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

[Two Pour Bore]

Ubu Roi. It's a good read.

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Yeah - it's very good, I'm absolutely burning through it which is a relief because I've read 3 non-fiction books about Berlin and its inhabitants over the last 3/4 weeks so the going was getting a bit heavy and I was worried I might get mired.

To be fair Anna Funder imbues her book with a lightness and sense of humour - a difficult task given the subject matter!

I'm looking forward to the Philip Kerr novel that @El Guapo recommended as my next up. Little bit of pulp fiction before the next historical tome.

It's cool the way she got her sources by just putting ads in the papers - there was clearly plenty of folks looking to get a weight off their chest. Written in 2000 - 2001 so the memories were well fresh. Came out just three years before this movie - an excellent watch

 

[Crisp Sandwich]

It's cool the way she got her sources by just putting ads in the papers - there was clearly plenty of folks looking to get a weight off their chest. Written in 2000 - 2001 so the memories were well fresh. Came out just three years before this movie - an excellent watch

View attachment 47239

Good call, BT. I've seen it - only mentioned it on here the other day. I might watch it again though.

Yer man who plays the Stasi listener, Ulrich Muehe, was actually being spied upon by his second wife - actress Jenny Groellmann - from the 1970s til the late 1980s. She was a registered informant with a Stasi handler (as were several other members of the theatre group). A fact Muehe didn't discover until after German re-unification by which time the couple were already divorced.

Truth is stranger than fiction indeed.

 

[El Guapo]

Just finished Stoner by John Williams.



Not a drugs book..It's a story about the life of an academic in a failed marriage facing campus politics.

Written in 1965 it got a vintage pressing in 2013 and people were raving about it

It's excellent. Very sad, very thoughtful with direct clear prose that would break your heart and have you delighted at the protagonist William Stoner's few victories. Although he would drive you mad he's so passive In own life.

An Excellent read.

 

[Matlock]

Just finished Stoner by John Williams.

View attachment 47399

Not a drugs book..It's a story about the life of an academic in a failed marriage facing campus politics.

Written in 1965 it got a vintage pressing in 2013 and people were raving about it

It's excellent. Very sad, very thoughtful with direct clear prose that would break your heart and have you delighted at tye protagonist William Stoner's few victories. Although he would drive you mad he's so passive In own life.

An Excellent read.

Great book alright.

When I was an apprentice one of the partners in the firm was in a book club and one of my jobs was to read the assigned book each month and write her a cheat sheet of the plot. Ridiculous that she felt that was something she could demand of an employee, but it did mean that I got to read some great books, including that one!

I was always tempted to just throw in a random lie in the plot synopsis for shits and giggles, but I legitimately believe that she would have fired me for it.

 

[markyboy]

Have you read the Berlin Noir trilogy by Phillip Kerr?

If you're going to be in Berlin you should read em while you're there. They're hard boiled detective stories about a PI in Berlin just as the Nazis are getting into power. They're great craic but he describes all thr places you'll be staying in and seeing while you're there.

They’re fantastic.

Picked up The Big Sleep. Nice little page turner. He gets through a hell of a lot in a very short space of time. Some great one liners throughout. 8/10

The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)

When a dying millionaire hires Philip Marlowe to handle…

www.goodreads.com

 

[El Guapo]

Great book alright.

When I was an apprentice one of the partners in the firm was in a book club and one of my jobs was to read the assigned book each month and write her a cheat sheet of the plot. Ridiculous that she felt that was something she could demand of an employee, but it did mean that I got to read some great books, including that one!

I was always tempted to just throw in a random lie in the plot synopsis for shits and giggles, but I legitimately believe that she would have fired me for it.

That is actually pathetic out of yer wan

 

[Matlock]

That is actually pathetic out of yer wan

Yeah, tis mad what they could get away with in the 90s!

Worth noting that I had to read these books in my own time too, not during work. She justified it by the logic that I read a lot anyway so it was no burden to me...

 

[El Guapo]

Yeah, tis mad what they could get away with in the 90s!

Worth noting that I had to read these books in my own time too, not during work. She justified it by the logic that I read a lot anyway so it was no burden to me...

I was actually thinking about yer wan this morning.

It is fucking batshit.

Imagine the actual bookclub like. All these wans must've been lorrying into the Pino Grigio to avoid having to answer any questions on the life of PI or whatever so they won't admit they're too fuckin lazy to read a book for a what is supposed to be enjoyable and social reasons.

Did ye ever give you feedback like?

None of the girls enjoyed "Heart of Darkness" and you said it spoke of the capacity for humans to both impart suffering and survive in the face of hardship and that it was one of the more important novels of our time..We might try 50 shades next time..Get on it and next time make my opinions more in line with theirs.

 

[Crisp Sandwich]

Yeah, tis mad what they could get away with in the 90s!

Worth noting that I had to read these books in my own time too, not during work. She justified it by the logic that I read a lot anyway so it was no burden to me...

Sounds like the B plot from an episode of "This Life".

Did it ever backfire?

Like you were supposed to read Douglas Coupland's "Generation X" but your notes to her were on the Shawn Michael's autobiography "D-Generation X?"