what book you reading at the moment? (incl poll)

[El Guapo]

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, liking it alot. Real French and somewhat of a love story.

Great book. Still stands up well. The man in the Iron Mask is even better

 

[El Guapo]

One of the very best books I've ever read. Reads like a novel, and you're left guessing at the outcome until the very end.

This is very good too. Have two chapters left. What Duerte did was horrific, but don't think the author set the stage at all about how a man like him, who promised to kill Drug dealers and Drug Addicts could get elected in the first place.

Are the Philippines a drug war zone ruled by ruthless cartels and street gangs? I don't know and I'm nearly finished the book (not justifying what was done, but trying to understand it) (I'll look it up after I finish the book btw)

Duterte flown to The Hague after arrest over Philippines drug war killings

Ex-president to face charges of crimes against humanity over ‘war on drugs’ that rights groups say left 30,000 dead

www.theguardian.com

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Duterte flown to The Hague after arrest over Philippines drug war killings

Ex-president to face charges of crimes against humanity over ‘war on drugs’ that rights groups say left 30,000 dead

www.theguardian.com

Interesting, very very interesting, thanks Guapo.

 

[markyboy]

Where to start with: Alan Garner

As the master of myth and fantasy turns 90 today it’s a good time to look at his wide ranging canon, from Booker-nominated novels to children’s fiction, poetry and essays

www.theguardian.com

The Guardian have a “Where to start with” column so I started with this guy I’d never heard of.

“The Stone Book Quartet. Drawn from the Garner family’s own history, these four slender volumes interlock craft, art and myth in the ground of the Edge.”

First story was really good. 8/10.

 

[Crisp Sandwich]

Finished "The Shards" after a start-stop first 300 pages or so. (It took me over a month to read this - without having something else on the go at the same time.)

I have to admit that some of the first half of the book was a bit of a slog and I'm a big fan of most of Bret Ellis's previous work. "American Psycho" is in my top 10.

Once it starts cooking in the second half, I ripped through to the end quite quickly.

Ellis does tend to get high on his own fumes in this one a fair bit. It's unnecessarily long and could easily have topped out at 400 or so pages.

Much like his hero, Stephen King, Bret needs to know when to stop sometimes.

For example - we don't need to know the exact route that the "Bret" avatar character takes each time that he drives somewhere (and he drives a lot).

"I got in the Mercedes SL450 and drove out on to Cahuenga Boulevard until it became Ventura. From there I took the 134 on to Toluca Lake. The 134 split to the 5 as I found myself between Glendale and Griffith park but really, I was in Attwater Village. I stopped at 76 gas station before deciding to take Harbor Freeway til it became the 10 but I didn't want to go to Santa Monica so I broke off at Western Ave. and then veered back onto the 101 til I got to Echo Park and drove the quiet 134 until I got home."

I made that one up but there are literally dozens of these kinds of paragraphs in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I'm glad that he's still writing but I need a break from fiction after that one.



Next up.

 

[PussyinBoots]

Bought this photo book online on a whim.
Photos of post clubbers in 1998. That was around the time I was mad for the yokes myself.

 

[El Guapo]

"I got in the Mercedes SL450 and drove out on to Cahuenga Boulevard until it became Ventura. From there I took the 134 on to Toluca Lake. The 134 split to the 5 as I found myself between Glendale and Griffith park but really, I was in Attwater Village. I stopped at 76 gas station before deciding to take Harbor Freeway til it became the 10 but I didn't want to go to Santa Monica so I broke off at Western Ave. and then veered back onto the 101 til I got to Echo Park and drove the quiet 134 until I got home."

I made that one up but there are literally dozens of these kinds of paragraphs in the book.

With word count padding like that you could go far kid.

 

[El Guapo]

Just Finished

The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

Its a short little novella, penguin modern classics job.

It's one of those really sparse old fashioned books about two norwegian schoolgirls who have a bit of an intense connection, then one of them goes missing. Its not a whodunnit or anything but a story of grief and loss.

Its a wonderful book. Really recommend. The prose is terse to say least but it packs a whole world in there.

You'll read it in a sitting or two it's barely a 100 pages I'd say (i read it on kindle). Definitely one of my better recent outings.

​

 

[dukeroyale]

i must say

martin short’s autobiography.

poor enough fare. i wouldn’t recommend it at all. i’d be a fan of his but the book was absolutely dire. i think someone gave a similar review of steve martin’s autobiography here a while back as well.




reading this ^^^ at the moment. basically telling the tale of how hbo reinvented televisions and wrestled top writers and actors away from movie studios. then the devolution into netflix and subscriptions.

the amount of head cases in the writing rooms is a sight to behold. david milch V michael mann was an interesting tussle.

 

[Stromovka]

I must be reading this book for 2 months now. Not because it's tough going but it's so densely packed with info that I had to stop and try to absorb it regularly. The history of America from the Mayflower and it's pilgrims, to the space age. Full of facts and amusing anecdotes. Not the kind of stuff you'd find in the history books, and much more palatable. I've already bought a second of his books but will need a fiction break before tackling it.