This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Fathom

Girl the Kicked Over the Hornets Nest by Larsson.

Lavinia

Fathom wrote: »

Girl the Kicked Over the Hornets Nest by Larsson.

Its a great read, like the movie too but book is (always) better.

Belle E. Flops

Really liked Slaughterhouse 5.

I've since moved onto A Slanting if the Sun by Donal Ryan after seeing it mentioned here a few times. I don't usually read short stories so I keep finding I have to remind myself that each story is different and unrelated to the last. Other than that though I'm enjoying it.

Xofpod

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

Really liked Slaughterhouse 5.

I've since moved onto A Slanting if the Sun by Donal Ryan after seeing it mentioned here a few times. I don't usually read short stories so I keep finding I have to remind myself that each story is different and unrelated to the last. Other than that though I'm enjoying it.

He's a great writer but he brings a deliberate, relentless negativity to these stories that doesn't quite ring true for me, compared to his other work.

Fathom

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. S Larsson. 2nd time.

Pickpocket

I'm currently reading E.H. Gombrich's 'The Story of Art' (16th ed). It's a nice and leisurely introduction to the subject and unlike many other books every work of art referred to in the text is reproduced in full-colour, glossy photos. It makes such a difference being able to view the works as they're being addressed.

Compare that to Julian Barnes' recent 'Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art'. That's also an excellent book but he takes a different approach. There's relatively few photos and often times he'll only highlight a particular detail of the work, so you're regularly referring to Google to see the full image, or indeed the many other works that aren't reproduced in the book at all.

Anyway, two of my favourite pieces of trivia so far:

- Persian rugs and all of the extraordinary latticework that we recognise from that part of the world developed because Islam prohibited human beings being depicted in works of art. So all of the artist's talent was poured into those highly imaginative and abstract patterns.

- We've all heard of the The Dark Ages, but that was actually when Western art began to look inside itself. Egyptian artists reproduced what they knew, Greek artists captured in detail what they could see, but those early Christian artists were the first to explore how they felt as human beings.

A thoroughly interesting read.

echo beach

Xofpod wrote: »

He's a great writer but he brings a deliberate, relentless negativity to these stories that doesn't quite ring true for me, compared to his other work.

I didn't find the undoubted negativity in Slanting of the Sun to be relentless and I'm not sure if it was deliberate. It is true to the experience of many in rural Ireland today.

Xofpod

echo beach wrote: »

I didn't find the undoubted negativity in Slanting of the Sun to be relentless and I'm not sure if it was deliberate. It is true to the experience of many in rural Ireland today.

I'd certainly agree with you when it comes to his two novels but in the short stories it struck me that he was trying a little bit too hard to achieve a certain type of result. They didn't seem as natural as the other work, which could hardly be described as light and breezy.

echo beach

Xofpod wrote: »

I'd certainly agree with you when it comes to his two novels but in the short stories it struck me that he was trying a little bit too hard to achieve a certain type of result. They didn't seem as natural as the other work, which could hardly be described as light and breezy.

We'll have to agree to disagree, which is part of the joy of reading. No two people read the same book. We come to it with our own lives and experiences and read it from that perspective. I found the characters so natural I could see parts people I know (even dare I say myself) in some of them.

I am often left cold by books others are raving about, while my own favourites might get a shrug of the shoulders even from friends with similar tastes.

Joe_ Public

It's a book that's been on my shelf for as long as I care to remember and finally got round to reading it last week: The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. A good book with an unusual and interesting story, though the nautical terminology (as with Moby-Dick) is quite challenging.

Swiper the fox

I posted at the time that I thought Slanting of the Sun was an extraordinary collection, quite possibly the best I've ever read,
I've finally finished The Mark and the Void, it was tough going and I had another couple of books at he go because I wanted to finish but never looked forward to reading it, some unbelievably funny passages but about 200 pages too long,
On to a rare rdread now, Trainspotting, I know it's gonna be great.

Belle E. Flops

I've finished Slanting of the Sun. Really liked it as a whole but of course I liked some stories more than others. The story that I really loved was 'Long Puck'. It started off so lovely and I found myself smiling away at it, but of course that was never going to be the case for the ending. This was the story that stands out for me from the collection.

Now moving on to 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith.

Swiper the fox

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I've finished Slanting of the Sun. Really liked it as a whole but of course I liked some stories more than others. The story that I really loved was 'Long Puck'. It started off so lovely and I found myself smiling away at it, but of course that was never going to be the case for the ending. This was the story that stands out for me from the collection.

Now moving on to 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith.

Funny, my wife read it a few months after me and some of the stories were as familiar to me as if I had read them that morning, others I had no memory of.
I assume the memorable ones are the best, they were the long puck one, the old folks home one, the first one about the dead girlfriends mother and the last one about the robbery.
I'll say it again, that collection should be compulsory reading for Irish people.

Nekarsulm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

It's a book that's been on my shelf for as long as I care to remember and finally got round to reading it last week: The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. A good book with an unusual and interesting story, though the nautical terminology (as with Moby-Dick) is quite challenging.

And very relevant to the 1916 centenary! How a man can go from writing the first modern spy novel, containing a warning to Britain against German military ambitions, to being executed by that same country.

Joe_ Public

Nekarsulm wrote: »

And very relevant to the 1916 centenary! How a man can go from writing the first modern spy novel, containing a warning to Britain against German military ambitions, to being executed by that same country.

It is a remarkable story alright and intend to head to the library to find a decent biography if there's one available. Speaking of 1916 and that period Irish history, I reread Frank O'Connor's Guests of the Nation for the first time since I was a kid and was reminded what a powerful and well-told story it was. So much good literature from that time has been forgotten I think.

ivytwine

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I've finished Slanting of the Sun. Really liked it as a whole but of course I liked some stories more than others. The story that I really loved was 'Long Puck'. It started off so lovely and I found myself smiling away at it, but of course that was never going to be the case for the ending. This was the story that stands out for me from the collection.

Now moving on to 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith.

I adore I Capture The Castle, hope you enjoy it.

I also bought Slanting of the Sun so will get cracking on it soon I hope. Reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close at the moment. Loving it, but it's very sad.

Kurtosis

Haven't posted in this thread in a long while! I attribute this in part to having gotten stuck while reading Beatlebone by Kevin Barry, I'm not entirely sure why as at times it moves along apace but then in parts it got almost impenetrably dense and rather trippy. I don't know if l enjoyed it, brilliant dialogue and gives a real sense of the West, but not sure this outweighed the madness of it all.

Just wrapped up Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy having read the other two books in the trilogy over the last 18 months or so, loved it, just such a visceral and desperately sad at times. All I want to do now is start another McCarthy book (haven't read Blood Meridian yet) but figure I should probably read something else and save it.

In the meantime, I'll get on with planning trips to Mayo and Texas/Mexico.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I'm about half way through Elemental by Amanda Curtin.

It's basically an old lady writing down her life story for her granddaughter. Most of what I've read so far is set in Scotland in a small fishing village and then she joins a gutting crew and is all around Scotland and England. That probably doesn't sound enthralling but it really has been so far.

Callan57

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Callan57 wrote: »

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Hated that book. There's a point in it where you'll either go "OMG! Wow!" or "Get the f**k out of here, book!"

Joe_ Public

penguin88 wrote: »

Haven't posted in this thread in a long while! I attribute this in part to having gotten stuck while reading Beatlebone by Kevin Barry, I'm not entirely sure why as at times it moves along apace but then in parts it got almost impenetrably dense and rather trippy. I don't know if l enjoyed it, brilliant dialogue and gives a real sense of the West, but not sure this outweighed the madness of it all.

Just wrapped up Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy having read the other two books in the trilogy over the last 18 months or so, loved it, just such a visceral and desperately sad at times. All I want to do now is start another McCarthy book (haven't read Blood Meridian yet) but figure I should probably read something else and save it.

In the meantime, I'll get on with planning trips to Mayo and Texas/Mexico.

I'm with you on Beatlebone. There's a swagger to the language and the author's nimbleness and dexterity is quite impressive at times, but it doesn't quite come together in a coherent, meaningful way for me. At one point it segues abruptly from narrative to journalism before lurching back to novel again, an odd sequence that doesn't really work. Barry is clearly talented; I just think he gets a bit carried away with his own cleverness here. Would definitely help, I believe, to be a Lennon obsessive or, at the least, a fan.

Birneybau

Finished 'Maestra', easily one of the worst books I've ever read. Onto 'I Am Pilgrim' today.

echo beach

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Barry is clearly talented; I just think he gets a bit carried away with his own cleverness here. Would definitely help, I believe, to be a Lennon obsessive or, at the least, a fan.

I heard Barry reading an extract from it last year (before publication) and formed the same opinion. Although I love his short stories I wasn't in the least tempted to buy Beatlebone.

Although he was happy to sign any books people had with them he hadn't brought any books to sell, which was a first for any reading I've been at.

Joe_ Public

echo beach wrote: »

I heard Barry reading an extract from it last year (before publication) and formed the same opinion. Although I love his short stories I wasn't in the least tempted to buy Beatlebone.

Although he was happy to sign any books people had with them he hadn't brought any books to sell, which was a first for any reading I've been at.

I've only read one Kevin Barry short story, I think it was called "Seals" and it was rather excellent.

Loafing Oaf

A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall, AD 130 by Bronwen Riley

Swiper the fox

Joe_ Public wrote: »

I've only read one Kevin Barry short story, I think it was called "Seals" and it was rather excellent.

You should make it a priority to get hold of his short story collections, they are absolutely superb,

However they are not as good as his novels are bad if you can follow,

I hated Beatlebone, still thought it was better than his first novel though

Xofpod

Joe_ Public wrote: »

It is a remarkable story alright and intend to head to the library to find a decent biography if there's one available. Speaking of 1916 and that period Irish history, I reread Frank O'Connor's Guests of the Nation for the first time since I was a kid and was reminded what a powerful and well-told story it was. So much good literature from that time has been forgotten I think.

Reading After the Lockout by Darran McCann, also very timely given the centenary of the Rising. I heard nothing about it at the time of release but it's shaping up to be an excellent read.

Callan57

Finishes We Are Completely Beside Ourselves ... amazing & gripping book, loved it.

Next is one I picked up by chance The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan

SarahBM

I read 2 books while I was on holidays and started a 3rd. It was a jam packed holiday so I didn't have much time to read. First one I finished was The Burning by Jane Casey which is very good. It's the first in her Det. Maeve Kerrigan series. The second book was An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. This book I could not put down. I was just completely engrossed in it. and to be honest I would love it it had went on for longer. (Plus I had just been to see the Kennedy Space Center which is amazing, so I was totally in my "space nerd" mode). It's not all about space. It's about having the right attitude in life to be happy. It really was brilliant.
I started Sapiens. But because I have a chest infection I haven't really got started with it yet.

Joe_ Public

Swiper the fox wrote: »

You should make it a priority to get hold of his short story collections, they are absolutely superb,

However they are not as good as his novels are bad if you can follow,

I hated Beatlebone, still thought it was better than his first novel though

Yes I follow your drift. I did read about a third of City of Bohane before I misplaced my copy. I didn't think it was that bad, but still haven't been struck by the overwhelming urge to go back and finish it. His stories are definitely high on my 2016 to-do list, though.