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    Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
    Was looking through the goodreads list of best spy novels and happened upon Number 12 on the list: American Assassin. wow its good. Highly recommended if slightly mindless spy novels are your thing.
    Yeah I've read that before, very good, the dynamic between the kid and the veteran is excellent. Did a bit of googling after I saw your post and it's apparently becoming a movie, with the right cast it could be excellent. I must pick up one or two of the other books in the series to see if they're at the same level.

    Rereading A Drink before the War by Dennis Lehane at the moment as I've nothing new, it's the first of his Kenzie Gennaro books (which later included the brilliant Gone Baby Gone, a criminally underrated movie too imo) and whilst it's not quite as polished as his subsequent efforts, still well worth a read.

    Comment


      ...
      "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

      Comment


        ...
        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

        Comment


          currently reading this and its quite good!

          Her sky-ness
          © 5starpool

          Comment


            ...
            "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

            Comment


              Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
              You have to read Marching Powder if you haven't read it already. Easily the best prison book.
              one of my favourite books of all time have often mentioned it in the bbv. my favorite of all time is this

              Mende Nazer lost her childhood at age twelve, when she …
              Her sky-ness
              © 5starpool

              Comment


                Just started this...


                Comment


                  Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                  You have to read Marching Powder if you haven't read it already. Easily the best prison book.
                  Despite it dragging a bit in parts and not being very well written imo, I really enjoyed Marching Powder - anything in the same(ish) genre you'd recommend?

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                    Anyone able to suggest a good list of decent books? Want to read 10 excellent fiction and ten excellent nonfiction this year. The detective/spy crap will fill in any gaps left. Think have the nonfiction sorted out. But not sure where to start lookimg for fiction. Thinking along lines of Ernest Hemingway, The Big Sleep, American Psycho etc; the type of list that would have them high up. But not something that just recommends 19th century dull Brit and Russian novels. Obv this is highly googleable, but wondering if there's a particularly good list that ye could personally recommend?
                    Don't dismiss all of those classic Russian novels as 'dull' without giving them a try; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is really excellent, loved Crime and Punishment, while the much more modern Doctor Zhivago is brilliant, if unbearably sad. Loads of those Russian novels are just gold, as a nation they've some body of work!

                    Originally posted by Michelle SatNav View Post
                    one of my favourite books of all time have often mentioned it in the bbv. my favorite of all time is this

                    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178460.Slave
                    Read this last year and really enjoyed it; not sure if you've heard this, but there are questions over her real history and that as presented in the book. Think she has been accused of embellishing the facts or simply making parts of it up.


                    Comment


                      Originally posted by ionapaul View Post
                      Don't dismiss all of those classic Russian novels as 'dull' without giving them a try; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is really excellent, loved Crime and Punishment, while the much more modern Doctor Zhivago is brilliant, if unbearably sad. Loads of those Russian novels are just gold, as a nation they've some body of work!



                      Read this last year and really enjoyed it; not sure if you've heard this, but there are questions over her real history and that as presented in the book. Think she has been accused of embellishing the facts or simply making parts of it up.
                      really. hmm. however even if she made some of it up. The rest is still 100% shocking. Even from the beginning when the soldiers came into the village and took her which I would presume is true.

                      There was a movie made too, fairy crap though., compared to the book

                      Last edited by SatNav; 04-01-14, 12:08.
                      Her sky-ness
                      © 5starpool

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by ionapaul View Post
                        Don't dismiss all of those classic Russian novels as 'dull' without giving them a try; Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is really excellent, loved Crime and Punishment, while the much more modern Doctor Zhivago is brilliant, if unbearably sad. Loads of those Russian novels are just gold, as a nation they've some body of work!
                        +1 on this. Gogol's collection of short stories is phenomenal, dostoievski's "the player" is unforgettable, Bulgakov's "master and Margarita" is an absolute gem, and the first few that always spring to mind when i think of Russian litterature which i loved.

                        recently read (this summer) the Hundred-Year-Old-Man-Climbed-Window-Disappeared, just because i loved the title. really lovely, enjoyable, very simply written, and great holiday book.

                        Comment


                          Jeffrey Deaver - The October List.


                          Firstly for those who don't know the author he writes fairly straighforward forensic fiction, his main character being quadraplegic scientist Lincoln Rhyme (as played by Denzil Washington in The Bone Collector). His writing speciality is playing double/triple crosses on the reader, little tricks and illusions leading you in a particular direction then blasting you with a twist and a reverse twist.

                          This standalone book is a nice little experiment with a writing device which I think might be unique - he starts at the end and works back.
                          So Chapter 1 is some kind of ending to some sort of kidnap drama, Chapter 2 is the preparing of the ransom drop an hour earlier, Chapter 3 is the kidnapper getting in position for the ransom 30 minutes previous to chapter 2, and so on, every chapter going backwards through the events.

                          Its clunky and quite offputting to read (and to write I'm sure) with characters casually referring to people/events that we the reader don't know anything about yet. Then a few chapters further into the past we get to understand (kind of) what they meant.

                          Its something different anyway, I'm about 25% in (small enough book ~300 pages) and am enjoying it not so much for the overall plot (which will probably end up being paper thin) but for the interesting logistics from the authors point of view and how he is managing to narrate it backwards yet still keep the reader guessing.

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                            Originally posted by ionapaul View Post
                            I finished The Fall of Hyperion last night - Keane, was it you who recommended it here?

                            It was AWESOME! One of the best sci-fi novels I've ever read, can't recommend it (and the first book in the series) highly enough, I usually take a big break between books in series but am really thinking about diving straight into Endymion.
                            Originally posted by shrapnel View Post
                            as previously mentioned, this is one of my favorite sci fi series of all time. just incredible.
                            Originally posted by ionapaul View Post
                            Yep, Hyperion is the first and is AWESOME
                            .
                            Just finished Hyperion and mostly what I have is a great big WTF at the ending

                            Never a man to use one word where twenty are available it never became obvious until we were running out of pages that Simmons didn't have what it took to conclude the episode within the one book. I know its a series but seriously WTF that has to be the absolute worst cop out of an ending there has ever been. He might as well, indeed would have been better off stopping in mid sentence with a note saying 'I've run out of ideas that can be fitted in this book if you have enjoyed this please come back for part two whenever its ready'!

                            I really liked the whole Keats vibe that he has going and that seems to be what separates him from other writers I'm thinking particularly of Ken McLeod and Iain M Banks who have made more effective use of some related ideas. I thought that the structure left the book with a very ad hoc feel and it could have done with much stronger editing.
                            I guess I just have to kick straight on in to the second book as if it was all the one story though if he doesn't grab me fast with a satisfying conclusion to the current situation a convincingly engaging plot progression and most importantly develop some of the ideas and instead goes off on an over wordy shaggy dog tale I'll be tempted to abandon it.
                            Turning millions into thousands

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                              I read Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 over Christmas. Was glad I did, second only to Norweigan Wood in his works imo.

                              Kind of feel I am missing out on things in his books through not being Japanese. Although his characters are always heavily influenced by Western culture, there is a deep seam of Japan in there which I don't quite get.

                              Now want to go to Tokyo.
                              "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                Jeffrey Deaver - The October List.


                                Firstly for those who don't know the author he writes fairly straighforward forensic fiction, his main character being quadraplegic scientist Lincoln Rhyme (as played by Denzil Washington in The Bone Collector). His writing speciality is playing double/triple crosses on the reader, little tricks and illusions leading you in a particular direction then blasting you with a twist and a reverse twist.

                                This standalone book is a nice little experiment with a writing device which I think might be unique - he starts at the end and works back.
                                So Chapter 1 is some kind of ending to some sort of kidnap drama, Chapter 2 is the preparing of the ransom drop an hour earlier, Chapter 3 is the kidnapper getting in position for the ransom 30 minutes previous to chapter 2, and so on, every chapter going backwards through the events.

                                Its clunky and quite offputting to read (and to write I'm sure) with characters casually referring to people/events that we the reader don't know anything about yet. Then a few chapters further into the past we get to understand (kind of) what they meant.

                                Its something different anyway, I'm about 25% in (small enough book ~300 pages) and am enjoying it not so much for the overall plot (which will probably end up being paper thin) but for the interesting logistics from the authors point of view and how he is managing to narrate it backwards yet still keep the reader guessing.
                                I'm always waiting on the release of Gerald Seymour's latest offering.And rereading any of Sven Hassel's penal regiment novels never fails to please.

                                Comment


                                  Originally posted by skpmn View Post
                                  I'm always waiting on the release of Gerald Seymour's latest offering.And rereading any of Sven Hassel's penal regiment novels never fails to please.
                                  I like Seymour a lot, especially when he bases his books around some tiny part of a long ignored conflict.
                                  It's like when the newspapers 'World News' section devotes a tiny paragraph to some bombing in an El Salvador village or a politician dying in a carcrash in Albania - I always think this is the sort of stuff Seymour could come up with a 400 page novel about!
                                  I remember being fascinated by the one based almost entirely in the Kaliningrad enclave, a bit of Europe I'd never even heard of previously. Came close to trying to book a weekend there but had sensible second thoughts.

                                  Comment


                                    Originally posted by Keane View Post
                                    I've gone back to yet another re-read of Gardens of the Moon.

                                    This will be possibly my fifth time reading it, definitely planning on getting through the entire Malazan series this time!
                                    Originally posted by Keane View Post
                                    The re-read value of them is fantastic. I think the farthest I've gotten so far is book 6 or 7 but even then starting off again and seeing the foreshadowing even in the first ten pages of GOTM is class.



                                    Definitely need to give this a spin by the sounds of things.
                                    I'm sorry mate, but I don't really get why you're re-reading them over and over again if you've never finished the series. Is it really that complicated to follow? Why not read them through once, and then re-read them again if you feel the want. I've read a few different fantasy series, and it's true that I've always heard that Malazan leaves most scratching their head.

                                    Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                    A new Bill Bryson book out!!! Could barely hold the breadth while amazon was taking its few seconds wirelessly delivering his latest bit of genius: http://www.amazon.com/One-Summer-Ame...=UTF8&sr=&qid=
                                    I tried reading A Brief History.. once and I thought it was like watching paint dry! I wouldn't mind, but I went into it buzzing with anticipation. I might give it a re-try one of these days.

                                    I read also that a few of you recommended Hyperion Cantos. Personally I've never heard of it before but it looks like it could be worth a read, I'll put it on my to-read list.

                                    *Edit. Read a bit more about Hyperion, and it looks like I should make it a serious priority to get around to reading this!
                                    Last edited by Bodybuilder; 15-01-14, 17:50.

                                    Comment


                                      Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post
                                      Just finished Hyperion and mostly what I have is a great big WTF at the ending

                                      Never a man to use one word where twenty are available it never became obvious until we were running out of pages that Simmons didn't have what it took to conclude the episode within the one book. I know its a series but seriously WTF that has to be the absolute worst cop out of an ending there has ever been. He might as well, indeed would have been better off stopping in mid sentence with a note saying 'I've run out of ideas that can be fitted in this book if you have enjoyed this please come back for part two whenever its ready'!

                                      I really liked the whole Keats vibe that he has going and that seems to be what separates him from other writers I'm thinking particularly of Ken McLeod and Iain M Banks who have made more effective use of some related ideas. I thought that the structure left the book with a very ad hoc feel and it could have done with much stronger editing.
                                      I guess I just have to kick straight on in to the second book as if it was all the one story though if he doesn't grab me fast with a satisfying conclusion to the current situation a convincingly engaging plot progression and most importantly develop some of the ideas and instead goes off on an over wordy shaggy dog tale I'll be tempted to abandon it.
                                      BOOO. i know what you mean with the ending but come on!! the characters, their stories, the shrike, the pyramids, etc. what a story and what a universe. read on.

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                                        book

                                        my best read of 2013 was a book named I Am Pilgrim by terry hayes thriller 900 odd pages very heavy to read in bed. this was his first book. he has written screen plays namely mad max

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                                          Originally posted by Bodybuilder View Post
                                          I'm sorry mate, but I don't really get why you're re-reading them over and over again if you've never finished the series. Is it really that complicated to follow? Why not read them through once, and then re-read them again if you feel the want. I've read a few different fantasy series, and it's true that I've always heard that Malazan leaves most scratching their head.
                                          Ach, I think if you read it you'd understand!

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                                            Originally posted by Keane View Post
                                            Ach, I think if you read it you'd understand!
                                            Maybe one day I will mate, but I think I'll at least finish LOTR and ASOIAF before I go on that epic quest!

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                                              Originally posted by Keane View Post
                                              Ach, I think if you read it you'd understand!
                                              currently on book 3-4. i thought 2 was a tough read, but still, phenomenal stuff!!

                                              Comment


                                                Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                Jeffrey Deaver - The October List.
                                                [/IMG]

                                                Firstly for those who don't know the author he writes fairly straighforward forensic fiction, his main character being quadraplegic scientist Lincoln Rhyme (as played by Denzil Washington in The Bone Collector). His writing speciality is playing double/triple crosses on the reader, little tricks and illusions leading you in a particular direction then blasting you with a twist and a reverse twist.

                                                This standalone book is a nice little experiment with a writing device which I think might be unique - he starts at the end and works back.
                                                So Chapter 1 is some kind of ending to some sort of kidnap drama, Chapter 2 is the preparing of the ransom drop an hour earlier, Chapter 3 is the kidnapper getting in position for the ransom 30 minutes previous to chapter 2, and so on, every chapter going backwards through the events.
                                                I enjoyed this to the end beginning, nothing spectular but enough Deaver twists & rugpulls along the way to maintain interest. A fun experiment by the author, he gives some background to the logistical problems in the foreword (at the back !!).
                                                Reviews on Amazon are quite lol, majority minimum 1 stars and lots of 'incomprehensible, unreadable mess, how are you supposed to follow a backwards story?' type comments.

                                                ********
                                                Anyway, onwards to An Officer and a Spy - Robert Harris.


                                                Just an extremely talented author, many here will have read the Cicero books and this is a similar concept. Late 19th Century France and a Jewish artillery officer called Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason. A new Colonel (our narrator) takes over the espionage department and begins to doubt the accepted truth of the Dreyfus affair.
                                                This seems to have met with universal acclaim and after just 40 pages I'm loving it.
                                                Last edited by ArmaniJeans; 21-01-14, 23:19.

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                                                  Enroute to Berlin on a cheapo 40 hour three stop cunt of a journey so gorged on a few boooooks.

                                                  The Tipping Point; Malcolm Gladwell

                                                  Book about the moment when something,an idea, trend or social behaviour crosses an imaginary line and spreads like a mofo. Wasnt a huge fan, balls deep in anecdotal garbage, and pretty much a waste of time. Work colleague who waxed lyrical about it will be viewed with appropriate suspicion from now on.

                                                  The Collini Case; Fredinand von Schirach.

                                                  Loved this book, in part maybe as set in Germany close to where I have spent lots of time, but clean urgent writing style keeps you mashing through the pages. Details a murder trial, a touch of the Staircase about it in places. Top notch.

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                                                    Malcolm Gladwell is a charlatan

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                                                      Originally posted by Hectorjelly View Post
                                                      Malcolm Gladwell is a charlatan

                                                      http://malcolmgladwellbookgenerator.com/
                                                      Hehehe...to be fair Outliers was decent, I often bring up the 10,000 hours to mastery theory in conversation.

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                                                        Originally posted by Bodybuilder View Post
                                                        Hehehe...to be fair Outliers was decent, I often bring up the 10,000 hours to mastery theory in conversation.
                                                        I don't know how any serious thinker can take the 10,000 hours to be anything other than ridiculous.

                                                        And yes, while Gladwell's stuff can be an interesting read it is pretty much just speculative narratives woven from specious correlations and superficial similarities between scientific findings in the social sciences and anecdotes.

                                                        Really he is a parasite of social science, pattern mapping it with the infinity of noise in the world to write plausible sounding stuff. The whole genre he is a part of is a bit of a con imo. But harmless enough and somewhat enjoyable if you dial your critical faculties way down.

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                                                          I started reading The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow last week on a recommendation from somewhere on IPB. I make it a point to finish any book I start no matter how bad, but I'm about half way through this and can't see myself picking it up again.

                                                          Read outliners and tipping point, I'd say meh (would love to be able to articulate an appraisal so eloquently as Hotspur does).

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                                                            Originally posted by hotspur View Post
                                                            I don't know how any serious thinker can take the 10,000 hours to be anything other than ridiculous.

                                                            And yes, while Gladwell's stuff can be an interesting read it is pretty much just speculative narratives woven from specious correlations and superficial similarities between scientific findings in the social sciences and anecdotes.

                                                            Really he is a parasite of social science, pattern mapping it with the infinity of noise in the world to write plausible sounding stuff. The whole genre he is a part of is a bit of a con imo. But harmless enough and somewhat enjoyable if you dial your critical faculties way down.
                                                            It's funny about an hour after my post about Outliers I was listening to Off the Ball in the car, Derval O'Rourke and Enda McNulty were talking about the best sports book and Outliers came up. They more or less said that the 10,000 hours theory is a decent one, but of course Gladwell's underplaying the importance of good genes. They contrasted it to another book called The Sports Gene, the hypothesis of which is that genes are king, and said there were merits and flaws to both books.

                                                            There's a book very similar to Outliers called Bounce by Matthew Seyed. One of the chapters is about 3 adopted Hungarian sisters who's adopted father was a Chess Grandmaster, all 3 of the sisters went on to become Grandmasters and are considered 3 of the greatest female players of all time. Fascinating stuff.

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                                                              Finding myself reading lots of fiction set around WW2.

                                                              The Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr is probably the best. Hard-boiled, hard-drinking detective yada yada - isn't afraid to stand up to the Nazis yet is prized by Heydrich for his professional abilities and thus gets sent on many politically-inspired missions (Katyn, Prague, Dachau etc)

                                                              Enjoyable page-turners with historical versimilitude that adds an extra layer. The descriptions of the Nazi upper echelons ring very true.
                                                              "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

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                                                                Finally started reading Freud. I can't say it sounds legit to me but I felt like I have to read it just for additional background knowledge

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                                                                  I finally finished Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall a few days ago, it was enjoyable but hard going at times, as she used a somewhat unusual narrative structure. Will take a break before trying Bring Up The Bodies.

                                                                  Then turned my attention to Daniel Keyes' Flowers For Algernon, a classic sci-fi novel originally published in 1966 but based on his short story from a couple of years previous. I always get slightly worried before tackling sci-fi from more than 30 years ago, as I'm wary that the sci-fi aspects will seem ridiculous in retrospec (like the Jetsons or whatever!) but with classics you never need to be concerned, they stand the test of time. Great novel, got through it in three sittings I think, its fairly short and a real page-turner.

                                                                  Started on Iain Banks' final Culture novel last night, The Hydrogen Sonata.


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                                                                    ...
                                                                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                    Comment


                                                                      Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                      Gone Girl

                                                                      Was tempted by this as its one of the bestselling novels in US last year, but it was ultimately a steaming pile of chicklit dog poo.

                                                                      Spoilering storyline here, if you want to know what you're most definitely not missing out on. Had to stop reading at about 20% through.
                                                                      Read this last summer and thought it was excellent. Just an exceptionally clever little book.

                                                                      Comment


                                                                        ...
                                                                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                        Comment


                                                                          Listened to about 25% of Gone Girl on audiobook. Well written (for an American) but I really didn't care.

                                                                          Rarely read fiction but I just started this:


                                                                          Only a chapter in but the language is wonderful. I feel jealous at times of people from the West of Ireland. They have such humorous poetry to their language that we just don't have in the big smoke.

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                                                                            Sorry about this but is this not a forum for poker for the Irish poker community to stay in touch with eachother in regards to poker, whether it be tournament scheduling, staking, hand analysis and just generally helping to improve us as a community? Why is there a 13 page thread on what fantasy novels yee guys are reading? Why dont yee subscribe to Ophras book club if this is what yee want to be using this site for. Such shyte hawking that goes on on this site, you wouldnt find it anywhere else.

                                                                            Comment


                                                                              Originally posted by nemo35off View Post
                                                                              Sorry about this but is this not a forum for poker for the Irish poker community to stay in touch with eachother in regards to poker, whether it be tournament scheduling, staking, hand analysis and just generally helping to improve us as a community? Why is there a 13 page thread on what fantasy novels yee guys are reading? Why dont yee subscribe to Ophras book club if this is what yee want to be using this site for. Such shyte hawking that goes on on this site, you wouldnt find it anywhere else.
                                                                              You do seem to be an angry person.
                                                                              I recommend this

                                                                              Comment


                                                                                Originally posted by nemo35off View Post
                                                                                Sorry about this but is this not a forum for poker for the Irish poker community to stay in touch with eachother in regards to poker, whether it be tournament scheduling, staking, hand analysis and just generally helping to improve us as a community? Why is there a 13 page thread on what fantasy novels yee guys are reading? Why dont yee subscribe to Ophras book club if this is what yee want to be using this site for. Such shyte hawking that goes on on this site, you wouldnt find it anywhere else.
                                                                                You really must read the restaurant review thread too and give us your thoughts...

                                                                                Comment


                                                                                  ... and then there's Slaughterhouse-Five.



                                                                                  ... wow, this was genius. Absolutely loved every bit of it. What a read. Seemed like the type of novel that just hadn't before or since been written. Brilliance.[/QUOTE]

                                                                                  One of my top ten books ever, and a very accessible, compact read to boot. "so it goes ..."

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                                                                                    Someone gave me a present of "The Power of Habit" byCharles Duhigg (subtle)

                                                                                    Anyone read it? Worth a read? Highly skeptical.

                                                                                    Comment


                                                                                      Originally posted by nemo35off View Post
                                                                                      Sorry about this but is this not a forum for poker for the Irish poker community to stay in touch with eachother in regards to poker, whether it be tournament scheduling, staking, hand analysis and just generally helping to improve us as a community? Why is there a 13 page thread on what fantasy novels yee guys are reading? Why dont yee subscribe to Ophras book club if this is what yee want to be using this site for. Such shyte hawking that goes on on this site, you wouldnt find it anywhere else.
                                                                                      What a wonderful, wonderful retard. Wp sir.

                                                                                      Comment


                                                                                        Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                                                        Read this last summer and thought it was excellent. Just an exceptionally clever little book.
                                                                                        Also liked this, moreso for the plot than the way it was written

                                                                                        Just finished reading the "100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared" and I literally had to put the book down so many times and just give up but my friend kept telling me it gets better and better... and to be fair it kind of did but I just hated the way it was written(might be the translation from swedish) and am annoyed at myself for finishing it too as the ending was shite enough imo. She also recommended "The fault in our stars", has anyone read this? and if so should I completely get rid of this friend or give it a read.

                                                                                        Also, since I never did history in secondary school decided to finally catch up on Irish history which I am severely lacking knowledge. Any recommendations?
                                                                                        Go big or go homeless.

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                                                                                          Read Old Man's War during the week. Enjoyed it a lot, like a grown up Ender's Game.

                                                                                          Also read another China Mieville book last week - The Scar. Good book, the man writes incredible prose.

                                                                                          Rereading Nine Princes in Amber now, love that book so much!

                                                                                          Comment


                                                                                            Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                                                            Anyway, onwards to An Officer and a Spy - Robert Harris.

                                                                                            Just an extremely talented author, many here will have read the Cicero books and this is a similar concept. Late 19th Century France and a Jewish artillery officer called Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason. A new Colonel (our narrator) takes over the espionage department and begins to doubt the accepted truth of the Dreyfus affair.
                                                                                            This seems to have met with universal acclaim and after just 40 pages I'm loving it.
                                                                                            Ultimately this book had a flaw compared to his Pompeii book and Cicero trilogy.

                                                                                            In Pompeii he compensated for the whole 'the reader knows the volcano is going to destroy the city' problem by tagging on both a fictionalised murder mystery and an equally fictionalised hero of the story from whom we can get our 'will he survive/get the girl/save her too?' adventure kicks.
                                                                                            And in Cicero because there is relatively little written in stone about the events other than the very bare facts, he has been able to expand the universe - to invent conversations, meetings, arguments, assign motivations and idealogies, basically use literary license to spruce it all up.

                                                                                            Whereas for An Officer/Spy he's quite tied down by the existence of a massive archive of material re The Dreyfus Affair - transcripts of court proceedings, newspaper reports, interviews with all the main particapants, their own memoirs etc. You couldn't for example have Zola and GFY Lazare doing heroic athletic feats in their search for justice, they have to be written as the rather boring people they were.

                                                                                            So whilst he's done a thorough job with all the available material there are large parts of it which read like a dusty library book from the history section.

                                                                                            Comment


                                                                                              Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                                                              Ultimately this book had a flaw compared to his Pompeii book and Cicero trilogy.

                                                                                              In Pompeii he compensated for the whole 'the reader knows the volcano is going to destroy the city' problem by tagging on both a fictionalised murder mystery and an equally fictionalised hero of the story from whom we can get our 'will he survive/get the girl/save her too?' adventure kicks.
                                                                                              And in Cicero because there is relatively little written in stone about the events other than the very bare facts, he has been able to expand the universe - to invent conversations, meetings, arguments, assign motivations and idealogies, basically use literary license to spruce it all up.

                                                                                              Whereas for An Officer/Spy he's quite tied down by the existence of a massive archive of material re The Dreyfus Affair - transcripts of court proceedings, newspaper reports, interviews with all the main particapants, their own memoirs etc. You couldn't for example have Zola and GFY Lazare doing heroic athletic feats in their search for justice, they have to be written as the rather boring people they were.

                                                                                              So whilst he's done a thorough job with all the available material there are large parts of it which read like a dusty library book from the history section.
                                                                                              Myself and Strewel were talking a bit about it yesterday - Harris is probably not a lot more than a workmanlike author who is excellent at pacing and engendering that "page-turner" reaction in his readers.

                                                                                              Where his genius lies is in the fact that he's figured out he doesn't even need to think up his own stories, he just steals the most interesting ones in history and writes them down in mediocre prose.

                                                                                              Not to say that the Cicero books haven't been very enjoyable, but it must be good work if you can get it!

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                                                                                                Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                                Anyone able to suggest a good list of decent books? Want to read 10 excellent fiction and ten excellent nonfiction this year. The detective/spy crap will fill in any gaps left. Think have the nonfiction sorted out. But not sure where to start lookimg for fiction. Thinking along lines of Ernest Hemingway, The Big Sleep, American Psycho etc; the type of list that would have them high up. But not something that just recommends 19th century dull Brit and Russian novels. Obv this is highly googleable, but wondering if there's a particularly good list that ye could personally recommend?
                                                                                                Easy ones out of the way first - Wolf hall and bring up the bodies got a fair amount of love in this thread - +1 from me.

                                                                                                Neuromancer is no spring chicken, but still a fantasic book.

                                                                                                I really can't recommend american tabloid and the cold six thousand highly enough. A loosely fictionalised account of JFKs election, the subsequent assassinations of both Kennedys and Martin Luther King, America's meddling in Cuba, Hoover, Howard Hughes and the mob. It's brilliantly written, dank dirty grimy and you get the sense that plenty of what's on the page is more documentary than fiction.

                                                                                                Finished the golfinch by Donna Tartt, recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Found it difficult enough to bond with in the beginning, but the characters are so well drawn and I found the story really compelling once it gets its claws into you. Her first book, the secret history is a cracking (and probably more enjoyable) read as well.

                                                                                                Engelby is a superb book, but it's tough to say too much about it without resorting to spoilers. I'd read a few other bits by Faulks and never really been that impressed, but Engleby is just wow (technical term - apologies for the jargon)

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                                                                                                  "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                    ...
                                                                                                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                      Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                                      Thought it was very good. Not a self-help thing by any stretch of the imagination, in case thats what you are worried about.
                                                                                                      Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Nice essay style of writing. Finished it last yesterday, first week off Coca-Cola in around five years (I was a three can a day man), genuinly think it has a bit of merit when it comes to changing poor habits, even if it all is common sense stuff.

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                                                                                                        havent read anything in a long while but getting back into the swing of things with Shantaram, has me hooked straight away and really want to go to india for some reason. Only about a qurter the way through but seems pretty good
                                                                                                        airport, lol

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                                                                                                          Originally posted by shrapnel View Post
                                                                                                          BOOO. i know what you mean with the ending but come on!! the characters, their stories, the shrike, the pyramids, etc. what a story and what a universe. read on.
                                                                                                          I I did enjoy the second book more, though it is much more the concluding half of the first one than a stand alone. I did notice him making a few half hearted efforts at elucidating bits that needed it but even they were only going to help a very forgetful reader. The universe and its scope are great and the execution of some of the ideas like the recreation of Keats is brilliantly done. He probably recognised that he had too many characters in the first book and did a good job of shifting attention towards the more interesting ones. In the end yes I really enjoyed the two books I just wished he'd allowed a good editor to help him tighten up his prose style a bit and whittle two excellent books into one great one.

                                                                                                          Originally posted by ionapaul View Post
                                                                                                          I finally finished Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall a few days ago, it was enjoyable but hard going at times, as she used a somewhat unusual narrative structure. Will take a break before trying Bring Up The Bodies.
                                                                                                          Started on Iain Banks' final Culture novel last night, The Hydrogen Sonata.
                                                                                                          I found Mantels style made the two novels immensely readable and anything but hard going. I'm not sure what it is about that 'He Cromwell' device she is using but I think it works incredibly well. I found them some of the most pleasurable reading I've had in years and can't wait for the next one to be published.

                                                                                                          Its hard to believe that its still less than a year since Iain was diagnosed and there is going to be no new Culture!

                                                                                                          Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
                                                                                                          I enjoyed this to the end beginning, nothing spectular but enough Deaver twists & rugpulls along the way to maintain interest. A fun experiment by the author, he gives some background to the logistical problems in the foreword (at the back !!).
                                                                                                          Reviews on Amazon are quite lol, majority minimum 1 stars and lots of 'incomprehensible, unreadable mess, how are you supposed to follow a backwards story?' type comments.

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                                                                                                          Anyway, onwards to An Officer and a Spy - Robert Harris.
                                                                                                          Ultimately this book had a flaw compared to his Pompeii book and Cicero trilogy.
                                                                                                          ... he's quite tied down by the existence of a massive archive of material re The Dreyfus Affair - transcripts of court proceedings, newspaper reports, interviews with all the main particapants, their own memoirs etc. You couldn't for example have Zola and GFY Lazare doing heroic athletic feats in their search for justice, they have to be written as the rather boring people they were.

                                                                                                          So whilst he's done a thorough job with all the available material there are large parts of it which read like a dusty library book from the history section.
                                                                                                          Its true that he doesn't have much room for manoeuvre here and Harris not being one for flowery prose or elaborate scene setting does look a bit exposed by the very sequential way he has to tell the story but I don't agree that it reads like a conventional history.
                                                                                                          When I was doing history in secondary school I found the story very interesting and read a few books from the library about the affair and they really did manage to turn a fascinating story into a total yawnfest. I was surprised at how few of the principal characters I remembered at all when I started reading this and in fairness to Harris he does a very good job of bringing the characters to life without getting bogged down in their motivations and the wider context. I think he does well in identifying and sticking with the central part of the conspiracy that started out as cock up soon became cover up before growing into the crisis it became.
                                                                                                          He is some man to get you turning pages and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys Harris or wants to know about the Dreyfuss Affair but if you're new to Harris I wouldn't start here.
                                                                                                          Turning millions into thousands

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                                                                                                            Inspired by watching True Detective I got a copy of the showrunner, Nic Pizzalato's only published novel Galveston the other day. Its close enough to a genre Noir piece but stretches the format beyond what you'd expect. It has all the components you'd expect like the tough guy mob enforcer hero and the tart with a heart all with terrible pasts and worse futures.
                                                                                                            I thought it was outstanding. Short and punchy, sparsely written but with all the characters fully realised, chock full of blood and guts in the underbelly of NOLO and East Texas the inevitable spiral of doom is beautifully framed in flashback.

                                                                                                            Highly recommended for anyone who likes that kind of thing.
                                                                                                            Turning millions into thousands

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                                                                                                              ...
                                                                                                              "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                                ...
                                                                                                                "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                                  I just can't believe so many people here read those detective/thriller novels - I've only ever read one or two but the whole genre seems so pulpy to me, just can't imagine the attraction! When I want to give my brain a rest I stick to good ol' science-fiction.

                                                                                                                  The Man In The High Castle is great. Pretty much all classic sci-fi is great and timeless, if it wasn't they wouldn't be classics


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                                                                                                                    You are technically correct...the best kind of correct
                                                                                                                    World Record Holder for Long Distance Soul Reads: May 7th 2011

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                                                                                                                      Originally posted by Kayroo View Post
                                                                                                                      Your kindle looks weird
                                                                                                                      airport, lol

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                                                                                                                        Originally posted by Kayroo View Post
                                                                                                                        Didn't rate this at all, felt he was really working hard to frame the history to best support his pre-determined viewpoints, rather than striving to be somewhat objective. It lacked authenticity as a result, at least in terms of value as a popular history work. Quite enjoyed the accompanying TV series on C4 though!


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                                                                                                                          Finished this:



                                                                                                                          Read about 4 million+ words in that series. A long 'un.


                                                                                                                          Reading this atm:

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