Black Cat Bone

Seeing as the other thread has reached 90 pages....

I am on a bit of a South East Asian trip at the moent.

I have read two anthologies of Somerset Maugham short stories called "Far Eastern Tales" and "More Far Eastern Tales". I had never read any Maugham before, but really enjoyed these stories - though NB the second compilation is ten times better than the first.

I am now reading Graham Greene's "The Quiet American".

having seen the musical last night at the albert hall, i'm reading (in swedish though):



immense. i can understand why the musical Kristina af Dufvemala was quite a hit in the US - the music (by Bjorn and Benny) is very rousing, and the storyline - the experiences of the emigrants seeking better fortune in America, obviously resonates strongly still. Shame it was a one-off here in the UK last night.

The best law text book I've read, absolutely fascinating all the way through.

Velvis wrote:

What do you make of it? I really thought I was going to like it, from what I'd been led to expect, but I put it down halfway through, really just not that into it.

Just finished Magellen, continuing on a nautical theme:

Re-reading after so many years.

Bolaño won masses of (posthumous) critical acclaim, but I remember a few people on here being unconvinced. I thought The Savage Detectives was excellent, however, so it's about time to have a go at this, supposedly his masterpiece. About thirty or forty pages in and I'm not sure if I like it so far, though.

Snarfyguy wrote:

Velvis wrote:

What do you make of it? I really thought I was going to like it, from what I'd been led to expect, but I put it down halfway through, really just not that into it.

I'm only like 30 pages in. It's the selection for my book club. Probably has a lot to recommend it, but I can tell right now it's a truly shitty choice for a book club book, because nobody ends up reading the more difficult ones. I and one other will probably be the only ones to finish it.

Walk In My Shadow wrote:





Re-reading after so many years.

I'm a sucker for it. I reread it every five years or so.

Velvis wrote:

Snarfyguy wrote:

Velvis wrote:

What do you make of it? I really thought I was going to like it, from what I'd been led to expect, but I put it down halfway through, really just not that into it.

I'm only like 30 pages in. It's the selection for my book club. Probably has a lot to recommend it, but I can tell right now it's a truly shitty choice for a book club book, because nobody ends up reading the more difficult ones. I and one other will probably be the only ones to finish it.

Wow. That is some tough book club.

I really liked it. It was hard going and not a book I would probably re-read. But the ideas behind it are very impressive. Powers is often criticised (and probably quite rightly) for his 2D characters.

I keep trying her books as people who seem to know what they're talking about keep recommending her but I always find her a little overwrought. Precious even. I've just started this one and it seems to have an interesting, if depressing, story but the characters so far seem so joyless. Not just that they're not happy but they seem to lack that human dimension.

I'll see if it gets any better.

Whenever I pick up one of his books I am struck by the easy flow of his writing

Rorschach wrote:

I keep trying her books as people who seem to know what they're talking about keep recommending her but I always find her a little overwrought. Precious even. I've just started this one and it seems to have an interesting, if depressing, story but the characters so far seem so joyless. Not just that they're not happy but they seem to lack that human dimension.

I'll see if it gets any better.

This is the sequel (of sorts - I gather you don't need to have read the first to read the second) to Oryx and Crake. I read Atwood furiously about ten years but then lost touch as I stopped reading fiction. I returned to her with O & C last year and thought it was brilliant. I'm looking forward to this one coming out on pbck in the summer.

I'm working my way through a stack of Walter Mosleys.

I don't usually do crime / detective stuff, but his stuff is more about documenting social history than it is about procedural work. Very enjoyable.

packrat wrote:

Whenever I pick up one of his books I am struck by the easy flow of his writing

I read one of his, Moonheart, and I hated it with a passion. A very insincere take on celtic myth, with lots of that Hallmark-level Oirish nonsense that (some) Americans seem to go mad for.

I'm still working my way through Alan Garner's output in chronological order. I'm now up to:

Partly because I can't remember the last time a foreign-language novel was so popular. It's rather on the long side, though.