Book thread: what are you reading?

[Futtocks]

1 minute ago, Leeds Wire said:

Can I have a little gripe about this thread, even though it's absolutely brilliant and has massively inspired me and influenced my reading choices for ages?

There's a separate thread for films so I don't know why people keep comparing books they read to the film version.

Thanks 

It is a worthwhile angle, I think, especially if the story is significantly better/worse/different from one medium to another.

[Leeds Wire]

8 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

It is a worthwhile angle, I think, especially if the story is significantly better/worse/different from one medium to another.

Ok, I'm not with you on this at all, so why not have a different thread on whether the book version was better than the film etc? 

I don't watch films but I read loads of books. It detracts from the book thread plus there's already a film thread. 

[Futtocks]

15 minutes ago, Leeds Wire said:

Ok, I'm not with you on this at all, so why not have a different thread on whether the book version was better than the film etc? 

I don't watch films but I read loads of books. It detracts from the book thread plus there's already a film thread. 

It can encourage someone to try a book, even if they didn't think much of the film. It could also do the opposite.

I certainly wouldn't have read any Nino Culotta books if I'd seen the 1966 adaptation of They're a weird Mob beforehand. It isn't actually a bad movie, but it falls far short of the book, especially when it comes to the dialogue.

And film adaptations only get occasional mentions in this thread anyway.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

40 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

It can encourage someone to try a book, even if they didn't think much of the film. It could also do the opposite.

I certainly wouldn't have read any Nino Culotta books if I'd seen the 1966 adaptation of They're a weird Mob beforehand. It isn't actually a bad movie, but it falls far short of the book, especially when it comes to the dialogue.

And film adaptations only get occasional mentions in this thread anyway.

Exactly, I was simply asking for opinions on a series of novels which I was thinking about reading and mentioned in passing that I wanted to read these books because I had seen a film based on them. At no point has the film actually been particularly discussed in this thread, it has only been mentioned in passing. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

The search is going well! Got 4 more of the series today. I have the first 3 as well now so will start reading as soon as I've finished the book I've just started. Very excited to get going! 

Post Captain sounds particularly intriguing, Aubrey and Maturin on the run in France with some debters and the Napoleonic regime hunting him. 

Also, interesting to see that in The Far side of the World it is actually an American ship they are pursuing rather than French privateers. I guess they changed this for the visual media version (see, didn't say the word I'm not allowed to mention) to try to appeal to the American market, after all Americans can't be portrayed as the bad guys in visual media. 

[marklaspalmas]

21 hours ago, Leeds Wire said:

Can I have a little gripe about this thread, even though it's absolutely brilliant and has massively inspired me and influenced my reading choices for ages?

There's a separate thread for films so I don't know why people keep comparing books they read to the film version.

Thanks 

Fair play, I only mentioned the film as it had cropped up in THG's post.

In the case of some literature, cross referencing to gilm versions is almost inevitable, although largely redundant/irrelevant/unhelpful 

[Futtocks]

19 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Fair play, I only mentioned the film as it had cropped up in THG's post.

In the case of some literature, cross referencing to gilm versions is almost inevitable, although largely redundant/irrelevant/unhelpful 

I would probably never have read any John Irving if I hadn't seen a couple of film adaptations that got me interested in his books. Although, saying that, the first book of his I read wasn't one that had a movie made of it.

[marklaspalmas]

17 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I would probably never have read any John Irving if I hadn't seen a couple of film adaptations that got me interested in his books. Although, saying that, the first book of his I read wasn't one that had a movie made of it.

I think that would be the case for millions of people with thousands of books. Game of Thrones anyone?

But they are two very different mediums. Great book & great film is a possible combination, but also great book/duff film and duff book/great film (The Godfather imo)

My main problem is I have is that a film can destroy the mental images I create when reading. In my head Jack Aubrey is simply NOT Russell Crowe. And Aragon was not Viggo Mortensen until the films vanquished forever whatever was in my mind's eye about LOTR.

[Moose]

On 08/07/2021 at 12:45, The Hallucinating Goose said:

The search is going well! Got 4 more of the series today. I have the first 3 as well now so will start reading as soon as I've finished the book I've just started. Very excited to get going! 

Post Captain sounds particularly intriguing, Aubrey and Maturin on the run in France with some debters and the Napoleonic regime hunting him. 

Also, interesting to see that in The Far side of the World it is actually an American ship they are pursuing rather than French privateers. I guess they changed this for the visual media version (see, didn't say the word I'm not allowed to mention) to try to appeal to the American market, after all Americans can't be portrayed as the bad guys in visual media. 

If like me you can’t find a used copy of one of the books PM me and I’ll gladly put it in the post for you.

The 13th book, aptly titled The Thirteen Gun Salute eluded me for years. I eventually ended up with two copies both bought on the same day. I found one in a Sue Ryder charity shop and Mrs Moose , fed up of hearing me moaning that I couldn’t find a copy had also bought me it online. It was delivered later the same day.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I've finished reading Master and Commander. Absolutely brilliant. Wow.

Onwards to Post Captain now! 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (the presenter from Pointless).

It made for a great holiday read and an enjoyable romp with a few thoughtful things to say about getting old.

Read it not a moment too soon either as the sequel book is coming out in a few months.

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Gerrumonside ref

[Route66]

Just about to start Warrior of Rome- Fire in the east by Harry Sidebottom comes highly recommended by someone I trust . A totally different book I've just finished is We are the Clash,as good a music book that I've read covering the final much maligned album and the events of the mid eighties at home and abroad 

[Bleep1673]

At the weekend, while rearranging my bookcase, I realised I had never got around to reading The Last Hero, by Sir Terry Pratchett. So I started it yesterday, probably the only book of his I haven't read.

[Futtocks]

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Story of Spedegue's Dropper. 

A short cricketing tale that the author had published in The Strand in 1928. Gently humorous and more than a little absurd. However, some of what the Australian captain says oddly prefigure real comments made during the Bodyline series, which was five years later.

Full text here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php?title=The_Story_of_Spedegue's_Dropper 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, Johnoco said:

Not reading it as I haven't got it yet, nor is it for me but I've just bought a birthday present for my OH. It's a book about the early years of the Sisters of Mercy and their initial success, which is her favourite era of her favourite band. It's called 'Waiting For Another War' and it cost me £45 + £5 postage. I need a lie down.....

Well at least you don't have any world cup tickets to buy this year...

[17 stone giant]

Looking for Lucan by Roy Ranson.

[Futtocks]

Just now, Johnoco said:

He's with Shergar and Elvis in Bradford somewhere.

They're all hiding out with Warrington's "year".

[The Hallucinating Goose]

On 18/07/2021 at 23:03, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I've finished reading Master and Commander. Absolutely brilliant. Wow.

Onwards to Post Captain now! 

That's Post Captain finished now. Not quite as good as Master and Commander, I thought it dragged a bit, the pace was a bit slow in the first half when Aubrey and Maturin were on land. I wasn't expecting the first 200 or so pages to essentially be a romantic costume drama and it didn't really keep my attention. Really picked up once they were back on ships though! 

So, on to HMS Surprise now and I hope I don't read that one too quick because I have yet to come across to following two books in the series during my search and I'm hoping I don't have to give into the easy option that is just buying them on Amazon!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Been a bit of a while since I've given an update on my progress through the Aubrey-Maturin series. There's only two I need to find now before I've got the whole set. I might just take the easy option and buy them off amazon though they are numbers 15 and 20 so I've got ages to go before I need either of them. I've read the first 4 now. Would have read more but been a bit busy recently. So number 5 next, Desolation Island. 

I think the thing I'm finding so captivating about them is how well developed the characters are and how they are so seemlessly slipped into real life events. I'm finding out so much about the Napoleonic Wars by reading these stories because something I didn't realise before starting to read them was how most of the battles and actions that take place in the novels were real life events even down to the random small skirmishes that take place let alone the massive campaigns. I knew nothing of the Mauritius campaign before reading The Mauritius Command but it enticed me to look into it further and it was fascinating. What makes the books even more glorious is the detail O'Brien goes into when describing the events and moulding the characters into them and evidently just how much research he must have done to get every detail right. The work that has been put into constructing these books is just earth shattering. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by The Hallucinating Goose

[Josef K]

Among The Thugs - Bill Buford. 

[Futtocks]

I'm reading a few of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe whodunnits. I have been a fan of the TV adaptation (see below) for some time, but have only just taken the plunge with the books.

 

[DavidM]

A Prince And A Spy . Latest in a series I’ve been reading 

[Leeds Wire]

On 05/08/2021 at 20:51, Futtocks said:

They're all hiding out with Warrington's "year".

Someone please pass me a needle and thread, as my sides have split.

[Futtocks]

A short story by Peter Watts called The Things.

It is John Carpenter's The Thing, but written from the monster's viewpoint: ttps://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/

[Adelaide Tiger]

When I switch on my computer it takes a couple of minutes to load so I usually grab a book off the bookshelf, open at a random page and have a quick read of a few pages.  Currently the book I am grabbing at the moment is ‘Unreliable Memoirs’ by Clive James.  I must have bought the book thirty years ago and read it a few times but it still amuses me.  Clive even speaks warmly about one of his older peers at school the great Reg Gasnier.

P.S. is the reason the computer is a bit slow is because I am still on Microsoft 7?

P.P.S Strewth I just googled ‘Unreliable Memoirs’ to find it was the first of a trilogy of books.  How did I miss that!