What books are we reading at the moment ?

[Mr Larrington]

I have toiled through to the end of Le Carré's A Perfect Spy, which doesn’t actually have very much espionage.  In it.

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Magnus Pym is less of a dislikable twerp than Aldo Cassidy, but Bernard Samson would have dealt with him a lot quicker than Brotherhood did, and with more economical prose

Next up, The Russia House which I think I have read before.  Or at least there’s a paperback copy over there ==>

[FifeingEejit]

Huxleys Brave new world, fastest I've got through a book in recent times, maybe just cos I've got less to do but been a few multi-chapter sittings which isn't like me.

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[T42]

In keeping with the general Götterdämmerung/Weltuntergang ambience of the day I've been reading Stephen Baxter's Moonseed for the nth time.  Brings back fond memories of running up Arthur's Arse half-pissed in the dark to catch the May-Morning sunrise, followed by bacon rolls and aspirin at the bottom of the Royal Mile. YMMV

[FifeingEejit]

Brave new world finished.

Moving onto Davis willets' - the pinch, I tried to pick something short and light but realised my "books to read" pile (now nicely stacked* in various Kallax cubby holes) is lacking on that front.

Although I've been "reading" the works of both coleridge-taylor and lear between books for the last 5 years, I'm well past both the ancient mariner and his counter parts in a pea green boat, but nowhere near the biographie listeria and lears end.

* read... ach well they're just shoved in as I could when I transported them.

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[fd3]

Not a fan of BNW, which I read back when I was ~17 to go with Farenheit 451 and 1984. 

Speaking of not being a fan, I'm not a fan of Stephen King (I don't despise his work, I can see good things to it, but I think it lacks somewhat), so it's not the highest praise when I say that his son's work is very much at his level.  Been reading 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill - it varies from "quite good" to "needs more editorial input".  Much like "Horns" I found that with the longer stories I was skipping ahead to get to the point and I gave up on the last story, happy to get anything I would get from it from skimming the story.  It's a shame as it should be good.

[Mr Larrington]

Not a fan of BNW, which I read back when I was ~17 to go with Farenheit 451 and 1984. 

This ^^^^.  Not that impressed by BNW when I read it as part of the O-level Eng. Lit. syllabub circa 1979 and even less so when I revisited it a couple of years ago.  I don’t think it has aged well.  1984, otoh, seems to have been treated as an instruction manual by successive .gov.uks since, er, about the time I first read it.

[Kim]

I've just finished KSR's latest.  It's much like his other books, but...

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This one has more economics and relatively little mountain climbing.  They save the world from ruthless bastards using blockchain.

[FifeingEejit]

Not a fan of BNW, which I read back when I was ~17 to go with Farenheit 451 and 1984. 

This ^^^^.  Not that impressed by BNW when I read it as part of the O-level Eng. Lit. syllabub circa 1979 and even less so when I revisited it a couple of years ago.  I don’t think it has aged well.  1984, otoh, seems to have been treated as an instruction manual by successive .gov.uks since, er, about the time I first read it.

Although ome aspects of 1984, constant surveillance for example have happened, the main thing was constant use of propoganda techniques, with the exception of crises like the last couple of years where such techniques are required, I jsut don't see it having played out in anywhere near an extent as to BNW has been used as a blueprint by those pumping debt (soma?), endless consumer goods, dumbing down and instant gratification at us.

And Lord of the flies continues to play out in conservative HQ


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[Canardly]

Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling. A Christmas gift. Amusing, but not the laugh out loud engendered by Notes From A Small Island. I did laugh out loud at the Whelks backpack reference, however.

[Efrogwr]

The Crow Road.

Another thread remided me that I hadn't read anything by I(M)B for far too long.

I got up to Canal Dreams, then read Complicity, then stopped. In the Culture novels I got as far as Excession.

So I've back-tracked to The Crow Road... I enjoy Banks's writing, I can see the settings in my minds eye and the oddness of the characters* and their lives is obviuos, but not overdone.

*They are well written and plausible.


Whit next!

[fd3]

I does not like Ian banks.  Too much of the “and then I woke up and it was all a dream”.

[Legs]

Perfume by Patrick Süskind.  Interesting.  More than a little bit weird.

[Mr Larrington]

Perfume by Patrick Süskind.  Interesting.  More than a little bit weird.

Miss von Brandenburg liked that so much she gave me a copy for my birthday.  Twice   I didn’t get on with either of them.

[FifeingEejit]

The Crow Road.

Another thread remided me that I hadn't read anything by I(M)B for far too long.

I got up to Canal Dreams, then read Complicity, then stopped. In the Culture novels I got as far as Excession.

So I've back-tracked to The Crow Road... I enjoy Banks's writing, I can see the settings in my minds eye and the oddness of the characters* and their lives is obviuos, but not overdone.

*They are well written and plausible.


Whit next!

First I read was The Bridge, then Canal Dreams
I thought Bank's code switching worked really well although it realised on stereotypes of Scots speakers.

[Mr Larrington]

Continuing my quest to find a non-Smiley le Carré which actually rewards the effort required to wade through the chap's suet pudding prose I am now on The Night Manager, which I'm sure wasn’t this much work first time around.  Also the plot is basically the same as The Little Drummer Girl chiz.  The TV adaptation was much less taxing and had Olivia Colman.  In it.

[FifeingEejit]

Having finished David willet "the pinch" I have moved onto lighter reading "the lone rangers" about Berwick rangers.

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[rafletcher]

Continuing my quest to find a non-Smiley le Carré which actually rewards the effort required to wade through the chap's suet pudding prose I am now on The Night Manager, which I'm sure wasn’t this much work first time around.  Also the plot is basically the same as The Little Drummer Girl chiz.  The TV adaptation was much less taxing and had Olivia Colman.  In it.

You might find it in The Constant Gardener. Then again, you might not.  It was the closest I came to enjoying a non-Smiley, but I've not managed to finish either of his last 2 offerings, and of cousre will be spared further (I assume).

I'm reading the debut novel from Paul Cleave, The Cleaner, a crime novel set in Christchurch, although not the Christchurch the NZ Tourist Board would have wanted promoted.  Not bad.

I've also got the current Mark Cavendish to occupy my lunchbreaks now I've watch all the Supercars replays for the year.

[T42]

Perfume by Patrick Süskind.  Interesting.  More than a little bit weird.

Miss von Brandenburg liked that so much she gave me a copy for my birthday.  Twice   I didn’t get on with either of them.

You could cross your eyes and read them in stereo, though.

Liking Perfume would be pushing it a bit far.  I found it impressive but it left a nasty taste behind.  I tried reading Süskind's next one, The Pigeon, but it was like trying to eat cold mashed potato by sniffing it up the nose.

[Mr Larrington]

The second copy was repossessed and passed on to some other unfortunate worthy recipient.  She also gave me two copies of Mary Doria Russell’s “The Sparrow”, but that was because she lent the first one to a cow-orker — before I'd even read it — who then lent to to someone else who subsequently got abducted by aliens or changed jobs or absconded to Patagonia with the Christmas fund and a 40' container of purloined books, or something.

[fimm]

"Erebus - the Story of a Ship" by Michael Palin. Enjoying it so far.

[hatler]

"Erebus - the Story of a Ship" by Michael Palin. Enjoying it so far.

Yup. A fascinating read. Really enjoyed this.

[Canardly]

The Tunnel Through Time, Gillian Tindall. Fascinating reading of the history of environs tunnelled through by the QE line. I wish my knowledge of London town and its suburbs was more developed, however this does not detract from enjoyment of the book.

[Beardy]

I’ve just started listening to The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu but after listening to most of the first chapter I’m not entirely sure I’m currently up to their deep and meaningful ideas. I’ve enjoyed their work in the past but the detailed explanations of the thought processes of an ant as it explores for food have quite worn me out. I think I’ll put it aside for another day.

[fd3]

Rivers of London by Aaronovitch.  Enjoyable if a little on the light side.

[T42]

Just finished The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Not bad.  He writes well, too.