A jolly good read?

[PPB]

Just finished Lisey's Story by Stephen King. Loving his books, especially some of his not so well known ones.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

I have only read Lisey's Story once but I remember really liking it. It was one of his better 'recent' books at the time I read it, although it's probably a few years old now. It's one that I definitely want to read again sometime.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

The Dry - Jane Harper

Murder mystery set in the Australian outback. Really enjoying it.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Kursk - the greatest battle by Lloyd Clark

Have been riveted by Frank's description of the 1st World War, but though I was aware of this hadn't realised that Russian deaths in this one campaign exceeded deaths from ALL belligerent nations during that war.

A staggering fact (& that's without adding the Russian population who died as a result of Stalin's actions on other matters - purges/agricultural reform/Gulags etc.)

 

[Templeton Peck]

Currently reading 'The Deal' by Jon Smith. Quite interesting on the ins and outs of transfers but incredibly self serving. Almost every other paragraph is 'I know this sounds dodgy but it's the world I'm in' or 'People moan about agents but without us the world would end' etc. He also seems to be quite pally with Redknapp too which should ring alarm bells.

 

[Langers]

Unknown Pleasures - Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook

Cracking read - I've now read 2 of Hooky's memoirs, and they've been decidedly different but both excellent. The Haciena - How Not to Run A Club is a lot more lighthearted wit some genuinely hilarious anecdotes, whereas this was quite a serious look back at his time in Joy Division, leading up to the tragic suicide of Ian Curtis. And throughout all of it, you can feel the deep regret he must have felt for not realising just how ill his bandmate was.

A nice touch is the notes on every track on both Joy Division's albums - really interesting to read those notes whilst listening to the album at the same time.

I might see if I can find a copy of his book on New Order. I much prefer Joy Division to NE but I like his writing style so much that I feel like I want to complete his story, as this did end rather abruptly, with no overlapping into the start of New Order.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Just about to pick this up for a bit of light reading

 

[Kenny]

Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Just about to pick this up for a bit of light reading

It was an effort reading the Title and Authors name! Don't think that book is for me...

 

[Langers]

Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Just about to pick this up for a bit of light reading

I've read A Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovic by Solzhenitsyn. A superb book.

Reminiscent of winter match days in the Glenn Hoddle era.

 

[Stan Hullis]

It's all about the oppressive state of the Soviet Union between 1917-1956, it's joyful stuff.

 

[Stan Hullis]

I've read A Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovic by Solzhenitsyn. A superb book.

Reminiscent of winter match days in the Glenn Hoddle era.

I'll add that one to the list

 

[Langers]

I'll add that one to the list

It's basically a day in the life of a prisoner in the Gulag. Based on the author's own experiences. It's very good.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Just about to pick this up for a bit of light reading

Tried that when I was a lot younger & couldn't get on with it - probably too young

Should back & try it again - not as if I can't do long Russian tomes as have read War & Peace

 

[Stan Hullis]

It's basically a day in the life of a prisoner in the Gulag. Based on the author's own experiences. It's very good.

Gulag Archipelago seems like the pre-text to that then - as it is the authors explanation of that time as well as witness accounts of all of the other atrocities that happened at the time.

 

[Langers]

Gulag Archipelago seems like the pre-text to that then - as it is the authors explanation of that time as well as witness accounts of all of the other atrocities that happened at the time.

Yeah I've heard of it and I'm pretty sure it is - wasn't that the publication that got him arrested?

A Day In The Life... isn't very long, but it's not split up into chapters. Although it's very well written, the way it's laid out kind of adds to the feeling of monotony!

 

[Stan Hullis]

Yeah I've heard of it and I'm pretty sure it is - wasn't that the publication that got him arrested?

A Day In The Life... isn't very long, but it's not split up into chapters. Although it's very well written, the way it's laid out kind of adds to the feeling of monotony!

Arrested, won him a noble prize and change Western academic thinking on the whole era...clever guy!

 

[Langers]

Arrested, won him a noble prize and change Western academic thinking on the whole era...clever guy!

Yeah but he had to suffer 10 years in a Gulag camp! And it sounds a bit nippy in those places.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Yeah but he had to suffer 10 years in a Gulag camp! And it sounds a bit nippy in those places.

He wouldn't have been able to write such a good account if he hadn't been there himself...

 

[Langers]

He wouldn't have been able to write such a good account if he hadn't been there himself...

Very true. And not dissimilar to Deutsch's 'Worst Wolves XI' blog he wrote last summer.

 

[lemonjelly]

On a related note, Filip Mullers Eyewitness Auschwitz is a phenomenal read that is useful for exposing fuckwit holocaust deniers.