Tommy Nooka Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 The Shining. I much prefer the ending of the book to the film. I think everything about the book is better, wasn't keen on Kubricks toning down of the supernatural. It's the backbone of the book and it's much scarier for it. The hedge animals frightened the shite out of me. [emoji33] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessmagic Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 What does everyone think about Irvine Welsh's recent output? I'll get the obvious out of the way first - Trainspotting is a pretty much an undeniable Scottish classic. For my money's worth it should be studied during higher English. However after recently finishing The Blade Artist, it seems he is an irrefutable decline as an author. It was an awful read and with the only option at the time being the hardback version coming in at £9.99 was not the cheapest. I can't remember the last time i enjoyed one of his newer books. It has been previously mentioned to me that Irvine Welsh is much like the band Oasis, they were good at their one trick in the nineties but are now/were a sad parody of themselves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellaboz Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 I haven't read any new one's since Skagboys which i thoroughly enjoyed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessmagic Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Skagboys was actually a decent read - this may have been because a lot of the material for that book had been around since he wrote Trainspotting. Other than that though - just churns out a book a year with each one being of a poorer quality then the last. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 4 hours ago, jessmagic said: What does everyone think about Irvine Welsh's recent output? I'll get the obvious out of the way first - Trainspotting is a pretty much an undeniable Scottish classic. For my money's worth it should be studied during higher English. However after recently finishing The Blade Artist, it seems he is an irrefutable decline as an author. It was an awful read and with the only option at the time being the hardback version coming in at £9.99 was not the cheapest. I can't remember the last time i enjoyed one of his newer books. It has been previously mentioned to me that Irvine Welsh is much like the band Oasis, they were good at their one trick in the nineties but are now/were a sad parody of themselves. I read Trainspotting, Filth, Glue & Porno when they came out but hadn't read any of his stuff again until The Blade Artist. I'd agree about the importance of Trainspotting. Like the film that followed, it had a bit of "zeitgeist" about it. I don't have a problem with subsequent stuff being more knockabout. I was quite happy to read about Juice Terry's sexploits or DI Bruce Robertson's unique approach to policing. I liked the Blade Artist probably because it's close to home for me in a lot of ways. I know people characterised in the books and all the places in it too. It was silly but I was delighted when Begbie's mask slipped and he starts to tidy up loose ends.I can see how you'd be disappointed if you read it expecting another trainspotting but its not trying to be that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tongue_tied_danny Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 (edited) He blows hot and cold. Trainspotting, Acid House, Maribou Stork, Glue and Skagboys are pretty decent. Porno, Ecstasy and Filth are total cobblers. I haven't read any of his others. Edited October 1, 2016 by tongue_tied_danny 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke It's a bit dry 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessmagic Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Almost finished Substance by Peter Hook. Really enjoyable and insightful about New Order. Think I will purchase his book about Joy Division now. Read Barney's book last year but think Hooky's is better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 You couldn't pay me to read another one of Hook's tear-stained messes about how everyone's against him. I read (part of) his Hacienda book and it felt like it was written by someone who's a bit thick. That same style applied to the writer's life (and I've seen Subtance in HMV, it's fucking huge, even for a hardback) just seems intolerable to me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlion Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 On 25 September 2016 at 22:49, Tommy Nooka said: I think everything about the book is better, wasn't keen on Kubricks toning down of the supernatural. It's the backbone of the book and it's much scarier for it. The hedge animals frightened the shite out of me. They don't translate to the screen well though (as the godawful miniseries King produced showed). Much of King's work doesn't work well if translated directly to the screen. For example, the giant Paul Bunyan statue coming to life in It works on the page, but would look like an outtake from Ghostbusters on screen. His endings especially need altered, as he often resorts to massive apocalyptic events, like the Overlook exploding at the end of The Shining; Derry being torn apart by floods in It; the whole town being destroyed by Carrie). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 I loved the King mini-series of The Shining. Don't get why it's slated so much. Fair enough the acting isn't the best but I'm a fan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee_62 Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 AK86. Won it in a P&B competition. Read some in Malta and just finished the rest. Great memories and brought the day all back with some really good interviews with players, pundits and fans. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee jerk reaction Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I like king as an author, very readable but would agree he struggles with endings in a lot of his books. My last book read is Jane Austin's Mansfield Park (a change from my usual sci-fi/horror books) it's well written but the thing that struck me while reading it, is that from a modern day perspective how boring life must've been back then for a young adult of that class, obviously someone working 14 hours a day down the mines would have a different experience though. The main character is an absolute doormat, spending the entire novel being afraid to say almost anything to anyone! There is an scandal/affair that'd be next to nothing these days and the ending (without giving to much of a 150 year old novel away!) shows how family values have changed as it'd be more of a talking point/scandal than the one in the novel. Worth a read if you fancy a change of pace from more modern books. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chlamydia Kid Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 1200 pages though... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmothecat Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 He blows hot and cold. Trainspotting, Acid House, Maribou Stork, Glue and Skagboys are pretty decent. Porno, Ecstasy and Filth are total cobblers. I haven't read any of his others. I would agree with that with regards to Trainspotting, Acid House, Maribou Stork Nightmares and Glue, but I didn't like Slagboys. Got about halfway through and never got round to finishing it. Same with Porno. Bedroom Secrets of the Masterchefs is the only recent one of his I've liked. Seemed to be trying something slightly different.Struggling to find any fiction novels that are holding my attention at the moment. Went through a Philip Roth phase for a few months earlier in the summer but since then haven't really engaged in much so reading a lot of non-fiction. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackislekillie Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The Narrow Road To The Deep North. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The Narrow Road To The Deep North. Read that. Couldn't put it down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlion Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 On 14 October 2016 at 22:42, Ludo*1 said: I loved the King mini-series of The Shining. Don't get why it's slated so much. Fair enough the acting isn't the best but I'm a fan. I think it might be that the child is hard to look at. It's not often I'd happily punch a kid in the face, but that one just invites it. The CGI is also awful (standard for a 90s TV miniseries, but it makes scenes that should be scary laughable. I remember a cartoon-looking fire hose that had teeth and slithered around like a snake). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Bandits - Elmore Leonard. Bit of a wobble late on with the introduction of a shaky IRA character but otherwise the usual mix of likeable cool guys and girls. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 His Bloody Project, Graeme Macrae Burnet.GMB hosted the book launch for my mates whose boo I mentioned earlier in this thread and I'm finally got round to reading his own latest novel, which was a shocking listing for the Man Booker Prize. It's now favourite to win.It's the story of a trip,e murder in the mid 19th century crofting community in Wester Ross, told at various points from the view of the killer, witnesses, an 'expert criminologist' and observers of the trial.I loved it, read it all on a five hour flight. He pulls together a number of really interesting aspects, the politics of tenant crofting, the miserable experience of many crofters, the personality of the killer, the primitive 19th century criminologist (who record offenders' penis size) and the nature of the killing itself.Throughly recommended. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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