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

[Psycho Punk]

I have JG Ballard's complete short stories collection however its a massive hardback yoke that's too big, heavy and awkward to actually read. I think i've read about 3 stories in the 10 or more years I've had the book

I've read all of the stories in that volume but it was over a couple of years.

 

[Psycho Punk]

Harlan Ellison, eh? I'm always somewhat surprised when I find out he is still alive. Anyone here read him? If so, I'd be curious what you think. I became obsessed with him as a teenager (prompted largely by Stephen King praising him to the skies) but haven't read anything by him in years. I should dig out one of his books again and give it a go. They were always hard-to-find and usually necessitated a trip down to the Alchemists Head bookshop which was situated (I think) somewhere in the depth of Temple Bar before it became "Temple Bar". Incidently two of my other teenage short-story writer obsessions (JG Ballard and HP Lovecraft) are now uber-trendy in certain art circles so I reckon Harlan must be due a similar revival ...

I loved HE when I was a teenager and continued to get short story collections of his. I got a huge volume of his Collected Stories but have only read a few.

 

[jonah]

Reading 'A Kestrel for a Knave' for the first time. I'm only about 50 pages in though its a very quick read. Going to break my heart into a million pieces.

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

Love that book,its one of my top three.I assume you've seen the film?

 

[jonah]

I have indeed. I'm well prepared for what is going to happen to me. Its so, so, so beauifully written though. Pretty much a perfect example of "my kind of thing".

 

[magicbastarder]

just finished 'how to be a woman'. cracking good read.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Reading 'A Kestrel for a Knave' for the first time. I'm only about 50 pages in though its a very quick read. Going to break my heart into a million pieces.

Amount of customers who have asked for "A Kestral for a K-nave" over the years. It's like "My Octopus Complex" by Frank O'Connor. The worst one was "The Lion At School" being "The Lee-on at school".

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Reading Ragtime by E.L. Doctrow. It's fantastic.

 

[Jim Daniels]

In the middle of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Nice easy cosy wintertime reading. In fact I'm going to bed shortly to continue on. Nine thirty PM!

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Any Raymond Chandler fans on here? I'm excited about this. Love the Marlowe books and I'm a big fan of Banville, although I've never read Benjamin Black books http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/09/john-banville-philip-marlowe-novel

 

[Mormon Nailer]

Very very good.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Christine Falls. John Banville writing crime fiction under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. Very good so far. Funny with a dash of melancholy and an air of mystery. it also features a smooth talking boozehound protagonist with an eye for the ladies. Everything you want from a John Banville detective novel, really.

 

[Jim Daniels]

Christine Falls. John Banville writing crime fiction under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. Very good so far. Funny with a dash of melancholy and an air of mystery. it also features a smooth talking boozehound protagonist with an eye for the ladies. Everything you want from a John Banville detective novel, really.

Sounds good!

I've just finished a collection of short stories in celebration of Ray Bradbury. Liked it so much, I'm going to investigate the man himself.
Picked up this earlier

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Sounds good!

I've just finished a collection of short stories in celebration of Ray Bradbury. Liked it so much, I'm going to investigate the man himself.
Picked up this earlier

I've read a few of his short stories. Very good. I've had this on my to read list for ages. Must get around to it. The film adaptation made a lasting impact on me as a kid. I wonder if it holds up. Must check it out.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Grimly hilarious look at a bunch of vile English aristorcrats. First in a series of mostly autobiographical novels featuring the author's alter-ego Patrick Melrose. Very good.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

DeLillo's Point Omega. Enjoying it so far. it's slight and is the only DeLillo book I've read so far that hasn't left me scratching my head. In fact, if I finish that it will only be the second book out of an attempted five of his that I've managed to finish.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

Another of my Library of America presents to myself for Christmas.
I wish I know more about economics, it seems like I should, and I suspect 99% of what I hear every day on the matter is bullshit.
Anyway
His prose is just lovely. Crisp, and clear as a bell.

Nice edition too, there's nothing like a well produced hardback.

By the way..
I always thought of The Folio Society as a bit of a scam, but the Library of America as being all right. Anyone have thoughts on the matter?

 

[hermie]

Finally finished Moby Dick after two months of trying. It lags a bit in places but is pretty great nonetheless. Obviously. Got interrupted by some Christmas presents along the way. Finished the 'Game of Thrones' books, re-read Jesus' Son and dipped into Waging Heavy Peace and All the Pretty Horses. Just started this, loving it so far:

 

[David Kronenbourg]

re-read Jesus' Son

one of my favourite books. i love denis johnson. have you read Angels? it's great

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

DeLillo's Point Omega. Enjoying it so far. it's slight and is the only DeLillo book I've read so far that hasn't left me scratching my head. In fact, if I finish that it will only be the second book out of an attempted five of his that I've managed to finish.

I read that last year but it didn't make much of an impression on me. I didn't hate it the way I hated others of his though.

I've been doing hardly any reading lately but I finally finished Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges. There was more technical stuff in it than I really needed - the maths behind code breaking etc - but it was a good read all the same, an interesting character. Took me about two months to read, I was a bit sick of it by the end.

Today I finished How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music by Elijah Wald. This one was very interesting. He looks into some common misconceptions about popular music over the course of the 20th century, shows how the division between black and white music was never quite what it seems now until the beatles, of all people, drove a musical wedge between the races that has overshadowed popular music ever since. Before that the division was really only for the sake of appearances, black and white people were all playing the same music and influencing each other in a way that this lad reckons doesn't happen now. The main tactic he takes in the book is to look at what was actually popular at the time rather than what is now considered to be the best music of the era so theres a lot of stuff about almost forgotten jazzers and swingers who drew in huge crowds of dancers etc. He also traces the develpments from foxtrots and waltzes to dixieland, swing, country, moody crooners, rock and roll etc and puts it all in the perspective of how what was popular at the time influenced the musicians. A lot of older musicians weren't mad about the rock and roll because it was being played by teenagers who weren't in the union and didn't get paid properly undermining them. Lots of interesting bits of historical trivia, highly recommended for fans of music history books. The focus is all on american music, at least until the beatles turn up, so theres a lot of tiresome stormfront mentality going on in the background.

Next I have to choose between The Melancholy Of Resistance by Laszlo Krasznahorkai and Occasions Of Sin by Diarmaid Ferriter