T.D. Posted August 8, 2011 Report Posted August 8, 2011 Just finished A Dead Man in Deptford, historical novel by Anthony Burgess about the life and death of Christopher Marlowe. So I've started Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Never read anything by Marlowe before. Quote
John Tapscott Posted August 9, 2011 Report Posted August 9, 2011 Bouncin' With Bartok - The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik by Jack Chambers (Mercury Press) I've had this for a while, but now just getting into it on my summer vacation. Fascinating reading. Quote
sidewinder Posted August 13, 2011 Report Posted August 13, 2011 A fascinating read! Yes, I have a copy of that one by Mike Hennessey too. Never realised he (Klook, that is) was married at one time to Annie Ross ! Quote
BillF Posted August 13, 2011 Report Posted August 13, 2011 A fascinating read! Yes, I have a copy of that one by Mike Hennessey too. Never realised he (Klook, that is) was married at one time to Annie Ross ! No mention of marriage so far, just that he got her pregnant when she was 19 and he was 17 years older! As to your copy, I notice Amazon.uk is asking about £75 for a used copy. (Mine's from the public library.) Quote
BruceH Posted August 13, 2011 Report Posted August 13, 2011 I first read this in eighth grade. It had a big impact on me then. Less impact in your eighth decade! I'll take your world for that. Quote
medjuck Posted August 13, 2011 Report Posted August 13, 2011 Chet Baker's "Lost Memoir--As Though I had Wings". Really a partial memoir in that in ends in 1963 and is very brief. Still interesting. No pretense that he wasn't a junky. Quote
BillF Posted August 14, 2011 Report Posted August 14, 2011 I first read this in eighth grade. It had a big impact on me then. Less impact in your eighth decade! I'll take your world for that. Quote
sidewinder Posted August 14, 2011 Report Posted August 14, 2011 No mention of marriage so far, just that he got her pregnant when she was 19 and he was 17 years older! As to your copy, I notice Amazon.uk is asking about £75 for a used copy. (Mine's from the public library.) Good to hear. I paid £7-8 a few years ago for the hardback. With protective binding and as new ! Quote
paul secor Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Walker Percy's The Last Gentleman Quote
alankin Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Connie Willis - "To Say Nothing of the Dog ~ or ~ How We Found The Bishop's Bird Stump At Last" Edited August 17, 2011 by alankin Quote
Leeway Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Over the last month or so have been working through the novels of Charles Dickens. I have no rational explanation for this quest except that the idea appealed to me. So far: Quote
ejp626 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Connie Willis - "To Say Nothing of the Dog ~ or ~ How We Found The Bishop's Bird Stump At Last" I read this about a year ago. Enjoyable. Didn't make me run out and read anything else by Connie Willis, but I may someday. Worth noting there is a minor riff on the classic English comic novel -- Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Connie Willis - "To Say Nothing of the Dog ~ or ~ How We Found The Bishop's Bird Stump At Last" Please report! It's been sitting on my shelves for a while. I tried Doomsday Book, but bogged down pretty quickly; not a good sign... Over the last month or so have been working through the novels of Charles Dickens. I have no rational explanation for this quest except that the idea appealed to me. So far: I spent most of my life avoiding Dickens; imagine my surprise when I finally read some... Edited August 17, 2011 by Jazzmoose Quote
ejp626 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Connie Willis - "To Say Nothing of the Dog ~ or ~ How We Found The Bishop's Bird Stump At Last" Please report! It's been sitting on my shelves for a while. I tried Doomsday Book, but bogged down pretty quickly; not a good sign... I thought it was an amusing time-travel romp. It's not as self-serious as (perhaps) the Doomsday Book. Over the last month or so have been working through the novels of Charles Dickens. I have no rational explanation for this quest except that the idea appealed to me. So far: I spent most of my life avoiding Dickens; imagine my surprise when I finally read some... At one point, I was going to read through Dickens more or less chronologically. I may still some day, but it has been pushed into the future. (I actually have read far more Trollope than Dickens.) The odd thing was that I read Pickwick Papers in my 20s and liked it, but then was less taken with it when I reread it in my late 30s. I do remember reading Bleak House for college and thinking it pretty good, so maybe I should reread that and see if I still held my interest; if so, I could go loop back and start with the middle novels, maybe Dombey & Son, which is where I think he really hit his stride. Or maybe just stick with the original plan and start in on Oliver Twist. I will be making quite a few trips between Chicago and Seattle/Vancouver between now and Jan., and long novels might be just the thing... Quote
ghost of miles Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 Richard Stark, THE MOURNER--fourth in the Parker series to which Larry Kart hipped me. I've become a Parker addict. Quote
alankin Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Richard Stark, THE MOURNER--fourth in the Parker series to which Larry Kart hipped me. I've become a Parker addict. Yeah, and Stark's other side, Donald E. Westlake has written some good ones too. I recently read one of his earlier comic novels "The Fugitive Pigeon" as well as the first two "Dortmunder" books: "The Hot Rock" and "Bank Shot." (In the first one they steal a gem over and over again and in the second they literally steal a bank.) And his 1997 novel "The Ax" could be seen as a parable of today's job market: the protagonist researches all the candidates likely to be in front of him for a job, tracks them down and does away with them. Quote
paul secor Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 Bill Moody's Looking for Chet Baker Quote
BeBop Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 Just finished up John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday. I suppose it didn't suit my mood. Just cracked open Sophocles' Three Theban Plays. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted August 18, 2011 Report Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) My usual summer detective binge: Very much enjoyed the last two - one based on the Norfolk coast, the other in Cambridge (though not the posh college side). Also another Kate Atkinson whose books I really love. Quirky sense of humour: And my big history book of the summer, a very good overview of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: The naval bits of which (alongside a trip to the 'Victory' in Portsmouth) made me read: A series I first read as a 14 year old, 40 years ago. Enjoyed it thoroughly - will try and read through the series again. Edited August 19, 2011 by A Lark Ascending Quote
porcy62 Posted August 19, 2011 Report Posted August 19, 2011 (edited) Definitely disappointing: shallow characters, dull style, lack of humor or depth. Actually I should have give it up after 20 pages, but I had to finish it, so is a perfect best seller, to some extent. Edited August 19, 2011 by porcy62 Quote
jlhoots Posted August 20, 2011 Report Posted August 20, 2011 Daniel Silva: Prince Of Fire Obviously I disagree with the above post. I really am enjoying this series of Gabriel Allon novels. Quote
porcy62 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Posted August 20, 2011 (edited) Daniel Silva: Prince Of Fire Obviously I disagree with the above post. I really am enjoying this series of Gabriel Allon novels. Compared to the best crime and spy novels, it lacks depth and humour. I mean the good guys are really really good, most of them are into Mossad only because some of their relatives were killed by the bad guys that are really really bad. I mean the worst thing the good good guys do in the novel is smoking cigarettes, despite they promised to quit to their wifes. Obvioulsy the bad bad guys smoke because they enjoy to smoke, the good guys smoke because they have to, everybody knows that keeping the world safe from the bad guys is a stressfull job. Plus there is a rankin for good and bad guys: the very very good guys are in the Mossad, the very good guys are in the CIA, the good guys are in MI5, the guys are in the French Secret Service, the bad guys are in the new KGB, FSB, the very bad guys are former KGB agent, the very bad bad bad guys are in Al-Qaeda. Compared to this novel, Spielberg's "Munich" looks like a movie wrote by Hamas. Edited August 20, 2011 by porcy62 Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 21, 2011 Report Posted August 21, 2011 A book I picked up on a used book store bender; much better than it's title, thankfully. Quote
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