Books

[robbojunior]

 

List the books you have read this year, Blurts. There should be 22 of them.

 

Expect a long wait.

The man hasn't read 22 sentences this year.

[Bluto10]

Expect a long wait.

The man hasn't read 22 sentences this year.

Aye OK Wordsworth.

[robbojunior]

Aye OK Wordsworth.

 

I'm nae the cunt that claims to read a book a year but still manages to defy modern science by being illiterate.

[Bluto10]

I'm nae the cunt that claims to read a book a year but still manages to defy modern science by being illiterate.

Shall I let you into a secret.

I'm not illiterate.

I just spend less time review I g what I type than others do.

[robbojunior]

Shall I let you into a secret.

I'm not illiterate.

I just spend less time review I g what I type than others do.

 

Interesting.

 

I spend nae time whatsoever reviewing what I type. I've just learned how to write and spell and now do it without thinking.

[buchanskii]

I heard Bluto is one of the worlds leading authorities on the late years of Dostoyevsky.

 

I myself Just got two new books:

 

Fidel & Che a revolutionary friendship by Simon Reid-Henry

 

Napoleon Soldier of Destiny by Michael Broers.

 

Both 500+ pages so can probably give an in-depth analysis and compose a critical essay on both within 3-4 days.

[Bluto10]

I heard Bluto is one of the worlds leading authorities on the late years of Dostoyevsky.

 

I myself Just got two new books:

 

Fidel & Che a revolutionary friendship by Simon Reid-Henry

 

Napoleon Soldier of Destiny by Michael Broers.

 

Both 500+ pages so can probably give an in-depth analysis and compose a critical essay on both within 3-4 days.

[Localfitbafan]

Only really like reading biographies and stories about factual events.

So far for holiday reading this year I have "The Glory of Gothenburg"

Can anyone recommend any good biographies for sports people?

[ChutneyLove]

Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino

 

Worth a read.

[StandFree1982]

I heard Bluto is one of the worlds leading authorities on the late years of Dostoyevsky.

 

I myself Just got two new books:

 

Fidel & Che a revolutionary friendship by Simon Reid-Henry

 

Napoleon Soldier of Destiny by Michael Broers.

 

Both 500+ pages so can probably give an in-depth analysis and compose a critical essay on both within 3-4 days.

Bluto reads a 1000+ page book a week.

[Bluto10]

Bluto reads a 1000+ page book a week.

Bluto10s one of the most intelligent people I know; certainly the most intelligent person you know.

[StandFree1982]

Bluto10s one of the most intelligent people I know; certainly the most intelligent person you know.

What about the other 9 Blutos?

[tup]

 

Interesting.

 

I spend nae time whatsoever reviewing what I type. I've just learned how to write and spell and now do it without thinking.

 

I also somehow manage to spell and punctuate without error.

 

I'm not sure how I accomplish this as I spend no time on it.

 

We must be cleverer than bluto is the logical conclusion.

[Bluto10]

I also somehow manage to spell and punctuate without error.

 

I'm not sure how I accomplish this as I spend no time on it.

 

We must be cleverer than bluto is the logical conclusion.

Aye OK brain box.

[Guest]

I started and finished The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan last night and into the wee hours.

 

Couldn't put it down. Now I know why he's very highly acclaimed. Just amazing.

 

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison next.

[E-P-K]

On hols tomorrow, so the book inventory for the trip is -

 

Hitlers young tigers - Rupert Butler

 

Escape - David McMillan

 

Snowing in Bali - Kathryn Bonella.

[Bluto10]

Finished the great Gatsby , again, the other day.

Never dissapoints.

 

Halfway through the works of Shakespeare too. Tough going at times. But worth the effort and perseverance

[buchanskii]

I'm travelling to work for a puckle weeks on Saturday and only got three men in a boat to read so far.

 

Any recommendations?

[StandFree1982]

Finished the great Gatsby , again, the other day.

Never dissapoints.

 

Halfway through the works of Shakespeare too. Tough going at times. But worth the effort and perseverance

You going to finish Shakespeares works in a week Bluto?

 

Never read the Great Gatsby, seen the movie which was decent enough (getting into Darren Mackie territory now...)

[360]

You going to finish Shakespeares works in a week Bluto?

 

Never read the Great Gatsby, seen the movie which was decent enough (getting into Darren Mackie territory now...)

 

Get the book read, StandFree1982.

 

There's a reason it's considered by many to be the greatest American novel of all time.

[Bluto10]

You going to finish Shakespeares works in a week Bluto?

 

Never read the Great Gatsby, seen the movie which was decent enough (getting into Darren Mackie territory now...)

 

Haha, Nae the works are on the back burner so no rush to finish those.

 

I've done dickens and Austin's so Shakespeare is one I need to tick off.

[Bluto10]

Get the book read, StandFree1982.

 

There's a reason it's considered by many to be the greatest American novel of all time.

Aye sf1982 use your brain for once min

[StandFree1982]

Aye sf1982 use your brain for once min

Hope it's better than the over rated "Catcher in the Rye". Read that when I left school, as we didn't cover it in our class, and it was a bit of a let down. I might need to re-read it though with a maturer mind!

[Guest]

Catcher in the Rye is sadder to read the older you get.

 

At school age, it appeals more. With life experience, it's just a tired old snapshot.

[Guest]

I don't believe that a concentrated burst of Shakespeare is a good way to appreciate his work.

 

He's too intense. The language barrier alone is tough.

 

To appreciate the genius of (only some) of his work, he has to be picked up and put down. In my experience.

[Bluto10]

Agreed rocket.

It's heavy going ye olde English

Like I said, on the back burner.

 

I read an act a week.

[Guest]

Bluto, you read Flanagan?

 

If not, I highly recommend him. He won the Booker prize I think.

 

The Unknown Terrorist was one of the best books I've read written this century.

 

Very topical in political direction and a phenomenal indictment of the human condition.

 

A harrowing and yet beautiful read.

[Bluto10]

Not yet rocket, will keep an eye out for it.

 

Only the past few years have I had the time to dedicate to books so mostly done the classics and a bit of poetry so far.

[looksgoodinred]

Hope it's better than the over rated "Catcher in the Rye". Read that when I left school, as we didn't cover it in our class, and it was a bit of a let down. I might need to re-read it though with a maturer mind!

 

mmm.. it's a very good book (Great Gatsby), but i wouldn't agree with 360 that it's considered the "greatest American novel".

the book, however, is much better than the film. i think.

 

I don't believe that a concentrated burst of Shakespeare is a good way to appreciate his work.

 

He's too intense. The language barrier alone is tough.

 

To appreciate the genius of (only some) of his work, he has to be picked up and put down. In my experience.

 

i have to agree with you RS. that's my experience as well. i absolutely despised reading Shakespeare in school, but as i look back, it was due to not only having to analyse it phrase by phrase (gads!) but having to motor your way through it. i much prefer it as an adult when i pick up a volume and just read a bit here and there.

 

what would you consider to be the greatest five novels, that you enjoyed, @@360, @@Bluto10, @@rocket_scientist? (enjoyment being key to my mind. since i've read some classics like Ulysses, which i just couldn't stand, which would likely be listed among the greatest novels).

 

in no particular order, i'd have to list Grapes of Wrath, Scarlet Letter, House of Mirth, anything by Jane Austen, and Crime and Punishment among the great novels.

[Guest]

I couldn't list a top five LGIR. For a number of different reasons.

 

There's literature and classics - I couldn't deal with James Joyce either - and so many different types of novel that I've read that I have difficulty prioritising or saying this was better than that.

 

Lanark by Alisdair Gray was inspiring to me but not one I would necessarily recommend to many people.

 

1984, To kill a Mockingbird, Tess and the D'Urbervilles etc. etc. are all famous classics and I consider essential reading, for the uniqueness of their narratives. Steinbeck too is essential reading, as are the great Russians, Solzhenitsyn and Dostoevsky. There's just such diversity out there that I couldn't pick five only. I would be wracked with guilt at what I'd left out.

 

Philip Roth and Kurt Vonnegut are great reads. One or three of Gore Vidal is excellent. Run Rabbit Run was another great U.S. Novel.

 

The French produced some incredible novels. Camus is an easy read. Proust is the toughest novelist I've ever dealt with but richly satisfying if we stay with it. I couldn't complete the many volumes of his greatest work but having felt like giving up 200 pages into the first part of In Search of Lost Time, was delighted to have ploughed on. He's the most talented writer I've ever read.

 

Moving to Germamy, Herman Hesse produced some wonderful work, the Glass Bead Game being my fav rather than his more heralded Steppenwolf, which was good.

 

Some great South American novelists and in Australia, I just discovered my fav author last night, the Tasmanian Flanagan.

 

Too much diversity. Too many greats.

 

 

Edit: See, feeling guilty already. Should have included Emile Zola.