ejp626 Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Finally done with a lot of books that didn't do much for me, I can read a few more purely entertaining books. I decided on the theme of road trip, so I am reading Faulkner's The Reivers. A little bit down the road, I will reread Handling Sin by Michael Malone (and while I don't know this, I certainly suspect that Malone was inspired at least a bit by The Reivers). Then Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie and Greene's Travels with My Aunt. Faulkner can certainly be quite funny when you get past some of the "difficult," even baroque passages. The Reivers has a bit of the convoluted writing of his mid-career novels, but is generally a simpler read. Faulkner's ear for dialect is amazing, and when you read all the back-and-forth in the bordello kitchen for instance, it is flat-out hilarious. I am really enjoying it. I was wondering why it hadn't been made into a movie, and apparently it was (in 1969 with Steve McQueen). I wonder how much they had to tone it down back then. Anyway, I guess I'll see about scoring a copy, since it eventually did make it to DVD. (As far as I know, no one has made Handling Sin into a movie. Apparently, Malone actually delivered a script to some studio but it never went anywhere.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 (edited) Can't believe that UK TV had nothing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Very impressed so far - pacey narrative with lots of worm's eye views. Edited December 15, 2012 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 L. A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin. Story of Mickey Cohen, who was the king mobster in LA, and William Parker, the famous LA Chief of Police. Very good so far, but the whole "struggle for the soul of LA" is, of course, complete bs, but a writer does need a hook to sell a book. It would be nice if LA was not always examined through the glasses of Raymond Chandler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Peter Pullman: Wail (bought the paperback) Gunther Schuller: The Swing Era Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 L. A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin. Story of Mickey Cohen, who was the king mobster in LA, and William Parker, the famous LA Chief of Police. Very good so far, but the whole "struggle for the soul of LA" is, of course, complete bs, but a writer does need a hook to sell a book. It would be nice if LA was not always examined through the glasses of Raymond Chandler. Or if they'd actually wear the right prescription Chandler glasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Simenon: My Friend Maigret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Love Simenon! Was just looking at a few Maigret titles in the book store today and couldn't decipher whether I'd already read them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Love Simenon! Was just looking at a few Maigret titles in the book store today and couldn't decipher whether I'd already read them! Many times I can't remember if I've read a Maigret before until I read a fair number of pages. And by then it doesn't matter. I just end up rereading and enjoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Hospital reading. Two weeks and things have picked up with the Civil War in full throttle. Tough going, I realised how little I knew about this vital piece of history. BTW I'm back home now. Edited December 19, 2012 by kinuta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hospital reading. Two weeks and things have picked up with the Civil War in full throttle. Tough going, I realised how little I knew about this vital piece of history. BTW I'm back home now. Best wishes on a full recovery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 Glad you're back home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Lindsay Faye's Dust and Shadow - Captures the spirit of Conan Doyle and Holmes better than any other contemporary rendition of Sherlock that I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 The Early Earthly Stories Of Mortin And The Mourlins' Last Good Renderin Of The Eye-In-The-Pie-in-the-Stormy-Red-Sky Stories (as told by by Sax O'Gaudhofter) Best read Alone, which to this pint has not been a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 I really should give Moorcock a try sometime; all I've ever read by him is Behold the Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) I like the Elric stories best; I also like his non-sicence fiction historical novels and fantasies. Now "Conversations with Henry Miller," edited by Frank L. Kersnowski and Alice Hughes Edited December 23, 2012 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) Just finished. Best thing I've read on the Cuban Missile Crisis - tremendous sense of narrative drive. Seeing things from the eye of the U2 pilot who strayed into Siberia or one of the Soviet nuclear submarine captains gives you a very different perspective. Gives a tremendous sense of just how much was beyond the control of both administrations. Over half way through - not a riveting read, but someone I wanted to know more about. A Cambridge Spies "6th man" espionage thriller. Not enjoying it much. A bit cardboard cut-out character wise (it's starting to remind me of the bloody Da Vinci code, without all the symbols). Edited January 2, 2013 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Simenon: Maigret and the Madwoman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 I like the Elric stories best; I also like his non-sicence fiction historical novels and fantasies. At one point I had read nearly all the Moorcock series. Elric is probably the most memorable, but I don't know how the more recent additions to the seris stack up. I kind of liked The End of Time series as well. I know he's written a number of more serious novels like Mother London and Byzantium Endures, which I've been meaning to read, but have not had the time. Am juggling three books: Madame Bovary (have never read the entire thing) -- it is part of my "infidelity" mini-challenge. Rushdie's Midnight's Children (re-reading this -- I had planned on seeing the movie afterwards but plans changed). Amado's The War of the Saints The later two are overly convoluted, esp. the Amado, and just take too long to get to the actual plot. I definitely liked Midnight's Children more in college, when I was generally more receptive to "playfulness" on the part of the author. Now I value taut storytelling much more and have far less patience with postmodern literary games. (It does make me wonder whether I should re-read Tristram Shandy, which is nothing but digressions.) I don't recall other Amado novels being so disjointed, and I wonder if he was responding to Cortazar's Hopscotch or similar fictiones (I am almost positive I wouldn't want to re-read Hopscotch in my current frame of mind). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Not my favourite Iain M. Banks novel, but regarded as his best by many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Started this last summer - got as far as World War II and then got distracted by Napoleonic sea-going books. Picked it up again last week and am well into it. Not what you would call a rip-roaring read but a superbly written and measured bit of historical biography. Gaddis clearly loves his subject (he knew him) but this is no hagiography. It's as much about where Kennan completely missed his mark as the famous point when everyone ran with his ideas. You probably need to have an outline knowledge of the Cold War to get much from it; but what I'm finding fascinating is the other directions Kennan kept pointing in. Helps make the whole thing more three dimensional. Looking forward to seeing his reaction to Vietnam - the blurb suggest he was highly critical. He was a guitar player too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Justin Cronin: The Twelve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 New World Coming: The 1920s And The Making Of Modern America by Nathan Miller. A very interesting account of the 1920s, and how the contemporary world was foreshadowed by the events and culture of the 1920s. Enjoying this very much -- recommended if you're interested in this era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Just finished this Christmas present. Complete tosh, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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