Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
K12beano said:
A couple of good books in the last month.
among them, first:
Now I’ve enjoyed a couple of Murakami, including most notably 1Q84 - which I found was really enjoyable.
So, the pace, the language and the perspective were all quite familiar and most welcome in “Killing Commendatore”.
But, being honest, overall it was quite a lacking experience. It wasn’t until afterwards that I caught up with any reviews. But I could agree with others who were disappointed. 4/10
If you like Murakami you’ll probably like it. But if you are new - don’t start here.
Anyway I moved on, and have just finished:
This is my first foray into the books, having fully enjoyed Douglas Henshall, Mark Bonnar et al in the excellent Telly experience over the last few years.
Well, if you like “Shetland” then this book is just great. Various things were changed to make the TV, but this doesn’t detract from a good storyline and well written narrative. Jimmy Perez is a bit more shoddy, Sandy a bit more of a simpleton and you get to imagine some different perspectives, and I found the whole thing totally enjoyable. 8/10
I loved killing commendator. I read it in French (not sure if it make a lot of difference?). The story spread over 2 books. As you mentioned, you have to be familiar with Murakami and Japanese literature to enjoy fully. among them, first:
Now I’ve enjoyed a couple of Murakami, including most notably 1Q84 - which I found was really enjoyable.
So, the pace, the language and the perspective were all quite familiar and most welcome in “Killing Commendatore”.
But, being honest, overall it was quite a lacking experience. It wasn’t until afterwards that I caught up with any reviews. But I could agree with others who were disappointed. 4/10
If you like Murakami you’ll probably like it. But if you are new - don’t start here.
Anyway I moved on, and have just finished:
This is my first foray into the books, having fully enjoyed Douglas Henshall, Mark Bonnar et al in the excellent Telly experience over the last few years.
Well, if you like “Shetland” then this book is just great. Various things were changed to make the TV, but this doesn’t detract from a good storyline and well written narrative. Jimmy Perez is a bit more shoddy, Sandy a bit more of a simpleton and you get to imagine some different perspectives, and I found the whole thing totally enjoyable. 8/10
K12beano said:
Well, if you like “Shetland” then this book is just great. Various things were changed to make the TV, but this doesn’t detract from a good storyline and well written narrative. Jimmy Perez is a bit more shoddy, Sandy a bit more of a simpleton and you get to imagine some different perspectives, and I found the whole thing totally enjoyable. 8/10
Yes, there's a few differences, but I noticed they're just saying "based on the characters by Ann Cleeves" on the credits. The whole thing with Perez' ancestry comes up much more in the books, IIRC. I've just read the most recent one, recently.Taking a break from ploughing through the Inspector Banks collection at the moment with the recent 'How to build a car' by Adrian Newey. Not too far in yet, but seems an easy enough semi-autobiographical read. From what i've seen it goes through his early family life then dedicates chapters to each car he was involved with. Will report back later if anyone's interested....
227bhp said:
Taking a break from ploughing through the Inspector Banks collection at the moment with the recent 'How to build a car' by Adrian Newey. Not too far in yet, but seems an easy enough semi-autobiographical read. From what i've seen it goes through his early family life then dedicates chapters to each car he was involved with. Will report back later if anyone's interested....
I am listening to that on Audible, it is great.
toasty said:
Enjoyable brain-out spy vs terrorist romp.
Reading Narco Wars by Tom Chandler, not my normal read but quite enjoying it.
Got several of the books recommended on my Kindle waiting to be read, looks like it's going to be enjoyable.
I'm on a bit of a World War I & II binge at the moment. I read Covenant With Death by John Harris which was superb. Totally and utterly moving and thought provoking in terms of what these poor chaps had to deal with on the Somme in WWI.
I was in the mood for more after I'd finished, so I'm now reading The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. I'm sure I read it when I was a teenager / 20s but I can't really remember much of it. It's immense and totally engrossing. One of those *nearly miss your tube stop* sort of books.
I was in the mood for more after I'd finished, so I'm now reading The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. I'm sure I read it when I was a teenager / 20s but I can't really remember much of it. It's immense and totally engrossing. One of those *nearly miss your tube stop* sort of books.
E34-3.2 said:
K12beano said:
A couple of good books in the last month.
among them, first:
Now I’ve enjoyed a couple of Murakami, including most notably 1Q84 - which I found was really enjoyable.
So, the pace, the language and the perspective were all quite familiar and most welcome in “Killing Commendatore”.
But, being honest, overall it was quite a lacking experience. It wasn’t until afterwards that I caught up with any reviews. But I could agree with others who were disappointed. 4/10
If you like Murakami you’ll probably like it. But if you are new - don’t start here.
Anyway I moved on, and have just finished:
This is my first foray into the books, having fully enjoyed Douglas Henshall, Mark Bonnar et al in the excellent Telly experience over the last few years.
Well, if you like “Shetland” then this book is just great. Various things were changed to make the TV, but this doesn’t detract from a good storyline and well written narrative. Jimmy Perez is a bit more shoddy, Sandy a bit more of a simpleton and you get to imagine some different perspectives, and I found the whole thing totally enjoyable. 8/10
I loved killing commendator. I read it in French (not sure if it make a lot of difference?). The story spread over 2 books. As you mentioned, you have to be familiar with Murakami and Japanese literature to enjoy fully. among them, first:
Now I’ve enjoyed a couple of Murakami, including most notably 1Q84 - which I found was really enjoyable.
So, the pace, the language and the perspective were all quite familiar and most welcome in “Killing Commendatore”.
But, being honest, overall it was quite a lacking experience. It wasn’t until afterwards that I caught up with any reviews. But I could agree with others who were disappointed. 4/10
If you like Murakami you’ll probably like it. But if you are new - don’t start here.
Anyway I moved on, and have just finished:
This is my first foray into the books, having fully enjoyed Douglas Henshall, Mark Bonnar et al in the excellent Telly experience over the last few years.
Well, if you like “Shetland” then this book is just great. Various things were changed to make the TV, but this doesn’t detract from a good storyline and well written narrative. Jimmy Perez is a bit more shoddy, Sandy a bit more of a simpleton and you get to imagine some different perspectives, and I found the whole thing totally enjoyable. 8/10
Oddly I also really enjoy Ann Cleeves (worth finding her desert island discs interview, excellent insight into the person behind the books).
Edited by Stuart70 on Thursday 18th April 04:05
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