Guest Bukowski Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Factotum - Charles Bukowski, it's pretty hilarious in parts he's got a good outlook on life. Don't know why i hadn't read this particular book before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oddjob Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) Just read: Crash by Gerald Hammond - don't read ever. The Healing Island by Robin Hull - don't read unless you're a romantic who wants a mystical f uck. Ash and Bone by John Harvey - good read. Guests of War by Robin Jenkins - fantastic read. Edited January 9, 2009 by oddjob 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napolean Dynamite Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Trying like a bear to read crime and punishment but finding it too heavy to get right into it. Before that I read the 4th estate which was pretty decent read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidger Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Never Let Me Go ~ Kazuo IshiguroI actually originally read this about 3 years ago and became somewhat evangelical about it's brilliance. Then, having lent it to a couple of friends who were equally impressed by it, I felt compelled to re read it over the festivities and found it as moving and powerful as before. It's set in a dystopian England in the 90's and could be regarded as a Magic Realism novel, even sci fi to some extent, which are not genre's that usually appeal to me in the slightest. However Ishiguro, who is a novelist I love, has a beautifully understated style of prose, which really makes this horrifying story completely plausible and moving. What is particularly heart wrenching is the main protagonists almost complete acceptance of the awful fate that awaits them. A geinuinely powerful and affecting read. Loved that book read it last year, ishiguro is writer that i have forgotten about, ta for the reminder. Just read Slaughter house 5 by - Vonnegut Very thought provoking book regarding a time traveling P.O.W , but in a way similar to K-pax the movie. It is the suggestion is put forward and never disproved. I imagine it had a lot to do with the idea for the movie mentioned above, of course with a different setting and without the usual gloss of american movies. An easy introduction to the writer for myself and i will be investigating further, i imagine, from the way of his writing, he may have some hard works to try and decipher. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swarley Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Books I've read since I moved to Oz; Zulu by Saul David Down Under by Bill Bryson If you liked school, you'll love work by Irvine Welsh Deception Point by Dan Brown 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Sebag Montefiore. Powerful stuff, exceptionally well researched. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathanQP Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 1984 by George Orwell A Classic B) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishaykillie Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Bloody Heroes by Damien Lewis. Book about SBS operations in the UK and Afganistan, with the main body of the book describing the battle of Qala-I-Janghi in which 8 SBS soldiers and a hadfull of Northen Alliance troops fought off over 300 Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists. It also decribes how Amnisty Internation wanted an investigation into how so many enemy terrorists came to be killed (over 200) after video footage was leaked (it's on You Tube) of Brittish personell taking part in the battle. Really good Non-fiction stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I am currently readin The Game by Neil Strauss. Mainly to improve my incounters with females It came recomended by a friend. Anybody elce read this? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Just finished "The Haunting of Barney Thomson", the last one to date in the series that I've been reading. Thought that it was really good, very surreal and with a strange subplot involving some MI6 agents who were just like the guys in Scooby Doo. "Come on, MI6, let's look for clues". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morrison Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Never Let Me Go ~ Kazuo IshiguroI actually originally read this about 3 years ago and became somewhat evangelical about it's brilliance. Then, having lent it to a couple of friends who were equally impressed by it, I felt compelled to re read it over the festivities and found it as moving and powerful as before. It's set in a dystopian England in the 90's and could be regarded as a Magic Realism novel, even sci fi to some extent, which are not genre's that usually appeal to me in the slightest. However Ishiguro, who is a novelist I love, has a beautifully understated style of prose, which really makes this horrifying story completely plausible and moving. What is particularly heart wrenching is the main protagonists almost complete acceptance of the awful fate that awaits them. A geinuinely powerful and affecting read. I've been meaning to buy that for a while, and after reading nothing but good reviews on here and elsewhere, I think I'll get round to it now. I finished reading Will Self's Great Apes last night. The plot revolves around an artist suffering from the delusion he is human in a world rules by Chimpanzees. Just a good read, and undoubtedly better than I've made it sound. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 It might seem like I've read a strangely high amount of books recently, but they've mostly been quite short... I've just finished "Doors Open" by Ian Rankin, which I think's his first book post-Rebus. It's a thriller revolving around a heist carried out on artworks by a group of enthusiastic amateurs. It was enjoyable enough, although the twist at the end was a bit difficult to swallow. Still, it definitely showed that there's life after Rebus. I'd give it about a 7/10. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Sorry for the double post, but just finished "Wolf of the Plains" by Conn Iggulden. Absolutely brilliant, best book I've read in ages. 9/10. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I finished JG Ballard's "High Rise" last week. It's a 1975 novel about the inhabitants of a swank high rise apartment which descends into an orgy of violence and destruction with rival floors planning and executing "attacks" on the other floors as the building divides itself into a rapidly splintering "class system". Like much of his work on the face of it it seems to depict human society either regressing (de-evolving if you like) or simply slipping into insanity, but also takes to the extreme some of the notions of human behaviour. I'm a big fan of what I've read of his and this was as disturbing yet gripping as expected. Now onto "London Fields" by Martin Amis, 3 chapters in and it's got me hooked. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Just finished Buddha Da by Anne Donovan. Enjoyed it. Not what I was expecting. Currently reading Mind Games by Hector MacDonald. A sort of extreme version of The Beach, with Game Theroy at the centre. Readable so far. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haitch Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 has anyone here ever read any of the Jack Reacher books by lee child? They are very addictive... I am not a book worm by any stretch but have found it hard to put any of the last four down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Just finished Buddha Da by Anne Donovan. Enjoyed it. Not what I was expecting. Read that a few years ago, it was excellent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Hutchwright Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 The Guardian are doing a 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read type thing this week, with daily supplements covering different genres. I've only skimmed through them, but they look quite interesting. I wasn't aware that I had a particular genre of choice, but it appears to be Family & Self if todays selections are anything to go by (the likes of Richard Ford, John Updike & Knut Hamsun are included). So now I know. For those that are interested, the next three days cover State Of The Nation (Camus, Dostoevsky, Philip Roth and the likes), Sci Fi & Fantasy & War & Travel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 has anyone here ever read any of the Jack Reacher books by lee child?They are very addictive... I am not a book worm by any stretch but have found it hard to put any of the last four down. If you scroll back a few pages they are discussed a number of times. The general consensus (which I agree with) is that the first 5 or 6 are good and the rest are shite. Read that a few years ago, it was excellent. It really was. For once, it is clear to see why it was nominated for a number of prizes. Very simple book, which shows you don't need a complex plot to produce a great novel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haitch Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 If you scroll back a few pages they are discussed a number of times. The general consensus (which I agree with) is that the first 5 or 6 are good and the rest are shite. Doh - I tried to do a search but nothingcame up - dont have time to scroll through this massive thread! Ta though, I will go back and read (and hope I do not find I have already posted on theis subject when i was pished lol) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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