morrison
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Posts posted by morrison
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Just finished 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very witty at times, and Wilde's use of language is brilliant (although his tendency to go off on a tangent was a bit annoying, such as his descriptions of Dorian's love of fabrics and gemstones etc).
That part was pretty hard going in an otherwise excellent story. Summed up nicely there.
I've been a big Stephen King fan for many, many years, but his output over the last ten years or so has been patchy to say the least.
Until now.
His latest novel 11.22.63 is, for me, his best book since 'It' (which is 25 years old). A tremendous read full of great characters, a superb plot, and excellent pacing. For once, King even gives us a good ending!
Phew!
I got this for Christmas but was worried it would be less than great. I haven't read anything he's written later than The Green Mile for fear of picking up something awful he's done, but you have restored my faith.
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Is it the version with the full 21 chapters, or the US version where they cut out the last chapter?
The full 21 chapters. The omission of it over there for so long seems odd, but then I've watched and love the film Kubrick made which follows this edited version. I understand the rationale, I just don't agree with changing what the author intended in quite such a fundamental way.
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I'll have a read over the weekend, but as the show progressed i think Adler was presented slightly inferior to Holmes - he fancied her sure, but he was clearly her intellectual superior, i;m not sure if the original story was quite so kind to Holmes, i always remebered her as the one who "beat" Sherlock, I'm not sure I would say if this episode did that
It was certainly something along those lines. He always at least respected her and found her intriguing because she beat him. I do agree to extent, however from a clutch onto straws point of view she still managed to nutrilize him and get away from him in the first place, not to mention the whole not being able to deduce her when she was in the buff. I think the latter part was what attract him to her in the place because she was something of a mystery to him, which he had never encountered before.
When I said "for the most part" probably the first hour was spot on, but Holmes get the password to the phone and the ending sequence was a bit wide off the mark. He isn't supposed to be interested in her in the sense that he has romantic feelings for her, his high regard for her is built upon her ability to outwit him. In this episode she challenged him like he has never been before, but ultimately he gained the upper hand and even saved her. While that does disservice to Adler's character, I still loved the episode overall.
Last night was good, but I agree with welshbairn, a bit underwhelming somehow. Clever casting in Russell Tovey for his role, I thought.
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Is it the full 1100+ page version? If so, one of the greatest books ever written.
It is indeed. Outstanding so far.
The slang used by Burgess in Clockwork Orange is actually Russian. Droog is friend, moloko is milk. The other stuff is just him messing about I reckon
I read about that the other day, and only just noticed he wrote 1985 as a tribute to Orwell. Has anyone on here given it a go?
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A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. An excellent piece of writing, and as long as you're able to come to terms with the outlandish language used, a thoroughly enjoyable read. The novel follows a teenage Alex, leading his gang into acts of "ultra violence" to get their kicks. A dystopian tale that I'm wary to say more about because it's likely to contain spoilers. Give it a go if you haven't already.
Porno by Irvine Welsh. From one colourfully written novel to another. This sees the return of the crewe from Trainspotting, and has Welsh in top form. The story is told from the perspectives of "Sick Boy", Renton, Begbie, "Spud" and a new character in Nikki. Sick Boy's a detestable character, and then it's impossible not to like Spud. Begbie is hilariously written, and while he's obviously a plank that makes him great. If you loved Trainspotting (which you really should read before this, being a sequel after all) you're going to get a lot out of this.
Time to go high brow again - about 200 pages into The Count of Monte Cristo.
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Thought it was great. But Moriarty is so shit- like Graham Norton meets Ant & Dec. Shit, shit, shit.
I'm not sure i like the moriarty character.
I'll need to reread the Irene adler story now, the first half hour to 40 minutes was really spot on in terms of updating it iirc.
Sherlock is, in my opinion, really good stuff.
Agreed with Moriarty. I was struggling to take him seriously with the "I'll burn you" comment, but I did enjoy his final appearance in the episode.
I reread the story this episode is based around a couple of weeks ago, and found it to be pretty loyal to the Adler-Holmes relationship for the most part.
Of the four episodes so far, all but the second have been fantastic. I'm fairly confident with the stories chosen that we're in for a quality conclusion to the series.
Hammy shite aimed at middle class morons. The bit at the swimming pool was excruciatingly bad.
I'm middle class! Hurrah!
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
As a big fan of the written stories and having loved Jeremy Brett's Holmes, I really didn't like the first film at all. This, however, I got a lot more out of having set my expectations accordingly. It had just enough quality about it to keep me happy and it was certainly entertaining. I'll agree that the slow motion was overdone, and I actually quite liked the ending.
I wonder if they'll cover how he escaped the fall in the opening of the sequel (which was inevitable the way they left it)?
I'm not overly taken with either actor's portrayal of the characters, but hey ho. 6.5/10
Also saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Again, went along with low expectations and get more laughs out of it than I expected. 6/10.
And finally today I watched The Lady.
The film follows Aung Sang Suu Kyi and her struggle to fight for democracy in her native Burma while the military government do everything they can to make her life unimaginably miserable.
The focus of the film is much more on how events in Burma impact upon the family unit rather than the political and human rights situation. I found it very moving but I'm not sure if hits quite the right notes. Very watchable and for anyone with a vague interest in Suu Kyi's story it is worth seeing.
8/10
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Not long finished Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals. Pokes fun at the thuggish football culture, and generally maintains a level of absurdity throughout that makes this a worthwhile read. Mr Nutt is a great character, and Ridcully and Lord Vetinari work in unusually close quarters. On a football forum, you'd think this book would go down quite well and I know there are a few Pratchett fans here too.
Also read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Excellent. I've seen a silent film adaption and seen and heard umpteen references to it and at long last got round to reading this. What more can I add other than to say it's reputation is entirely deserved.
Now reading A Clockwork Orange. I've watched and loved the film, and I'm really enjoying the colourful language in the book so far. I'm already certain I'm going to really like this.
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Cloud Atlas is one of the great novels of the century so far.
That's certainly what many critics thought. As I said myself I did enjoy most of the individual stories - particularly Somni and the Zachary/Meronym (after initially hating the style used) sections - I'm unsure how highly I'd rate it as a whole. It'd be a dull world if we all reacted the same way to something.
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Currently dividing my time between Cloud Atlas, The Sacred Art of Stealing and The Shape Of Things To Come.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - I can't help feeling I missed something here. This was chosen as a local book club choice and no one else even bothered finishing it they thought it was that bad. There are six characters followed from different times working from the 1800s to the distant future and back again - I actually enjoyed the majority of the stories, and the six tales outright wind themselves up nice and neatly. There's a tenuous link between the characters but no real reason to be brought together and an absence of any kind of all consuming closure. I know it's received acclaim but I'm not sure the hype was entirely deserving here.
The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre (I'll give him the full name for you, mhak) - This was excellent, particularly loving the bank scenes and the the closing stages. The football references throughout are always going to go down well on here too, top stuff.
The Shape of Things To Come by H. G. Wells - a wee bit tough going at times I felt, hence picking up the above books. His wish to see the world united under one banner is particularly interesting to read as the Eurozone saga of today unfolds, though I imagine the end to capitalism he envisages is a wee bit further away just now. Read in the right frame of mind, this is entertaining.
Now reading P.G. Wodehouse's Much Obliged, Jeeves. These books really are nonsensical fun.
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This thread has drained my daily greenie allowance at least twice, brilliant stuff in here guys.
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Man fresh from jail is swept up as the ideal man to lead the dying imported Gods of the Europeans into battle against the new Gods of the Modern Age. Excellent story and fun characters, this is just a really good read. Comical at times but a lightyear away from Terry Pratchett. I've picked up Neverwhere off the back of reading it - anyone given it a go?
Also read The Complaints by Ian Rankin. His new creation does have a heavy 'Rebus' feel about him, and this would qualify as a 'vintage' effort. I flew through it in no time.
2010: Odyssey Two - I've committed myself to reading the series, and I thought this was a strong sequel to 2001.
Currently dividing my time between Cloud Atlas, The Sacred Art of Stealing and The Shape Of Things To Come.
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I know they don't get much of a look in on here, but fair play to Glasgow and Edinburgh for recording cracking results over the weekend. I was at Edinburgh's 29-14 win over Munster in what was a solid defensive performance backed up by clinical and consistent punishment of Irish errors at the other end - rare indeed for a Scottish side. That was my first taste of the club scene, think I'll make something of a habit of it.
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Switched on to this at 10-0, with the Aussies dominating the opening half. A storming comeback from the All Blacks to wipe out a 20-3 deficit by the hour mark, but fair play to the Wallabies for striking back immediately and keep it that way. Excellent stuff on a Saturday morning!
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Quite happy I decided to buy tickets for the Sunday instead. I imagine we'll see something a lot closer to a contest then.
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IT by Stephen King.
I enjoyed this. The story jumps between past and present, telling the reader of events during Its periods of activity in Derry, Maine. I found it to be very enjoyable - every bit the classic Good vs Evil tale with a good bit of gore and nightmarish scenes thrown in for good measure.
Now about to start Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. This'll be the first of his novels I've read.
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Donnie Darko
WTF happened? I don't know, but I enjoyed it. It was a film that kept me interested, trying to establish what was happening but left me none the wiser at the end to what actually happened (even if I do have a couple of theories). Oh and Maggie Gyllenhaal is ridiculously hot in this.
7/10
She is fantastic.
Anyway, my take on a few films I've seen recently;
Thor - 6/10. It's decent enough for the most part. Anything away from Earth was enjoyable, but scrap the awful love story please. Kat Dennings is very nice, however.
Hangover 2 - 4/10. I can see it, but I just don't get it. It was just too obvious, and I didn't get anything new from this. A few chuckles and a handful of smiles, but pretty poor.
Attack the Block - 7/10. I know, but I got exactly what I wanted from this. It was ridiculous and funny pretty much throughout. Kept me entertained.
And just back from seeing Senna. I thought it was well constructed and the balance was right; I'm not sure how widely available the backstage footage, particularly of a couple of the drivers' meetings, were but it was really interesting stuff. The San Marino GP was handled very well.
I'm glad I went to see it, but I'm unsure whether someone without an interest in F1 or motorsport would be able to take as much out of it. All the same, 9/10.
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Only caught the last few games, but it's been pretty straight forward really.
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I love that book, one of my absolute favourites. i read it again every year or so.
(did you see the film with a young Christian Bale? It's good too)
Heartily recommend Ballard's autobiography as well "Miracles of Life", for an actual account (not to dis Empire of the Sun, it's great obviously).
I love a lot of Ballard's work in general but most of it is pretty crazy compared to Empire.
I'd nominated it for the (rather informal) book club I'm in as I've heard only good things about Ballard's novels, and as Colin said, this is a bit more tame in comparison. It went down well with 10/12 folk, a pretty good conversion rate, and I thoroughly enjoyed it myself.
We (as a group) made it half-way through the very long film before time got the better of us, but I'll get the rest watched at some stage.
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I recently finished J.G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun.
for those that don't already know it, this is a semi-autobiographical account of Jim, a young boy growing up in Shanghai in the days and years following the Pearl Harbour attack. It's compelling reading and a moving story. I enjoyed reading Jim's views on what was going on around him - I'm sure it's not possible to like this character. All in all, an excellent book.
Also finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas over the weekend; very funny stuff and utterly bizarre in places. A fine change of pace after my previous read.
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Think you're right, Mr CurryCider. I enjoyed it, but playing in front of a stadium at 1/3 of capacity can't be inspiring and it's hard to believe organisers had these kind of attendances in mind when the idea was put on the table.
Presumably the Magic Weekend isn't part of any Tv deal? You'd think the cash from that would be decent, but I read one of the coaches talking about staging a similar event in Yorkshire (Elland Road) and Lancashire (Reebok) where full houses would be all but certain.
Having said that, Richard Lewis seems to be fairly upbeat.
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I enjoyed the Castleford-Catalans game; closest game of the day and the Dragons made the favourites work for it. Easy to see why both teams are struggling, but good fun.
Huddersfield rolled over a bit after a promising start. Wigan look strong. As for Hull KR... as sorry as I feel for their decent support,
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Anyone else going to the Magic Weekend this weekend? I'm not goin today because of the big Airdrie game but I will be there tomorrow specifically because Saints are playing (but it looks the best dayin my opinion any way )in what should be a cracking day just like it was last year
Just about to head down. Was going to get a weekend ticket but settled for the Sunday on the off-chance the County game mattered for something. Don't regret going despite the score, decent day out.
Have to confess to not being an avid follower, but I'll watch it when it's on the BBC and find it decent entertainment. Weather's not too bad, so a fine day in store.
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The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Picked up after spotting the shiny cover being offered free alongside a newspaper at WH Smith at Edinburgh Airport. Turns out it's quite good! It centres around an Indian 'entrepreneur' journey from poor man to rich, as told from his point of view in a letter he writes to the Chinese leader on hearing he's visiting India. It was something new and something enjoyable, and not much of a thinking book. Ideal travel material, hence it being on sale in the airport, I imagine.
Reaper Man, Terry Pratchet
I think I said as much about the last Pratchett book I read, but this could be my new favourite. A ludicrous story, and funny as you like. If you're allowed to use this word when talking about novels, I'd say this was vintage Pratchett.
Now reading Momo by Michael Ende as heartily recommended by my girlfriend. Blatantly meant for children, but a fun read with a fine tale all the same.
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The General Ross County Chat Thread
in Scottish Premiership General Chatter
Posted
I'll be at Partick, but sacrificing Hamilton so I can afford to go to Ayr and make it back up for the Falkirk game. Genuinely can't remember my last home game.