PussEKatt Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 I am reading "Human Game" by Simon Read. Following The Great Escape, over 70 men escaped, Hitler ordered 50 of them to be shot.This book is about tracking those murderers down, dont forget this happened in 1946 when most of europe was a right shambles and it was easy to get lost or to be anyone you wanted to be,add to that the Russians would not let anyone into their sector and it is very interesting reading. I have not finished it yet but so far I am surprised that he has actually tracked down some of these Gestapo and police people. Amazing, under the circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Well, I'm onto the third book in my list of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I've read The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three which were both absolutely excellent. Now I'm onto... ...which judging by the length of the damn thing will probably take me longer to tread than the first two combined. I'm very much looking forward to it since it is considered by many to be his best book. I saw the DVD and did not like it at all. Well, the series wasn't even close to be as good as the book is. Not King's best, IMO, but certainly in the top 5. Great book. Should've been filmed again with a better budget and better actors, even though they had Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 28, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2013 I'm still struggling through The Border Trilogy It's a slog. Mainly down to my inability to stay awake long enough to read more than a few pages a night. If anyone's thinking of reading it, brushing up on your basic Spanish wouldn't go amiss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Well, I'm onto the third book in my list of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I've read The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three which were both absolutely excellent. Now I'm onto... -img- ...which judging by the length of the damn thing will probably take me longer to tread than the first two combined. I'm very much looking forward to it since it is considered by many to be his best book. I saw the DVD and did not like it at all. Well, the series wasn't even close to be as good as the book is. Not King's best, IMO, but certainly in the top 5. Great book. Should've been filmed again with a better budget and better actors, even though they had Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. Agreed there Pelle. Although, I did rather enjoy chucks of the TV show/movie. The guy who plays Tom Cullen is just utterly, utterly perfect, and plays it to a tee. It's one of the best castings for the filming of a book I can think of. The Walkin' Dude was good too. And Trashy. Somehow though they managed to make Fran even more infuriating which I thought was impossible. Considering how much I like the book, it's incredible how much I detest that character, especially as she's one of the protagonists...heck, one of the main protagonists. UGH. Just thinking about her stupid face and her stupid voice, and the stupid things she did, MAN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Well, I'm onto the third book in my list of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I've read The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three which were both absolutely excellent. Now I'm onto... -img- ...which judging by the length of the damn thing will probably take me longer to tread than the first two combined. I'm very much looking forward to it since it is considered by many to be his best book. I saw the DVD and did not like it at all. Well, the series wasn't even close to be as good as the book is. Not King's best, IMO, but certainly in the top 5. Great book. Should've been filmed again with a better budget and better actors, even though they had Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. Agreed there Pelle. Although, I did rather enjoy chucks of the TV show/movie. The guy who plays Tom Cullen is just utterly, utterly perfect, and plays it to a tee. It's one of the best castings for the filming of a book I can think of. The Walkin' Dude was good too. And Trashy. Somehow though they managed to make Fran even more infuriating which I thought was impossible. Considering how much I like the book, it's incredible how much I detest that character, especially as she's one of the protagonists...heck, one of the main protagonists. UGH. Just thinking about her stupid face and her stupid voice, and the stupid things she did, MAN. I can't remember that I didn't like Fran in the book, but having Molly Ringwald in that role probably wasn't the best. But I agree, Tom Cullen was very good casted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer1 Posted May 30, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted May 30, 2013 From the writer of Woman in Black. Very enjoyable and extremely creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Great and easy read for lovers of history, adventure and exploration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrenchVillaLova Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Climats (Climates in English), by André Maurois. A truly outstanding book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Reading 1984 at the moment, about two thirds of way through but its just not flowing for me. I'm going to try and make a concerted effort to read my way through some of the 'classics' but I hope they aren't all like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Reading 1984 at the moment, about two thirds of way through but its just not flowing for me. I'm going to try and make a concerted effort to read my way through some of the 'classics' but I hope they aren't all like this! I've had that problem with quite a few 'classics'. Some can be very dry but have cultural importance and are therefore considered 'classic'. I've never got on with 99% of Victorian writers, so I tend to avoid any classic from that era like the plague. Another problem is that people's reading habits have changed an awful lot, so to has mentality and, well, the whole bloody world. So I wouldn't worry too much. People tend to settle on a period they like best. 1920s for me. Anyway I've finished Lowell and I've moved on to Beowulf (Heaney's translation). There's a classic for you. Still reading Herzog too. Funny, bit bonkers. You could call it 'Leemond'. I like it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 2, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 2, 2013 (edited) I think CED and I have very similar tastes. I'm very much into the modernist era and its aftermath, broadly the first half of the 20th Century. Similarly, I cannot get on with 19th C English writers at all (Auste, Brontes, Dickens, all that lot) - although I do like French and Russian novels of that period. Oddly, 18th C English stuff I DO like - Fielding, Defoe, Sterne, etc. Edited June 2, 2013 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 (edited) I think a lot of people have at least one book from their youth that they'll never forget and mine was 'Where the Wild Things are'. Today is Maurice Sendak's birthday and he created the book that literally (I'm being serious but I couldn't resist a pun) changed my life. I've lost count how many times I've read 'Where The Wild Things Are' but I wouldn't be surprised if it was over one thousand times. It's only short The Google homepage has just reminded me that I haven't read it for a long time and need to rectify that. Here's that Google doodle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03aBKVu_1f8 I don't know, it's strange that book is embedded in to my psyche (Like the videos are embedded in to this post) There were Monsters everywhere in my childhood; good, bad, real and imaginary and Sendak's book sums it all up for me, I was (And probably still am) very similar to Max, the protagonist, and when I read the book something clicked. I feel the same feeling when I think about it as I did at six years old when I read it for the first time, in bed by the light of my Turtles torch. I read it aloud to my own imaginary monsters, the ones who I'd struck a deal with to protect me whilst I slept. The deal was I gave them somewhere to live and they didn't eat me. Thinking about that now actually I feel guilty because where are they now? I've sent them to the dole queue or something So thank you Mr Sendak, you died May 8th 2012 so I'll never meet you but you taught me how to tame them with the magic trick of staring in to all their yellow eyes without blinking once. I even liked the film adaption Spike Jonze made in 2009, thought they captured the tone very well. This scene from the film, athough not direct dialogue and slightly different from the book sums up every night of my childhood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5jAh_kqTTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh1x9HhqJsM And here is an audio of Where the Wild Things Are if you want it read to you. I have a sadness shield that keeps out all the sadness, and it's big enough for all of us. Edited June 10, 2013 by 8pints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2013 My childhood book was The Wind in the Willows. Still love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Picked up Irvine Welsh's 'Filth' in anticipation for the film release. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2013 (edited) This is fantastic. Collecting texts taken from letters, diaries, literature, scientific journals and reports, Pandomonium gathers a beguiling narrative as it traces the development of the machine age in Britain. Covering the years between 1660 and 1886, it offers a rich tapestry of human experience, from eyewitness reports of the Luddite Riots and the Peterloo Massacre to more intimate accounts of child labour, Utopian communities, the desecration of the natural world, ground-breaking scientific experiments, and the coming of the railways. Humphrey Jennings, co-founder of the Mass Observation movement of the 1930s and acclaimed documentary film-maker, assembled an enthralling narrative of this key period in Britain's national consciousness. The result is a highly original artistic achievement in its own right. Thanks to the efforts of his daughter, Marie-Louise Jennings, Pandomonium was originally published in 1985, and in 2012 it was the inspiration behind Danny Boyle's electrifying Opening Ceremony for the London Olympic Games. Frank Cottrell Boyce, who wrote the scenario for the ceremony, contributes a revealing new foreword for this edition. Edited June 10, 2013 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 (edited) Trashy book alert, and I realise this is akin to posting about Oasis in the music thread, but have recently read this. I could not put it down and actually managed to get through it in 2 days, such was it's hold over me. Edited June 10, 2013 by Shillzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer1 Posted June 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2013 Picked up Irvine Welsh's 'Filth' in anticipation for the film release. His best work imo and also one of my favourite books. Fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Trashy book alert, and I realise this is akin to posting about Oasis in the music thread, but have recently read this. I could not put it down and actually managed to get through it in 2 days, such was it's hold over me. It's alright I've just read Arnie's. It has actually put me off him a bit, he **** loves himself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Trashy book alert, and I realise this is akin to posting about Oasis in the music thread, but have recently read this. I could not put it down and actually managed to get through it in 2 days, such was it's hold over me. It's alright I've just read Arnie's. It has actually put me off him a bit, he **** loves himself! As in Schwarzenegger? And do you mean you were put off Grylls? Bear Grylls is very different from myself in nearly every way, but that's probably why he's climbed Mt Everest and I haven't. It doesn't put me off the book though, and despite coming across as slightly arrogant in it, I think I like him even more as a result of reading the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted June 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2013 My childhood book was The Wind in the Willows. Still love it! Mine was the Hobbit. Wont ever watch the film, how can it beat the imagination of a 9 year old? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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