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

[Carmona]

Terrier, you'll be fuming boy. Beloved by the American woman (black) beats Ulysses to number 2!!!

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Terrier, you'll be fuming boy. Beloved by the American woman (black) beats Ulysses to number 2!!!

G'wan the Guardian - the predicted go for broke / woke play - don't ever change lads!

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Just took a look at the list there MarkyY.

Plenty of items from any self-respecting Guardian-driven checklist:

• Three Toni Morrison books
• Virgina Woolf has apparently written no less than five of the greatest novels of all time
• All the 19th century girl novels the panel read as teenagers in the top 20
• Evelyn who?
• French and Yanks kept to a minimum

Still, no point in being curmudgeonly, there's some top-class stuff in there and a lot of the go-tos are still alive and kicking in their list - 2 X Dostoyevsky, 2 X Tolstoy (both in the top 10!), Jimmy Jazz still in the top 3, 2 X Mann, a very muscular showing from Henry James (then again, he was gay so that ticks an important Guardian box) Tristram Shandy AND Vanity Fair Also, the aforementioned 19th century lady novels are top-notch (you would maybe not have quite so many of them in the all time top 20 though).

In fairness, it's very difficult to place novels by living writers in an all time list (e.g. "Trainspotting" used to be a regular on these lists 25 years ago) and I know the Guardian is very clear about its editorial bent but Jaysus, Handmaid's Tale, Wolf Hall, The Colour Purple among the greatest novels of all time?

Must check out some of lesser-known stuff from the lower echelons - let's hope they're not DEI listings.

 

[markyboy]

Who’s in, who’s out, and how many have you read? The story behind our 100 best novels list

Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. Ulysses or Catch-22 … Find out which title came top, as chosen by authors, critics and academics worldwide

www.theguardian.com

Fair points BPT.

Some of the bickering in the comments provide some gems

“What a reliable source of wonder, the insularity and self-centeredness of even Guardianista remainer Englishfolk.”

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Guapo’s old buddy Bolaño getting plenty of shouts in the comments there Marky.

 

[Channa]

Just finished "A Rebel and a Traitor" by Rory Carroll about Roger Casement.

Interesting character though it seems some of his 'rogering" was probably illegal due to the age of some of the people involved.

Also a bit weird that he recorded many of his liaisons in diaries, including this quote from the book:

"A big mouth choked with love....softly fingering and milking....splendid erections"

No wonder the U.S. president declined to ask the British to commute the death sentence.

 

[El Guapo]

Finished Dirtbag Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald.

Grand handy read. He's a likeable fella. Its essays from his life mostly.

Being in a fight club with with Buddies aged 13 or 14, Making extra cash as an extra in Porn in the early naughties, Smuggling Aid supplies to Burmese Nationalists. It's mostly an homage to bars and particularly that Punk scene that sprung from Dive bars in the US. It was good

I went from that to Eradication: A fable by Jonathan Miles

little 150 page novella. Very funny, deeply strange and very Poignant

This Music teacher who has suffered a bit of a personal tragedy takes a Job to cull an invasive species of Goat on what used to be a tropical paradise but is now a barran rock.

Really Enjoyed this one

 

[El Guapo]

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth



Flew through this one. it's very good.

She's from Cork apparently but I didn't know that when I picked it up.

1965 rural Kerry most probably a family from Cork arrive into a town and are shady about their background.

Bit of everything in there really. Bunny Boiling obsession, intrigue, Irish Cultural history. Give it a spin

 

[keamoresouth]

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth

View attachment 50666

Flew through this one. it's very good.

She's from Cork apparently but I didn't know that when I picked it up.

1965 rural Kerry most probably a family from Cork arrive into a town and are shady about their background.

Bit of everything in there really. Bunny Boiling obsession, intrigue, Irish Cultural history. Give it a spin

She's from Rosscarbery, and has signed a 2 book deal with Penguin I read earlier

 

[El Guapo]

She's from Rosscarbery, and has signed a 2 book deal with Penguin I read earlier

I'll pick up her other one Sunburn off the back of this.