Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
TheJimi said:
Adam B said:
Dick Dastardly said:
I’m currently 1400 pages into The Count of Monte Cristo, so that’s about two thirds of the way through.
It’s a big old book but well worth reading. The story is very engaging and it’s as enjoyable as anything written today. It’s also quite an easy read, though I struggle to remember the relationships and histories between all of the various characters sometimes.
I wrote myself an idiots guide to the 20 or so main characters and stuck it in the book It’s a big old book but well worth reading. The story is very engaging and it’s as enjoyable as anything written today. It’s also quite an easy read, though I struggle to remember the relationships and histories between all of the various characters sometimes.
was something like this but without the plot spoilers
https://fritzfreiheit.com/wiki/Count_of_Monte_Cris...
Adam B said:
TheJimi said:
Adam B said:
Dick Dastardly said:
I’m currently 1400 pages into The Count of Monte Cristo, so that’s about two thirds of the way through.
It’s a big old book but well worth reading. The story is very engaging and it’s as enjoyable as anything written today. It’s also quite an easy read, though I struggle to remember the relationships and histories between all of the various characters sometimes.
I wrote myself an idiots guide to the 20 or so main characters and stuck it in the book It’s a big old book but well worth reading. The story is very engaging and it’s as enjoyable as anything written today. It’s also quite an easy read, though I struggle to remember the relationships and histories between all of the various characters sometimes.
was something like this but without the plot spoilers
https://fritzfreiheit.com/wiki/Count_of_Monte_Cris...
truth is just as strange, or stranger!, than fiction
swiveleyedgit said:
As a follow up to the book, have a read of this...
truth is just as strange, or stranger!, than fiction
It's the connections round in the Noisy brain...truth is just as strange, or stranger!, than fiction
...I realise the below is fiction and the above is fact but this reminded me of a historical series by Christian Cameron of which the Green Count is a part.
Start at the beginning (1381) with the Ill Made Knight
Sir William Gold is the main, and engaging, character. The books chronicle his rise from (alleged) thief to knight in the 1st person.
The twists and turns in the latest Eddie Flynn novel by Steve Cavanagh would make Machiavelli weep. Hustler and pick pocket turned lawyer Eddie Flynn is caught in a trap by the Russian Mafia. A thrill a minute, this novel moves at an incedible pace, and is one that will while away the time when you need.
lowdrag said:
One of the best novels it has been my pleasure to read for some time. Two men in their early twenties decide to canoe the river in Canada before returning to their studies. The description of the wilderness is so good you can almost touch it and smell it. But they come across problems, a woman nearly dead, two drunks in another canoe and the husband of the woman out for revenge so he can escape prosecution. I've given nothing away in this description because all of this happens early on, but the twists and turns make this one you'll remember. This seems to be his first book but I'll surely look out for any sequel. This man knows all about nature and the backwoods.
This is 99p on amazon at the moment.Edited by lowdrag on Monday 5th August 02:56
Next off the pile is the new novel is "Heaven my Home" from Attica Locke. Her tales of the deep south and the Aryan Brotherhood always make me think of seeing Nina Simone singing "Strange Fruit". She a power of description that surpasses many well-known authors. I'll post when I have finished it.
Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 31st August 17:28
t?
Rule Britannia is Daphne du Maurier's last novel, published in 1972 by Victor Gollancz. The novel is set in a fictional near future in which the UK's recent withdrawal from the EEC has brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.
Was in Fowey for holiday and this was a timely and worthwhile read.
Was in Fowey for holiday and this was a timely and worthwhile read.
epom said:
ElectricSoup said:
lowdrag said:
One of the best novels it has been my pleasure to read for some time. Two men in their early twenties decide to canoe the river in Canada before returning to their studies. The description of the wilderness is so good you can almost touch it and smell it. But they come across problems, a woman nearly dead, two drunks in another canoe and the husband of the woman out for revenge so he can escape prosecution. I've given nothing away in this description because all of this happens early on, but the twists and turns make this one you'll remember. This seems to be his first book but I'll surely look out for any sequel. This man knows all about nature and the backwoods.
Could you post the author and title please, I can't see the picture in your post.Edited by lowdrag on Monday 5th August 02:56
Excellent so far
Currently reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It’s started well, very engaging, well written and I’m learning something new. Ironically, I’m reading it after getting out of the habit of reading long form stuff, so there’s really no better title I guess to try and reengage with an old habit.
'MAO The Unknown Story' by Jung Chang & Jon Halliday
One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
Edited by Goaty Bill 2 on Saturday 7th September 09:44
Goaty Bill 2 said:
'MAO The Unknown Story' by Jung Chang & Jon Halliday
One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
Can we send a copy to Dianne "on balance, he did more good than harm" Abbott?
And John 'Little Red Book" McDonnell?
One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
Can we send a copy to Dianne "on balance, he did more good than harm" Abbott?
And John 'Little Red Book" McDonnell?
Edited by Goaty Bill 2 on Saturday 7th September 09:44
AstonZagato said:
Goaty Bill 2 said:
'MAO The Unknown Story' by Jung Chang & Jon Halliday
One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
Can we send a copy to Dianne "on balance, he did more good than harm" Abbott?One cannot pretend that this is a dispassionate and unbiased historical document.
It is without doubt or pretense a scathing polemic. One that is exceptionally well researched and highly detailed.
If you find you doubt that - there are near 150 pages of references, lists of interviewees and footnotes at the end of the book as well a further detailed index.
Investigation includes not just China (by Jung) but also Russian archives and interviews (by Halliday).
Given the number of fanboy books and articles in praise of Mao, going back to Edgar Snow and Bertrand Russell amongst others, and the numerous books written by Maoist apologists, this book certainly has and deserves its place IMO.
Anyone that can read this and continue to defend Mao by the 'results achieved' would have to be seriously disillusion or ideologically possessed.
photo obtained from internet
And John 'Little Red Book" McDonnell?
However, if the general population were properly educated...
Oh right, that would require that books like this, 'The Gulag Archipelago' (required reading in Russia), and the (albeit brief) history of the Khmer Rouge, along with the activities of the real leaders of the Việt Minh (Le Duan), and China's Mao lead involvement in those atrocities, not forgetting their Stalin backed funding of the Korean war, perhaps people would be less inclined to support anyone claiming to be a Marxist.
Sadly we must wait until we have left school to discover history for ourselves.
Stalinism was real communism. He was a true believer. Stephen Kotkin's works lay this out clearly.
Mao on the other hand was no more a communist than was the infamous McCarthy.
But your point is well taken
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