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

You are at the start of a wonderful adventure.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

I'd been given that Richard Osman book, The Thursday Murder Club for Christmas and wasn't entirely sure about it.
It's good fun though.  It's intricately, if improbably, plotted and it moves along quickly with dozens of short chapters.  The idea of old people with surprisingly alert minds investigating crimes isn't exactly new, but Osman makes a good job of it.  
It's very English I suppose, but smart arsed enough to just about stay the right side of twee.  Its jacket is covered with people saying it's 'laugh out loud funny'.  As is usually the case with such things, it's not.  It's gently amusing though.
I'd say it's more Ben Elton than Chris Brookmyre, but it's worth reading.

I've got a copy sitting on the bedside table, and keep meaning to get to it.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

You are at the start of a wonderful adventure.

I'm always jealous when someone discovers an author or series I love. Oh, to relive the discovery of Sir Terry, or Hiaasen, or Rankin (Ian or Robert).
The best feeling is when you discover an author, as I did with Pratchett, who has already published a few books but is still writing (and in Pratchett's case, imho, improving).

[Stellaboz]

I'm currently around half way through the first of the Wheel of Time series. Love it so far.

[mathematics]

5 hours ago, Stellaboz said:

I'm currently around half way through the first of the Wheel of Time series. Love it so far.

I’ve read the first, waiting patiently for a gap in work to go for the second. Thought the first was great.

[saint dave]

The Crusades : The War For The Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge.

Caught my eye after watching Knightfall on Netflix and wanted to understand a bit more about the subject. 

A relatively easy read , a well told story starting with the first crusade and how it started a Latin Near East Kingdom that lasts for 200 years called Outremer . 

A lot of recognisable names throughout the book , Saladin , Richard the Lionheart , King Louis IX  and a host of Popes. 

[DiegoDiego]

The Red and the Black by Stendhal.

It's been on my list for a while. Verdict?

[Deanburn Dave]

John Grisham ...."A time for mercy". A well paced story about a small town American lawyer defending a disadvantaged boy who kills a drunken cop.

[Lofarl]

Read this in three nights.  Utterly captivating.  The only Victoria cross awarded to someone from Northern Ireland was on this mission in WW2.  
 

He was pretty much shunned because he was catholic.