What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (6 Viewers)

[Jill Hives]

Brothers of the Head by Brian Aldiss
Another excellent Aldiss novel. This one is about two brothers who are siamese twins and one of them has another (third) dormant shrivelled, creepy, grey-haired head on his shoulder. they're basically boggers from norfolk and their dad sends them off to london to be rock stars but that doesnt really work out because they fight all the time. eventually they return to norfolk where they revert to their almost feral pre rockstar existance and the dormant head starts waking up and causing trouble.

Huh, I didn't realise that was a book. I enjoyed the film.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Huh, I didn't realise that was a book. I enjoyed the film.

i believe the third head isnt in the film, is that right?

i ordered five more aldiss books yesterday, resisted the temptation to get more so that i'll still have a few left to collect.

 

[rettucs]

... and ordered Laurie Lee's autobiography thanks to the chapter on it.

I read 'As I went out one Midsummer's Morning' by Lee earler this year. Thats his autobiographical account of his time spent in Spain before and during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war.

A short enough book, he tends to go on a little too much about non-events, but that aside it was an enjoyable read.

 

[Jill Hives]

i believe the third head isnt in the film, is that right?

i ordered five more aldiss books yesterday, resisted the temptation to get more so that i'll still have a few left to collect.

No, the third head is not in the film. Now, I'm intrigued. I'm going to look up some of his other books.

ETA: Okay maybe not he seems to be all science fiction.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Hes not all sci-fi, although he is inclined to make a mockery of sci-fi/non-sci-fi genre distinctions. you'd be well advised to try liking him, he has countless books so you can get good and obsessed with him without quickly running out of material with which to sustain the obsession.

 

[Nate Champion]

the last one i read was The Outermost Dream by William Maxwell, one of my favorite writers. This one is all short pieces about writers as they are revealed in their biographies or collections of letters. Most of them Maxwell had worked with during his time at the New Yorker magazine. I didn't expect a huge amount from this book but i got well into it and ordered Laurie Lee's autobiography thanks to the chapter on it.

Yeah,I love Maxwell too. I haven't read him in years, although I can sense his influence all over folks like Updike and Cheever. I must get back into reading his short stories (I remember starting it about two years ago). He really has the tender touch.

Pop Quiz (because actually I'd really like to know) -
Irish female writer who may have worked for Maxwell and ended up destitute?
Maeve something possibly?

Laurie Lee - yeah, I had a friend who was always banging on about Cider with Rosie, and even though I have a copy lying around somewhere I can't see myself ever reading it.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Pop Quiz (because actually I'd really like to know) -
Irish female writer who may have worked for Maxwell and ended up destitute?
Maeve something possibly?

Meave Brennan

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

the mother has been going on a lot about meave brennan lately, not the most upbeat writer from what im told.

laurie lee book i ordered is the american version of cider with rosie. the very same apparently except it has a different title. theres no way i'd read something called Cider With Rosie.

 

[Lili Marlene]

you'd be well advised to try liking him

hahahaha. What a brilliant sentence

 

[Lili Marlene]

class

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/28/gabriel-josipovici-dismisses-english-authors


I is John approves of this kind of outburst. It's kind of silly but he has a point here imho

Overall, he said, while the likes of Kafka were plagued by self-doubt, his modern peers seemed arrogant and self-satisfied, "which is mildly depressing".

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

has anyone ever read anything by Proust?

 

[Lili Marlene]

Don't be mad, Proust is a punchline not an author.

some day I will read Clarissa though. I'd imagine it explains it all

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

maybe we could kick start the thumped book club with that one

 

[Lili Marlene]

Yeah, no one who has read it has ever admitted to disliking it. Samuel Richardson is a good guy, his stuff does go on a bit though....


Who is it on thumped who updates this thread every now and then with where they are in Finnegan's Wake? madzer

 

[rettucs]

has anyone ever read anything by Proust?

I read about half of The Way By Swann. Its an infuriating book. Passages, some of which are enjoyable to read, others just plain tedious, which are a struggle to know how to relate to each other.

It reminded me of some of the limited amount of James Joyce I've read in the sense that the actual reading can be enjoyable, but that in itself only lasts so long. It doesn't go anywhere (or loses me before it does).

The other thing though is that it was a translation I read. And I just couldn't motivate myself to keep going knowing that.

 

[worthit]

An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray.... great so far. Hope he gets the Booker Prize.

 

[dirtyvicar]

Yeah, no one who has read it has ever admitted to disliking it. Samuel Richardson is a good guy, his stuff does go on a bit though....

funny, the person I know who read Clarissa said she felt soiled afterwards.

everyone I know who has read Pamela says it is dreadful. I reckon Shamela would be a far better bet.

 

[Anthem]

Just finishedf Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. Funny, sad, dark and very entertaining.

Looking forward to finally getting around to A Confederacy Of Dunces.

 

[Lili Marlene]

funny, the person I know who read Clarissa said she felt soiled afterwards.

really? I always figured if you put that much effort into something you'd be obliged to approve of it.

everyone I know who has read Pamela says it is dreadful. I reckon Shamela would be a far better bet.

It is what it is; good for historical value, not terribly exciting. Shamela on the other hand is an absolute bore, a COMPREHENSIVE parody of Richardson's Pamela. No one needs that.

 

[St. Fechin]

I finished this the other week and forgot to post it:

I think that here lies the sense of literary creation: to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly mirrors of future times; to find in the objects around us the fragrant tenderness that only posterity will discern and appreciate in the far-off times when every trifle of our plain everyday life will become exquisite and festive in its own right: the times when a man who might put on the most ordinary jacket of today will be dressed up for an elegant masquerade.

and so on...

There's genius on practically every page, although he overuses words like 'azure' and 'iridescent' in the early stories.