Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 846636 times)

microphonie · « **Reply #2325 on:** 29 March, 2012, 07:10:01 pm »

Just finished Surface Detail by Iain M Banks. I was a bit wary after some of the slightly negative opinions on here about it being a bit slow to get going. However, I didn't think that at all: maybe it's because I'm used to his style.

I reckon it's by far his funniest Culture novel: the scenes involving Av. Demeisen/Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints are fantastic - particularly his appearance at the Board of Inquiry at the end

citoyen · « **Reply #2326 on:** 02 April, 2012, 03:46:08 pm »

Death Comes To Pemberley - PD James's murder mystery sequel to Pride & Prejudice.

I love Pride & Prejudice but don't think I've read any PD James before. Based on what I've read so far, I don't think I'll be reading any more PD James in a hurry. So far, it's dull, prolix and humourless.

I'm going to continue with it to give it a chance to redeem itself but I think I'll need to re-read the original Austen afterwards to purge this from my system.

d.

Deano · « **Reply #2327 on:** 02 April, 2012, 04:17:01 pm »

I had to look up "prolix" as I haven't encountered the word before. It's a good word. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Recently I've read Kim by Rudyard Kipling and Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Both books about India, and both very good. I expected not to enjoy Kim, as Kipling's association with Empire taints his reputation, but his love of the country shines through, and a lot of his observations and experiences still ring with truth. I found myself smiling at some of the descriptions of places and people, and I passed it on to a backpacker in Delhi. Midnight's Children was a similar experience, in that I enjoyed reading about places I'd been, or planned to visit, but it had more depth and humour. I enjoyed them both, and the different perspectives on India.

Right now, I'm reading the Troy trilogy by David Gemmell. Stupid re-telling of the Iliad with lots of blud, but good escapist stuff. Cheers, Tiermat, for sending them on.

clarion · « **Reply #2328 on:** 02 April, 2012, 04:18:48 pm »

I've read 'Kim'. I was very disappointed. She doesn't even appear once.

Deano · « **Reply #2329 on:** 02 April, 2012, 04:30:09 pm »

I know! Imagine my disappointment.

citoyen · « **Reply #2330 on:** 02 April, 2012, 05:48:02 pm »

Quote from: Deano on 02 April, 2012, 04:17:01 pm

I had to look up "prolix" as I haven't encountered the word before. It's a good word.

It is a good word, though I always think it sounds like it should mean something different.

Quote

I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I generally shy away from sequels not by the original author and I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the PD James. So Pride & Prejudice & Zombies doesn't really appeal, tbh, though I imagine at least it might be a bit more amusing and a lot less pretentious than Death Comes To Pemberley.

d.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2331 on:** 05 April, 2012, 12:15:10 pm »

After having disposed of Jo Nesbo's Phantom (the latest featuring Harry Hole) in a single session yesterday, I am now on The Wood Cutter by Reginald Hill. I'd never heard of him until he got on R4's Last Words recently, but it seems he invented Dalziel & Pascoe. The Wood Cutter is jolly good so far.

citoyen · « **Reply #2332 on:** 05 April, 2012, 01:28:44 pm »

Death Comes To Pemberley didn't improve as it went on. Awful book. Just bog standard fan fiction. I thought PD James was supposed to be a better writer than that.

Now reading Post Everything by Luke Haines - the memoirs of a B-list 90s indie pop star. It's very, very funny. All the more so for its extremely bitter tone - though you do get the feeling that he's actually a lovely bloke underneath it all, and most of his targets seem to deserve it. There's a particularly scathing description of a music journalist he encounters while promoting one of his records, which I especially enjoyed because said music journalist is now a colleague of mine - he wasn't named in the book but he's easily recognisable.

d.

LindaG · « **Reply #2333 on:** 06 April, 2012, 11:11:51 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 05 April, 2012, 01:28:44 pm

I thought PD James was supposed to be a better writer than that.

PD James is a great writer. Try 'Children of Men'. It's good.

I'm reading Madame Bovary by someone French, and 'Becoming What I Am' by HA Williams, and 'The Other Side of the Sky' by AC Clarke.

I have a feeling it's not going to end well for Mme B.

citoyen · « **Reply #2334 on:** 07 April, 2012, 05:34:53 pm »

Quote from: Lindagordinho on 06 April, 2012, 11:11:51 pm

PD James is a great writer.

My dad says so too, and I trust his judgment on these matters. However, I would urge both you and my dad not to read Death Comes To Pemberley if you want to maintain your good opinion of her.

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Try 'Children of Men'. It's good.

It's on my list.

Quote

I'm reading Madame Bovary by someone French...
I have a feeling it's not going to end well for Mme B.

Now that French bloke sure knew how to write. It's a while since I read Madame Bovary so I can't remember exactly how it ends, but yeah, not exactly happily ever after. Must read it again some time.

d.

Bledlow · « **Reply #2335 on:** 07 April, 2012, 07:43:44 pm »

The French bloke who wrote The Charterhouse of Parma disappointed me. I quite liked the start, but it deteriorated into a dreary tale of self-centred parasites behaving irresponsibly, against a background of nasty parasites behaving maliciously.

her_welshness · « **Reply #2336 on:** 08 April, 2012, 12:34:41 pm »

Have just had to abandon Eat Pray Love after 38 pages of trying trying trying to get something from it. I didn't. Good luck to Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, I hope he got a lot of money in the divorce settlement.

Have I mentioned how pathetic this book really is??

microphonie · « **Reply #2337 on:** 09 April, 2012, 10:37:17 am »

Got Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days out of the library last week & when I got it home realised it was a follow-up to River of Gods, which I haven't read

Luckily I found River of Gods at the weekend so that's next up

Clare · « **Reply #2338 on:** 09 April, 2012, 10:44:30 am »

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay.

LindaG · « **Reply #2339 on:** 09 April, 2012, 10:08:25 pm »

Quote from: her_welshness on 08 April, 2012, 12:34:41 pm

Have just had to abandon Eat Pray Love after 38 pages of trying trying trying to get something from it. I didn't. Good luck to Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, I hope he got a lot of money in the divorce settlement.

Have I mentioned how pathetic this book really is??

Oh, dear. I rather enjoyed it. She is an annoying know-it-all though. But crusty says that's because it takes one to know one.

lou boutin · « **Reply #2340 on:** 10 April, 2012, 08:48:38 am »

Quote from: citoyen on 05 April, 2012, 01:28:44 pm

Death Comes To Pemberley didn't improve as it went on. Awful book. Just bog standard fan fiction. I thought PD James was supposed to be a better writer than that

d.

The good thing about Death comes to Pemberley is that the characters remain similar to how Austen developed them. I have read some of the other sequels and in all those I have started reading and put down, Darcy becomes a love sick puppy and Elizabeth moons around the place after him.

Death Comes to Pemberley is ok as a sequel, the mystery is pretty guessable but there was little in the book that I read that generated a 'that would never have happened, Darcy/Elizabeth would never do that' reaction, which I think is the best that any sequel by another writer can hope for.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2341 on:** 10 April, 2012, 11:55:52 am »

I was given Merckx: Half Man Half Bike by William Fotheringham as a belated birthday present on Thursday

Quint · « **Reply #2342 on:** 10 April, 2012, 07:25:51 pm »

Part of the way through The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly, very good,

citoyen · « **Reply #2343 on:** 10 April, 2012, 08:55:11 pm »

Quote from: Lou Boutin on 10 April, 2012, 08:48:38 am

The good thing about Death comes to Pemberley is that the characters remain similar to how Austen developed them.

For me, the characters in DCTP were lifeless imitations of the characters in P&P they were supposed to resemble, only recognisable as the same characters because PD James lifted lines of dialogue straight from P&P...

But, you know, that's just, like, my opinion, man.

d.

her_welshness · « **Reply #2344 on:** 10 April, 2012, 10:50:02 pm »

Quote from: Lindagordinho on 09 April, 2012, 10:08:25 pm

Quote from: her_welshness on 08 April, 2012, 12:34:41 pm
Have just had to abandon Eat Pray Love after 38 pages of trying trying trying to get something from it. I didn't. Good luck to Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, I hope he got a lot of money in the divorce settlement.

Have I mentioned how pathetic this book really is??

Oh, dear. I rather enjoyed it. She is an annoying know-it-all though. But crusty says that's because it takes one to know one.

Sorry love, I did not get it, at all. I kept shrieking at her. Especially when she decides that she needs a guru. WTF?

SandyV · « **Reply #2345 on:** 13 April, 2012, 12:42:04 pm »

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. How can I not have read this before now? Fascinating - depressing but fascinating.

interzen · « **Reply #2346 on:** 13 April, 2012, 12:54:16 pm »

Decided to get the 'Game Of Thrones' series for the Kindle-slab - I've heard enough about the TV series that it finally piqued my interest. Rather enjoying it in spite of the sometimes blatantly obvious Tolkien influence.

citoyen · « **Reply #2347 on:** 13 April, 2012, 01:03:17 pm »

The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst

Slightly pretentious philsophical musings on art and music interspersed with explicitly described scenes of gay sex and politics in Thatcher's Britain. Started off very well but it's losing me a bit. Beautifully written though.

d.

Bledlow · « **Reply #2348 on:** 13 April, 2012, 09:04:11 pm »

Brother of the More Famous Jack, by Barbara Trapido. I may have read it in the 1980s.

Feline · « **Reply #2349 on:** 17 April, 2012, 12:13:08 am »

Just finished 'The Gift of Rain' by Tan Twan Eng.
A very good read, and very moving in places. A great read if you are into swords and/or martial arts.

Author Topic: What books are we reading at the moment ? (Read 846636 times)

LindaG

LindaG