The what are you reading at the moment fred

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

Just started 'The Devine Comedy' by Dante.

 

At canto V so far. The introduction was pretty captivating and it sounds as though it is Dante, lashing out at everyone that annoyed him in 13th and 1sth century Florence and deciding just how lowly they are compared with the famous and infamous celebreties of the ancient world.

 

Great read so far. I bought it at the same time as the Odyssey, which I have intended on reading since I finished Homer's first epic but have never got round to purchasing up until now. The Devine Comedy grabbed be straight from the blurb though and is a much easier translation of an epic and so I have decided to bash on with it first instead.

 

Anyone read it?

[2NaFish]

I've read inferno, which was very good. as with most things like that its important to know the politics surrounding it all, and to get a good translation.

 

I'm about half way through the three musketeers and it's brilliant. not quite as good as Monte christo but so much fun.

[Coco]

 

 

Struggling to get going on this one ... hoping that I get a bit more into it as the story develops ... anyone read it and tell me that I'm not wasting my time?

[Creepy Lurker]

Scottish Kings by Gordon Donaldson.

 

It's pretty well written, especially considering that it was first published in 1967. Just brushing up on my knowledge of the first five Jacobean kings.

[leginten]

Struggling to get going on this one ... hoping that I get a bit more into it as the story develops ... anyone read it and tell me that I'm not wasting my time?

 

I started it a few years ago but got distracted by something else and it's now in one of the "undead" piles. I was actually quite enjoying it, though. So many books, so little time...

[peter_hmfc]

 

Probably about to start reading Junk by Melvin Burgess. Anyone else read it before?

[neave]

Just finished Foul! today. Pretty much a must-read - Blatter and co. really are a bunch of corrupt pricks.

[willie wallace]

To keep the Vietnam theme going, I'm currently reading Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. I've got about 100 pages left and it's been excellent - best fictional account of the war that I've read.

 

Just finished reading it,thought it was brilliant.Takes a bit getting into but once you get familiar with the characters it was hard to put down.I heard an interview with Marlantes before i read the book and his recount of his experiences as a marine in Vietnam made it even more interesting.

[Goldstone Wonder]

Just finished this . Really, really enjoyed. I just wish I'd read it before I saw the Channel 4 series which I also thoroughly enjoyed. I'm going to read Ordinary Thunderstorms by the same author next.

[wullieb1]

Act of Treason by Vince Flynn.

 

Not the worst book i've read but not the best either.

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

I've read inferno, which was very good. as with most things like that its important to know the politics surrounding it all, and to get a good translation.

 

I'm about half way through the three musketeers and it's brilliant. not quite as good as Monte christo but so much fun.

 

I got that from the introduction. He was very politically active and the whole Guelf (sp?) thing sounds like his biggest bug-bear.

 

Love the idea of marching through the circles of hell and heaven and meeting famous and imfamous characters of old upon the way!

 

Really enjoying it so far actually. Have you read The Illiad? That was far more challenging a read. I have only read it once and I took plenty from it but I think I will have to go back and read it a second time and then start The Odyssey, since much of it I will have missed and not picked up on at the first perusal.

[2NaFish]

illiad/Odyssey are on my kindle and will get taken up pretty soon. read quite a few heavy pieces lately though, but I'll give them a go before the summer is out.

[Guest Bilel Mohsni]

illiad/Odyssey are on my kindle and will get taken up pretty soon. read quite a few heavy pieces lately though, but I'll give them a go before the summer is out.

 

Heavy is right! I really struggle to remember who is who and related to who when all the names are new! (epic poem of me own .)

 

I am finding The Devine Comedy much easier to digest though. the translation is from a guy called Sissons (sp?). I found Sir Walter Scott's novels harder to follow even. (Love them though.)

[AWM]

[Boomstick]

I started and finished reheated cabbage, the irvine welsh collection from 2009 on the bus to inverness today.

 

It was ok.

 

He used the terms hobo and yam though in one of the stories...bit odd I thought. I assumed that those terms were internet specific.

[southcapital]

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

 

got an app on my iphone with all the classics on it, books id never have read other wise

[Tott]

I started and finished reheated cabbage, the irvine welsh collection from 2009 on the bus to inverness today.

 

It was ok.

 

He used the terms hobo and yam though in one of the stories...bit odd I thought. I assumed that those terms were internet specific.

 

 

Think all the yam pish came to light through his books.

Dont think it offends anybody,cause nobody knows what the **** its meant to mean..hobos C****S :-)

[Boaby Ewing]

Struggling to get going on this one ... hoping that I get a bit more into it as the story develops ... anyone read it and tell me that I'm not wasting my time?

 

It has some great moments but if you didn't like the first chapter (one of the best there is IMO) you're unlikely to stay with it.

 

And I'd concede that the book is less than the sum of its parts.

[Creepy Lurker]

Finally getting around to reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

 

Really enjoying it so far. Not keen on the graphic descriptions of the sex crimes as I'm basically just quite squeamish about that kind of thing, but in this instance I can put up with them as they're integral to the story and not gratuitous as is the case with some other novels dealing with similar subjects.

[syndicalist]

I started and finished reheated cabbage, the irvine welsh collection from 2009 on the bus to inverness today.

 

It was ok.

 

He used the terms hobo and yam though in one of the stories...bit odd I thought. I assumed that those terms were internet specific.

The books just what the title says re-heated cabbage. All his old unpublished stuff chucked in a book to try and make more money. I thought it was the worst yet. Still think he'll write another good book though.

[neave]

Finished Chekhov. There were some stories (Fortune and The House With The Mezzanine especially, The Black Monk, About Love and The Bishop) I thought were absolutely brilliant, and others I struggled with somewhat, mostly because of the antiquated settings.

 

This may be a weird criticism, but the translation of the text seemed to attempt to modernise the language a bit too much, and it didn't really seem to fit.

 

I just started Last Exit to Brooklyn on Friday, and am two chapters/stories in. Seems excellent so far, and the introduction from Anthony Burgess really is good. Looking forward to the rest.

Edited July 17, 2011 by neave

[shona77]

Just finished Fall of Giants by Ken Follet.

Have been raving about it since I started it last week.

Could not put it down, an absolute epic and the first part of a trilogy.

Hopefully the next two instalments are just as good.

[Creepy Lurker]

Finally getting around to reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

 

Really enjoying it so far. Not keen on the graphic descriptions of the sex crimes as I'm basically just quite squeamish about that kind of thing, but in this instance I can put up with them as they're integral to the story and not gratuitous as is the case with some other novels dealing with similar subjects.

 

Finished this, and also Le Petit Prince de Belleville, which is a French book in which the narrator, a ten year old boy from a Malian immigrant family tells the reader about his day to day life. The narrator's youthful innocence is used very effectively by the author in order to show the reader many of the problems which stood in the way of social integration in French society at the time of writing; although that was the early nineties, these problems are very much still current and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone with any interest in the subject (although I'm not sure if it's possible to buy an English translation).

 

I've now started The Girl Who Played With Fire. Enjoying it so far, although I'm still at a pretty early stage.

[tweegy]

Currently reading "The Autobiography of Ireland's Greatest Living Genius" by Fiachra MacFiach.

[Tommy Wiseau]

This dropped through my door today:

 

 

Fairly weighty history of Renaissance art. It's all categorised by theme, so should be a good read.

[Boomstick]

The books just what the title says re-heated cabbage. All his old unpublished stuff chucked in a book to try and make more money. I thought it was the worst yet. Still think he'll write another good book though.

 

Aye, like I said, it was OK. The final story with Juice Terry and Carl in Florida meeting their old teacher was excellent though. I'd hope he manages another great novel before he descends into what is surely his destiny of sucking men off in exchange for somewhere to stay for the night...the hibernian way.

 

I just started Last Exit to Brooklyn on Friday, and am two chapters/stories in. Seems excellent so far, and the introduction from Anthony Burgess really is good. Looking forward to the rest.

 

Cracking book. Theres a few bits in it that quite disturbed me though. Hubert Selby Junior is a great author, once you get used to his interesting punctuation. Have you read Waiting Period, his last book before he died. It's fairly dark. Requiem for a Dream is a masterpiece also, which was made into one of my favourite films of all time.

 

Currently I'm just reading trashy paperbacks (well on my kindle, but you just know what they'd have been like in the print) because I'm half way through that Allen Carr book and I'm a bit scared of stopping smoking.

[neave]

Cracking book. Theres a few bits in it that quite disturbed me though. Hubert Selby Junior is a great author, once you get used to his interesting punctuation. Have you read Waiting Period, his last book before he died. It's fairly dark. Requiem for a Dream is a masterpiece also, which was made into one of my favourite films of all time.

 

 

I hadn't even heard of him until LETB was recommended on here. If it continues the way it's started I'll be taking you up on a few of those ones.

Edited July 18, 2011 by neave

[J Cheever Loophole]

Just finished Forgotten Voices Dunkirk.Quick read but the best ones are.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Started the following at the weekend. Pretty decent as spy books go.

 

 

[scott_jambo]

Working through "The Age of Capital" and also catching up on some Sherlock Holmes for light reading.

 

I have "journey to the centre of the earth" sitting on my bookshelf, I have never got round to reading it...any reviews? I do like sci-fi movies but don't read much science fiction literature at all.

[AWM]

[ToadKiller Dog]

Got a bunndle of sci fi and Fantasy stuff onto my kindle ,not genres' i tend to read but enjoying Glen Cooks swords and sorcery "Black Company" series onto the 8th book Water Sleeps , I read its popular with folk in the services i can see why as its aimed around the cronicles of a mercenary army . The writer does what all writers should do and looks at questions relevent to the real world and its at a pace which keeps you turning with out loosing the depth of characters .

[Gigolo-Aunt]

 

 

Superb.

[Coco]

I finally finished Underworld, 827 pages of pure slog. Very difficult reading and not particularly interesting! As DDLN pointed out the prologue was brilliant but for me it immediately deteriorated and did not really get back. Lots of style and not much substance.

 

Since then:

 

Which is a bit of a nasty book where the author gives various people a chance to have a go at each other over a tragedy a very long time ago.

 

And have just started:

Enjoying it so far.

[dav1e]

Half way through CHAVS by Owen Jones ,very good read .Basically about the mess our society is in ,and who's to blame .

[inspector]

Half-head by Stewart B McBride . Same boy that writes the DS Logan novels but without the 'B'

[neave]

Last Exit to Brooklyn was excellent, especially 'Strike' and the last story (can't remember what it's called atm).

 

Finished The Quiet American by Graham Greene yesterday - I couldn't put it down. Greene's some storyteller. He manages to slip some really brilliantly put observations into his narrative.

 

Just started The Insatiable Spiderman by good ol' Gutierrez last night. Not far into it enough yet to give any opinion.

[P-Dizzle]

About to start this when I can be bothered -

 

[maroonlegions]

Actually re-reading this book as i found it strangely real for a fictional novel, it deals with drug experiences of a one Mr Crowely put into fictional form but based on his real experiences; The experiences of his use of cannabis in particular are expertly perceived by him in his deliberate attempts at relating cannabis situations/experiences to anyone who has experienced this drug; He also highlights occult ,(hidden), meanings of altered mind states that ave profound implications on ones perceptions of mundane life or the dross physical state that we all experience and live in;ML;

 

 

 

 

introduction

Plot introduction

The story is widely thought to be based upon Crowley's own drug experiences, despite being written as a fiction. This seems almost conclusively confirmed by Crowley's statement in the novel's preface: "This is a true story. It has been rewritten only so far as was necessary to conceal personalities." Crowley's own recreational drug use and also his personal struggle with drug addiction, particularly heroin, is well documented.

 

Crowley made a study of drugs and their effects upon the body and mind, experimenting widely himself. Many of his conclusions are present within this novel. The story follows Peter Pendragon and Louise Laleham, a couple passionately in love, as they fall head-first into a drug binge across Europe. Diary of a Drug Fiend encapsulates much of Crowley's core philosophy concerning Thelema and his conception of True Will.

 

 

 

 

LINK;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Drug_Fiend#Plot_summary

 

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[Guest Freewheelin' Jambo]

I recently started a biography of Robert Kennedy by C. David Heymann.

 

I didn't realise that Heymann is a muck-raker first class and the book contained what I believed were utterly ridiculous and salacious allegations about RFK's life.The sources were highly dubious and each page contained an ever more ludicrous scenario.

 

I started out not knowing too much about his life and wanted a balanced view so I threw this piece of junk out and got a book by Evan Thomas called 'Robert Kennedy-His Life.'

 

Thomas is no Kennedy apologist but writes about his subject with balance and careful judgement. Bobby was no saint but one thing I just don't believe is the myths about his womanising. His brother Jack, yes, but Bobby was too straight-laced to get up to anything.

 

However, it's become common currency now to believe the brothers swapped Marilyn Monroe and others, where Thomas proves that there is absolutely no evidence of any dalliance between Bobby and Monroe.

 

I suppose you have to try and make your own mind up. RFK had great promise but he had great faults, too. But serial cheating on his wife? I don't believe it.

[Carl Fredrickson]

Working my way through books by Denise Mina.

 

Have read the Garthill trilogy and just finished Field Of Blood

 

This was adapted for TV and was on BBC1 in May.

 

Got another 2 of her Paddy Meehan books to read.

 

Easy to read books with decent stories. As I have done Rankin, Peter Robinson, Mark Billingham, Grisham, Lisa Gardner, Karen Slaughter etc I needed someone new to read and Ms Mina has impressed.

[smallfaces]

[vladtheexhaler]

 

An interesting remake of Boswell and Johnson's journey through Scotland conducted entirely by free bus-pass travel. There are some very amusing observations about the inhabitants of the deepest darkest reaches of our country, amongst which are interspersed comments from the original travellers including some previously unpublished letters to Boswell's wife from his own servant, who accompanied them on the journey. Three individuals assume the role of Johnson throughout the book, my favourite being a fittingly overweight chap who chooses to remain in a boozer to watch a Hearts v Hibs game rather than accompany the author in his attempt to visit some historic site that featured in the book!

[dougal]

Recently finished The Exile by Allan Folsom. It started off really well but then got a bit far fetched. Would give it about 7/10. Just finished Dark Harbour by David Hosp. Really good debut novel. Moves along at a good clip, keeps you guessing right to the end 8.5/10. Just starting The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. Want to read it before I see the film.

[Creepy Lurker]

Finished this, and also Le Petit Prince de Belleville, which is a French book in which the narrator, a ten year old boy from a Malian immigrant family tells the reader about his day to day life. The narrator's youthful innocence is used very effectively by the author in order to show the reader many of the problems which stood in the way of social integration in French society at the time of writing; although that was the early nineties, these problems are very much still current and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone with any interest in the subject (although I'm not sure if it's possible to buy an English translation).

 

I've now started The Girl Who Played With Fire. Enjoying it so far, although I'm still at a pretty early stage.

 

Finished and enjoyed this as well as a book called Eat Smart, Play Hard by Liz Applegate, PhD which is about sports nutrition. Whilst I don't want to have a go at someone who's evidently more qualified than I am, I actually didn't think that the advice in the book was all that good. Also, the author claimed to be give sport specific information 'for all of your sporting needs'. For some reason, the only sports covered were boydbuilding, golf (yes, golf), yoga (yes, yoga), running, cycling and hiking. No martial arts. Not even any football. Eh?

 

Anyway...

 

I'm now on the final instalment of the Millenium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.

[Flimsy]

'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins. I find 'classic' novels hard work but always feel a sense of achievement when I finish them.

[RussAsia]

Just finished reading Mr Nice... the Howard Marks story..

 

To be honest i enjoyed it overall but there were some bits i found slow going.. possibly due to me reading part of it on a 14 hour flight..

 

Anyway like i said i enjoyed it overall but its not one i will read again in a hurry..

[Primavera]

I'm reading Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series. Its a 12 book series and I'm on 11 atm, though I've read nearly half of 12 by mistake already - Kindles make it less obvious which book is next.

 

They're not what I would describe as excellent books really, I'm finishing them because I got so far and decided to keep going. At an average of about 700 pages its going to be like reading LOTR 6 times by the time I've finished so I'll remember them for that, if nothing else.

 

They did start off ok but the stories seem to be a bit rinse and repeat - two lovers who are destined to save the world, one gets kidnapped then rescued, the other gets kidnapped and rescued - and so on. Goodkind is politically influenced by Ayn Rand and it comes through in spades. I imagine these books wouldnt be much liked by anyone of a communist or strong left wing leaning as they are about the battle between good (A free capitalist society where individual success is supreme) and evil (A nation of communists who think the individual has no value and the state is all). Although I dont like either extreme its interesting to read fantasy novels that actually deal in the morals of politics so unashamedly, as 95% of fantasy seems to swerve the subject. Goodkind didnt introduce this fully until about the 4th or 5th book, I suspect if he'd included the theme from book 1 he'd never have got published and by now (Book 11) its gotten to stage that he is proseltysing rather than trying to make the reader think.

 

They are brutal and at times verging on sado-masochistic which I'm ok with but might not appeal to others. I'm also reading JG Ballards infamous "Crash" this week which makes any of Goodkinds wierder idea's look fairly tame.

[AWM]

Edited August 22, 2011 by AWM

[AWM]