This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Callan57

Starting Shame and the Captives by Thomas Keneally

Kash

Birneybau wrote: »

The section:

Spoiler

with the down syndrome kid, head in noose, standing on an obese nanny's shoulders was laughable.

I can't argue with that, to be fair

Swiper the fox

I finished Nothing on earth last night, well written and quite a decent book, solid 6/10.
It reminded me a little of The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan but I realised I could remember very little about it having read it when it came out 3 years ago, picked it up last night again and found it very hard to put down, what an extraordinary book it is, Donal Ryan is a national treasure.

alloyrealm

Doctor Faustus- Thomas Mann
Vom Nachteil Geboren zu sein- Emil Cioran
Complete Gardener's Manual

Travel is good

I just finished "Glorious Heresies" by Irish author Lisa McInerney. I really liked it. The book won the Baileys Prize for Women's Literature in 2016.

Gremlinertia

Only ever yours - Louise O' Neill, very like Atwood's handmaids tale in premise but a good read thus far.

Fathom

End of Watch by Stephen King

SarahBM

Finished Asking for It by Louise O'Neill at the weekend and started I Am Pilgrim.

Travel is good

I really liked both books by Louise O'Neill. One of my favourite books is indeed, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

I just started Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and Mockingjay is next.

B_Wayne

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, really good read. Normally find time travel to be hit and miss but this one is really good.

Callan57

Finished Shame and the Captives by Tom Keneally ... Japanees and Italian POW's in Australian camp end of 1940s.

Next is After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry

Mr.Nice Guy

Just finished 'A Long, Long Way' by Sebastian Barry which was recommended to me by someone in the thread I started about books with good combat scenes in them.

I enjoyed it overall and I chose a good time to read it since the centenary of the Somme was only a few days ago.

If I had to make one criticism it's that at times I found it a bit twee. 'Private such-and-such was from Mayo and no truer man could be found from the blessed county' and so on. Maybe this type of thing plays better abroad.

On to another First World War book now: All Quiet on the Western Front. I'm a chapter into it and liking it so far.

holy guacamole

Finished 'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick deWitt and really enjoyed it.

Was a bit dubious about it at first as it's set in Western America during the Gold Rush years and that's not usually the type of thing I'd be interested in, but the quality of writing and characterisation was such that the setting hardly mattered.

It tells the story of two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sister, a pair of hired guns who are travelling across the States in search of their latest bounty. It's an incredibly colourful tale and at times riotously funny but underneath it all is a complex relationship between two siblings with dramatically differing views on the world.

deWitt's style of writing is what sets the book apart though. At first it appears overly simplistic, but there's a certain elegance to it that's hard to describe. He doesn't over-complicate things or indulge himself in any way, but there's a beautiful craft to his work, a certain flow that makes the book incredibly easy to read. Will certainly be searching out more of his work.

Harry Angstrom

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Just finished 'A Long, Long Way' by Sebastian Barry which was recommended to me by someone in the thread I started about books with good combat scenes in them.

I enjoyed it overall and I chose a good time to read it since the centenary of the Somme was only a few days ago.

If I had to make one criticism it's that at times I found it a bit twee. 'Private such-and-such was from Mayo and no truer man could be found from the blessed county' and so on. Maybe this type of thing plays better abroad.

On to another First World War book now: All Quiet on the Western Front. I'm a chapter into it and liking it so far.

Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy are some of the best books that can be read about the First World War. No sentimentality or tweeness about them.

Swiper the fox

holy guacamole wrote: »

Finished 'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick deWitt and really enjoyed it.

Was a bit dubious about it at first as it's set in Western America during the Gold Rush years and that's not usually the type of thing I'd be interested in, but the quality of writing and characterisation was such that the setting hardly mattered.

It tells the story of two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sister, a pair of hired guns who are travelling across the States in search of their latest bounty. It's an incredibly colourful tale and at times riotously funny but underneath it all is a complex relationship between two siblings with dramatically differing views on the world.

deWitt's style of writing is what sets the book apart though. At first it appears overly simplistic, but there's a certain elegance to it that's hard to describe. He doesn't over-complicate things or indulge himself in any way, but there's a beautiful craft to his work, a certain flow that makes the book incredibly easy to read. Will certainly be searching out more of his work.

It's one of my favourite books ever, a true modern day classic.

Joe_ Public

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Just finished 'A Long, Long Way' by Sebastian Barry which was recommended to me by someone in the thread I started about books with good combat scenes in them.

I enjoyed it overall and I chose a good time to read it since the centenary of the Somme was only a few days ago.

If I had to make one criticism it's that at times I found it a bit twee. 'Private such-and-such was from Mayo and no truer man could be found from the blessed county' and so on. Maybe this type of thing plays better abroad.

On to another First World War book now: All Quiet on the Western Front. I'm a chapter into it and liking it so far.

Hmm, I think I may have mentioned those. I guess it's a hard thing to write about conflict and horror in such a lyrical fashion as Barry does, a poet by vocation, and not be accused of sentimentality. Still, I think there are some sublime passages in the book.

In the same vein as All Quiet on the Western Front, there's William March's Company K about the experiences of an American unit in the same war, another classic in the field. Just pure grit and reality, no room for sentiment or tweeness.

Thomas_..

Still on a biography about Clement Attlee.

elastics

2nd part of Century trilogy (Winter of the World) by Ken Follet , really good ..

eire4

Finished a re read of Kevin Toolis's Rebel Hearts. A behind the curtain so to speak look at the IRA and how it came to being during the 1969-1990's period. Not a history book and much more a personal behind the scenes account and very well put together.

Callan57

Managed to finish After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry ... sorry, but no didn't do it for me.

Next is The Gourmet by Muriel Barbery ... loved The Elegance of the Hedgehog so can't go too far wrong with this (anyway it's only 120 pages!)

Gonzovision

Finished up 'Burma '44: The Battle That Turned Britain's War In The East' by James Holland last week. Another excellent read, and looking forward to his next book in the 'War in the West' series next year.

So this week I've spent many an hour enjoying Simon Sebag Montefiores 'The Romanovs 1613-1918'. A fantastic read so far. I am just over half way through it and currently covering the second last Tsar. Highly recommended.

Callan57

Finished The Gourmet over the weekend .... such beautiful writing, loved it

I'm about half way into A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett - it seems somewhat familiar, think I probably read it a few years ago. Ah well enjoying it again

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I've been reading Vanity Fair for about 3 weeks now. Think I'm going to give the "classics" a rest now, they don't half go on.

Wyldwood

Read the Reader on the 6.27 by Jean Paul Didierlaurent on Saturday. Enjoyed it. It's a quirky story but short and sweet.

Now reading Haruf's Our Souls at Night, another quick, simple story, not taxing the brain too much

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wyldwood wrote: »

Now reading Haruf's Our Souls at Night, another quick, simple story, not taxing the brain too much

I'vr been meaning to read that for a while. Loved Plainsong and Eventide by Haruf.

Mr.Nice Guy

Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, which was recommended to me by Joe_ Public in the Best Combat Scenes thread.

I thought this book was fantastic. It was very interesting to read a WW1 story from the German perspective and it sums up the tragedy of war superbly. The combat scenes involving the trench warfare were very well described; and I found the scenes where the narrator visits home on leave, as well as scenes with the narrator in the medical wards, to be powerful.

I discovered that there is a sequel of sorts called The Road Back which I must check out.

Anyway I highly recommend this book. I read in the afterword that when the Nazis came to power they burned the book as they considered it a betrayal of the German front-line soldier - on the contrary I'd consider that a great endorsement.

Joe_ Public

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, which was recommended to me by Joe_ Public in the Best Combat Scenes thread.

I thought this book was fantastic. It was very interesting to read a WW1 story from the German perspective and it sums up the tragedy of war superbly. The combat scenes involving the trench warfare were very well described; and I found the scenes where the narrator visits home on leave, as well as scenes with the narrator in the medical wards, to be powerful.

I discovered that there is a sequel of sorts called The Road Back which I must check out.

Anyway I highly recommend this book. I read in the afterword that when the Nazis came to power they burned the book as they considered it a betrayal of the German front-line soldier - on the contrary I'd consider that a great endorsement.

There are two film versions of the book too and both are pretty decent I think. I knew he had other books but I never actually took much notice of them. I might check out The Road Back, though. Half as good as the original would still be a pretty good read.

Fathom

The Light Between Oceans by Stedman

Wyldwood

Fathom wrote: »

The Light Between Oceans by Stedman

One of my favourite books ever.

Finished Our Souls at Night and loved it, a beautiful, touching story. Must check out Plainsong and Eventide.

Callan57

The House by the Lake by Ella Carey