What book are you reading right now?
Posted by: Chillkram on 23 May 2010
I thought I'd revive this classic old thread as I couldn't find the original.
I am currently reading Suetonius, 'The Twelve Caesars'.
How about you?
I am currently reading Suetonius, 'The Twelve Caesars'.
How about you?
quote:Originally posted by Chillkram:quote:Originally posted by Roy T:
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins.
PS I fancy his wife Lalla Ward aka Sarah Jane
No, she was Romana. Sarah Jane was/is played by Elisabeth Sladen.
So sorry for the mess, looks like a bad case of premature posting to me
Just finished this. Absolutely first class. Clearly getting on a bit now but this is the first of his I've read. Started a little slowly but it was just good old character building then all of a sudden you're halfway through, at sometime having dived into this maelstrom of events and it never stops being interesting. Excellent stuff.
Very funny book I read 20 years ago, gave it to a friend who hated the first 2 chapters and gave it away. I bought a new paperback to keep and read again. It's such a great absurd book with wild characters based in New Orleans.
He loaned me King's Tommyknockers and I couldn't get past 2 chapters but I gave it back to him.
When the CIA helps the Russian mafia to rebuild..
quote:'I read Quilt with admiration - it's a work of remarkable imaginative energy.' FRANK KERMODE
'A book of mythological power. Quilt is unforgettable, like all those great pieces of fiction that are fed by our immemorial root system, the human dream of metamorphosis.' HELENE CIXOUS
'Facing the disarray and disorientation around his father's death, a man contends with the strange and haunting power of the house his parents once lived in.
He sets about the mundane yet exhausting process of sorting through the remnants of his fathers life clearing away years of accumulated objects, unearthing forgotten memories and the haunted realms of everyday life. At the same time, he embarks on an eccentric side-project. And as he grows increasingly obsessed with this new project, his grip on reality seems to slip.
Nicholas Royle challenges and experiments with literary form to forge a new mode of storytelling that is both playful and inquisitive. Tender, absorbing and at times shockingly funny, this extraordinary novel is both mystery and love story. It confronts the mad hand of grief and embraces the endless possibilities of language.'
quote:Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
I love that stuff. Banks' "Culture" universe is one of the greatest feats of literary imagination and construction ever achieved. Just my opinion, of course. Also loved The Wasp Factory.
It's been a slog but I'm really getting into this book.
Cheers
Flettster
This was recommended by my Brother in Law
Four Men Could Have Prevented the Great Depression
Four Men Could Have Prevented the Great Depression
An account of the bloodthirsty 16th century sea battles for control of the Mediterranean. A tremendously interesting read.
Going through a war history phase at the moment. Can anyone recommend a good single volume on the American civil war?
"On Saturday, 9 September, 1922, the victorious Turkish cavalry rode into Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire." "In the aftermath of the First World War, Greece invaded Turkey with the aim of restoring a Christian empire in Asia Minor with Smyrna at its heart. The Great Powers, including Britain, supported Greece's war on Turkey. But by 1922, the Greeks had been vanquished. Many feared that the newly-victorious Turkish army would now unleash a terrible fury on Smyrna's infidel inhabitants: conquering Islamic armies were traditionally granted three days of pillage following the capture of a resisting city." What happened over the next two weeks must rank as one of the most compelling human dramas of the twentieth century. Almost two million people were victims of a disaster of truly epic proportions."
