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[Archived] Holiday Reading


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When on form the prose of Irvine Welsh can touch the levels of genius. It is also very easy to get used to once you get going. It can become almost lyrical when you get into it. 'Glue' isn't his best work but I seem to remember thinking that would be an easy book to start on. Filth might be best left until later as it far less straight forward and the talking intestinal worm might be a bit off-putting to the Welsh newbie.

I liked all of LOTR as it happens...ignore people who say to skip anything. Read it and make up your own mind. You wouldn't be the first or last to either love or hate all of it.

Edited by FourLaneBlue
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I love "Trainspotting" the film but I really had a hard time reading the book.

Possibly my difficulty is with anything but "straight" English. I've struggled with James Joyce's "Ullyssses" and "Finnegans Wake" although I've really tried my best.

Like "Trainspotting" they just don't flow quickly enough for me. It makes reading difficult and it's not meant to be that is it?

Watch out for 294 and 295 though. Heartbreaking.

I'll just go and rip them out right now , the library will never know.

Just joking

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Back to the top yet again..

If you only read one book ever again, let it be this.

Page 123 and it is enthralling. Thank you CS. The cooker remains uncleaned. The vacuum cleaner un-pushed.

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Finished reading Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka last night and it was bloody great. Other reviews have compared it favourably to James Clavell's Shogun but I can't say as I have never read the latter.

Anyway, without giving any of the plot away - samurais, ninjas, geishas, gunslingers, rebels, traitors, battles, murder, assassination, prophecies, palaces and whorehouses. Oh and... er... a lot of tea.

Very entertaining and very easy to get into so ideal holiday fodder. The violence is somewhat graphic, including a fair bit against women and children, so maybe not recommended for the particularly squeamish.

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I just finished Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger. It's a brilliant study of small town America and the obsessions and lives of the people who live in places like Odessa, Texas.

I've now moved onto Shoeless Joe (Field of Dreams is the film of the book) by W.P. Kinsella.

Edited by Rovermatt
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I just finished Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger. It's a brilliant study of small town America and the obsessions and lives of the people who live in places like Odessa, Texas.

Never read the book but watched the film, decent watch really, does the book go in the same direction? ie. a lot of us football involved rather than every day life?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hoicking this back to the top:

"This Thing Of Darkness" has finally been finished.

What a marvellous novel, and more so for being Harry Thompson's first (and only.) The research he put into it must have been phenominal. (sp?)

On to something a bit lighter now - Bill Bryson's "Neither here Nor There." Picked up at Oxfam in Whitehaven for £1.99. Lovely.

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Has anyone else read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy? I was told to read it by my sister and it has had some very good reviews, but so far I haven't really enjoyed it, I've not really liked the style. Is this how he always writes?

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The book you said you would read, although I think "vow" is going a bit too far, was IMPERIAL GOVERNOR by George Shipway, if I remember rightly. Bloody first class stuff and you should make time for it, but TTOD is better.

Well , it's finally been read after all this time !!

Similar to the Robert Graves "Claudius" novels but not nearly of the same outstanding quality . To be perfectly honest , although the book was obviously meticulously researched , none of the characters really came alive . In the end I didn't really care who won , lost or survived the battles described . Still readable though .

My holiday reading is hopefully going to be Nathanial Philbrick's most recent book "Mayflower" about the new Englnd settlement if I can pick it up in time... If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it .

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You're a hard man to please and of all the people who has read it at my suggestion, you're the first not to be anything other than heartily impressed. I think the whole point of Suetonius Paulinus being so unlikeable is deliberate on behalf of the author. He's a cold bugger and he's on "their" side against "our" side, but I still found myself wanting the Romans to win. That Boudica seemed like a right bitch.

Colin - glad you liked it. Makes you wonder what else Harry Thompson could have done if he'd had more time on earth.

As for my recent reads...

Started reading Interview with the vampire by Anne Rice at my 20 year old niece's great insistence. Got 50 odd pages in before it was hurled across the room on the grounds that it was completely sh1te. It's now in a box awaiting sale on Ebay.

Read The people's act of love by James Meek as it sounded good - Siberian town during Russian civil war under martial law and cannibal on the loose getting rid of the locals while the Bolshevik army closes in on the town. Excessively wordy (great if you want a two paragraph description of a table lamp) and completely lacking in pace, suspense or anything remotely creepy. Astonishingly boring. Don't bother.

Viking - Vols 1 & 2 by Tim Severin. Well researched, pleasantly readable, not too much religious mumbo-jumbo but nearly enough raping, stealing and pillaging. In fact, there's no rape or pillage. A few florid characters helped it along though. Not great literature but similar in mood and style to Simon Scarrow's Eagle books.

Just started reading The Little Emperors by the fantastic Alfred Duggan (have a look at his entertaining biog on Wikipedia) and I have to say it's not as good as the others of his that I have read. Early days yet though and the reviews on Amazon are encouraging.

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I think the whole point of Suetonius Paulinus being so unlikeable is deliberate on behalf of the author. He's a cold bugger and he's on "their" side against "our" side, but I still found myself wanting the Romans to win.

Funnily enough I've always put myself on the side of the Romans but this time I wanted the Brits to win...... :ph34r:

Paulinus's character seemed too contrived in his "coldness" ...as if the author was trying too hard to make him appear so . I've already forgotten anything about the other characters and SP's "affair" with Cartimandua never rang true and seemed to be just shoved in for a bit of love interest . Maybe the author was hoping for a film deal out of it ......

Cheers anyway , Sidders . :)

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On my latest regular trip to the local library I picked up "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley.

He's a football journalist, used to be at "The Observer" now at "The Mail On Sunday."

Born in Weymouth, he always followed it's football club which was playing in the Southern League. Due to its mismanagement he took over the club and became Chairman. It describes the 18 months he was there until he was shafted by a local hotellier/businessman.

It may seem a million miles away from The Prem & Rovers but there are some pretty eye-opening descriptions of the business practices & financial dealings that go on within the football business, even at that level.

Apart from that it's a good read about the incestuous world of football, albeit at the lowel levels.

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I recommend "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel which tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion.

For serious crime stuff which is written in a really credible and enjoyable way, i recommend Henning Mankel starting with "the Man who Smiled". If you like it you'll have to follow this up with the next 6 or 7.

I've just ordered "This Thing of Darkness" - sounds great!

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On my latest regular trip to the local library I picked up "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley.

Sounds like a winner. I'll look out for that one.

I recommend "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel which tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion.

Agree fully. A brilliant read.

I'm part way through For Whom the Bell Tolls. I've had Hemmingway on the "to read" list for some years and I'm most impressed. I'll be enjoying more Hemmingway before the year's out.

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I've just ordered "This Thing of Darkness" - sounds great!

Get stuck in, it's a great read. My sister is now reading my copy and she's enjoying it and it isn't the sort of book she'd usually go for. Good to see you back again, Rosie.

I'm currently reading "A spot of bother" by Mark Haddon who many will remember for "The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime". Got to say it hasn't grabbed me yet but I remain hopeful.

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"A spot of bother" by Mark Haddon who many will remember for "The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime".

He must have nicked that latter title from Ron Davies. The git.

Anyway, I just finished W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe-a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost.

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