Now reading...

[aparxa]

Making my way through the third volume of Mémoires d'outre-tombe of Chateaubriand. A real delight to read. Superb passages in the first two volumes about his youth and Napoleon's life.

[Head Man]

Having read all her earlier books in the 70s & 80s I've now finally got around to reading this one from 1984.

She's a lovely writer from America's school of 'gritty realism' and this is turning out to be a really good read.

[B. Goren.]

Still under the influence of a wonderful trip of 10 days in Italy ....

[paul secor]

John Litweiler's Mojo Snake Minuet

[jlhoots]

Ann Beattie: The New Yorker Stories

[ejp626]

I decided to start with Barometer Rising. Not enjoying it very much. I'm having a lot of trouble entering the mindset of characters from WWI. It's completely scandalous that this woman is having dinner with a known drinker, etc. The novel was actually written in the late 1940s but portrays this earlier period.

But I am also generally stressed about things and maybe it wouldn't matter that much what I read, i.e. I would generally not be satisfied, so maybe it is the right time to go through a bunch of books that are only marginally of interest to me.

[king ubu]

very nice one!

[kinuta]

Enjoyed his first two so much I've put off reading this for 18 monthseven though it's been on my shelves that long. Now the 1974-9 sequel is upon us + a TV documentary so I thought I'd better pull my finger out.:

First 100 pages whizzed by. As always, he's very good at placing the politics in a social context; also at bringing out the continuities between eras where standard accounts tend to exaggerate change. He most definitely does not like Tony Benn (though generally quite detached, his right of centre sympathies seep through).

A pity he's chosen one of the eras most annoying records to title the sequel:

How much does this add to the currently running four part tv series ?

[A Lark Ascending]

Enjoyed his first two so much I've put off reading this for 18 monthseven though it's been on my shelves that long. Now the 1974-9 sequel is upon us + a TV documentary so I thought I'd better pull my finger out.:

First 100 pages whizzed by. As always, he's very good at placing the politics in a social context; also at bringing out the continuities between eras where standard accounts tend to exaggerate change. He most definitely does not like Tony Benn (though generally quite detached, his right of centre sympathies seep through).

A pity he's chosen one of the eras most annoying records to title the sequel:

How much does this add to the currently running four part tv series ?

I've videoed (or freeviewed!) the series to watch after reading the books - should have no. 3 finished in about ten days. I imagine I'll leave it a while befoire reading 4.. Then I'll watch the series.

I get the impression the series is based around books 3 + 4. Can't imagine the films can get close to the detail of the books.

He's very, very easy to read. This is popular history rather than coalface historian stuff.

Edited May 2, 2012 by A Lark Ascending

[kinuta]

Finished All Hell Let Loose, which was excellent, and have started this.

Edited May 4, 2012 by kinuta

[Jazzmoose]

I'll be honest; I sure wish I'd ordered the right book-if you want to try Inferno, just let me know...

[BillF]

Have now read all of the Le Carré spy novels ...

[Valeria Victrix]

Rereading Banks lately - he's one of the very best sci-fi authors currently writing IMO. This one is - as always - a damn fine read, but not quite up with his best. I enjoyed it much more first time round.

[B. Goren.]

[Jazzmoose]

I picked this one up just to get over the free shipping level, basically, but it's a very good read.

[BillF]

[BruceH]

Rereading Banks lately - he's one of the very best sci-fi authors currently writing IMO. This one is - as always - a damn fine read, but not quite up with his best. I enjoyed it much more first time round.

There are some books in which his sadism gets the upper hand. This is one of them.

[Head Man]

I chanced on a broadcast on Radio 4 where Julian Barnes & Hermione Lee discussed this novel and so decided to give it a go.

It is the first and only novel of a French writer who died in the early days of World War 1 and is very evocative of time and place. A delightful read.

[thedwork]

halfway through this and am literally laughing-out-loud every page. fantastic. a much welcome respite from the last few years of my exclusive non-fiction/political journalism reading...

Edited May 12, 2012 by thedwork

[BillF]

halfway through this and am literally laughing-out-loud every page. fantastic. a much welcome respite from the last few years of my exclusive non-fiction/political journalism reading...

Yes, it was a good read! Liked this one, too - just the thing for those who discuss music on the internet!

[Lazaro Vega]

"Blond" by Joyce Carol Oates.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Lazaro Vega

[jazzbo]

I joined the Pete Campbell Book of the Month club.

[John Tapscott]

Great book. Parts of it read like an exciting spy novel, except of course, this was for real.

Edited May 12, 2012 by John Tapscott

[paul secor]

Great book. Parts of it read like an exciting spy novel, except of course, this was for real.

Saw a documentary film on Bonhoeffer about a year ago. A fascinating tragic life.

[T.D.]

I may live to regret this (the first 200 pp. have been good enough, but have scarcely made a dent in the total): recently started a one-volume (not just a brick, more like a cinder-block) edition of Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet.

Believe it or not, I've almost finished!

Rather strange, but very good. I can't outright recommend the series for general consumption due to length (over 1,900 pp.!).