Books - What are you reading?

[Oliver James]

I've recently picked up the Wheel of Time series for a few quid in a local goodwill store. I highly recommend them. The WoT series is a very long fantasy epic, rich in classic tropes and intrigue. There's an evil god, a prophesied hero, hordes of monsters and lots of war. If you've read fantasy, nothing here is new to you and yet I would still say its a good read. Perhaps not the most original text but certainly possessing its own merits, I thought I'd mention it here for anyone seeking they're next epic fantasy quest.

[blindswelledrat]

Blatter said:

Just finished reading this

A really enjoyable read.

Only problem was that there was quite a bit of dust in the room (and that's never happened before!)

I really enjoyed this book.....but......I could never quite accept that the character of Death added anything at all to the story.
He felt like an unnecessary gimmick to me and such an obvious hammer-blow of a metaphor that I found it a bit cringeworthy.
I would have loved the book more for just the basic story.
THoughts?

[droopsnoot]

I just finished "A Maiden's Grave", a standalone by Jeffery Deaver, which was pretty good. And I'm now on "The Clinic" by Jonathan Kellerman - it's a while since I've read any of his, and it's good so far.

Just thought I'd bring down the average brow level a bit.

[Colonial]

Leviathan by John Birmingham.

Brilliant and highly readable history of Sydney.

[22s]

On a 3 week hiatus from the real world so got a long list of books I've wanted to read for a while.

Just finished:

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Truly gripping account of the 1996 Everest disaster. Insightful for someone like me who knows next to nothing about mountaineering.

Alive by Piers Paul Read. Harrowing tale of the 1970s Uruguayan rugby team plane crash that killed dozens, and involved the players eating their dead team mates to stay alive.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. ML always knows how to spin a yarn whilst making his books educational. The Blind Side is a great book about Michael Oher's rise from the ghetto to NFL star, whilst detailing how his position in an NFL team became the most valuable (salary-wise) in the league after the quarterback. Don't worry - I didn't know anything about American Football before either!

Now just started:

Making It in Real Estate: Starting Out as a Developer by John McNellis. Guess I couldn't face taking a full hiatus from reality...!

EDIT: Forgot, I also read Home by Harlen Coben. Good book - easy page-turner. Read all of the above in the last 6 days so losing track!

[Oliver James]

blindswelledrat said:

Blatter said:

Just finished reading this

A really enjoyable read.

Only problem was that there was quite a bit of dust in the room (and that's never happened before!)

I really enjoyed this book.....but......I could never quite accept that the character of Death added anything at all to the story.
He felt like an unnecessary gimmick to me and such an obvious hammer-blow of a metaphor that I found it a bit cringeworthy.
I would have loved the book more for just the basic story.
THoughts?

I read this as a child, a really good book. Original, believable, compelling and more than a little sad. Death thinks in a way so foreign to us, I think it was very well written. The story of a children growing up, playing and creating their own stories and trials. They have their own enemies, own schemes and character development but behind it all there's the backdrop of ww2 changing everyones lives.

I always struggle to enjoy Devil or Death characters, its so hard to give them the feel otherness and ethereal majesty that those ideas warrant. I think that may still be true of Death in the Book thief, he's perhaps to empathetic and human, but I really liked Death's obsession with colour, it reminds me of the phrase "If a lion could speak english we still wouldn't understand it". That, at least in part, gave the character merit to my eyes. Besides, deaths POV chapters are few and death is an ever present reality in the novel. Is it any wonder that in this child's world they anthropomorphize it into a man?

A good read for all ages

[The Moose]

Half way through the new Grisham - Camino Island.

Going to buy the book Woolly today and read over this long (4-day) weekend.

[otherman]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

In any case, to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
It's a wonderful story, and encourages me further to accept that the accolades heaped upon Solzhenitsyn were indeed well deserved rather than politically motivated, as I have heard suggested.

Exactly the way I discovered Solzhenitsyn. It's real quality for sure, not just hype - but they don't give Nobel's out for nothing. You're next stop should be something more ambitious, I'd recommend Cancer Ward or First Circle. He throws away lines that would make whole novels. Like this from First Circle
"Nothing has ever been invented by great minds that does not appear insubstantial to even greater ones

[Goaty Bill 2]

otherman said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

In any case, to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
It's a wonderful story, and encourages me further to accept that the accolades heaped upon Solzhenitsyn were indeed well deserved rather than politically motivated, as I have heard suggested.

Exactly the way I discovered Solzhenitsyn. It's real quality for sure, not just hype - but they don't give Nobel's out for nothing. You're next stop should be something more ambitious, I'd recommend Cancer Ward or First Circle. He throws away lines that would make whole novels. Like this from First Circle
"Nothing has ever been invented by great minds that does not appear insubstantial to even greater ones

In fact, I've just begun Solzhenitsyn's revised/uncensored edition 'In The First Circle', translated by H.T. Willitts, having acquired but not read, a reasonably nice first edition copy of 'The First Circle'.
See another PH book thread

I suppose there is an argument that I should have read the original first, but admit I am being a bit lazy.

'August 1914' also awaits me, and again this is a first printing of a revised edition, with translation by H.T. Willetts.
Again to ensure his book got published at all, Solzhenitsyn sacrificed his original work and removed several chapters before submitting it to the censors.
'August 1914' being the first of four books comprising 'The Red Wheel' series, it was republished in full in 1971.
I understand that there is an English translation of the second book 'November 1916' though I have been unsuccessful in locating a copy, but sadly the third and fourth books ('March 1917' and April 1917), while available in Russian (I recently asked a Moscow friend to look it up for me), have not been translated to English. More Sadly, H.T. Willets has also passed away and will not be performing his magic on the canonical Russian text.

I will be doing my best to acquire a decent copy of 'Cancer Ward' in due course.
The publishing and translation history is less clear on this.

As to your comment regarding "something more ambitious", I refer you sir to my reading of the the three unabridged volumes of 'The Gulag Archipelago'. As challenges go, 'War and Peace' is but child's play by comparison
But perhaps I misunderstand, and you already know this.

"He throws away lines that would make whole novels"
And should one be inclined towards putting a post-it note on every page that contained a useful or moving quote, it may well double the size of the book.


ETA: having made that comparison to reading Tolstoy, I now feel the the need to go and wash my mouth out with soap.
I have located a decent copy of November 1916. I just need to battle with the moths to get at my money.

Edited by Goaty Bill 2 on Sunday 2nd July 09:12

[K12beano]

Just finished a re-read of "Catch-22". Seems really a fresh and contemporary wander through the torments of modern life! Recommended for those who like comedy in repetitive jokes....

I'm trying my third Haruki Murakami novel: "Dance, Dance, Dance".

His stories are long, drawn out, and capture the banal and the fantasy - but I find them quite addictive. In this one he does go on about western jazz....

[Chris Type R]

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Really enjoying this.

[ribiero]

Chris Type R said:

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Really enjoying this.

random! I just added this to my list! I was watching "the expanse" on Netflix, went to check out the books on amazon and saw Children of Time recommended.. damn this thread for making me buy books

[SilverSixer]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

otherman said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

In any case, to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
It's a wonderful story, and encourages me further to accept that the accolades heaped upon Solzhenitsyn were indeed well deserved rather than politically motivated, as I have heard suggested.

Exactly the way I discovered Solzhenitsyn. It's real quality for sure, not just hype - but they don't give Nobel's out for nothing. You're next stop should be something more ambitious, I'd recommend Cancer Ward or First Circle. He throws away lines that would make whole novels. Like this from First Circle
"Nothing has ever been invented by great minds that does not appear insubstantial to even greater ones

~ *Russian lit stuff*

Sir, I admire your indefatigability.

~ *Buys latest copy of Viz*

[Goaty Bill 2]

SilverSixer said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

otherman said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

In any case, to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
It's a wonderful story, and encourages me further to accept that the accolades heaped upon Solzhenitsyn were indeed well deserved rather than politically motivated, as I have heard suggested.

Exactly the way I discovered Solzhenitsyn. It's real quality for sure, not just hype - but they don't give Nobel's out for nothing. You're next stop should be something more ambitious, I'd recommend Cancer Ward or First Circle. He throws away lines that would make whole novels. Like this from First Circle
"Nothing has ever been invented by great minds that does not appear insubstantial to even greater ones

~ *Russian lit stuff*

Sir, I admire your indefatigability.

~ *Buys latest copy of Viz*

otherman has the right of it in my humble opinion.
I really believe Solzhenitsyn is up there with the best of the Russians, though I have others to explore of course.

You will have noted my comments regarding 'March 1917' and 'April 1917' currently not having been translated to English?
I see a wonderful opportunity for you to make your mark on the literary world here sir!

[Eddie Strohacker]

ribiero said:

Chris Type R said:

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Really enjoying this.

random! I just added this to my list! I was watching "the expanse" on Netflix, went to check out the books on amazon and saw Children of Time recommended.. damn this thread for making me buy books

Ooh. I think I'll get a copy of this. I know Seven eves is a big hit here, but I couldn't get on with it at all, I need to take on another SF to get me back in the groove.

[p1doc]

just finished first 15 lives of harry august-very good now reading devil is a gentleman about dennis wheatley

[SilverSixer]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

SilverSixer said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

otherman said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

In any case, to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
It's a wonderful story, and encourages me further to accept that the accolades heaped upon Solzhenitsyn were indeed well deserved rather than politically motivated, as I have heard suggested.

Exactly the way I discovered Solzhenitsyn. It's real quality for sure, not just hype - but they don't give Nobel's out for nothing. You're next stop should be something more ambitious, I'd recommend Cancer Ward or First Circle. He throws away lines that would make whole novels. Like this from First Circle
"Nothing has ever been invented by great minds that does not appear insubstantial to even greater ones

~ *Russian lit stuff*

Sir, I admire your indefatigability.

~ *Buys latest copy of Viz*

otherman has the right of it in my humble opinion.
I really believe Solzhenitsyn is up there with the best of the Russians, though I have others to explore of course.

You will have noted my comments regarding 'March 1917' and 'April 1917' currently not having been translated to English?
I see a wonderful opportunity for you to make your mark on the literary world here sir!

Well now, if I could just find a publisher willing to transfer a suitable advance to my bank account in Switzerland...........

[Goaty Bill 2]

SilverSixer said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

otherman has the right of it in my humble opinion.
I really believe Solzhenitsyn is up there with the best of the Russians, though I have others to explore of course.

You will have noted my comments regarding 'March 1917' and 'April 1917' currently not having been translated to English?
I see a wonderful opportunity for you to make your mark on the literary world here sir!

Well now, if I could just find a publisher willing to transfer a suitable advance to my bank account in Switzerland...........

Sadly the venerable 'The Bodley Head' publishing seems no longer to be with us.
However, happy to start you off with £40

It seems that the majority of publishing houses have little interest in this sort of thing these days.
Aside from a fairly large selection of early Wordsworth Classics editions, all of the 'serious' literature on my bookshelves has been purchased from second hand bookshops. Online versions of which being the only way in which I could possibly have collected the number Solzhenitsyn's works that I have to date, especially in such a short time frame.

It is a real shame that so many works are now only being published by the likes of Wordsworth and Penguin in their classics ranges, and then the majority of those are limited to the most widely known of titles, and also most often those where no royalties are due.

[SilverSixer]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

SilverSixer said:

Goaty Bill 2 said:

otherman has the right of it in my humble opinion.
I really believe Solzhenitsyn is up there with the best of the Russians, though I have others to explore of course.

You will have noted my comments regarding 'March 1917' and 'April 1917' currently not having been translated to English?
I see a wonderful opportunity for you to make your mark on the literary world here sir!

Well now, if I could just find a publisher willing to transfer a suitable advance to my bank account in Switzerland...........

Sadly the venerable 'The Bodley Head' publishing seems no longer to be with us.
However, happy to start you off with £40

40 sheets will cover the first paragraph nicely, thanks. So long as it isn't too long.

[Goaty Bill 2]

SilverSixer said:

40 sheets will cover the first paragraph nicely, thanks. So long as it isn't too long.

More polite than I had a right to expect

Edited by Goaty Bill 2 on Monday 3rd July 12:25