Books what you is reading: Page 12 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Books what you is reading

Burnwinter

If you're going to read Martin other than Game of Thrones, I can recommend what I've read: his vampire novel Fevre Dream, which was quality, and his short stories of which there are a few absolute corkers, especially the horror ones.

Rex

Just read The Age Of Innocence. Wharton's sense of irony is very funny. That she breaks convention regarding other novels of manner is also interesting, and the exploration between the dynamics of self and group is well portrayed. Excellent read all in all.

RocktheCasbah

Reading Truman Capote's depiction of "the American dream turned American nightmare", In Cold Blood. It's riveting.

Biggus

Pepe LeFrits wrote:
I just went and bought six or seven history books at the weekend. I hope to have them finished by... hmm, 2020.

Mind you, I finished the first one last night; Callsign Hades by Patrick Bury. It's by an Irish guy who served as an officer with the 1st Royal Irish in the British Army in Afghanistan. Excellent, and obviously considering I finished it so quickly, easy read.

Moving on to a book on the battle of Agincourt now, before I (some day) read Nathaniel Fick's Iraq book (the Lt from Generation Kill).

Good man, once you know your history you can see where GG Martin gets all his scenes from.

If you like your history dry check out-
Xenophon- Anabasis
Suetonius- the twelve Caesars
Froissart- Chronicles

But if you prefer your history romantic and alternative check out
Sharon Penman-
When Christ and his Saints slept (The struggle of Williams successors)
Here be dragons (Magna carta and the welsh rebellion)
The sunne in splendour (Wars of the roses Richard 111 was a really nice guy)

Edward Rutherfurd- The Forest/Dublin/London (which I'm presently reading) a romantic history of places through the people and their descendants who inhabited them.

Timbob

About a 3rd of the way through Tinker, Tailor. Bloody loving it.

Burnwinter

Should really read that. I've only read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and it was fucking great.

GaelForce

After my third attempt, I finally managed to get through the first five pages of A Clockwork Orange. Halfway through now I'm still not sure if I'm enjoying it, the language etc. Heard the book was better from some people but definitely prefer the film thus far.

Klaus

It's been a while since I read it, but I'm not sure I agree either with the idea of a book that comes with a glossary needed in order to decipher the text. It just strikes me as a bullshit way to create a false illusion of authenticity.

Burnwinter

In my opinion it's a work of genius. Also, the glossary isn't really necessary, Nadsat is easy enough to understand, it's a pretty small vocabulary in the end.

Anthony Burgess and Russell Hoban are two fucking awesome writers who did experimental stuff like that (Hoban with Riddley Walker). Iain Banks too actually (Feersum Endjinn).

Klaus

Haha, maybe. I haven't read it since high school so my opinion doesn't carry much weight, really. Bulgakov also experimented with a similar argot technique in The Master and Margarita and he pulled it off gloriously. I loved that book. I should probably reread A Clockwork Orange one of those days.

Burnwinter

The Master and Margarita was very cool, and very gutsy for Bulgakov to have written such a blatantly cynical, dissident book given the times. There's a Russian sense of humour there which is recognisable, very bleak. Gogol's Dead Souls has it too.

Klaus

Love Gogol. There's a bit of that Russian folk mentality in Taras Bulba too. They're calling it "toska" in Russia apparently. It's one of those words you can't really translate but it corresponds to a kind of state of sadness and melancholy. It carries more nuances and connotations than either of those words though.

MistaT

kamikaze

reading notes from a small island by bill bryson. making me wistful for england, with some lols interspersed. or maybe the other way around.

Tony Montana

I've read that!

Brilliant. I love his books. I'm reading notes from a big country.....again!

Making me wistful for USA!

Timbob

Timothy wrote:
About a 3rd of the way through Tinker, Tailor. Bloody loving it.

Awesome. Just started The Honourable Schoolboy. Gonna read the whole Karla trilogy I think, can't get enough.

TambourineMan

Been reading Women and Men by Joseph McElroy. Quite liking it so far.

Biggus

Let us know who wins in the end Tambourine.

Rex

Just read Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. Terrific read.

Barton

The Eternal Smile. Par Lagerkvist was a visionary.

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