And…[/quote]
He’s still alive. 
It’s a good read but seems to skim over a few parts that should have had more attention.[/quote]
I don’t know too much about him, but I enjoyed reading the liner notes he wrote for the greatest hits CD. It was kind of funny.
He said that Mick Jagger had become a decent rhythm guitarist because “he had a good teacher.”
And…[/quote]
He’s still alive.
It’s a good read but seems to skim over a few parts that should have had more attention.[/quote]
I don’t know too much about him, but I enjoyed reading the liner notes he wrote for the greatest hits CD. It was kind of funny.
He said that Mick Jagger had become a decent rhythm guitarist because “he had a good teacher.”[/quote]
He actually trashes Jagger a lot in the book. Highly critical of him over a lot of things, although based on a recent interview I read, he showed the manuscript to MJ before submitting it so you can only imagine the stuff that got cut.
I have just finished We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It took me longer to read than was planned as it isn’t the lightest pre-sleep material.
The novel consists of a series of letters/e-mails from Eva to her husband Franklin (who she is clearly no longer with) and mulls over their marriage, her ambivalence about motherhood, and all the events that led up to their teenage son doing a Columbine and taking out his schoolmates.
It’s not going to be one of my favorite novels, but I get why Shriver won the Orange Prize for this. Halfway through, I was scared there would be no attempt to try and explain the tragedy at the book’s center. But reasons are provided, even if readers need to decide for themselves between various options (nothing is heavy-handed; the nature/nurture debate comes through Eva’s descriptions of life events and not through philosophical musings).
I know this novel will mean more to parents than it does to me. I simply appreciate Shriver’s avoidance of easy answers. I felt for Eva. And the novel is a good one for discussion: What if your child simply doesn’t evoke (or deserve) the appropriate parental response of love? What if you have given birth to something malicious? Who is to judge if a parent is at fault or if it is an “act of God” if a minor turns psychopathic?
I’m not going to rush out and read everything else Shriver has written, but I will keep an eye out for what she writes later. Her previous novels don’t appeal to me, but she is clearly skilled.
I recommend this one, especially to those who have opted to have kids. Has anyone else out there read Kevin?
[quote=“ThreadKiller”] Has anyone else out there read Kevin?
[/quote]
I think it’s a bit crap.
[quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“ThreadKiller”] Has anyone else out there read Kevin?
[/quote]
I think it’s a bit crap.[/quote]
I know your shelves and drawers. We should read books before commenting upon them.
[quote=“ThreadKiller”][quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“ThreadKiller”] Has anyone else out there read Kevin?
[/quote]
I think it’s a bit crap.[/quote]
I know your shelves and drawers. We should read books before commenting upon them.[/quote]
Irrelevant. I read the reviews. They said it was good. Hence, it’s obviously a bit crap.
[quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“ThreadKiller”][quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“ThreadKiller”] Has anyone else out there read Kevin?
[/quote]
I think it’s a bit crap.[/quote]
I know your shelves and drawers. We should read books before commenting upon them.[/quote]
Irrelevant. I read the reviews. They said it was good. Hence, it’s obviously a bit crap.[/quote]
Mate, you think most things are “a bit crap.” :roflmao:
I just finished reading The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
Good Lord what a load of shite. I’d really been looking forward to reading this as I’ve liked GDT’s film work e.g. Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone, and the Hellboy films. He has a visual flair and imagination that is completely unmistakable. So thinking what he could do to redefine the vampire genre= potentially ace.
But as a novel writer: :s
It starts off well enough when an aircraft arrives in New York full of dead bodies but soon goes downhill after that. Plot holes abound, crap dialogue, idiotic stereotyped characters you don’t care about, over describing things that don’t need to be over described, clumsy wording e.g.
You get the feeling that this is definitely going to be made into a film and I’d say it would probably be a smash hit summer blockbuster.
I’m also wondering how the heck they are supposed to string this out over another two books.
Very disappointing. 
I’m reading and enjoying ‘The Burning Lands’ by Bernard Cornwell. It is set in the time of Alfred the Great and follows the life of a warlord. It pitches Christianity against the Norse pagans. Alfred the Great’s fame comes from establishing Catholicism in England (Wessex). The warlord is a former leader of Alfred’s armies but they have a falling out; he is still, however, an oathman to Alfred. It’s beautifully written, action packed and educational – my favorite kind of book.
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James
Hindus, by Julius Lipner
Plutarch’s Lives, by Plutarch
All excellent books, but Hindus, as fascinating as it is, will require a second read to absorb everything. It is the greatest relief to read a book that takes a religious tradition on its own terms and does not exoticize it or demonize it or turn it into the Answer to the World’s Problems. I don’t know much about Hinduism, apart from reading the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita years ago, and I have primarily viewed Hinduism through a Buddhist lens and even Zoroastrianism, but this book is helping me to rethink how I perceive both Hinduism and Buddhism.
After reading James, I have a book of Indian short stories waiting on tap and a book about Shia Islam. The Turn of the Screw is a riveting book, if you forgive the pun, that keeps ratcheting up the tension through the development of the narrator’s awkward and acute but unprovable suspicion that the children under her care are under the malign influence of a pair of spirits. From the beginning, the book is supposed to be a record of her letters written well after the fact, so it seems unlikely that anything too terrible happens, but I am well-nigh obsessed with if and how she can break through the eerily polite distance diligently cultivated by the children. I have the suspicion that James will not relieve the reader of this pressure.
I’m currently reading A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich. It’s written for children, doesn’t go into any real detail, but manages to brush over all the important parts for the most part (not finished with it so I’m not exactly sure). I’ve read the chapters on pre-history, the Egyptians, Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians. Not bad for a kiddies history book of the world. 
Can’t wait until my boy is old enough so I can read it to him.
I just finished “Decision Points” by George W. Bush. Overall I thought it was a pretty interesting read as I was always curious about what motivated his decisions. The book touched on the major issues surrounding his presidency. I would recommend it to anyone pro or anti Bush.
Ray Fazakas: “The Donnelly Album” {crap, but good photos and background info}
Simon Winchester: “The Man Who Loved China” {outstanding read on Joseph Needham, freak extraordinary}
Farley Mowat: “The Regiment”. {Great bio on the Hasty P’s in Italy during WW2}.
I was wondering if this was a good read. You talked me into it. As soon as gas prices come down here in the US I am going to get it.
[color=#0000FF]Moderator’s note: The reading list before 2011 is here.[/color]
J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians.
It will be a quick read. My selection for a small book club. I’m happy I chose to revisit it. Spectacular.
That’s how you win a Nobel.
[quote=“ThreadKiller”]J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians.
It will be a quick read. My selection for a small book club. I’m happy I chose to revisit it. Spectacular.
That’s how you win a Nobel.[/quote]
Not my favourite Coetzee, but not too bad.
Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and the Newton’s Cannon series.
What is your favorite? I have time in the vac and haven’t read all of his.
What is your favorite? I have time in the vac and haven’t read all of his.[/quote]
My two favourites are Youth and Disgrace. Slow Man was also an interesting read, for me anyway.
I liked Youth because it tells a story of a guy moving to England and finding his way in the world, making peace with himself after a fashion (kind of like expats in Taiwan), and Disgrace moved me because of his descriptive writing about scenes in South Africa, like watching sports on a Saturday afternoon. It felt like I was at home when I was reading it.
Of all his books that I’ve read I really didn’t like The Master of St. Petersburg, but I think that’s much more of a literary novel than his others, and you may appreciate it much more than I did.