What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (3 Viewers)

[St. Fechin]

The English Vice: Beating, Sex and Shame in Victorian England and After by Ian Gibson.

A sometimes tedious but mostly fascinating look at the fondness english people have for having their bottoms spanked. as far as i can tell there seems to be a vicious circle involved whereby youngsters are beaten at school, get mightily turned on by this and carry on the tradition when they grow up. also, toilet training by stern nannies and governesses during the sadistic-anal phase of childhood seems to be important as does an aggression towards the breasts of the mother which is subverted into guilt and a corresponding desire to have ones buttocks birched as buttocks look a bit like boobs anyway.

I wonder is that the same Ian Gibson who wrote The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí? Lashings (pun intended) of sexual guilt theories in that too as I recall...

Edit: It is, yeah: http://www.uklitag.com/site/images/author_uploads/master_gibson_biblio_2009_sp.pdf

 

[David Kronenbourg]

a bit of light relief after hogg. i found this highly creepy

 

[IFF]

alas i am.

21.8% through it.

just after it's mention of Ardree for i think the 2nd time

reading it is one thing, understanding it is another but it's really about the sound of the words and it does help to read it aloud.

28.8% now

i did also finish "bicycle diaries" by david byrne and it was an excellent read. informative and entertaining.

 

[dirtyvicar]

I read a bit more of that book about the Official IRA and the Workers Party.

 

[Kermit McDermott]

just started

 

[Richie]

Just finished 'The Savage Detectives' by Roberto Bolano.. Bit of a frustrating slog of a book, to be honest. Mostly about a bunch of young poet bohemian types living in Mexico in the '70s, mainly focussing on the two leaders of a particular poetry movement and their adventures in different countries over the course of a couple of decades. The first section was quite good, was really starting to get into it and then about 150 pages in it abandons the original narrator and starts jumping between different narrators and time periods every few pages (and there are probably about 50 separate narrators in the mid-section of the book) with the plot thread becoming increasingly hard to follow and the large number of characters with similiar-sounnding Mexican names becoming less and less distinguishable. There's the odd brilliant passage but then the narrative jumps again and you're back trying to piece the storyline together. I'm sure my lack of knowledge about South American literature didn't help (there are loads of little references to poets, writers etc). Intrigued enough to try out his other books but I'd find it hard to recommend.

 

[Lili Marlene]

I'm reading Starter for 10 cos despite seeing the film a bunch of times I never actually read the book.

It's a terrifyingly accurate portrait of me at 18

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Just finished 'The Savage Detectives' by Roberto Bolano.. Bit of a frustrating slog of a book, to be honest. Mostly about a bunch of young poet bohemian types living in Mexico in the '70s, mainly focussing on the two leaders of a particular poetry movement and their adventures in different countries over the course of a couple of decades. The first section was quite good, was really starting to get into it and then about 150 pages in it abandons the original narrator and starts jumping between different narrators and time periods every few pages (and there are probably about 50 separate narrators in the mid-section of the book) with the plot thread becoming increasingly hard to follow and the large number of characters with similiar-sounnding Mexican names becoming less and less distinguishable. There's the odd brilliant passage but then the narrative jumps again and you're back trying to piece the storyline together. I'm sure my lack of knowledge about South American literature didn't help (there are loads of little references to poets, writers etc). Intrigued enough to try out his other books but I'd find it hard to recommend.

spot on. i was struggling through this for ages. then i left it in a pub and was kind of glad cos i didn't have to finish it

 

[Richie]

spot on. i was struggling through this for ages. then i left it in a pub and was kind of glad cos i didn't have to finish it

It took me months of on-off reading to get through that middle 300 or so pages, more out of a determination to not get 'beaten' by it than anything.. I've heard that this book by the same author is a much better read, might give that a shot sometime.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

after all the extreme fiction i've been reading lately (hogg, dennis cooper, joyce carol oates' "zombie") i decided to revisit something that was about gay men hacking each other to bits so i picked this up again. i've been reading it on and off for the past year. the writing is stunning but it's kind of plotless and requires your absolute full attention or you'll be struggling to remember who is who and exactly what the hell is going on. lovely stuff all the same

 

[rettucs]

finished this at the weekend. Not the easiest read. The writing style is far from free-flowing and its the kind of subject matter thats easy to lose track of the whose-who and who-did-what. My way around that was to try and digest those on the Irish-rebel side and understand who they were, then categorise the rest at 'Brits'.'

But for anyone wishing to put together the bits and pieces they know about that time (non history scholars such as me), its a good, objective account of what happened that week, the build-up to it, and most importantly, the aftermath. One criticism is that he goes a little easy on the Brits. I was at least a third the way through before I was first filled with hate. I'd expect that on page 2 of a book like this.

Anyway, now on this;



about the dictator Trujillo (in a sort of dramatised way) who ruled the Dominican Republic back in the 60s (I think). Anyone thats read 'Oscar Wao' by Junot Diaz will already know all about him. Reading that made me want to read this.

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

great read,cant remember the last book i was as enthused about.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

View attachment 5947

great read,cant remember the last book i was as enthused about.

really? you need to read more books then

 

[Mormon Nailer]

Shop Class As Soulcraft:



Really enjoying this - he has some very interesting things to say

As someone who has done both blue and white collar work I have to say he is spot on - I haven't had to seriously use my brain a long long time - since I started a profession.

So what advice should one give to a young person? By all means, go to college. In fact, approach college in the spirit of craftsmanship, going deep into liberal arts and sciences. In the summers, learn a manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable

 

[dirtyvicar]

I read a bit more of Iain M Banks' "Use of Weapons". The bit I read had the main character travelling on a ship crewed by nutters, and was funny.

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

really? you need to read more books then

steady on now young fella,im forever reading.although in fairness of late its been mostly travel books and sports bio's with some gardening thrown in for good measure so its hardly stuff thats gonna set the world alight.point taken,im gonna get back into fiction for a while.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

I read a bit more of that book about the Official IRA and the Workers Party.

Is it any use?

 

[Gambra]

Is it any use?

If it's the Lost Revolution book he's on about, it's really really good.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

If it's the Lost Revolution book he's on about, it's really really good.

Yeah, I have it in the store, was thinking about reading it. I'm still on this which I'd wholeheartedly recommend as a primer on the Troubles history.

 

[jonah]

Holy. Shit.