kinuta Posted December 25, 2015 Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 Seems quite plodding and lacking in bounce after the film. I've got a PDF of Those Who Walk Away, will read it next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 KANGAROO - DH Lawrence - Lawrence's novel of Australia. Lawrence's mystical flights can sometimes be a bit too much, but his passion, sensitivity and honesty surmount any drawbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Some poetry. A profound, humble, uniquely lucid meditation on time's passage, place's place, and what it means to inhabit history. http://entropymag.org/a-kind-of-intelligence-that-refuses-to-act-smarter-than-its-life-a-conversation-with-ed-pavlic/ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/books/review/lets-let-that-are-not-yet-inferno-by-ed-pavlic.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Just finished Jaume Cabre - Confessions 750 pages of very well translated investigation into amongst other things, the history evil from the Inquisition to the Holocaust, consequences of one's actions and a love story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Robertson Davies: The Cornish Trilogy This was such a good read that I didn't think about the length. I want to read another Robertson trilogy in 2016. Does anyone have opinions about the Salterton Trilogy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 16 minutes ago, paul secor said: Robertson Davies: The Cornish Trilogy This was such a good read that I didn't think about the length. I want to read another Robertson trilogy in 2016. Does anyone have opinions about the Salterton Trilogy? I think it is worth reading for sure, but it is probably the lesser trilogy, in the sense that he was a better novelist by the end (Deptford and Cornish trilogy follow the Salterton Trilogy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Pomea Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Andrew Keen, The Internet is Not the Answer (Saw him interviewed recently on C-Span by Brian Lamb. Looks interesting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 8 hours ago, ejp626 said: I think it is worth reading for sure, but it is probably the lesser trilogy, in the sense that he was a better novelist by the end (Deptford and Cornish trilogy follow the Salterton Trilogy). I agree. There's a huge jump in the quality of his writing with The Deptford Trilogy. I was studying with him at the time of the publication of Fifth Business so I figured I'd better read it. I was shocked at how good it was. At the time he was better known in Canada as a personality than as a writer. His earlier work was considered rather provincial and nothing I had read (which wasn't much) didn't convince me otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niels Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Toergenjev (or Turgenev, as he is called in English I think) - Collected works, Vol.01 (Dutch edition) This volume consist of his novels; Rudin, Home of the Gentry, On the Eve and Fathers and Sons. I only read Fathers and Sons before, so this is just a pure joy to read the other novels for the first time finally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 (edited) On 22 December 2015 at 1:58 PM, crisp said: Well, it's started very well. Shaping up to be more of an old dark house mystery than a marooned train one. I tentatively recommend it. I finished Mystery in White. A pleasant read although he didn't supply the motive or all the key characters until near the end, so trying to work out the mystery was a bit of a waste of time. I've been reading this simultaneously: Great opening chapter and brilliantly constructed, although the police inquiry reminds me a bit too much of The Stain on the Snow, which I hated. I've also started this (very good so far; these mystery writers seem to have been a pretty unhappy bunch): Edited December 30, 2015 by crisp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 On 21/12/2015 at 3:04 AM, BillF said: Middlemarch was one of two set books that defeated me on my English degree course with a reading list of hundreds of books. The other was Walter Scott's Heart of Midlothian. I subsequently managed shorter novels by George Eliot. I'm with you Bill. I have finally crossed the finish line of Middlemarch. It wasn't worth it. I started out with at least a passable interest in and sympathy with many if not most of the characters. By the end, I thoroughly disliked all of them except Rev. Farebrother and perhaps Celia. I found Silas Marner mawkish and a bit stupid (if at least short) and strongly disliked The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. I'm clearly allergic to George Eliot. At one point, I had seriously considered reading Daniel Deronda, but I shan't torment myself a third time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) No 17. Not one of the strongest in the series but an entertaining read set in the Lake District. Short novel about memory and history, how we perceive, construct and misrepresent the past. My favourite theme. Had me thinking of another novel that explores this theme, Graham Swift's 'Waterland' (one of the rare novels I've read twice). Must re-read Barnes' 'A History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters' - that one really gripped me when I first read it 25 years back. Edited January 2, 2016 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjet Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Recently finished 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson. Probably the best novel I read in 2015. about a woman who lives through the most turbulent events of the 20th century, including the London Blitz, and which asks: What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? She has also written some detective stories featuring Jackson Brodie which I have yet to try but, on the evidence of 'Life After Life' should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Yes, very interesting novel and an addictive read. Her latest novel is a sequel of sorts Yes, very interesting novel and an addictive read. Her latest novel is a sequel of sorts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 4 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said: Must re-read Barnes' 'A History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters' - that one really gripped me when I first read it 25 years back. I'll be honest and say I didn't much care for this one. I think I had been spoiled by Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage, which I thought was a more entertaining treatment of the topic. If you do reread the Barnes, try the Findley as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Don Winslow: Power Of The Dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) 6 hours ago, Jazzjet said: Recently finished 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson. Probably the best novel I read in 2015. about a woman who lives through the most turbulent events of the 20th century, including the London Blitz, and which asks: What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? She has also written some detective stories featuring Jackson Brodie which I have yet to try but, on the evidence of 'Life After Life' should be good. I have that on the shelf to read (I cannot enter a book shop without buying something even if I know I'm not going to read it for a while! And when there's a 3 for 2 deal, well...they see me coming.). The Brodie series is excellent - definitely different from the standard detective sequences. Nice music references too - Brodie is a country/Americana fan. The BBC programmes based around the series was good too, though they did mess around with the books, taking bits from one and slotting them in another. 3 hours ago, ejp626 said: I'll be honest and say I didn't much care for this one. I think I had been spoiled by Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage, which I thought was a more entertaining treatment of the topic. If you do reread the Barnes, try the Findley as well. Don't know that one. Checking on Amazon it looks like something I might enjoy. Thanks. Edited January 2, 2016 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 P.G. Wodehouse: Young Men in Spats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Still on the vintage mysteries: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Last night finished: Good lord, she's had some tough times, from major health issues to abusive relationships. You don't have to be remotely interested in punk (which she refers to throughout as 'punk') to be absorbed by this book. I enjoyed it most as the tale of a woman from a difficult background trying to make it in the creative world. Her formal education was patchy yet she come across as having enormous curiosity - she makes her way through a world of more privileged and self-confident people with a mixture of insecurity and bloodymindedness, taking her own path. All the reviews talk of her brutal honesty and that is there in almost every chapter - you need a strong stomach for parts of it. She doesn't shy away from embarrassing things - supporting Sid Viscous's denials after he's accused of throwing a glass only to be told a year later that he did; unwittingly insulting Don Cherry on a tour bus. Most people would hide those moments away. Very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Returned to this one after first reading it about 15 years ago. Published in 1987, it's in a more expansive style than McEwan's present-day pared-down mode. Although he always seems like the very clever schoolboy or graduate student, there's a great deal of interest here, not least his predictions of the state of England after 10 more years of Thatcherism. Viewed from 2016, it all seems sadly prophetic. P.S. 13th Jan. Central theme is the Conservative Prime Minister's personal project to get a book out for parents advocating strong discipline for children. In view of today's news item, need say "prophetic"? Edited January 13, 2016 by BillF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) 8 hours ago, BillF said: Returned to this one after first reading it about 15 years ago. Published in 1987, it's in a more expansive style than McEwan's present-day pared-down mode. Although he always seems like the very clever schoolboy or graduate student, there's a great deal of interest here, not least his predictions of the state of England after 10 more years of Thatcherism. Viewed from 2016, it all seems sadly prophetic. I read that many years ago but can't remember much about it. I remember being especially taken with 'Black Dogs' - there was something about the underlying theme that really haunted me...can't for the life of me remember what it was! I get really confused distinguishing between McEwan, Faulks, Banks and Boyd in my memory. I've enjoyed a fair few books by all of them but if you were to give me a title I'd struggle to get the right author. Confessions of an absent minded man! Edited January 4, 2016 by A Lark Ascending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 The Occupation trilogy by the 2014 Nobel Prize winner. If you get this edition don't read the introduction till after you've read the novels-- too many spoilers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 The heroine, Fanny, is a paragon of virtue, shy, retiring, blushing, and hence, for me, rather boring; the supporting characters, having varying degrees of wickedness, held my interest much more. Perhaps the most complex of Jane's novels, there are moments of tedium as the plot spins itself out at length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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