Now reading...

[Head Man]

Described in The Observer a few weeks ago as ..."the best writer nobody's heard of", he really does write beautifully. I read this series of reminisciences from his life in a single go, it was "un-put-down-able".

I've also just finished this by him:

which is the story of his time as a fighter pilot before and during the Korean War. Again, it's beautifully written.

Can anyone recommend any of his fiction?

[crisp]

Speaking of Jacobson, I never "got" Kalooki Nights at all. I'm also fairly sure I wouldn't like The Finkler Question, but his very latest (Zoo Time) looks interesting enough that I might give it a go.

This is my first Jacobson novel, having long enjoyed his TV documentaries and general demeanour in the media. I think I made an attempt at Coming From Behind but gave up. I strongly recommend The Finkler Question, however. I'll try Kalooki Nights next I think.

[paul secor]

Described in The Observer a few weeks ago as ..."the best writer nobody's heard of", he really does write beautifully. I read this series of reminisciences from his life in a single go, it was "un-put-down-able".

I've also just finished this by him:

which is the story of his time as a fighter pilot before and during the Korean War. Again, it's beautifully written.

Can anyone recommend any of his fiction?

I recently read All That Is. Here's my Goodreads review:

I had two reactions to All That Is - the narrative/story line wasn't much - basically a man who thinks that the next woman is going to be "the one", with a nasty bit of revenge thrown in. That gets three stars. I would never reread the novel for that.

I may return to it because of the craft with which Mr. Salter writes.

There are innumerable sentences, paragraphs, and scenes which I would like to reread just in order to study what the author has done. The revenge passage, for example, was so well written that I was almost able to forget about the evil involved. Five stars for the craft of the writing.

[steve(thelil)]

My non-fiction (especially memoir) addiction is continuing. I think one of the things I like about non-fiction is that I don't get confused reading several books at once. With fiction, I lose the plot if I don't read a book start to finish.

Just finished

The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America

by Mike McIntyre : About a guy who hitchhiked across the US with no money on him. Loved it.

Finishing:

In the middle of:
1982 by Jian Gomeshi

Pleasant but lightweight coming of age memoir by the host of CBC's "Q" radio magazine Also in the middle of

Backing into Forward by Jules Feiffer

Good memoir by very accomplished writer, cartoonist,playright.

Also in middle of Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin

Springsteen Bio. The stuff about his childhood and early career was fascinating. Well written

Edited June 6, 2013 by steve(thelil)

[Head Man]

Described in The Observer a few weeks ago as ..."the best writer nobody's heard of", he really does write beautifully. I read this series of reminisciences from his life in a single go, it was "un-put-down-able".

I've also just finished this by him:

which is the story of his time as a fighter pilot before and during the Korean War. Again, it's beautifully written.

Can anyone recommend any of his fiction?

I recently read All That Is. Here's my Goodreads review:

I had two reactions to All That Is - the narrative/story line wasn't much - basically a man who thinks that the next woman is going to be "the one", with a nasty bit of revenge thrown in. That gets three stars. I would never reread the novel for that.

I may return to it because of the craft with which Mr. Salter writes.

There are innumerable sentences, paragraphs, and scenes which I would like to reread just in order to study what the author has done. The revenge passage, for example, was so well written that I was almost able to forget about the evil involved. Five stars for the craft of the writing.

Thanks for that, Paul.

The recent publication in the UK of "All That Is", was the reason he was featured in The Observer recently.

I think I'll try his earlier novel "A Sport and a Pastime" first, and see how I enjoy that.

[BillF]

Described in The Observer a few weeks ago as ..."the best writer nobody's heard of", he really does write beautifully. I read this series of reminisciences from his life in a single go, it was "un-put-down-able".

I've also just finished this by him:

which is the story of his time as a fighter pilot before and during the Korean War. Again, it's beautifully written.

Can anyone recommend any of his fiction?

I recently read All That Is. Here's my Goodreads review:

I had two reactions to All That Is - the narrative/story line wasn't much - basically a man who thinks that the next woman is going to be "the one", with a nasty bit of revenge thrown in. That gets three stars. I would never reread the novel for that.

I may return to it because of the craft with which Mr. Salter writes.

There are innumerable sentences, paragraphs, and scenes which I would like to reread just in order to study what the author has done. The revenge passage, for example, was so well written that I was almost able to forget about the evil involved. Five stars for the craft of the writing.

I have read two novels and a short story collection by Salter: The Hunters, A Sport and a Pastime and Dusk and Other Stories. I was very impressed by the novels, particularly the first, Korean War one. I'm just about to start All That Is, which has just been published in the UK and which has been supplied by my public library.

[ejp626]

I have read two novels and a short story collection by Salter: The Hunters, A Sport and a Pastime and Dusk and Other Stories. I was very impressed by the novels, particularly the first, Korean War one. I'm just about to start All That Is, which has just been published in the UK and which has been supplied by my public library.

I picked up Dusk and Other Stories recently. I haven't cracked it yet, and probably won't for some time, but I have certainly heard good things about it.

(It was actually lost/stolen at my local library, and assuming I finish it in any reasonable time frame, I will donate it as a replacement (probably).)

[alankin]

Charles Williams - Dead Calm

[BillF]

The entanglements of the plot defeated me on this one, so gave up after 100 pages.

[John Litweiler]

Charles Williams - Dead Calm

The first half of The Diamond Bikini by Charles Williams is excellent and he wrote a couple of other enjoyable caper stories. Makes me want to find more of his novels in his manic mode. He wrote some depressive ones too - conventional more-or-less noir.

[Larry Kart]

Charles Williams - Dead Calm

The first half of The Diamond Bikini by Charles Williams is excellent and he wrote a couple of other enjoyable caper stories. Makes me want to find more of his novels in his manic mode. He wrote some depressive ones too - conventional more-or-less noir.

Read everything I could find by Williams a few years back. IIRC, I particularly liked "Man on a Leash."

[erwbol]

RIP Iain M. Banks.

[erwbol]

T.C. Vilabier's 26th String-Specific Sonata For An Instrument Yet To Be Invented, MW 1211.

[Jerry_L]

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory [Paperback]

Brian Greene (Author)

Brian Greene is an excellent science author. He's a darn good explainer.

[rdavenport]

Recently been on holiday, where I read:

Kurt Vonnegut - Bluebeard (my favourite Vonnegut)

James Ellroy - White Jazz

Donald Goines - Dopefiend

Donald Goines - Inner City Hoodlum (very disappointing)

[Jazzmoose]

Kurt Vonnegut - Bluebeard (my favourite Vonnegut)

I think that's mine as well.

Finishing:

Just out of curiosity, have you read Veeck as in Wreck? A fun book.

[BillF]

Described in The Observer a few weeks ago as ..."the best writer nobody's heard of", he really does write beautifully. I read this series of reminisciences from his life in a single go, it was "un-put-down-able".

I've also just finished this by him:

which is the story of his time as a fighter pilot before and during the Korean War. Again, it's beautifully written.

Can anyone recommend any of his fiction?

I recently read All That Is. Here's my Goodreads review:

I had two reactions to All That Is - the narrative/story line wasn't much - basically a man who thinks that the next woman is going to be "the one", with a nasty bit of revenge thrown in. That gets three stars. I would never reread the novel for that.

I may return to it because of the craft with which Mr. Salter writes.

There are innumerable sentences, paragraphs, and scenes which I would like to reread just in order to study what the author has done. The revenge passage, for example, was so well written that I was almost able to forget about the evil involved. Five stars for the craft of the writing.

Just finished All That Is. Fully agree with your assessment, Paul. Numerous paragraphs could function perfectly on their own as brief short stories.I wonder just how autobiographical this book is.

[ejp626]

Just begun Anna Karenina. Looks fairly promising, but very long. I hope I can maintain sufficient focus throughout.

[BillF]

Just begun Anna Karenina. Looks fairly promising, but very long. I hope I can maintain sufficient focus throughout.

Had a go at it in my youth. Regret to say I never got to the end.

[ejp626]

Just begun Anna Karenina. Looks fairly promising, but very long. I hope I can maintain sufficient focus throughout.

Had a go at it in my youth. Regret to say I never got to the end.

I was on Team Fyodor in my youth, even managing to get through The Brothers Karamazov in a bit over a week (ah, when I had time!) though I never got around to The Devils, The Gambler, or The Idiot back then (almost all the other novels and stories, however).

So now I am making a major effort to tackle the Russian classics I missed at the time, which means reading a lot more Tolstoy. (I did get through The Idiot just a week or so ago, but wasn't that into it actually.)

[BillF]

Just begun Anna Karenina. Looks fairly promising, but very long. I hope I can maintain sufficient focus throughout.

Had a go at it in my youth. Regret to say I never got to the end.

I was on Team Fyodor in my youth, even managing to get through The Brothers Karamazov in a bit over a week (ah, when I had time!) though I never got around to The Devils, The Gambler, or The Idiot back then (almost all the other novels and stories, however).

So now I am making a major effort to tackle the Russian classics I missed at the time, which means reading a lot more Tolstoy. (I did get through The Idiot just a week or so ago, but wasn't that into it actually.)

A barrier between me and Russian authors is that I always feel a bit uneasy that I'm not really getting what was written when I read books in translation.

Edited June 14, 2013 by BillF

[rdavenport]

My copy of The Brothers Karamazov is still bookmarked from the time I gave up on it in 1997.

[A Lark Ascending]

I think it was 'The Devils' that I tried around 1978 and gave up on. Never bothered with Dostoevsky after that. As with music, there is so much out there that you are going to like that I've never had much time for pursuing things someone else says you ought to be absorbing if you are getting nothing from it.

I did read "Anna Karenina" in mid-1976 (I had time to kill as I was finding it tough finding my first job) and loved it. Didn't find it difficult or long-winded. Followed it up with "War and Peace" (I had 6 months between finish training and getting a job!!!) which I also loved until the last 100 or more pages where Tolstoy flips into a long philosophical ramble. Gave up there. Always regret having got 19/20ths through but never finishing that.

Enjoyed Turgenev in those Russian months too.

Edited June 15, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[David Ayers]

Oksanen's novel Purge was translated from Finnish into English and did well but once again it was left to the French to press on with translation and this is now her third title to appear in French.

The background of this one as of Purge is Estonia and the legacy of Soviet domination. I recommend Purge as a historical thriller centered on questions of women's lives. Don't whatever you do read the blurb which contains a plot spoiler!

This one, When the Doves Disappeared deals with the legacy of the Nazi occupation of Estonia 1941-4.

[Head Man]

Oksanen's novel Purge was translated from Finnish into English and did well but once again it was left to the French to press on with translation and this is now her third title to appear in French.

The background of this one as of Purge is Estonia and the legacy of Soviet domination. I recommend Purge as a historical thriller centered on questions of women's lives. Don't whatever you do read the blurb which contains a plot spoiler!

This one, When the Doves Disappeared deals with the legacy of the Nazi occupation of Estonia 1941-4.

Thanks for the recommendation, David. I've put in an order for a used copy of "Purge".

Edited June 15, 2013 by Head Man