New now reading
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: New now reading
It's a simultaneously annoying and fantastic feeling to find an author (or a band, whatever) late in life and to think hurray, I have so much more of their work to explore! Fantastic because you know there will be more pleasure to come, and annoying because you think bloody hell, I could have been enjoying this much sooner. American Pastoral was my third Roth. I don't know how anyone can sit and write a book like this without going stark staring mad - the scale of it - like grouting the Hoover Dam. What an absolute joy to absorb those words, personalities and adventures. The dinner party at the end of the book was so painful and funny and recognizable that on the last page I could almost smell the kitchen. An amazing work.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Diamond Dog
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Re: New now reading
On the recommendation of a friend I decided (against my better judgement) to try this :
It details the expose by Truman Capote of his cast of intimate female friends ( his 'swans') back in 1975, via a magazine article(s). The background of Capote's life, and how they became friends, is also detailed. Then his inevitable demise after the Swans shunned him- somewhat predictably- for the last 9 years of his life, after the article was published.
It's a litany of name dropping on an epic scale and the lives of the super rich and establishment elite is recounted, mainly via the women and how they became Capote's inner circle.
I'm sure it has some literary merit and some of Capote's acerbic wit does shine through rather vividly on occasion - but, first impressions are that it's just one massive catalogue of society tittle-tattle (some fiction, some not) and the characters themselves are pretty difficult to warm to (especially Capote himself).
I'm not sure I'll make it all the way through, to be honest!
It details the expose by Truman Capote of his cast of intimate female friends ( his 'swans') back in 1975, via a magazine article(s). The background of Capote's life, and how they became friends, is also detailed. Then his inevitable demise after the Swans shunned him- somewhat predictably- for the last 9 years of his life, after the article was published.
It's a litany of name dropping on an epic scale and the lives of the super rich and establishment elite is recounted, mainly via the women and how they became Capote's inner circle.
I'm sure it has some literary merit and some of Capote's acerbic wit does shine through rather vividly on occasion - but, first impressions are that it's just one massive catalogue of society tittle-tattle (some fiction, some not) and the characters themselves are pretty difficult to warm to (especially Capote himself).
I'm not sure I'll make it all the way through, to be honest!
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- Darkness_Fish
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Re: New now reading
Since last posting on this thread I've read:
Which seemed quite soapy, for a Nobel prize winner. Entertaining enough, but the weight of paper seemed more than the weight of the novel.
and
Which was really disappointing given how much this kind of illusionist/music hall world normally appeals to me. The plot didn't have any real resolution, and none of the characters had any meat on their bones.
Now reading:
Which seemed quite soapy, for a Nobel prize winner. Entertaining enough, but the weight of paper seemed more than the weight of the novel.
and
Which was really disappointing given how much this kind of illusionist/music hall world normally appeals to me. The plot didn't have any real resolution, and none of the characters had any meat on their bones.
Now reading:
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: New now reading
I wouldn't have bothered writing about this except that having spent years reading about this supposedly landmark and astonishing novel, I felt rather cheated. Rather cheated is an understatement. It's possible that this is the worst book I have ever read - and I've read some shocking books.
Even worse, despite the fact that it was so bad, I read the entire thing even when it was clear that I wasn't gaining anything except increasing annoyance. Absolutely everything about it was dreadful.
I loathed all the characters, who all had absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I wasn't remotely interested in what happened to any of them, as they were all (presumably unintentionally) completely one dimensional, despite efforts to craft them otherwise. All of them morphed into weird, exaggerated versions of themselves who may have been in the same room as or talking to others, but never interacted once, like a dozen talking heads made of lego all going WAAH WAAH WAAH.
I hated the way the book was littered with landmarks to guide you to the time and the place, so much so that you felt buried under the weight of it all.
I got a twitch every time Smith wrote something the character was thinking or remembering or wanted you to notice in italics as it happened so often it looked like the printer was sloshed. I hated the ridiculous names and situations and constant attempt to ram everything with so much detail that it was like being force-fed. Nobody in the book, nothing in the book, could breathe.
Am I the only person who despised all the constant phonetic spelling out and slang-prose of non-estuary English speakers? The fucking horror. The endless horror.
Ludicrous plot twists, hysterical realism, God fucking help us. Absolute bollocks.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- clive gash
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Re: New now reading
Darkness_Fish wrote:Since last posting on this thread I've read:
Which seemed quite soapy, for a Nobel prize winner. Entertaining enough, but the weight of paper seemed more than the weight of the novel.
and
Which was really disappointing given how much this kind of illusionist/music hall world normally appeals to me. The plot didn't have any real resolution, and none of the characters had any meat on their bones.
Now reading:
Check out Professor fucking Branestawm.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...
...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...
...I'm producing facts here...
- Darkness_Fish
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Re: New now reading
clive gash wrote:Check out Professor fucking Branestawm.
Anything you'd recommend? I've never heard of the fella...
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: New now reading
I’m reading H for Hawk which has some beautiful writing. I’m niggled though by a constant sense that falconry is possibly cruel and it’s preventing me from connecting with it as I would like to.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Tom Waits For No One
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Re: New now reading
Minnie the Minx wrote:I’m reading H for Hawk which has some beautiful writing. I’m niggled though by a constant sense that falconry is possibly cruel and it’s preventing me from connecting with it as I would like to.
Give a shit or be a shit.
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: New now reading
Tom Waits For No One wrote:Minnie the Minx wrote:I’m reading H for Hawk which has some beautiful writing. I’m niggled though by a constant sense that falconry is possibly cruel and it’s preventing me from connecting with it as I would like to.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Darkness_Fish
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Re: New now reading
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.
- Six String
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Re: New now reading
The Hanged Man - Don Bapst
An excellent interesting, well written book built around the origin of the Tarot cards. It's been quite a page turner. I know very little about the Tarot but recommend the book.
An excellent interesting, well written book built around the origin of the Tarot cards. It's been quite a page turner. I know very little about the Tarot but recommend the book.
Everything is broken
B. Dylan
B. Dylan
- Diamond Dog
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Re: New now reading
Only just started this but it already looks to be a fascinating insight into how land was originally acquired in England, how the law has been amended over the centuries to make it incredibly difficult to actually trace who owns what - and why those that own it really don't want you to know they do....and the influence (and wealth) it attracts.
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- Darkness_Fish
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Re: New now reading
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.
- Diamond Dog
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Re: New now reading
Got a bit bogged down with the "Who Owns England" book above (it's good but quite heavy going in places) so decided to delve into something a little more 'upbeat'.
And am I glad a did! A quite brilliantly amusing book about the 'tricks of the trade' or, more accurately, the 'figures of rhetoric'. The author lists by chapter all the different literary devices and explains the rules of the technique - and then details its usage in classic works and contemporary works as well.
So if you want to know what an Epanalepsis is (repetition after intervening words), and how to use it.... or a Prolepsis (starting sentences using repetition), and a perfect example..... this is absolutely the right book for you. And what's more, you'll find yourself in tears of laughter at the explanation.
Last edited by Diamond Dog on 23 May 2019, 09:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New now reading
Diamond Dog wrote:
Cue unfunny remark from "Clive Gash"
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Re: New now reading
Powehi wrote:Diamond Dog wrote:
Cue unfunny remark from "Clive Gash"
Cue second unfunny remark by "Clive Gash" about my apparently being feuryhk
- Robert
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Re: New now reading
I started to read this on the strength of a review in the New Yorker. The man's writing style is not very engaging I must say but the stories are fascinating.
It is starting with a woman(?) called Jemima Jackson who died from fever on 5th October 1776, to arise from death 6 days later with the announcement that Jemima had died and that her body had been requisitioned by God for no less holy a purpose than the salvation of mankind. From then on, she did not recognize family anymore and refused to listen to any other names than 'Public Universal Friend', ' The All-Friend' ' Friend of Sinners' and' The Comforter'.
A number of others are described with the last one in the row being Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple.
- Snarfyguy
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Re: New now reading
Somehow I know the author, apparently. Fortunately it's well written and meticulously researched.
Also, enraging and profoundly scary. In exchange for what amounts to bed and board, senior citizens do manual labor, constituting a new, cheap workforce across the country.
a reviewer for the NY Times wrote:Bruder also worked at an Amazon fulfillment center, among workers in their 50s and up. “We’ve had folks in their 80s who do a phenomenal job for us,” one official for CamperForce, “a program created by the online retailer to hire itinerant workers,” said. “Some walk 15 miles on concrete floors, stooping, squatting, reaching and climbing stairs as they scan, sort and box merchandise,” Bruder notes. “Buns of steel, here we come,” an instructor tells gray-haired listeners. Amazon receives federal tax credit for hiring the “disadvantaged,” which includes those on Supplemental Security Income or food stamps. The CamperForce newsletter was upbeat: “Make new friends and reacquaint with old ones, share good food, good stories, and good times around the campfire, or around the table. In some ways, that’s worth more than money.”
Christ, how evil can you get?
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
- Darkness_Fish
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Re: New now reading
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.
- Qube
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Re: New now reading
Excellent book so far, showing nuclear power to be the only way we can decarbonise our atmosphere cleanly, safely and in the time scale that matters.