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Most shocking moments in books


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The whole Saville before Saville thing with Welsh in one of the short stories in Ecstasy was quite amazing and shows how well known Sir Jimmy's corpse shagging antics were 

 

Edited by Bert Raccoon
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Shutter Island

Spoiler

A US marshall investigates the suspicious disappearance of a patient from a mental institution. It turns out that the US marshall is actually a mental patient and the whole thing is a reality orientation roleplay designed as a last throw of the dice to treat him.

 

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I was listening to an audiobook of Dr No the other day, and was quite shocked by the chapter where Honey Ryder (aye, the Ursula Andress character) revealed she was molested/raped and aspired to be a 'call girl' in New York.  

That Andress scene would have been a lot more interesting had they followed the book though; naked in the water wearing nothing but a leather knife belt.

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On 11/09/2024 at 18:42, tongue_tied_danny said:

If graphic novels count...

0241107210.jpg.3d804545cdb8583f26a60ed37bcf90dd.jpg

Here's a happy thing:

The Snowman and Father Christmas take place in the same universe.

r/nostalgia - Before the MCU, this was my first experience of a shared universe (The Snowman/Father Christmas). Merry Christmas everyone 🎅 ☃ ❄

In Father Christmas, Jim and Hilda Bloggs from When the Wind Blows are shown in the pub. This therefore suggests that, canonically speaking, the real ending of The Snowman is a massive nuclear war.

 

Father Christmas (1991) Review- Blogmas Day 12 – Reviews by Rhiannon

https://x.com/Psythor/status/1342448590522900481

 

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On 13/09/2024 at 10:11, scottsdad said:

Never read The Wasp Factory, or any Iain Banks stuff. Worth a read?

I did however hear him speak. When I was doing Higher English we were bussed through to Glasgow and he was talking to schoolkids from loads of schools. Massive auditorium. All I can remember about it is he made a joke about being stuck in a lift with Eternal. 

I was a big fan of his stuff and collected all the first editions back in the days before kids, when I was occasionally allowed to buy stuff for myself. 

Some of the sci-fi ones, e.g. Use of Weapons and Player of Games have quite messed up bits in them.

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On 14/09/2024 at 11:49, Gibby82 said:

The murder in Crime and Punishment is horrific in the casualness of its description. 

This is what I though of too.

When the sister walks in and Raskolnikov panics and  puts the axe in her head is one of the few times I have gasped in shock while reading a book.

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I read Last Exit to Brooklyn, by Hubert Selby Jr, many years ago and found it astounding in the sheer horror of the events and characters depicted. However it was a fascinating insight in to the grotesque aspects of low-life America. Ultimately, my main gripe concerned the adoring description of Charlie Parker's music, as a result of which I bought a 3-LP package that I hated.

I subsequently read Selby's second novel, The Room, the text below is a fair reflection of my own  reaction on reading that book. 

The novel was regarded by Selby as the most disturbing book ever written, and Selby stated that he himself was unable to read it again for 20 years. At least one reviewer has expressed similar feelings, with claims that reading the novel made him physically sick. It has been described as "a terrifying journey into the darkest corners of the psyche."[

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just remembered reading Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy while on holiday one year. It's a grim but gorgeous book, but there's a scene where they adopt three children and the eldest one is a bit troubled. 

 

Spoiler

The eldest one strangles the other two and then hangs himself. Bloody hell.

 

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4 hours ago, Thane of Cawdor said:

 Ultimately, my main gripe concerned the adoring description of Charlie Parker's music, as a result of which I bought a 3-LP package that I hated.

Can I have 'em, please ?

p.s. I didn't see the masturbation scene in Ulysses coming....Sorry.🙄

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2 minutes ago, GHF-23 said:

Irvine Welsh is a very good shout for these as other than his one great book - Trainspotting - shock value is pretty much all he's good for. 

I disagree with this and think that a lot of his books have a lot to offer. But I do think that sometimes he goes for outrage over a decent story or character. Thought ecstasy suffered badly from this, and the Begbie solo book to a degree. 

He's not an english lit graduate that's going to win prizes for his subtle thematic use of symbolism and metaphor, but he does capture aspects of real life very astutely and converts them into compelling stories. I get that's not for everyone, but i like that. 

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1 hour ago, dagane said:

Still remember reading James Herberts 'rat's and being shocked when the rat breached his protective suit and started eating into him through his scrotum

I remembered liking The Fog when I was a kid, so bought the audiobook recently and only got about halfway through before realising it was pretty dull.

There's some pretty horrific homophobia in it, including a lesbian character whose lover realises her mistake and turns straight, leaving her to die a miserable lonely spinster, and a gay teacher who is automatically assumed to be a paedophile. There's scene where everyone is driven mad by the titular fog, so he strips naked and has the kids flog him and his turgid cock. Just really odd sadistic stuff that Herbert appeared to have typed with one hand  :shutup

Incidentally, I know everyone assumes that Garth Marenghi is supposed to be Stephen King, although the rumour is that they were actually thinking about Shaun Hutson, but I always got big James Herbert vibes from him. There does seem to have been a particular type of creepy English leather jacket-wearing, brooding pseudo-intellectual horror author in the Eighties (hi Clive Barker).

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