Books you are reading

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Spammy The Vee
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Spammy The Vee »

Just finished David Paul Kuhn's "THE HARDHAT RIOT: Nixon, New York City and the Dawn of the White Working Class Revolution". Obviously not for everyone, but a great telling of the events of 1970, when construction workers fought anti-war protesters on the streets of Lower Manhattan and Richard Nixon co-opted the American working man."
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pablo jaye
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by pablo jaye »

In the middle of reading Michael Wagg’s ‘The Turning Season: DDR Oberliga Revisited’. A trip around the clubs who played in the last season of the East German top division. Some huge falls from ‘grace’, but an interesting read takibgbin different angles on different clubs.

Then on to Pat Nevis’s autobiography - obviously shameful reading a book by a Chelsea player but an interesting character.
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Rio
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Rio »

Billy Connollys ‘Windswept and Interesting’

I’ve heard/read much of it before. But it’s still a great read.
Crouchend_Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Crouchend_Hammer »

pablo jaye wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 2:47 pm In the middle of reading Michael Wagg’s ‘The Turning Season: DDR Oberliga Revisited’. A trip around the clubs who played in the last season of the East German top division. Some huge falls from ‘grace’, but an interesting read takibgbin different angles on different clubs.

Then on to Pat Nevis’s autobiography - obviously shameful reading a book by a Chelsea player but an interesting character.
I love the sound of the first one

Having listened to Pat Nevin on Quickly Kevin he sounds like a bit of a tit. Obviously I appreciate his unique persona, especially in the 80s, but he really really rates himself
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Burnley Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Burnley Hammer »

Just finished my last batch of library books so I've just put in an order for my next batch - mainly crime thrillers:

Peter James - Not Dead Enough
Paul Finch - Ashes to Ashes
William Shaw - Salt Lane
C J Tudor - The Burning Girls
John Lindqvist - I am the Tiger
Robert Bryndza - The Night Stalker
Mo Hayder - Hanging Hill
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Andrew O'Hagan - Our Fathers

I wasn't 100% convinced by the writing style and some sections were a bit slow, but by the last half of this story of 3 generations of Scottish fathers and sons, I was quite engrossed.
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Tenbury
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Tenbury »

An old and much treasured edition of Isaak Walton's 'The Compleat Angler'..... far more effective than any anti-depressants.
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Korea Hammer
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John Steinbeck - Tortila Flat

Steinbeck's breakout book, Tortila Flat is quite difficult to evaluate nearly a century on. Apparently, despite its success, Steinbeck almost immediately regretted the way his paisano characters were received as quaint and comic creations. And by today's standards they also seem to be exaggerations or even misrepresentations of Mexican-American culture. But with that said, I do think Steinbeck's heart was in the right place and that he was trying to portray a kind of lifestyle that prioritised brotherhood and a love of living over the financial worries of those living in the Depression-era US, and I did enjoy a lot of the writing which would later evolve into the style found in his better known books.
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Tenbury
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Post by Tenbury »

He suffered for being a writer at a time when the movie business was buzzing and desperate for good plots. Even the 'Grapes of Wrath (in some peoples opinion a great movie) was (IMO) an oversimplification of a great book. He uses paisano culture to examine pan human traits( greed/jealousy/love/etc). [I read and re read all his stuff, IMO, only Cormac MacCarthy comes close.]
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Clemens Meyer - Dark Satellites

I really liked this collection of 9 short stories (in 3 sets of 3, each introduced by a 2-page long microstory) set in grey and oppressive twilight of the former East Germany. The protagonists are outsiders and loners, and the writing flicks between past and present without warning and most of the stories left quite an impression on me.

My favourite was Late Arrival, which can be read in full online.
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continental skills
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by continental skills »

Korea Hammer wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:42 pm Oh, interesting. I was very impressed and whistled through it because I was off work and could devote time to it. I don't think it would be so enjoyable in bits and pieces at the end of a tiring day. Although, perhaps enjoyable isn't the right word, it's pretty harrowing stuff, I must say. Are all his books like that?
Apologies for not answering this any earlier with regard to Enard.
Zone would appear to be the most "demanding" of his books. Compass wasn't that easy a read, Street of Thieves more conventional, and Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants (which was the first of them i read) is more poetic and the one I enjoyed most.
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

continental skills wrote: Sat Apr 02, 2022 2:46 pm Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants (which was the first of them i read) is more poetic and the one I enjoyed most.
Thanks, CS, I've added it to my wishlist.
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szola
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by szola »

Image
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Mercè Rodoreda ~ In Diamond Square

A translation of the acclaimed Catalan novel set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Written in a simple first person narrative that occasionally spirals into dreamlike stream-of-consciousness and full of memorable scenes, this is a little treasure.
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WHU Independent
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by WHU Independent »

The Black Guard - AJ Smith

I usually stay away from Fantasy sowrd and sorcery novels nowadays, as after reading Moorcock and Gemmell and Howard, mot of it pales into insignficance. However the strap line "Fantasy mixed with HP Lovecraft" caught my eye and so I gave it a go.

I'm glad I did as this is a very well written, entertaining and well thought out book, with an unusual (for fantasy) narrative. Basically ever chapter is written from a different characters viewpoint and location and Smith expertly weaves them all together for the final chapter.

There are a few negatves. The HP Lovecraft link is nothing to do with the way the book is written, and more to do with the author using some of Lovecraft's evil entities and putting them his book as adversary's/background fluff. If I would have bought this book hoping for writings akin to Lovecraft I would have fely cheated.

Overalll I'm impressed enough to go and track down the other two parts of this trilogy to see what the outcome of "The Long War" is.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178 ... lack-guard
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SoulCircus
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by SoulCircus »

For some reason I've been picking challenging reads recently, currently on The Satanic Verses, mainly to see what all the fuss is/was about. Only about 100 pages in, all the classic Rushdie tropes present, will see how it pans out...
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

SoulCircus wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:54 am For some reason I've been picking challenging reads recently, currently on The Satanic Verses, mainly to see what all the fuss is/was about. Only about 100 pages in, all the classic Rushdie tropes present, will see how it pans out...
I read Shame and then Midnight's Children at university, and really liked them, but I do recall I then struggled with The Satanic Verses after that. All a long time ago now though!
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Anuk Aradpragasam ~ A Passage North

I enjoyed this meandering, reflective novel about the fallout from the Sri Lankan civil war, but found the repetetive, long philosophical sentences and lack of plot and dialogue a bit trying at times. Interesting bits on the Tamil Tigers, on queer cultue in modern Sri Lanka, on traditional Tamil funeral rites and other cultural aspects though.
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Graham Swift - Last Orders

Four men take a road trip with the ashes of their late friend and win the Booker Prize. I started out a bit put off by the gorblimey guvnor cockney stereotypes and while I do think that's a problem, the strengths of the book, it's gentle reflections on memory, mortality and the small moments in life that have big repurcussions, ended up quite affecting. My second Swift, and I'm still not quite sure where I stand on him. I think I'll give Waterland a go as that's the one friends have recommended.
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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

Post by Korea Hammer »

Gerald Murnane - Border Districts

I am a huge fan of Gerald Murnane's bizarre, esoteric, self-referential (non-) fiction, and Border Districts is a patient and beautiful short final work from the reclusive Australian. If you fancy reading 140 pages about stained glass, horse racing, Australian landscape, the catholic church and the ways in which our minds and memories mediate lived experience, then this is the book for you. If not, approach with extreme caution.

Sorry to clog up the page btw, I'm on holiday :oops:
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