mjmooney Posted October 9, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted October 9, 2017 Can't go wrong with Nabokov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 22 hours ago, mjmooney said: Can't go wrong with Nabokov. I'm really liking him at the minute, Bend Sinister has started off really strongly, I started it yesterday and I'm 50 pages in so far, its not the biggest of books either so I should get it finished in the next few days. What else would you recommend by him Moon Man? the only other one I've read is Lolita which I thought was fantastic. I do find that it takes a good few pages to adapt to his writing style, its like my brain needs to reset itself to Nabakov mode but I'm thoroughly enjoying it at the moment. Quote 'The Golem had a magnificent reception, and the collected volume published in 1915 sold 200,000 copies. Meyrink went on to write several more books, including The Green Face, Walpurgisnacht, the White Dominican and The Angel of the West Window. All have been published in English by Dedalus Books since the mid-1980s, and Mike Mitchell's excellent 1995 translations are definitely worth seeking out. Meyrink was, of course, a contemporary of Kafka, and his novels have a lot in common with Prague's better-known fantasist. As Robert Irwin says in the introduction to the Dedalus edition of The Golem: We have the Castle which is not Kafka's Castle, the Trial which is not Kafka's Trial, and a Prague which is not Kafka's Prague; HP Lovecraft was more succinct, calling The Golem 'the most magnificent weird thing I've come across in aeons'. A century after its first publication, The Golem endures as a piece of modernist fantasy that deserves to take its place alongside Kafka, from an author whose life was almost as fantastic as his fiction.' The Guardian Book Blog 'A superbly atmospheric story set in the old Prague ghetto featuring the Golem, a kind of rabbinical Frankenstein s monster, which manifests every 33 years in a room without a door. Stranger still, it seems to have the same face as the narrator. Made into a film in 1920, this extraordinary book combines the uncanny psychology of doppelganger stories with expressionism and more than a little melodrama... Meyrink s old Prague like Dickens s London is one of the great creation of city writing, an eerie, claustrophobic and fantastical underworld where anything can happen.' Phil Baker in The Sunday Times this was delivered yesterday, I can't wait to get started on it but I'm getting bogged down with things that I need to read at the minute so I don't know when I'll get around to this one. I am banning myself from Amazon for a month or two, I've spent £60 on books in the last month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 10, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted October 10, 2017 All Nabokov's books are good, but my favourites would probably be 'Ada' and 'Pale Fire'. The collected short stories are also worth getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 @mjmooney (And anyone else if you've read it) What are your thoughts on 'The Original of Laura'? On 9/18/2017 at 13:41, veloman said: Just finishing, " The Odd Man Out" by Graham Denton, the story of Ron Saunders. Reminds me of my 'youth(ish) and very nostalgic. Anyone else read this and what did you think ? It appears to be researched in great detail, it's a fascinating story regarding a fascinating man (obvious bias haha). I really liked how well structured it was. All the coverage of how badly we were doing whilst he was on the up before he signed on. Just how strict he was and how steadily we built towards the league and European cup wins. And then...the heartbreak and everything afterwards. A fantastic book about a disciplinarian (who would be even next to some of the people I've worked with and for) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 11, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2017 11 hours ago, 8pints said: @mjmooney (And anyone else if you've read it) What are your thoughts on 'The Original of Laura'? Sorry, I haven't read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 10 hours ago, mjmooney said: Sorry, I haven't read it. I always think it's interesting that it wasn't finished, Nabokov didn't want it published and in the end it was his son who made the choice to. It states the obvious to say it feels unfinished but it is an interesting insight into his writing process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 (edited) On 8/21/2017 at 20:25, Rodders said: I started reading IT when I was 12. I was a sensitive soul and it scared the **** shit out of me. I subsequently threw the book on the fire. Not good, and sadly not the only book I burned either. ( Though I emphatically stopped at 2 ). Just started these: a story set in slavery in the mid 19th century America. and for non fiction: which is starting well. former - well it is good, and I can say how it is a text to be studied in an english literature course, but I had issues with the style, even whilst acknowledging it is quite effective. She intentionally masks who is speaking and time frames as it spans present and past reflections, and it just annoyed me that I'd spend a little while working out where we were in the broader narrative. latter - excellent overview with an ambitiously broad span - looks at consequences across attitudes, nations, individuals etc, and it has a global focus with stories from asia, africa and south america too which provided an element I haven't always read much on before from this period. Touching on memory, decolonisiation, science, the cold war, technology, diversity and nationalisms, each chapter's subject area would obviously merit it's own library's worth of study, but the intention is explicit in providing a starting point of broad interest and he writes very well too. Very even handed, but accessible - not dry - for the most part, though when talking on the return of nationalism in the final pages touching on Brexit the historian's alarm at oh too familiar attitudes is quite evident. Next up: Marcus Chown - The ascent of Gravity - a popsci book for the non fiction and after a Pratchett to get the laughs back, I've got a few behemoths to choose from for a winter tuck in. Edited October 12, 2017 by Rodders 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 On 10/9/2017 at 08:22, leemond2008 said: just finished this, cracking book, although Nabokov can be quite difficult sometimes I am really enjoying his style at the minute I'm going to be starting this next Quote Winston Smith is a low-rung member of the Party, the ruling government of Oceania. He works in the Ministry of Truth, the Party's propoganda arm, where he is in charge of revising history. He is but a small brick in the pyramid that is the Party, at the head of which stands Big Brother. Big Brother the infallible. Big Brother the all-powerful. In a totalitarian society, where individuality is suppressed and freedom of thought has its antithesis in the Thought Police, Winston finds respite in the company of Julia. Originality of thought awakens, love bloosoms and hope is rekindled. But what they don't know is that Big Brother is always watching... I know I should have read this before but I have never got around to it and it seems like the perfect book to follow Bend Sinister 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikantcpell Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Finished 1984 last night, I have to say that on balance I think I would opt for re-reading Bend Sinister by Nabakov over 1984. Both brilliant books released at roughly the same time about the same subject, 1984 was more of a standard story whilst Bend Sinister made me stop and think a little bit more. As I was reading 1984 I kept thinking to myself 'wow this still seems pretty damn fresh considering it was released in 1984' then I would catch myself and think 'hang about, it is set in 1984 but it was released in 1948. It still reads as though it could have been published for the first time just yesterday. Orwell really did have the future nailed on, I mean we are 33 years down the line from when the book was set and the things that he was imagining are not far from reality now, he did a fantastic job in that regard. started this today Quote Eric Sanderson wakes up in a place he doesn't recognise, unable to remember who he is. All he has left are journal entries recalling Clio, a perfect love now gone. So begins a thrilling adventure that will send Eric and his cynical cat Ian on a search for the Ludovician, the force that is threatening his life, and Dr Trey Fidorus, the only man who knows its secrets. I'm only on page 30 or 40 at the minute, it seems like good fun though so far, from the little bits I have read online (I've been careful to avoid any spoilers) it seems as though it is like a psychological version of Jaws...whatever that could be 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 27, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted November 27, 2017 Shocked to see that this thread had dropped to page 4. Just finished this - one of the best novels I've read in years. Synopsis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 27, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted November 27, 2017 Now on these two (among others): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I found this at an indoor carboot the other day for £1. Worth a read I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 the last few I've read (I've been on a wee horror kick just lately) It's kind of a story held together by a collection of short stories, it was ok, I reckon that if I re-read it again in a year or two I'd probably enjoy it a little bit more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Quote During the 1950s, Gold Medal Books introduced authors like Jim Thompson, Chester Himes, and David Goodis to a mass readership eager for stories of lowlife and sordid crime. Today many of these writers are admired members of the literary canon, but one of the finest of them of all, Elliott Chaze, remains unjustly obscure. Now, for the first time in half a century, Chaze’s story of doomed love on the run returns to print in a trade paperback edition. When Tim Sunblade escapes from prison, his sole possession is an infallible plan for the ultimate heist. Trouble is it’s a two-person job. So when he meets Virginia, a curiously well-spoken “ten-dollar tramp,” and discovers that the only thing she cares for is “drifts of money, lumps of it,” he knows he’s met his partner. What he doesn’t suspect is that this lavender-eyed angel might just prove to be his match. Black Wings Has My Angel careens through a landscape of desperate passion and wild reversals. It is a journey you will never forget. Man this book was bloody fantastic he story was simple enough, Tim Sunblade (as he is now known) has been working a shitty job on an oil rig he finishes work and gets himself a prostitute, she ends up staying with him for a few days and although he wants to he can't seem to shake her off, she is quite honest about her interests and motives 'once the moneys gone, I'm gone' but neither of them can stay away from the other. Its a pretty volatile relationship, certainly of the love/hate variety, she tries to steal him money, he gives her a bit of a beating, she fights back, he realizes that against his better judgement he has fell in love with her and she is just the right person to help him carry out an armed robbery that he has been planning since he was inside. Virginia is certainly a restless type of girl, the mundane life doesn't agree with her, Tim Sunblade knows what he wants, he doesn't know why he wants it just that he does. Fantastic book I'd recommend it to anyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Quote The lives of the Barretts, a suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents despair, the doctors are unable to halt Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls the terrifying events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories begin to surface and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed. The author tried to bring a tired genre into the modern times, it worked to an extent, possession with iPods, tablets and reality TV. Shirley Jacksons 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is a major, major influence on this book, the main character is a little 8 year old replica of Merricat, cracking little book, enjoyable read, however it wasn't frightening in the slightest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Currently reading this, I can't actually remember buying it, it was either an accidental 'buy it now' off Amazon or I went drunk purchasing again, I do that quite often. Quote When he killed her - he used a tyre lever - he left very few bones unbroken in her body and her head. Afterwards he claimed he was possessed. The authorities were unimpressed. But later, in the cell, the priest watched as the entity took control once more. Watched as his head swelled and blackened, the charred skin splitting as white flesh and soft flexing bone burst through, as obscenity and hot bile spurted from the lipless contorted mouth. Then the priest knew the name of the Enemy he faced and shuddered. Its actually been pretty decent so far, I only started it yesterday and I'm about 100 pages in so far, typical 80's horror book, good fun and fast paced. This is my 34th book of the year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 12 hours ago, mjmooney said: Loved this book - it's exactly like his music... sometimes incredible, sometimes average, always interesting, and a tendency to just go off on a tangent for half an hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Love Neil Youngs music but the thought of reading a book about him doesn't appeal to me at all for some reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 1 hour ago, leemond2008 said: Love Neil Youngs music but the thought of reading a book about him doesn't appeal to me at all for some reason A lot of it is him writing about his cars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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