T.D. Posted February 13, 2019 Report Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) My brother strongly recommended Herron to me. I read and enjoyed Slow Horses, mean to continue with the series, but keep forgetting. Once read a Herron non-Slough House novel (Down Cemetery Road), which was OK but less good than S. H. I liked Joseph Heywood's Woods Cop series, set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Series ended in 2011, don't know if Heywood is still writing. Bill James's (Welshman, not the sabermetric guy) lengthy Harpur and Iles series is excellent, but it's best to start at the beginning and I fear those books are hard to find. Two other long-running series I've always enjoyed are Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder books (NYC) and Loren D. Estleman's Amos Walker series (Detroit). Edited February 13, 2019 by T.D. Quote
kinuta Posted February 15, 2019 Report Posted February 15, 2019 Finally got round to giving Jack Reacher a try. Quote
GA Russell Posted February 17, 2019 Report Posted February 17, 2019 kinuta, my sister gave me that for my 2015 birthday. I guess I ought to read it too! Quote
kinuta Posted February 17, 2019 Report Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, GA Russell said: kinuta, my sister gave me that for my 2015 birthday. I guess I ought to read it too! 2/3rds through and it's a fair, easy read. Rather more plot driven than I expected but with predictable tough guy stuff too. As of now , I'd say it's worth a look. 3 hours ago, GA Russell said: Edited February 17, 2019 by kinuta Quote
ejp626 Posted February 18, 2019 Report Posted February 18, 2019 Wrapped up The Aeneid and Atwood's Penelopiad. Now for something significantly different Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. This is a fairly new translation (2012) that restores all the edits they were forced to make under Soviet censorship. The original inspired Tarkovsky's Stalker. Quote
paul secor Posted February 18, 2019 Report Posted February 18, 2019 Kazuo Ishiguro; Nocturnes A big disappointment Quote
kinuta Posted February 18, 2019 Report Posted February 18, 2019 (edited) I've been looking forward to reading this for a while. ........................................ Just finished. This is an epic account of all aspects of the film. I thought I knew a fair amount about the background, but now realise I really hadn't a clue. Recommended as a very fine companion work that truly expands appreciation of Kubrick's masterpiece. Edited February 23, 2019 by kinuta Quote
jlhoots Posted February 22, 2019 Report Posted February 22, 2019 Rachel Kushner: Telex From Cuba Quote
Matthew Posted February 22, 2019 Report Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) The Collected Poems of Denise Lerertov. Levertov is a new discovery for me, the first poem I read of her's was six months ago, and I fell in love with her writing from the first line . I've been strolling through this book at a very leisurely pace (about half-way done), soaking in her greatness. That is what's great about reading, there's always an unexpected discovery waiting around the bend. Late PS: Reading Levertov, who was a great friend of Robert Duncan, made me feel a pang of sadness that David Gitin is no longer with us. Edited February 23, 2019 by Matthew Quote
ejp626 Posted February 23, 2019 Report Posted February 23, 2019 Decided to take the plunge and start in on Musil's The Man Without Qualities. So far I am enjoying it (much more than Proust at any rate), though I can see there might be a point where I lose momentum, particularly in the 2nd volume which has 600+ pages of unfinished material... Quote
T.D. Posted February 23, 2019 Report Posted February 23, 2019 I read a review of The Man Without Qualities that piqued my interest, flipped through a used copy of Vol. 1 at a bookshop, but the novel's length scared me off. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 23, 2019 Report Posted February 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, T.D. said: I read a review of The Man Without Qualities that piqued my interest, flipped through a used copy of Vol. 1 at a bookshop, but the novel's length scared me off. It does seem to be a bit of a commitment... Quote
ghost of miles Posted February 23, 2019 Author Report Posted February 23, 2019 On 2/18/2019 at 4:40 PM, kinuta said: I've been looking forward to reading this for a while. ........................................ Just finished. This is an epic account of all aspects of the film. I thought I knew a fair amount about the background, but now realise I really hadn't a clue. Recommended as a very fine companion work that truly expands appreciation of Kubrick's masterpiece. Picking this up for my dad as an early Father’s Day present (he took me to see the movie when it was re-released to theaters in the late 1970s) after reading a New Yorker article that drew heavily upon it. Staying with Smiley for now: Quote
Brad Posted February 23, 2019 Report Posted February 23, 2019 57 minutes ago, ghost of miles said: Picking this up for my dad as an early Father’s Day present (he took me to see the movie when it was re-released to theaters in the late 1970s) after reading a New Yorker article that drew heavily upon it. Staying with Smiley for now: Excellent. Any thoughts of buying him the DVD set. I've had it for years and usually watch it once a year. Quote
kinuta Posted February 23, 2019 Report Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) On 23/02/2019 at 1:02 AM, Brad said: Excellent. Any thoughts of buying him the DVD set. I've had it for years and usually watch it once a year. Yes, the original BBC dvd's of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People are definitive and endlessly replayable. It's a shame they never got round to doing The Honourable Schoolboy and completing the trilogy. ..................................... Just finishing up Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. I've seen both of the films but never got round to the book. The same themes shown in the films are present, the conundrum of dealing with something emotionally dear and seemingly real but in truth an alien conjured artifact. The book spends much more time describing the nature of the planet, and all in all presents one of the more captivating portraits of what a totally alien lifeform might be like. Well worth the read. ............................. Finished. The interminable passages describing the surface conditions of the planet finally had a deadening effect, making it a slog to finish. If I had to choose from the two films and the book, I'd pick the Soderberg version. Heretic, I know. Edited February 24, 2019 by kinuta Quote
ejp626 Posted February 25, 2019 Report Posted February 25, 2019 On 2/23/2019 at 4:46 PM, kinuta said: Just finishing up Solaris by Stanislaw Lem.... ............................. Finished. The interminable passages describing the surface conditions of the planet finally had a deadening effect, making it a slog to finish. If I had to choose from the two films and the book, I'd pick the Soderberg version. Heretic, I know. I'd largely argee. I found the book to be fairly disappointing. If I recall, Lem felt the (original) movie was too sensationalized or that it made its points too clearly or something. He was going for something a bit more "alienating." If Tarkovsky had just cut down on the endless shots of rain on the grass bookending the film, I would probably lean toward his epic version. (On the other hand, if watching at home, I can just fast-forward through them...) You might like Roadside Picnic, which has humans trying to deal with alien artifacts left behind after a visit (but a visit where the aliens never bothered to make contact). One of the scientists hypothesizes that the artifacts are the equivalent of trash left behind after a picnic. It still has that vibe of humans being pointless to alien beings, but there is a bit more narrative drive in the novel. Quote
Brad Posted February 25, 2019 Report Posted February 25, 2019 Among other things, reading this. Quote
paul secor Posted March 1, 2019 Report Posted March 1, 2019 A delight. I was turned on to this one by Jeff, who's a longtime Wodehouse fan. Quote
ghost of miles Posted March 3, 2019 Author Report Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) On 2/23/2019 at 11:02 AM, Brad said: Excellent. Any thoughts of buying him the DVD set. I've had it for years and usually watch it once a year. After finishing Smiley’s People, I ordered a two-in-one set that bundles it and Tinker, Tailor together. They are the UK original BBC versions (evidently the Acorn Media releases are the edited U.S. versions), making me happy once again that I now have a multi-region DVD/Blu-Ray player. On 2/23/2019 at 4:46 PM, kinuta said: Yes, the original BBC dvd's of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People are definitive and endlessly replayable. It's a shame they never got round to doing The Honourable Schoolboy and completing the trilogy. I read somewhere that BBC skipped over The Honourable Schoolboy because of the prohibitive expenses of filming in Asia. The concluding pages of Smiley’s People were riveting—hard for me to recall the last time I was so in the grip of a literary spell. What to read next? Well, I’m moving on to this one: ... and also now permitting myself at last to dip into a book I picked up a couple of years ago—a handy skeleton key to le Carre’s complex landscape of characters: Edited March 3, 2019 by ghost of miles Quote
Dave James Posted March 3, 2019 Report Posted March 3, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 11:53 PM, kinuta said: 2/3rds through and it's a fair, easy read. Rather more plot driven than I expected but with predictable tough guy stuff too. As of now , I'd say it's worth a look. IMO, "61 Hours" is the best of the Reacher series. If I understand correctly, and if there's a third film, it will be based on this book. Quote
kinuta Posted March 3, 2019 Report Posted March 3, 2019 I thought A Perfect Spy was his best book following the Smiley Trilogy. It was also serialized for tv and is very much recommended. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092425/ Now reading Quote
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