This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Lisha wrote: »

I'm currently trying to read 'the bone clocks' by David Mitchell.
Only reason I've not given up is that I paid €14ish for it.
what will I do will i give up or not ?

I am (or was) a big David Mitchell fan, and am stunned by how bad this is. It's like something he would have written at 15 before he learned how to write novels. Simplistic, nonsensical, derivative, cringeworthy, an embarrassment.

I am on the final section, and am struggling to finish it. I will do it, as I hate to not finish books, but it is hard to believe this is the same guy who wrote Cloud Atlas.

Dibble wrote: »

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Burn it!

Finished 'Under The Skin' which was pretty bloody great. Now reading 'The Universe Versus Alex Woods', been reading too much heavy stuff recently, this seems an easy read.

ivytwine wrote: »

Oh no I was looking forward to it!

I thought it was alright, almost Young Adult in parts and a bit mental, but give it a go.

Finished a re read of Daniel Gahan's Rebellion. A concise account of the 1798 United Irishman rebellion.

Harry Potter series... again...

My boyfriend started humming the theme tune randomly one day last week, so I had to go watch the movies and during the movies (especially listening to the theme tune), I got a terrible achy longing feeling in my stomach for the books so started again. It's incredible when a book (or several) can do that to you.

SarahBM wrote: »

Awh, now I want to read Harry Potter.

Is it bad that this actually causes me physical pain in my gut when I listen to it? Much like missing a loved one terribly...

Currently half way through Antonio Tabucchi's Pereira Maintains and loving it.

Set in Lisbon in the 1930s pre WW11, during the Spanish civil war. Dr Pereira, the editor of the culture pages in a second rate local newspaper, is totally apolitical but unwittingly gets involved with a pair of young revolutionaries.

It's written in a very easy narrative style and just sucks you in. Sort of reminiscent of the style of writing in Stoner by John Williams.

Slightly off topic but I reached my Goodreads Challenge goal today. I set my target at 52 book for 2014 and hit that today when I finished Pereira Maintains thanks to the horrible weather.

Anybody else have a target on Goodreads Challenge?

Starting Wilkie Collins The Moonstone next.

I'm reading Tigers In The Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius.

The story of a German tank ace's experiences during WWII told in his own words, just translated.

Finished Don DeLillo's Underworld. It was very well written in parts but after 800+ pages I still couldn't tell you what the book was about.

Read The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh, a very dark comedy and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Just getting into Paul Auster's New York Trilogy and hope to finish it over the weekend.

Finished John Cleese's autobiography- bit of a let down. He ends it right where Monty Python begins and I hope a sequel is in the works. Not as many laughs as you would expect either.

Starting 'Pride & Prejudice' tonight, looking forward to it

I don't like the idea of setting myself reading targets. If falling behind, does it not make you trying to rush through your current book?

Also, would it not make you persevere with a book you're not enjoying just so it could count towards your goal rather than see it being as a waste of time target-wise?

Finished up The Grapes of Wrath, huegly enjoyed it, really conveys the sense of desperation at the time.

Continuing on an American literature trend, I'm about halfway through "All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy. I've read The Road and No Country for Old Men and really liked McCarthy's style of writing - the profound observations peppered among the long stream of consciousness descriptions. Glad I have the other two Border trilogy books to read after this too!

I didn't really think about the target while reading, I must say, but had no problem reaching my goal. I did abandon 2 books that I couldn't get into which is a rare occurrence for me. One was Wolf Hall and I am going to give it another try later.

I just set the challenge for fun as I am an avid reader and log my books anyway.

Half way through the Moonstone and it's so enjoyable, I love Wilkie Collins' style of writing.

A Suitable Boy by Vickram Seth is up next so that will probably see me through November at almost 1500 pages!

I finished Burial Rites last night, I read it because it was so highly recommended in this thread, however I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, I found it a bit long winded.

I recently read Death of a Salesman for the first time, really loved that.

I'm going to start The Free by Willy Vlautin at lunchtime, he's one of my favourite authors so looking forward to another great book by him.

I also read A Suitable Boy a few years ago, absolutely loved it.

Just finished Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, 2005, protagonized by the most pathetic central character I have ever read about, that's really the only way you can describe Lee. She's a scholarship student aka fish-out-of-water in a fancy New England prep school, surrounded by the haughty and entitled children of the filthy rich. A lot of the reviews online criticize Lee for being a complete nobody, but she's a tiny bit worse than that; she's a nasty piece who judges everyone and values them entirely in terms of her needs; how they could bolster her social position or drag her down. She brings absolutely nothing to the table in terms of friendship or loyalty or engagement or enthusiasm but is still injured beyond belief when other people have the nerve to dislike or ignore her. Infuriating.

In addition to the curiously unsympathetic and continuously embarrassed narrator, the book's layout is somewhat baffling; though it's purportedly a novel, it's really a series of vaguely connected events that happen around (but very rarely to) Lee in her four excruciatingly long years at Ault. Whatever does happen to her is entirely external: she is inertia personified and yet she yearns, to the point of sleeplessness and extreme obsession, to be pretty, popular and desired by lads. While doing absolutely nothing to achieve this; barely acknowledging a casual "Hello" in the school corridor lest she be mistaken for being anything other than cool and distant and uninterested.

How and ever! The writing itself is top-drawer; that is, the descriptions, the dialogue, the confidentialities, the relatable observations, the pacing. (as opposed to the length; this book needed editing like whoa. Entire chapters - most definitely certain characters - could have been easily omitted, and the point - if there is one - would remain intact.) As such I will be reading more of Sittenfeld's output in the hopes that she has created a main character who isn't quite so strangle-worthy.

Starting Skippy Dies, more boarding-school malarkey but promises to be heaps more fun.

So, long, TWIRMR... I'll see you in May