Last Book You Read....

[morrison]

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Picked up after spotting the shiny cover being offered free alongside a newspaper at WH Smith at Edinburgh Airport. Turns out it's quite good! It centres around an Indian 'entrepreneur' journey from poor man to rich, as told from his point of view in a letter he writes to the Chinese leader on hearing he's visiting India. It was something new and something enjoyable, and not much of a thinking book. Ideal travel material, hence it being on sale in the airport, I imagine.

Reaper Man, Terry Pratchet

I think I said as much about the last Pratchett book I read, but this could be my new favourite. A ludicrous story, and funny as you like. If you're allowed to use this word when talking about novels, I'd say this was vintage Pratchett.

Now reading Momo by Michael Ende as heartily recommended by my girlfriend. Blatantly meant for children, but a fun read with a fine tale all the same.

[Sonia]

Jeff Stellings autobiography. Very Inspirational and Educational!

[RCR]

It was published Down Under, and is to my knowledge still in print there. If you root around some second-hand bookshops, you might be able to track down the original Australian version. It was published in August 2001, a few weeks before the book came out in the UK, and carried the tag-line "Terrorism. It's the new rock n roll". As the UK publication was about a fortnight after 9/11, this was swiftly removed and the book re-jacketed.

Haha, I'll keep an eye out for it.

I didn't actually realise what it was about, and I was a few chapters in when my plane took off with a loud "thud". That's always reassuring!

[T_S_A_R]

it took me over a month but i got through moby dick. some parts of it were brilliant, some parts were total tedium. probably more interesting as a document of the progression of the novel rather than for it's own merits but it was enjoyable none the less. mellive just seems quite happy to do whatever he wants, a wee bit of slap stick comedy here, a bit of shakespeare there, quite a bit of pschyological drama, a bit of history and hunners and hunners about whales. there were quite a few dodgy parts in the middle where i was wondering why i was reading thousands of words about whale bones but the story definitely picks up near the end and overall it was pretty enjoyable. some of the racism was hilarious as well.

after that i read if on a winter's night a traveller by italo calvino. the premise is that a man starts reading a book but due to a printing fault he only has the first chapter, he tries to track down a complete copy but when he manages he finds it's a different story and the same thing happens again and again leading him to travel to various places around the world. the main story is entertaining but the 8 or 9 first chapters of ficitious novels are excellent. it's an extremely thought provoking novel about the relationship between writer, text and reader and the meaning of identity itself.

due to a holiday in the most boring place in europe and with the help of the icelandic volacano i managed to get through 3 novels in the past ten days. blood meridian by cormack mccarthy was up to his usual superb standard. it's a brutal story of the bloody history of the border area between the usa and mexico in the 1840s and follows a group of mercenaries as they slaughter indians and pretty much everyone else they come in contact with. the violence is almost completely dehumanised and while it's quite disconcerting that some of the most horrible acts you'll ever hear of are passed over in a paragraph or a sentence it ends up leaving the impression that america as we know is at least as much based on slaughter and debasement as it is the the "good" american values we hear so much about. there's a lot of biblical themes within the novel and a character who may be the devil or a personification of evil, as usual with mccarthy it's pretty grim.

luckily i had a fairly chilled out novel to follow that up with richard farina's been down so long it looks like up to me. it's a novel set on an american college campus in the 60s and is quite heavily influenced by kerouac and alan ginsberg. it's got all the usual beat generation/counter culture touchstones, some parts are superb some parts don't work at all. farinas died not long after the book's publication and there's enough there to suggest he could have went on and became a well known name.

this morning i finished requiem for the east by andrei makine. it was recommended on here so thanks (i think) to pink freud. one of the best novels i've ever read, it manages to balance and unravel perfectly the different parts of the story. the middle section following a russian peasant through the civil war, the collectizations, purges and then his son's fortunes in WWII is incredible. a difficult book to surmise but definitely one i would recommend.

[H_B]

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer.

Hmm. It's a harrowing tale of child abuse told by Pelzer as an adult. Very graphic and descriptive of years of physical and mental torture he suffered, before teachers at his school intervened and he entered the foster care system.

I notice there is some debate about the authenticity of his accounts. To be honest, some of it doesn't ring true, but on the other hand clearly something happened, given the recorded effect on him by the school nurses etc. It would seem likely it was an exaggerated account, for a number of reasons, but that doesn't detract from the tale.

[KnightswoodBear]

I've been reading the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson over the last few weeks. Pretty enjoyable reads and the Lisbeth Salander character is a great creation.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the best of the three so far (only hafway through the third).

I've lined up the movie adaptation from the girlfriends LoveFilm thingy, so can't wait for that to arrive

[footiechick]

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer.

Hmm. It's a harrowing tale of child abuse told by Pelzer as an adult. Very graphic and descriptive of years of physical and mental torture he suffered, before teachers at his school intervened and he entered the foster care system.

I notice there is some debate about the authenticity of his accounts. To be honest, some of it doesn't ring true, but on the other hand clearly something happened, given the recorded effect on him by the school nurses etc. It would seem likely it was an exaggerated account, for a number of reasons, but that doesn't detract from the tale.

I read that about 10 years ago. The thing I found strange was why he appeared to be singled out for the abuse, his siblings were treated normally. Some bits harrowing and disturbing, but as you say, some of maybe exaggerated, but nontheless a sad story which no doubt goes on behind some closed doors.

[H_B]

I read that about 10 years ago. The thing I found strange was why he appeared to be singled out for the abuse, his siblings were treated normally. Some bits harrowing and disturbing, but as you say, some of maybe exaggerated, but nontheless a sad story which no doubt goes on behind some closed doors.

Yeah, maybe I'm being naive, but if half the things he claimed happened, surely the teachers, or other neighbours, would have reported it long before. It could well be that he genuinely believes that all happened as he remembers it, but given his age, it was perhaps partially made up.

Certainly at least one of his brothers dispute his version of events. He doesn't seem like a particularly pleasant person either going by some of the articles I've read about him, but given his upbringing, that's probably a harsh conclusion. It's fairly impressive he is a functioning adult.

[An Sionnach]

During my weeks' holiday in June, I was out in the back garden, basking in the sunshine reading this:

http://www.quintinjardine.com/sections/Bob%20Skinner/skinnersordeal.html

It was lying in a bundle of old books my partner had bagged up for the charity shop and, in lieu of anything else, I started browsing through it. It was surprisingly gripping and, after I compared it to Ian Rankin, Alex Gray and St.Brookmyre's stuff, it stood up extremely well. It is definitely a page turner but plausible and darkly entertaining. So much so that I finished it in two days and went on to the other book she had:

http://www.quintinjardine.com/sections/Bob%20Skinner/skinnersmission.html

Again, a gripping story and it is linked to the first book I read. In fact, I liked them so much that, with some Father's Day book tokens I bought and read:

http://www.quintinjardine.com/sections/Bob%20Skinner/skinnersround.html

The Witch element in the storyline could have got my hackles up but it was very sympathetically dealt with and the story as a whole was entertaining.

My only disappointment was that I didn't start with the first book in the series, but I am now reading:

http://www.quintinjardine.com/sections/Bob%20Skinner/skinnersrules.html

and am beginning to put the background family plot lines into place.

For some realistic, gripping, page-turning and thoroughly entertaining police detective fiction, I commend to you:

http://www.quintinjardine.com/sections/Bob%20Skinner/Bob%20Skinner.html

[H_B]

Apart from Colin Forbes, Quintin Jardine is the least talented published author I have ever read. I found his books beyond laughable.

According to an, erm, informed source, he is a total c**t of a man also.

[Lisa Cuddy]

I remember reading A Child Called It years back. I was half way through when my mum phoned me and told me my nan had died. She could have bloody timed it better.

If even half of the incidents detailed in the book happened, the man still has a very sad story to tell. Another brother, Richard Pelzer, has since written his own story of the abuse he suffered, but it appears that there is debate over whether or not he's telling the truth.

[monkeyblair]

The Stick Man - same author as The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson.

Quite good!

[Gaz]

Apart from Colin Forbes, Quintin Jardine is the least talented published author I have ever read. I found his books beyond laughable.

According to an, erm, informed source, he is a total c**t of a man also.

You should try reading a series of books by Andy McDermott, featuring lead characters Nina Wilde (archaeologist) and Eddie Chase (ex-SAS soldier). So far there have been five published:

Hunt for Atlantis

Tomb of Hercules

Secret of Excalibur

Covenant of Genesis

Cult of Osiris

I believe there are another two on the way.

They're completely shite but actually pretty enjoyable books (in a leave-your-brain-at-home-action-movie style) - the author has clearly seen one too many showings of Raiders of the Lost Ark and taken The Da Vinci Code a wee bit too seriously. They're maybe the most ridiculous books I've ever read. I don't think there is enough money in the entire world to translate one of them into films.

EDIT: here are his books' descriptions from his official website.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Gaz

[Sooky]

Liquadate Paris - Sven Hassel.

Great book by a fantastic author.

[An Sionnach]

Apart from Colin Forbes, Quintin Jardine is the least talented published author I have ever read. I found his books beyond laughable.

According to an, erm, informed source, he is a total c**t of a man also.

DCC Bob Skinner first appeared in print in 1993 when Skinner's Rules was published, the book was the happy result of QJ reading a novel whilst on holiday in 1989 which he described as 'absolute crap' and announced that he could do better himself.

Go write a book then.....

[An Sionnach]

PS A -1 for my choice of book to read? Fantastic!!

[JogaBonito]

Finished "The Pianist". Truly moving book (emotions were slightly less intense that i thought they would be but apparantly the author wrote his book straight after the war so that explains it). Felt dead depressed when I read what happened to Hosenfeld and his extracts .

On to the Bourne identity now

[H_B]

I have absolutely no desire to write a book, in the same way that I don't want to record an album. I'm fairly sure were I to do so, both would be utterly pish.

However, that doesn't prevent me from knowing Quintin Jardine is a talentless hack and The Feeling are fucking dreadful.

I'd love to know who wrote the book Jardine believed he could better. I find his claim very hard to believe. Perhaps it was a James Patterson or Colin Forbes production.

[Fife Saint]

Apart from Colin Forbes, Quintin Jardine is the least talented published author I have ever read. I found his books beyond laughable.

According to an, erm, informed source, he is a total c**t of a man also.

He is utterly stinking.

[An Sionnach]

Quintin Jardine is the least talented published author I have ever read.

Quintin Jardine is a talentless hack

He (Jardine) is utterly stinking.

Well I find him entertaining and he passes the time on the many bus journey's I make during the week.

It'd be a dull world if we all liked the same things.

Edited July 21, 2010 by An Sionnach