osmark86 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I've started "Trainspotting" **** hell it's a struggle. it's like reading a Sunderland message board! Read Glue by Irvine Welsh. Took a while to get into the colloquialisms and dialectic language but gotta love his stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skruff Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Currently reading Heaven and Hell by Jón Kalman Stefánsson. A bit weird, but good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableHaving been brought up on the Martin Luther King version of the history of the struggle for human rights, this was a total re-education for me.I found it as horrifying as I found it instructive and it offers all sorts of insights into the racial politics of modern America. The Autobiography is a stunning read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I've got thisyesterday I've got this one on deck, looks good Read about the Batavia recently in an Australian shipwrecks book. Truly horrific tale! on deck, looks good Read about the Batavia recently in an Australian shipwrecks book. Truly horrific tale! Finished it yesterday, and it was superb. A real page turner, you cant put it down. Adventure, intrigue, and the brutality of what happened after the wreck is horrifying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted September 9, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 9, 2015 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableHaving been brought up on the Martin Luther King version of the history of the struggle for human rights, this was a total re-education for me.I found it as horrifying as I found it instructive and it offers all sorts of insights into the racial politics of modern America. I like the part where he reads the dictionary in prison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableHaving been brought up on the Martin Luther King version of the history of the struggle for human rights, this was a total re-education for me.I found it as horrifying as I found it instructive and it offers all sorts of insights into the racial politics of modern America. I like the part where he reads the dictionary in prison. I was quite amused by the way he got jailed for some really dumb crimes, like committing armed robbery on someone he knew, giving watches he'd stolen to relatives, were straight out of Take the Money and Run.His mentor in prison (John Benbry) was very like Shawshank.His surprise when Bea gave him up for a lighter sentence.All fascinating stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted September 9, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 9, 2015 (edited) Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableHaving been brought up on the Martin Luther King version of the history of the struggle for human rights, this was a total re-education for me.I found it as horrifying as I found it instructive and it offers all sorts of insights into the racial politics of modern America. I like the part where he reads the dictionary in prison. I was quite amused by the way he got jailed for some really dumb crimes, like committing armed robbery on someone he knew, giving watches he'd stolen to relatives, were straight out of Take the Money and Run.His mentor in prison (John Benbry) was very like Shawshank.His surprise when Bea gave him up for a lighter sentence.All fascinating stuff.It used to be required reading in certain college/university courses here in the States, but I rarely see it today. I polled a group of my own students (I like polls) a few years ago, and almost no one had read it. This worries me. It's such an important text, sheerly from an historical view. Edited September 9, 2015 by Plastic Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableHaving been brought up on the Martin Luther King version of the history of the struggle for human rights, this was a total re-education for me.I found it as horrifying as I found it instructive and it offers all sorts of insights into the racial politics of modern America. I like the part where he reads the dictionary in prison. I was quite amused by the way he got jailed for some really dumb crimes, like committing armed robbery on someone he knew, giving watches he'd stolen to relatives, were straight out of Take the Money and Run.His mentor in prison (John Benbry) was very like Shawshank.His surprise when Bea gave him up for a lighter sentence.All fascinating stuff.It used to be required reading in certain college/university courses here in the States, but I rarely see it today. I polled a group of my own students (I like polls) a few years ago, and almost no one had read it. This worries me. It's such an important text, sheerly from an historical view.In so many ways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Holiday reading will consist of a U2 biography, I dislike them intensely but always approach biographies of people I dislike as potential to win me over, it hasnt yet, but its worth a go. Talk of difficulty reading Trainspotting, which is excellent, Bez's biography is a difficult read. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted September 10, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10, 2015 Found this unputdownable ... had no idea how complex and advanced and enormous the Aztec empire was. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Anybody read 'the girl in the spider's web'? I'm a bit apprehensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I want to read something about pirates, any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V01 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Yarr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 14, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 14, 2015 Anybody read 'the girl in the spider's web'? I'm a bit apprehensive.Woah. Didn't even know about that book! I assumed with Larsson dying that would be it (even though I know he originally planned more)I'll be reading that next, although I'll approach it with apprehension given the author change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I never finished the third one because it was so **** tedious to read and clearly needed to be edited and not rushed to the shelves. The new one can't be any worse than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Pushing on with Aubrey-Maturin, I'm half way through book three HMS Surprise (they've just landed in Bombay) and the quality hasn't dropped one bit. Patrick O'Brian really is a master of his craft, such brilliant prose, I get the impression he could have written about life in a cardboard box factory and he'd have found a way to make it funny, interesting and populated with fantastic characters. The whole sub plot in HMS Surprise about Jack being paranoid about Stephen's pet sloth not liking him was genius, I genuinely laughed out loud at the punchline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) . Edited September 15, 2015 by MakemineVanilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted September 15, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 15, 2015 Pushing on with Aubrey-Maturin, I'm half way through book three HMS Surprise (they've just landed in Bombay) and the quality hasn't dropped one bit. Patrick O'Brian really is a master of his craft, such brilliant prose, I get the impression he could have written about life in a cardboard box factory and he'd have found a way to make it funny, interesting and populated with fantastic characters. The whole sub plot in HMS Surprise about Jack being paranoid about Stephen's pet sloth not liking him was genius, I genuinely laughed out loud at the punchline. [emoji38] Has he done the weevil joke yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I think so, but I watched the film after the first book and it's done there too so I might be misremembering. The film is very good, plot wise and character wise it's not a patch on the books (it has a two hour time limit so how can it be?) but it's beautifully shot and worth watching for that reason alone. It won the oscar for best cinematography the year it was out and it's quite understandable why, the HMS Surprise is the star of the film and it really gave me an insight to what a life on the high seas would have looked like. Highly recommended if you've not seen it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted September 15, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 15, 2015 I think so, but I watched the film after the first book and it's done there too so I might be misremembering. The film is very good, plot wise and character wise it's not a patch on the books (it has a two hour time limit so how can it be?) but it's beautifully shot and worth watching for that reason alone. It won the oscar for best cinematography the year it was out and it's quite understandable why, the HMS Surprise is the star of the film and it really gave me an insight to what a life on the high seas would have looked like. Highly recommended if you've not seen it yet. Yeah, I enjoyed the film. Wouldn't have cast Crowe as Aubrey though. He should be a BIG bloke. In my imagination he's somewhere between the opera singer Bryn Terfel and the comedian Greg Davies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts