Book thread: what are you reading?

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Saintslass said:

I have just finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.  It is one of the most moving books I have ever read and I would really recommend it - for adults and children.

Agreed. An incredible book.

[Mumby Magic]

Due to the fact I've misplaced my Terry Newton autobiography, I'm reading the story of Facebook/Zuckerburg. On my pile I'm lovingly adding too are the Jesse Owens/Joe Louis biography, Keith Senior's, Paul Simon's and Paul Mcgrath's biogs too.

[Phil]

Glue by Irving Welsh, follows a gang of friends from childhood into their adult years. 

The characters aren't all sympathetic, a couple of them are downright horrible but at the end it's strangely life affirming 

[Phil]

On 05/09/2017 at 8:34 PM, Saintslass said:

I have just finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.  It is one of the most moving books I have ever read and I would really recommend it - for adults and children.

Not read the book but the film was very good 

[Flagedgetouch]

Currently reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. 

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Flagedgetouch said:

Currently reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. 

Not great literature IMO but does have some very good expositions of how a socialist society could actually work.

[Futtocks]

My mum has just sent me a copy of No is not enough by Naomi Klein, so that's probably next on the reading list.

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Johnoco said:

How do you mean not great literature mate? I think it's very well written and makes the points well.

Like I said it's just my opinion but to me the narrative doesn't flow too well and the characters are a bit one dimensional, but yeah it's makes the points well 

[Billypop]

On 23/08/2017 at 9:30 AM, Tongs ya bas said:

To Die in spring is set in the final months of world war two. Two young farm hands, barely out of school are persuaded to join the waffen as. It moves between then and the 1980s and tells us how experience can effect not just ourselves but those who come after us. I can strongly r...elate to this.

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Billypop
Deleted - irrelevant.

[Flagedgetouch]

6 hours ago, Phil said:

Not great literature IMO but does have some very good expositions of how a socialist society could actually work.

I'm only around 80 pages in so it's too soon to make a diagnosis just yet. It's very descriptive - not unusual in novels of the period - but I don't mind that too much. So in that sense I guess it is pretty conventional when compared to say; Flaubert or Dostoevsky or Joyce (a more direct comparison) but once you are past the contents page it's pretty obvious it's more than just a novel. And despite being written over a hundred years ago it is extremely relatable; I worked on a factory for 12 years; I recognise those people! Reading the obscurer (sun) knowing little of politics but always having an inane opinion - usually one sponsored by murdoch! I've literally had those conversations and then given up in disgust so it's pretty cleverly written from that perspective although the levels of satire are deliberately overplayed I feel. 

[Adelaide Tiger]

I am currently reading for the second time The Coldest Winter by David Hamberstam about how America was sucked into the Korean War; how the American Army had been dismantled after 1945 and was in no fit state to act as the worlds Policeman; and a detailed i sight into the protaganists.

It is illuminating how the American Army, especially McArthur denigrated the fighting ability of the North Korean army ..... so nothing much has changed over the last 60 years or so!

[Flagedgetouch]

21 minutes ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

I am currently reading for the second time The Coldest Winter by David Hamberstam about how America was sucked into the Korean War; how the American Army had been dismantled after 1945 and was in no fit state to act as the worlds Policeman; and a detailed i sight into the protaganists.

It is illuminating how the American Army, especially McArthur denigrated the fighting ability of the North Korean army ..... so nothing much has changed over the last 60 years or so!

Also, if they had stayed out of the Chinese civil war instead of backing the Kuomintang and Chang Kai Shek and had allowed china to take a seat in the UN Security Council they may never have been forced to fight the PLA as well. China would in all likelihood have stayed out of the war (it was a risk that Mao took extremely reluctantly and only when he thought every other possibility had been exhausted) and the landings at Inchon and subsequent northern thrust by the US marines would have forced the North Koreans to retreat to the Yalu only without Chinese support; almost certainly leading to their surrender or annihilation by Allied forces. Thus avoiding another two years of war (including numerous documented atrocities on both sides) 

[gogledd]

Just finished "Game of Thrones" George RR Martin - yes, I've watched the HBO TV series and started  the books - so now I'm onto "A Clash of Kings"

I'm also reading "Born to Run" by Bruce Springteen - hes an excellent writer and the book is probably the best rock autobiog I've read.

[JonM]

On 9/9/2017 at 0:11 PM, Flagedgetouch said:

Also, if they had stayed out of the Chinese civil war instead of backing the Kuomintang and Chang Kai Shek and had allowed china to take a seat in the UN Security Council they may never have been forced to fight the PLA as well. China would in all likelihood have stayed out of the war (it was a risk that Mao took extremely reluctantly and only when he thought every other possibility had been exhausted) and the landings at Inchon and subsequent northern thrust by the US marines would have forced the North Koreans to retreat to the Yalu only without Chinese support; almost certainly leading to their surrender or annihilation by Allied forces. Thus avoiding another two years of war (including numerous documented atrocities on both sides) 

Interesting to compare present day Vietnam (where the Americans lost) with North Korea (no-score draw.) The main streets of Ho Chi Minh City are lined with shops selling multi-national brands, american chain stores etc while the young, well educated urban population rushes off to work for businesses that mostly export to the western world. 

[Flagedgetouch]

9 hours ago, JonM said:

Interesting to compare present day Vietnam (where the Americans lost) with North Korea (no-score draw.) The main streets of Ho Chi Minh City are lined with shops selling multi-national brands, american chain stores etc while the young, well educated urban population rushes off to work for businesses that mostly export to the western world. 

Indeed, it is also experiencing a massive upsurge in its tourist industry. Korea was a mess made by Truman and compounded by McCarthy. It's also interesting to look at Japan and see the often brutal repression of the trade union movement there by US backed governments in the 60s and 70s (seriously there are some YouTube videos of strikes in Japan in the 70's that make orgreave look like a vicars tea party) And also in the Philippines - where a civil war with communist Guerillas rages to this day. Vietnam can still call itself a socialist republic though, despite the westernisation whereas NK despite being called communist by the media is a hereditary autocracy that removed all mention of socialism from its constitution in the late 60's. 

[Copa]

A collection of Sherlock Holmes stories translated into Indonesian. I've never read any in the original language and am really enjoying it. They are just good solid stories.

Prior to this I read Fathers and Sons (English translation) by Ivan Turgenev. I really enjoyed the social context within which the tale unfolded.

[Tongs ya bas]

The Real Cruel Sea, by Richard Woodman.

its about the battle of the atlantic from the perspective of the merchant navy.

excellent analysis which stretches back to the end of world war one and how its economic and social consequences affected the merchant navy in many ways, government planning and philosophy regarding sea trade and the coming war, which stretched back to the mid thirties and how that translated into reality, and how that was reacted to by all concerned including the germans, and a brilliant narrative about the human side of the battle.

[Leeds Wire]

The third instalment of Danny Baker's autobiography is released tomorrow, 5th Oct.
If it's half as good as the first two I'll still be a very happy man!

https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780297870142

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/01/danny-baker-interview-going-on-the-turn

[Futtocks]

48 minutes ago, Leeds Wire said:

The third instalment of Danny Baker's autobiography is released tomorrow, 5th Oct.
If it's half as good as the first two I'll still be a very happy man!

https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780297870142

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/01/danny-baker-interview-going-on-the-turn

Got the Kindle edition on pre-order, so it'll arrive automatically.

I'm currently re-reading The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero. 

[Adelaide Tiger]

Here is a coincidence.  A week ago I was trawling through the on-demand films on Foxtel and came across a film titled Child 44.  I was just about to watch it when my daughter asked if I could give her a lift home.  So I didnt watch it.

But, a couple of days later I saw a copy of the book Child 44 and bought it.  Read about 50 pages and wow what a great read.  The cold, unflinching brutality of the Soviet system is truly shocking.  

P.s. No spoilers please.

 

[Wiltshire Rhino]

My wife found a copy of The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier in a local charity shop. This was my favourite book as a child and it's still brilliant 40 years later.

[Bleep1673]

1000 years of annoying the French on Kindle,

Thief of Time by Pratchett. Again.

[Saintslass]

I've just finished reading Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.  It was the Costa book of the year last year.  I'm not sure what I thought of it really other than it's a bit of a traumatic read.  I suppose it has a happy ending but I'm not totally sure!  The writing style is different; it's first person colloquial Irish migrant to the US around the time of the civil war.  I did find myself feeling very much inside the protagonist's head which was not always a place I wanted to be!  It was one of those books that didn't really have a start, middle and end but could have just run on and on.  

As I say, I'm not sure what I thought of it.

[Oxford]

19 hours ago, Bleep1673 said:

1000 years of annoying the French on Kindle,

read that in a real book form made of paper and everything good stuff but more at home as a middle class union dinner party

(Not lunch) talk. by the way that is the one where he says the guillotine was invented in Yorkshire?

 

11 hours ago, Saintslass said:

I've just finished reading Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.  It was the Costa book of the year last year.  I'm not sure what I thought of it really other than it's a bit of a traumatic read.  I suppose it has a happy ending but I'm not totally sure!  The writing style is different; it's first person colloquial Irish migrant to the US around the time of the civil war.  I did find myself feeling very much inside the protagonist's head which was not always a place I wanted to be!  It was one of those books that didn't really have a start, middle and end but could have just run on and on.  

As I say, I'm not sure what I thought of it.

Sounds interesting I'll look that up.

Costa have books of the year! Who knew?

[Trojan]

The Serpent's Promise (the Bible retold as science)  by Professor Steve Jones.  A fascinating read by a fascinating man.