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Post by ellie on Aug 29, 2017 19:16:46 GMT
I have it too Milemass but haven't got round to reading it. You've inspired me to do it! I think I know what you mean about the villages. Irish villages are still very close knit rural communities where at first glance life is as it has been for centuries and everyone knows everyone else. Then you go inside the houses and the farmers are using high tech satellite equipment to track their sheep and cow movements and everyone is busy on their iPad's or iPhones and the teens are either on their Playstations or listening to Rap music from the US. 😄
The new Inspector Gamache novel by Louise Penny is also out today and I've ordered it to be downloaded on my kindle so I've plenty of reading to catch up on!
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Post by sgev1977 on Sept 1, 2017 1:38:12 GMT
I read Kill all Normies and St. Aubyn's Lost for Words. The first one is a very polemic book about a very polemic theme: the alt-right activism and how it born on the Internet. It's not very well written but the very short history of that awful movement is very relevant nowadays and interesting. The writer related it not to traditional right wing values (who they actually despise!) but counterculture: the need to shock and create scandal in a time in which it's not the conservatives the ones who are scandalized by ever little offense but the left. She let out any economic aspect of what's happening now and it seems to me she is not very sophisticated in economic themes but the book shows an online world I completely ignored so it feels eye-opening. Maybe the extremism we are seeing today it's not just a product of those young misogynists who created memes and challenged each other to do the most cruel jokes to innocent people who in most cases were suffering something terrible but it definitely helps to explain seemingly contradictory characters like Milo Yiannopoulos and other crazy Trump followers who are also Internet trolls. Hopefully America saw them for what they are during those nasty Nazi marches! A lot of people seemed to be genuinely horrified by them. Wearing Nazi symbols seems to be the limit. And of course one of them killed a woman and everyone saw him doing it.
Lost for Word is very entertaining, funny and of course wonderfully written but it's not the Patrick Melrose novels. There are two very doubtful cartoonish characters: the Indian writer and the men eating femme fatal who are just too much. At the same time I like the (very bitchy) idea of a writer getting revenge on the awards committee that ignored him just because his book wasn't about politically correct subjects and the "right" themes.
Now, I'm reading Killing a King which it's about Yitzhak Rabin assassination. It seems awfully ironic how he seems now an almost a forgotten historical figure! With him the ideal of a peace deal between Israel and Palestine died. It also is a reminder of the dangers of letting extremists to destroy an uncertain but hopeful future and getting with the power. The book also is a slightly gossipy behind the scenes of international politics.
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Post by miriel68 on Sept 7, 2017 19:13:30 GMT
I love mysteries and read them all the time (or rather in my stolen time). I used to love Donna Leon (I met her once at a literary festival in Oxford - very nice lady) but first volumes were very good and then gradually they went down the hill, IMO. The series I enjoy very much are Molly Murphy's adventures by Rhys Bowen - it is kind of historical whodounit, a young girl in NYC at the beginning of our century, she starts as a private detective, but it is not an easy job for a woman, especially at that time. The mysteries are good, the historical background fascinating and the protagonist very charming.
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Post by coolclearwaters on Jan 3, 2018 2:12:26 GMT
No one’s posted in this thread for awhile. I’ve been reading some lately, so I’m others will feel like discussing.
I read St. Aubyn’s Lost for Words a long time ago. It was very funny and much lighter than the Melrose novels. It did smack a little of sour grapes, but was still entertaining. Apparently, it’s true that the selection committees for these book awards, often don’t even read all of the nominated books!
Ellie, did you read Louise Penny’s Glass Houses? I would love to know what you think. There was an aspect of the plot development that I found a little frustrating, but that’s due to some quirks I have about reading and suspense.
I’ve read several mysteries lately, but they’ve left me a little cold, so I’m not going to mention them. I think my reaction has more to do with my somewhat restless frame of mind right now.
I am currently beginning a series of books about policing and the prison system in the U.S., so I want to alternate with some lighter fare. Next in that vein is a memoir about a legendary Austin music venue from the 1970s called the Armadillo World Headquarters. Those were wild times! The anecdotes about Van Morrison are worth the price of the book.
Lastly, I recently read a historical true crime book, Killers of the Flower Moon, soon to be made into a “major motion picture” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo Di Caprio. They start filming in the Spring. The story is fascinating and could make a brilliant film. Written by the author of The Lost City of Z, the book is set in Oklahoma in the 1920s when, due to the discovery of oil on their land, the Osage Indians were the wealthiest people in the world. Even though it takes place in the 20s, there is an intersting “Old West” vibe that may appeal to Scorsese. I suspect he has always wanted to direct a Western. There should be an interesting lead role for a Native American actress. Let’s hope! There are three important roles for men, but i’m Having trouble picturing Leo in two of them. I’m hoping he plays the husband. Has anyone here read this book?
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Post by sgev1977 on Jan 3, 2018 3:46:23 GMT
I would love to read Killers of the Flower Moon. David Grann is excellent, his essay and book about the Lost City of Z are wonderful as other of his New Yorker articles. I actually have read LCOZ before BC was attached and I think that was part because I was so excited about it. It and that James Gray was directing it.
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Post by coolclearwaters on Jan 3, 2018 4:02:16 GMT
I would love to read Killers of the Flower Moon. David Grann is excellent, his essay and book about the Lost City of Z are wonderful as other of his New Yorker articles. I actually have read LCOZ before BC was attached and I think that was part because I was so excited about it. It and that James Gray was directing it. Check it out! It’s a fascinating story and might be right up Scorsese’s alley. He’s already dealt with the 20s and Prohibition in Boardwalk Empire. Obviously, some community being terrorized by a pervasive criminal conspiracy has long been an obsession of his.
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Post by ellie on Jan 21, 2018 13:28:19 GMT
hi ccw! Just seen your post -very belatedly!
Yes I have read Glass Houses. I enjoyed it but I don’t think it’s one of her best. What aspect of the plot bothered you? Must admit I felt the overall plot, while very atmospheric, was a bit implausible.
However I have fallen in love with Three Pines and love to envelop myself in its atmosphere and characters so that’s what keeps me reading.
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Post by coolclearwaters on Jan 21, 2018 22:36:30 GMT
Ellie, I like the world she has created in Three Pines, too.
As for Glasses Houses, the plot didn’t hold up If you thought about it for 5 seconds, but Penny is so skilled at building suspense and creating an air of foreboding that she almost pulls it off.
I found it frustrating that she didn’t reveal who was on trial until the end. I have very idiosyncratic habits as a reader ( I skip around. I refuse to change. That’s what I like. It’s very perverse.) so that frustration is all on me. For a normal reader, it’s probably an ingenious device.
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Post by ellie on Feb 8, 2018 16:33:53 GMT
Just finished reading “ Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman. Would highly recommend it. It’s laugh out loud funny, sad, thought provoking and ultimately uplifting.
The synopsis on my edition describes it well
“ Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.“
Until a random act of kindness helps unlock her past and change her life.
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Post by roverpup on Mar 16, 2018 20:25:36 GMT
Nowadays I don’t usually read novels (my wheelhouse is usually non-fiction) but I got How to Stop Time and the Patrick Melrose novels for my birthday.
I really enjoyed HtST especially since it was steeped in historical roots. Also I enjoyed the character of Tom H. It was also an easy read - literate but not too complicated. And I really could see BC in the main character’s role.
I am now well into The Patrick Melrose novels. Just started Mother’s Milk. A bit more complex than HtST for sure and beautifully written with such a colourful yet deft touch. Patrick is such a complicated little pup and he is written so well as to let you really feel all his trauma, weaknesses and strengths right into your soul as you go with him through his journey to redemption.
So far my favourite of the 3 novels that I have completed is Bad News because I really felt the frenzied adrenaline rush of PM right into the sentence phrasing and the clever use by the author of very visceral imagery. But each one has presented some real gems of scenes that hit you in the gut or make you shake your head and talk to yourself while being amazed at how cleverly observant this writing can be! There are some scenes that I wish I could just put a frame around they are so perfect!
I have only started Mother’s Milk and am finding it very differently written (something that I like - shows real versatility in the author’s writing styles and yet he binds them together somehow without the different styles being too jarring).
Can’t wait until I can look back and say “Gosh, Patrick - what a story you had to tell! Thanks for inviting me along!”. And to think in May I will be able to see BC bring Patrick to life!!! My happiness today is boundless!
:-))
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