Chindie Posted November 3, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 3, 2016 The Chikatilo story for some reason particularly sends shivers up my spine. He was utterly depraved. Used to chew on the wombs of women he killed like gum, amongst other horrific things. He basically the perfect example of what happens when the brain clicks to associate violence with sexual satisfaction. He was completely impotent unless there was a struggle involved, and that slowly grew to fascination with blood and viscera. And he got away with it for so long because he knew the system and how to game it (he was actually dreadful at every job he ever had but just shuffled around) and the Russians refused to accept a serial killer could come from a communist background. Truly an evil man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 It seemed as though he got away with it for so long due to the ineptitude of the police and the fact that he almost hid in plain sight, some of the murders sounded absolutely horrific, the cannibalism was only mentioned a few times in the book but it was heavily implied. One thing that I noticed was the way when it went to court he copied Charles Manson almost exactly, started doin everything he could to disrupt proceedings and then demanding the judge be swapped because he had already deemed him guilty then going silent for lon periods, all identical to what Manson did. It was a good read but I'll definitely see if I can find something by someone who was closer to the case. As I say the story style kind of detracted from the brutality of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 It sounds very similar to the plot of Child 44. I assume it's loosely based on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted November 4, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2016 10 hours ago, sharkyvilla said: It sounds very similar to the plot of Child 44. I assume it's loosely based on him. It is. The story would be more interesting if they had focused more on the killings and the story behind it and the circumstances of the hunt for him than what it ultimately did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 ISIS, The State Of Terror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 On 03/11/2016 at 21:35, leemond2008 said: Well The Tenant was a truly bizarre book, not what I was expecting at all but it was a great little read, it's only short (clocks in at 180 pages) It starts off with a regular dude haggling to move into an apartment in France, the previous tenant threw themselves out of the window. The neighbours are off with poor old regular dude right from the off, banging on the walls every time he makes a sound, he ends up alienating himself as his neighbours manipulate his life and his very being, his paranoia grows and then things get really weird in the second part of the book, the end will leave you scratching your head as to what you have just been reading. A lot of it seems to be left down to the reader to decide what has actually happened to the main character. It was reminiscent of Thomas Ligotti's work (for a modern reference) and it was like a watered down Kafka. Well worth a read. I don't know what to read now I've got a few books lined up but I'm not too sure what I fancy at the minute 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Quote The original novel -- a terrifying battle with an obscene, unspeakable evil that must end in victory...or madness and death -- completely and brilliantly read by its author, and winner of the Audie Award for his performance. I started re-reading this lst night, I've read it loads of times before but seeings as I'm currently watching the vastly underwhelming series (which completely disregards the exorcist 2) I thought I would re-visit the original (again) and I also went into town and picked this up today as well Quote In Paradise Lost, Milton produced a poem of epic scale, conjuring up a vast, awe-inspiring cosmos and ranging across huge tracts of space and time. And yet, in putting a charismatic Satan and naked Adam and Eve at the centre of this story, he also created an intensely human tragedy on the Fall of Man. Written when Milton was in his fifties – blind, bitterly disappointed by the Restoration and briefly in danger of execution – Paradise Lost’s apparent ambivalence towards authority has led to intense debate about whether it manages to ‘justify the ways of God to men’, or exposes the cruelty of Christianity. John Leonard’s revised edition of Paradise Lost contains full notes, elucidating Milton’s biblical, classical and historical allusions and discussing his vivid, highly original use of language and blank verse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantcpell Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 One of the best ive ever read. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 6, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 6, 2016 ^^^^ Excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Just had a quick look on Amazon at the good soldier, is it really 900 pages long. Every book I pick up seems to be a beast at the moment. Think I need to find a solid 300 pager I can zip through quickly. Will stick this on wish list for the future though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 6, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 6, 2016 The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford)? Or The Good Soldier Švejk (Jaroslav Hasek)? Both excellent, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 U.S.A. By John Dos Passos I would place this somewhere between Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and despite its substantial length is definitely an easy and very amusing read. The intersecting stories of a collection of characters are interlarded with news reports, newspaper headlines, the lyrics of popular songs and the biographies of America's rich and (in)famous, which add up to portray early 20th century America as a brutal repressive society, and ridicules the orthodox jingoism. Where Steinbeck uses sentimentality Dos Passos uses bitter ironic humour and presents his characters as victims of their passions and appetites, as well as the victims of the police and company security guards cracking their heads with billy clubs or even killing them, if they try to organise, or speak. Obviously didactic and it easily provoked my own class consciousness; a rewarding antidote to American propaganda and cant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 I've been meaning to read some Steinbeck stuff, I have only read 'Of Mice and Men' and that was when I was at school (teacher gave me a bollocking cuz we were only supposed to read up to chapter 3 and I finished the book, who'd a thunk that you could get into trouble for actually reading) would you people recommend Grapes of Wrath? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 7, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2016 (edited) 38 minutes ago, leemond2008 said: I've been meaning to read some Steinbeck stuff, I have only read 'Of Mice and Men' and that was when I was at school (teacher gave me a bollocking cuz we were only supposed to read up to chapter 3 and I finished the book, who'd a thunk that you could get into trouble for actually reading) would you people recommend Grapes of Wrath? Yes. But for me, his masterpiece is 'East of Eden'. And some of his non-fiction is great - especially 'Travels With Charley' and 'The Log of the Sea of Cortez'. Edited November 7, 2016 by mjmooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 7, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2016 1 hour ago, MakemineVanilla said: U.S.A. By John Dos Passos I would place this somewhere between Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and despite its substantial length is definitely an easy and very amusing read. The intersecting stories of a collection of characters are interlarded with news reports, newspaper headlines, the lyrics of popular songs and the biographies of America's rich and (in)famous, which add up to portray early 20th century America as a brutal repressive society, and ridicules the orthodox jingoism. Where Steinbeck uses sentimentality Dos Passos uses bitter ironic humour and presents his characters as victims of their passions and appetites, as well as the victims of the police and company security guards cracking their heads with billy clubs or even killing them, if they try to organise, or speak. Obviously didactic and it easily provoked my own class consciousness; a rewarding antidote to American propaganda and cant. Glad you liked it. Dos Passos' political views swung to the right in later years, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 1 hour ago, mjmooney said: Glad you liked it. Dos Passos' political views swung to the right in later years, btw. He met the Russians in Spain apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted November 7, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2016 Started reading my first book since I left school 12 years ago. Alan Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking". Struggle with reading a lot but enjoying it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 18 hours ago, mjmooney said: The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford)? Or The Good Soldier Švejk (Jaroslav Hasek)? Both excellent, anyway. Yeah second one as recommended above. Looks interesting but as I said I can't face another beat right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 3 hours ago, PieFacE said: Started reading my first book since I left school 12 years ago. Alan Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking". Struggle with reading a lot but enjoying it so far. Speaking with my mate earlier on (I was sitting down reading my book at my desk) and he came over and told me that he's currently reading Lemmy's autobiography, I asked him if it is any good and he said 'yeah I'm about 150 pages into it, I started it just after he died' Now I understand that some people don't read much but jesus to be reading a book for nearly 12 months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 (edited) On 28/08/2016 at 19:00, theboyangel said: Has anyone read Neil Gaiman's American Gods?? Found a copy today and heard its been made into a TV series I'm currently ~ a third of the way through it but I'm debating giving up. It just seems like a bunch of random paranomal events that don't really add up to much as Shadow suspends his disbelief. As for it being made into a TV show, I can't see how it would be anything other than terrible. Edited November 9, 2016 by villa89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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