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Last Book You Read....


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Is it the full 1100+ page version? If so, one of the greatest books ever written.

It is indeed. Outstanding so far.

The slang used by Burgess in Clockwork Orange is actually Russian. Droog is friend, moloko is milk. The other stuff is just him messing about I reckon :P

I read about that the other day, and only just noticed he wrote 1985 as a tribute to Orwell. Has anyone on here given it a go?

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Anyone know if I can somehow get this on my Kindle?

Cheers in advance :)

Couldn't find a 'Kindle' edition but his first book 'Galloway Street' which was also about the author's Paisley upbringing is available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Galloway-Street-ebook/dp/B005NHQ20W/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326186376&sr=1-2

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This is only the second book I've read by Pelecanos but as it was written about 15 years before my last one (The Way Home) there is a massive difference in the writing. Shoedog tells the story of a drifter called Constantine who after travelling light around the world for many years ends back in his homeland and very quickly gets involved with some shady characters and a robbery that goes seriously wrong. In his afterword the author states that the book was by design, very short and meant to be read perhaps in 'one long afternoon' which isn't far off the mark. There are echoes of Tarantino in this book, with many cultural references, particularly 70's soul and funk music and there is probably the basis for that type of film in the story. Certainly not the best book I've ever read but perfect for a long bus/train journey and quite interesting on a personal level to see the writing change so much between the 2 books I've read.

6/10

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Recently read the published version of Neil Olivers "History of Scotland". Interesting reading on a subject I knew a lot less about than I probably should have. Certainly changed my views on a lot of aspects of Scotlands history and heritage.

Regarding Irvine Welsh and Porno, the book was ok but far poorer than Trainspotting as has already been said. The only bit that stood out was the part early on that see's Sick Boy sending gay porn to Begbie while he's in jail. That was laugh out loud funny, the rest was just ok at best. Filth is probably my favourite effort by Welsh, although Maribou Stork Nightmares was also very good.

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I'm currently reading Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, which was Booker longlisted and I'm struggling to understand why. Halfway through a cliche ridden pseudo-intellectual wankfest about a public school in Dublin. Does it get better?

It does get better actually. But not that much better. I don't understand the obsession with middle class England and its clones as subject material for so called quality writing.

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I enjoyed Skippy Dies but nowhere near as much as his first novel, An Evening of Long Goodbyes, which I thought was hilarious and quite insightful with its backdrop of a changing Ireland during its boom and bust recent decades. The main protagonist seemed largely unrealistic but I found the witicisms and fantasy element of him a good read, and it was quite touching in parts.

I found Skippy Dies fairly amusing and in some ways a private schoolboy counterpoint to the schooldays reminiscing of our own Chris Brookmyre (whose own recollections I can relate to completely). Beyond the largely puerile humour though the key theme of the book (other than Howard's typical male issues!) surrounds the school itself and without giving anything away, the self-protection of such archaic institutions way beyond any reasonable or acceptable level.

I saw both books less of obsessing over the middle classes but actually more to do with (some of) the more serious issues that have defined modern or at least 20th Century Irish society. I think that comes through much less in Skippy Dies but as it develops towards the end it's key - it's a country that in its independence became defined first by Catholic conservatism (and much worse beyond) and then economic boom and then collapse. Skippy Dies doesn't get to the serious issues until the second half of the book and really doesn't touch on them enough - it's quite long and the boys' humour while amusing does grow tiresome.

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A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. An excellent piece of writing, and as long as you're able to come to terms with the outlandish language used, a thoroughly enjoyable read. The novel follows a teenage Alex, leading his gang into acts of "ultra violence" to get their kicks. A dystopian tale that I'm wary to say more about because it's likely to contain spoilers. Give it a go if you haven't already.

Is it the version with the full 21 chapters, or the US version where they cut out the last chapter?

The slang used by Burgess in Clockwork Orange is actually Russian. Droog is friend, moloko is milk. The other stuff is just him messing about I reckon :P

Its partly based on Russian, but it is a made up language which takes words and phrases from other places too.

I just finished reading "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick, which for anyone who doesnt know is the book Bladerunner was based on.

I enjoyed it a lot, but felt the ending was a little weak and a bit premature. Definitely worth reading though.

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Is it the version with the full 21 chapters, or the US version where they cut out the last chapter?

The full 21 chapters. The omission of it over there for so long seems odd, but then I've watched and love the film Kubrick made which follows this edited version. I understand the rationale, I just don't agree with changing what the author intended in quite such a fundamental way.

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Recently read the published version of Neil Olivers "History of Scotland". Interesting reading on a subject I knew a lot less about than I probably should have. Certainly changed my views on a lot of aspects of Scotlands history and heritage.

Regarding Irvine Welsh and Porno, the book was ok but far poorer than Trainspotting as has already been said. The only bit that stood out was the part early on that see's Sick Boy sending gay porn to Begbie while he's in jail. That was laugh out loud funny, the rest was just ok at best. Filth is probably my favourite effort by Welsh, although Maribou Stork Nightmares was also very good.

Trainspotting aside, these are my favourite Irvine Welsh books as well. My problem with Porno is that while it probably works ok as a Sickboy/Begbie story, other characters - most notably Renton but Diane and Second prize as well - are just shoe horned in. Mark Renton is largely superflous to the story other than to f**k over Sickboy - something that could probably have been done by another character. It just kinda loses it's impact the way it's done.

Although the very final part with Sickboy taunting Begbie in his coma is up there with some of Welsh's best moments.

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Just finished 'even silence has an end' by Ingrid Betancort, about her 6+ years being held captive by the FARC in the Colombian jungle. Pretty harrowing and not exactly a barrell of laughs but gripping and as Alan Partridge might say Its a triumph for the human spirit. Picked this up after becoming quite intersted in Colombia and Reading a few books on Escobar, highly recommended.

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I've been a big Stephen King fan for many, many years, but his output over the last ten years or so has been patchy to say the least.

Until now.

His latest novel 11.22.63 is, for me, his best book since 'It' (which is 25 years old). A tremendous read full of great characters, a superb plot, and excellent pacing. For once, King even gives us a good ending!

The basic premise is about a guy who finds a 'rabbit hole' that takes him back to the summer of 1958, and he plans to stay there for five years and prevent the Kennedy assassination - hence the book's title. Twists and turns aplenty, and King deals with the thorny aspect of time travel and all its paradoxes superbly. You get a real feel for what 50's Americana was like, and the agonising decisions the lead character has to make throughout the course of the book, and the consequences of which is done really well right up to its touching denouement.

Five stars all the way, nice to see the Kingster still has it in him.

*****

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Just finished 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very witty at times, and Wilde's use of language is brilliant (although his tendency to go off on a tangent was a bit annoying, such as his descriptions of Dorian's love of fabrics and gemstones etc).

That part was pretty hard going in an otherwise excellent story. Summed up nicely there.

I've been a big Stephen King fan for many, many years, but his output over the last ten years or so has been patchy to say the least.

Until now.

His latest novel 11.22.63 is, for me, his best book since 'It' (which is 25 years old). A tremendous read full of great characters, a superb plot, and excellent pacing. For once, King even gives us a good ending!

Phew!

I got this for Christmas but was worried it would be less than great. I haven't read anything he's written later than The Green Mile for fear of picking up something awful he's done, but you have restored my faith.

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I've just started The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. It looks like it could be a cracking read.

I've got a fair pile of books sitting on my desk to work through. After this one I'll probably start on A Tale Of Two Cities.

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just finished life and fate by vasily grossman. it's a 900 page epic centred around the battle of stalingrad and the struggles of russian physicist to work within the confines of the regime but also taking in russian labour camps, a pow camp in germany, auschwitz and pretty much the whole spectrum of the eastern front. grossman was present working as a soviet journalist at every major incident on the eastern front from the nazi's invading in 1941 right up to the fall of berlin to the extent that he was in hitler's personal office only days after his death. grossman deliberately highlights the similarities of the two ideologies and makes it clear he views them as two sides of the same coin, we see the brutality and evil of the nazis but also the horrible injustices of the the nkvd and the soviet state and the consequences of stalin's starvation policy in the ukraine. it's an amazing book, possibly the best novel written about world war two, and there should be more recognition of the sacrifices made by russians which were of far greater significance to the deafet of hitler than the battle of britain and d day which he hear so much about in this country.

like a few of the books i've read that were written secretly in the ussr and published after the author's death it's a bit unhinged and seems unfinished but it is a still a fantastic account of a terrible period. also in the post war period stalin began seriously persecuting russian jews and some of the authors condemnations of anti semitism feel out of place within the novel. the tone changes noticeably in those passages from a universal humanist narrative to an espousal of jewish exceptionalism. on the other hand the passages in which he depicts a letter from a mother to her son from a ghetto before the she is murdered by the eizengruppen and another where a train load of jews arrive at auschwitz are some of the most powerful pages of fiction i've ever read.

i've got quite interested in the great purge carried out by stalin in 1937 and ended up buying (god damn 1 click shopping!) another couple of novels about that period.

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Read quite a few books already this year ...

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It was going to be hard to beat the last Levy book I read 'Small Island' and to be honest, this was slightly disappointing. Basically it's the tale of a Jamaican family living in London and particularly concentrates on the female lead characters and her relationship with her father, mainly during her fathers' ill health and eventual sad death. Ih I hadn't read 'Small Island' first I would probably have given this a higher rating but although still worth reading I'm giving it a 6/10.

Last night I finished reading ...

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Another fine book by Pelecanos this time it's a story of an adolescent racist incident in early 70's Washington DC. Not quite as fast paced as his other books I've read but you definitely won't want to put it down as the years pass and one of the characters looks for revenge while the others are looking to put the past behind them. 7/10.

Now reading ...

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On a Hunter S, Thompson binge just now. Just finished reading The Great Shark Hunt and just this minute purchased Hells Angels.

Hell's Angels is straight up journalism, almost as if it was written for the Nation. It's an interesting book, but written before the Doc found his voice as it were.

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