Jump to content

Last Book You Read....


H_B

Recommended Posts

Does anyone actually do this?

embarassingly i read a full book from back to front by accident once.

the pages in chuck pahlinuk's (sp) survivor are numbered with highest number at the front and 1 at the back which is supposed to represent the tape of a blackbox recorder.

i just steamed in and read it as you would a normal book. so i pretty much the read the last page first, the 2nd last page next and so on. it was extremely confusing and disconcerting but i just thought 'what a weird book, i'm suprised this is so popular'. by the time i realised how it was meant to be read i was quite into it and the degree of difficulty it posed so i just carried on reading it the wrong round and trying to figure out what was going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

James Kelman - Kieron Smith, boy

This is a very interesting read. Written from the point of view of the boy in the title, it's style is to have the text laid out as a stream of the boy's thoughts, and as such it's a little difficult to follow at times, but the characterisation of Kieron develops well and as he matures he wakes up to his world with increasing confusion mixed with excitement and wonder. It's set in Glasgow sometime post war, but that's about all the specific setting details you get, although you can work out it's pre - 1975 because Ibrox still has terracing (he sneaks in one day).

I'd recommend reading it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

''The Terror'' by Dan Simmons - reworking the 'lost' Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage with Eskimo mythology. Good read.

Would recommend most of Simmons work, though the American crime stuff was shite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished Game of Thrones by George Martin

This was first book I read on my kindle for my HTC Desire and loved it!!

The book is fantastic medieveal fantasy and is the book behind the new HBO Series that starts on Sky Atlantic in April starring Sean Bean

A Must Read! 5 in the series as well so off to download book number 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Written in '31 so pre-nuclear but still paints a scarily familiar picture of his future, I recon in another 20years it will be an almost perfect fit.

It starts off describing the "brave new world" where everyone is happy and knows their place in society and then plonks someone with close to our sensibilities in the middle of it all.

7/10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iain M Banks - Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, Palyer of Games, THe Algebreist...any of them really.

Ian McDonald - River of Gods, Brasyl

Phillip K Dick - Anything at all by this guy

If you can handle the old writing style, Ray Bradbury, particularly his short stories, though Farenheit 451 is good.

Isaac Asimov, the Foundation trilogy

Frank Herbert, the Dune series

Get through that lot then come back for more. I'm dead jealous actually - your in for a real treat.

cheers :D

Last book i read was trainspotting. Best book i've ever read i've decided after a while. Top notch. I found it easy to understand but i imagine anyone not scottish would have difficulty, as my mum tried reading it and gave up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

embarassingly i read a full book from back to front by accident once.

the pages in chuck pahlinuk's (sp) survivor are numbered with highest number at the front and 1 at the back which is supposed to represent the tape of a blackbox recorder.

i just steamed in and read it as you would a normal book. so i pretty much the read the last page first, the 2nd last page next and so on. it was extremely confusing and disconcerting but i just thought 'what a weird book, i'm suprised this is so popular'. by the time i realised how it was meant to be read i was quite into it and the degree of difficulty it posed so i just carried on reading it the wrong round and trying to figure out what was going on.

Where would you start reading it though? That's ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All Quiet on the Western Front - 9/10

Fantastic book, one of the best that I've read. It's quite like Sven Hassel books so if you like them then you'll love this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All Quiet on the Western Front - 9/10

Fantastic book, one of the best that I've read. It's quite like Sven Hassel books so if you like them then you'll love this.

+1

Both the film adaptation's are excellent as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

L-shaped room by Lynne Reid Banks (written in 1961)

Jane, is pregnant and unmarried in the 60's. Her father throws her out and she ends up in the L-shaped room. The book deals with prejudices against this as well as black people and Jews in London at this time. Believable characters and pretty well written, though not an exciting book, the story has a beginning, middle and end.

I wouldn't normally have picked this up, but was given it through a friend and quite enjoyed it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished 'Killing Floor', the first Jack Reacher novel from Lee Child.

Pretty good, fast paced, and written in a short, sharp style. The plot is fairly basic, and ultimately full of holes, but Reacher feels like he's got some mileage (that'll be why there's lots of novels featuring him!), so I reckon I'll give the next few a try.

So, not a book that requires a lot of brain power, but a decent wee thriller, and it keeps the pace going throughout.

6/10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. 9.5/10

An absolutely amazing book about what happens when the devil, with chums in tow, pays a visit to the atheist city of 30s Moscow. I scarcely know how to start describing it. It was banned from publication when it was first written and only came to light in Khrushchev's thaw in the (70s?) i think. Some of the themes are obvious, like Bulgakov's semi-autobiographical account of the life of a writer at the time, and the general absurdity and collective self-delusion of the soviet union and its people at the time, but others are more complex and i doubt i will fully understand them soon, if ever. Amazing.

Superb book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Target by Simon Kernick

One of the best I have read in a long time. The plot is fairly straight forward to start with then it has loads of twists and turns (one major one). Brilliant characters with them all being relevent to the story even if they were only in for a couple of chapters. The guy has done a lot of research, therefore enabling the characters to be even more believable. From guns to the official way situations are handled.

I will be going to my local library to catch some more of this guys work.

I urge you all to read this novel.

Score 10/10

Just reading this one the now - almost finished it. It is a page turner for sure but a little OTT in places for me. I fail to believe how this 'Hook' can be so elusive...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...