Books 2nd Edition, Foreword by m0r1arty Options

[mcraigclark]

I bought The Book Thief by Markus Zusak today. I understand it's meant to be very good - has anyone else here read it?

Yes, and it's good.

[PrincessKate]

I treated myself to a reduced copy of The Night Watch by Sarah Waters on my way back from the Doctor's last week, and I'm trying to read it as slowly as possible, to savour it. I enjoyed the prose of Tipping the Velvet, but found the characterisation quite lacking, this is much better, and the domestic setting of the aftermath and duration of WWII is very interesting. I already don't want it to end.

This post has been edited by PrincessKate: Nov 15 2009, 10:21 AM

[Ade]

I have, and I absolutely adored it. It's beautifully written, and quite unlike anything I've ever read before or have read since.

Plus it restored my faith in literature after reading Twi-shite.

Yes, and it's good.

Splendid. Thanks!

Have started reading it today.

[maian]

GB84 by David Peace

After completing a work as gargantuan as his Red Riding Quartet, it'd be understandable if David Peace wanted to take some time off or try his hand at something lighter. Instead, he delves right back into the murky world of recent British history to deliver up this dense, complex and violent account of the miner's strike, as told through the eyes of several characters involved; Neil Fontaine, a handler for the mysterious character known only as 'The Jew', a man with no scruples who does anything to please the Prime Minister; Terry Winters, the Chief Executive for the NUM who is engaged in an affair with a woman named Diane; The Mechanic, an army-trained specialist who is hired by the government to attack miners; and Malcolm Morris, a surveillance expert whose work is driving him increasingly insane.

Like the best of Peace's work, the book strives for a poetic style that is suggestive rather than descriptive, intending to evoke the time and the atmosphere rather than rigourously recreating iit in detail. Having not been alive when the strike was going on, I can't attest to the veracity of his version of events (which, like Alan Moore's 'From Hell', is more of a dramatic rendering of the more conspiracy theory-led narratives of the strike than a strict and academic recreation) but it is a hell of a lot of fun to delve into his version of Britain in 1984 as the English Civil War is reborn as a battle of capital and labour, people and party, good and evil, love and hate.

It lacks the raw power and laser-sharp focus of the Red Riding Quartet, and in an attempt to tell so vast a story it winds up being much more diffuse than that series, but it's still a great read.

[Outatime]

I bought The Book Thief by Markus Zusak today. I understand it's meant to be very good - has anyone else here read it?

I'm reading it at the moment and I've had a lot of trouble getting into it but now I am I'm really enjoying it.

[Jimmay]

I'm reading it at the moment and I've had a lot of trouble getting into it but now I am I'm really enjoying it.

Sarah loves it but I've got halfway through it twice and just lost interest. Not that its a bad book. I'll have to attempt it again in a few years I think.

I'm currently reading Carter Beats the Devil and really enjoying it so far

[Sostie]

Recently finished Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist in which the dead from the last 3 months in Stockholm all mysteriously come back to "life". More interesting than entertaining, and certainly not as satisfying as Let The Right One In.

[gulfcoast_highwa...]

I was ina cheap book shop today and bought the first two 'His Dark Materials' book (it was 2 for a fiver).

Will I enjoy them? I've purposely avoided seeing the film, so please be wary of spoilers.

[mcraigclark]

I was ina cheap book shop today and bought the first two 'His Dark Materials' book (it was 2 for a fiver).

Will I enjoy them? I've purposely avoided seeing the film, so please be wary of spoilers.

I'm betting you will. They're surprisingly sophisticated, and there's really very little not to enjoy.

[NiteFall]

Unless you're Catholic.

[widowspider]

They are very enjoyable. I wouldn't mind reading them again.

[maian]

It took me three years, on and off, but I've finally finished Don Quixote. I tried reading it first in late 2006, but had to set it aside because I was researching my dissertation and didn't have the time to commit to a book of that scope. Then I tried again in 2008 when I had a week off work but only got marginally further in when I had to go back to work and started working 30 consecutive 12 and a half hour days, by the end of which I really wasn't in any fit state to read anything, and with the dawning of a new year fast approaching I steeled myself and decided to finish it before New Year's Eve, which I achieved with a week to spare.

It's such a seminal work that I don't really feel I can say anything about it of any real substance, but I'll say this much; I was surprised by how well the humour holds up, and I was incredibly surprised by the reflexivity of Part 2, in which Don Quixote discovers that he has found renown across Spain thanks to a book written about his adventures.

[PrincessKate]

Finished The Night Watch over Christmas week, it was engrossing and I really enjoyed it - though the continued ambiguity about Duncan grated a little at times. It was nice to see Sarah Waters exploring the world outside lesbianism - Reggie and Viv's relationship was particularly affecting.
I'd definitely recommend it.

[Atara]

Someone stole my copy of Don Quixote when I was at college, I thought it would be safe left in the drama room as none of the actors could be arsed reading their scripts let alone an actual book... I think it was Hugh the lecturer as he kept eyeing it when I was reading it, the dog!

[Outatime]

I'm currently reading Toast by Nigel Slater which is basically an autobiography of his childhood set around different foods. It's really easy to read and very enjoyable. I have a big pile of books to read after seeing my brother last week so I need to start on them soon.