Last Book You Read....

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

Finished off a couple of books yesterday that had outstanding. 

Bird Box by Josh Malerman, great read, really enjoyed it.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, not a book I'd normally go for but it was 24p in Tesco so took a chance.  Great fun, cracking wee story to lose a couple of hours to.

[Dan Steele]

5 hours ago, red tree said:

I unfortunately do not have time to read books at all

Not even a good recipe book?

[Mr Tourette]

Very enjoyable first in the series.

Did he write that while hiding in the mountains in Spain, waiting to blow up a bridge?

[mathematics]

3 minutes ago, Mr Tourette said:

 

Did he write that while hiding in the mountains in Spain, waiting to blow up a bridge?

 

Had to google that. Never read the book you refer to.

Edited May 29, 2020 by mathematics

[Granny Danger]

13 minutes ago, mathematics said:

Had to google that. Never read the book you refer to.

I found it a tedious read; think I gave up half way through.

[MONKMAN]

1984, frighteningly relevant in many aspects of todays world.

[paul-r-cfc]

Did he write that while hiding in the mountains in Spain, waiting to blow up a bridge?

5 weeks ago, I wouldn't have got that reference. I feel sophisticated.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

It's Nineteen Eighty Four. Stop getting Orwell wrong!

(Glad you enjoyed it)

1984, frighteningly relevant in many aspects of todays world.

[murphy1970]

On 24/05/2020 at 16:14, paul-r-cfc said:

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

Took me a while to get into this and I initially thought it would be one of those literary classics that I just wouldn't get but once you get used to the narrative style and the bizarre dialogue, it's an excellent book.

After slogging through the first quarter, I flew through the rest. Despite the fact that little actually happens, its gripping, with the highlights being the flashback to the executions and the cutaway to the guerilla group at the top of the hill. Really captures the idea that the inability of the left to agree on the colour of the sky ultimately cost them any chance of winning the war.

Now to detox with a trashy spy novel before dusting down another of the classics I've never touched!

A great novel about The Spanish Civil War and one of Metallica’s best tracks 

[murphy1970]

Libra - Don Dello

Really enjoyed this. A very plausible fictional account of the Kennedy assassination.

IMHO the 2nd best book I’ve read covering this era. The best was The Cold Six Thousand 

 

[tongue_tied_danny]

On 29/05/2020 at 10:48, MONKMAN said:

1984, frighteningly relevant in many aspects of todays world.

[Granny Danger]

1 hour ago, tongue_tied_danny said:

I don’t think the constant surveillance is anywhere near the most significant issue in the book in relation to how it has played out in reality.

Compliance was far more important as was dismissing the proles as irrelevant.

Doublespeak and what it represented was the key factor for me, and ‘whoever controls the past controls the future, whoever controls the present controls the past’.

[yoda]

You, a wannabe intellectual: *reads Nineteen Eighty-Four*

Me, a person of culture: *reads We*

I don't make the rules.

Edited May 31, 2020 by yoda

[paul-r-cfc]

To Kill the Truth - Sam Bourne

Sequel to 'To Kill the President'. This takes a very different direction to most political thrillers whereby the threat isn't an attack or anything like that, but a mysterious group intent on destroying historical sources through burning libraries, killing eyewitnesses etc. Raises some interesting points about our relationship with history and whether remembering is necessarily a good thing. Shades of 'Fahrenheit 451'at times.

As in the first book, the author isn't remotely subtle about the parallels he's drawing with real life. Some of the plot points don't seem to go anywhere or add much to the plot, but overall, a strong follow up. Will look out the third book soon.

[Mr Tourette]

5 weeks ago, I wouldn't have got that reference. I feel sophisticated.

One of my favourite novels. Certainly the only one that ever prompted me to try and learn a new language.

I liked the way the spoken text was kind of directly translated from formal Spanish into English. It was a bit weird at first but it makes the book imo

[welshbairn]

20 minutes ago, paul-r-cfc said:

To Kill the Truth - Sam Bourne

Sequel to 'To Kill the President'. This takes a very different direction to most political thrillers whereby the threat isn't an attack or anything like that, but a mysterious group intent on destroying historical sources through burning libraries, killing eyewitnesses etc. Raises some interesting points about our relationship with history and whether remembering is necessarily a good thing. Shades of 'Fahrenheit 451'at times.

As in the first book, the author isn't remotely subtle about the parallels he's drawing with real life. Some of the plot points don't seem to go anywhere or add much to the plot, but overall, a strong follow up. Will look out the third book soon.


 

Would you recommend reading To kill the president first?

[Tony Ferrino]

Good thread but a shit title. Makes it sound like a safe space for folk who've given up reading.

[paul-r-cfc]

Would you recommend reading To kill the president first?

Yeah, I would do. It's t's a good book in its own right and it would give you a better understanding of the main character and the setting. Would still be able to enjoy it without the first but read it if at all possible.

[DrewDon]

I finally got round to Michael Calvin's No Hunger in Paradise, which I had been meaning to read for a long time now. It is an interesting read, well written with some revealing - and often troubling - anecdotes and stories. Unfortunately, much of the book just served to highlight how many absolute vultures pollute the football industry, especially 'elite' youth football. 

[Xianders]

I'm reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. I need to write an essay on this book and I don't think I can do it in time, so I think I'll just hire a cheap writing service. I hope that everything will pass

Edited June 5, 2020 by Xianders