A jolly good read?

[Newbridge Wolf]

the hundred year old man who climbed out a window and disappeared - jonas jonasson - quite a funny trip through some surreal stuff that a pleasant old fella can get up to. I liked how it shows us there is so much more to a person than what we perceive.

thus spoke zarathustra - f neitzsche - lets be fucking clear about this. neitzsche is absolute fucking garbage. utter guff of the highest order. cannot fathom why people sing his praises. Perhaps explains why I've always struggled with the manics. shite.

The Hundred year old man - I really enjoyed this book, it was an enjoyable romp that was quite light hearted and interesting. I tried reading his follow up book, but it didn't quite site well with me and I failed to finish it

Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Not really a novel more one of the great philosophical texts, that requires study and a certain amount of perspective. If you wanted an Existentialist novel there are certainly more accessible works, Sartre's Vertigo, or indeed Dostoevsky the Crime, what Nietzsche says here is not a read as such. A more accessible text would be Soren Kierkegaards work, although don't expect it to be a page turner.

 

[nimrod]

i've been given the stephen fry greek myths books so be interested to see how readable they are. love the myths

 

[SLA]

One of my Christmas books is Daniel Kalder's Dictator Literature. He's read all the nonsense written by Stalin, Mao, Hitler et al so we don't have to, and then tears it apart. Pretty funny given its subject matter.

 

[Paul]

One of my Christmas books is Daniel Kalder's Dictator Literature. He's read all the nonsense written by Stalin, Mao, Hitler et al so we don't have to, and then tears it apart. Pretty funny given its subject matter.

There's 120 million deaths with those three alone, must be a barrel of laughs ?

 

[Keef]

As uncle joe Stalin said,1 death is a tragedy,1,000,000 is a statistic

 

[lemonjelly]

The Hundred year old man - I really enjoyed this book, it was an enjoyable romp that was quite light hearted and interesting. I tried reading his follow up book, but it didn't quite site well with me and I failed to finish it

I saw there was a follow up, but I'm not sure I'd be rushing out to get it, although I enjoyed the first one like you. Did think he'd struggle to come up with anything to develop the story/idea.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Not really a novel more one of the great philosophical texts, that requires study and a certain amount of perspective. If you wanted an Existentialist novel there are certainly more accessible works, Sartre's Vertigo, or indeed Dostoevsky the Crime, what Nietzsche says here is not a read as such. A more accessible text would be Soren Kierkegaards work, although don't expect it to be a page turner.

I've read excerpts of Sartre and Kierkegaard in other books. You're right, as some books are for reading, and others are for studying.

i've been given the stephen fry greek myths books so be interested to see how readable they are. love the myths

Found them well accessible. Fry has a clear passion for the subject. mrs jelly got tickets to see him last september when he did the tour, and that was really good.

One of my Christmas books is Daniel Kalder's Dictator Literature. He's read all the nonsense written by Stalin, Mao, Hitler et al so we don't have to, and then tears it apart. Pretty funny given its subject matter.

Sounds quite interesting! How far into it are you?

 

[SLA]

There's 120 million deaths with those three alone, must be a barrel of laughs ?

He doesn't make light of the horrors they inflicted, but does rip the piss out of their appalling literary efforts. Seems most dictators are aspiring Steve Bruces.

Sounds quite interesting! How far into it are you?

I've read the Lenin and Stalin chapters and am now on Mussolini.

 

[Langers]

Currently reading Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich and it's utterly brilliant. First hand accounts of those affected by the disaster and was of the most important sources Craig Mazin used when he wrote the superb Chernobyl drama.

Some of the accounts are utterly heartbreaking but it's beautifully written from start to finish.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Paul Howarth is giving away free copies of his book Only Killers and Thieves to those who are self isolating...

https://twitter.com/paulhowarth_/status/1238428229989515264?s=19

I can highly recommend it. I scored a copy for my Dad as he is pre empting the government advice for the over 70's and is self isolating already.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Paul Howarth is giving away free copies of his book Only Killers and Thieves to those who are self isolating...

https://twitter.com/paulhowarth_/status/1238428229989515264?s=19

I can highly recommend it. I scored a copy for my Dad as he is pre empting the government advice for the over 70's and is self isolating already.

Apart from the above - any other recommendations?

I may find I have time to myself for a while - historical, criminal, sci fi or thriller genres are preferred

 

[lemonjelly]

If you haven't read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote then you really should Parkin. Phenomenal book.

I'm currently reading this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach
Wonder if I foresaw isolation in picking up a 750 page tome that is killing my brain. I honestly don't understand most of the number theory stuff.

Speaking of 750 page mega books, this also recently arrived:
http://www.mangobooks.co.uk/book.php?b=7

I'm anticipating being able to read a fair bit for the next month.

 

[Parkins left foot]

If you haven't read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote then you really should Parkin. Phenomenal book.

I'm currently reading this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach
Wonder if I foresaw isolation in picking up a 750 page tome that is killing my brain. I honestly don't understand most of the number theory stuff.

Speaking of 750 page mega books, this also recently arrived:
http://www.mangobooks.co.uk/book.php?b=7

I'm anticipating being able to read a fair bit for the next month.

Read 'In Cold Blood' years ago - could well revisit

 

[Tredman]

Apart from the above - any other recommendations?

I may find I have time to myself for a while - historical, criminal, sci fi or thriller genres are preferred

The Hangman’s Daughter series are quite good - German author about crime mysteries in the Middle Ages.

 

[lemonjelly]

Here's a c&p of a list i prepped for a few work colleagues who asked for recommendations. Like Parkin, if anyone makes other recommendations I'd be interested. Always on the look out for a good book! Have picked up a few books mentioned by others on this thread as a result of their feedback.

Truman Capote – In Cold Blood (arguably the best book ever written.)
Iain Banks – Dead Air (possibly the best he’s written of his non sci-fi, in my opinion).
Greg Bear – Dead Lines (imagine a form of communication that somehow managed to communicate with the dead…)
Jostein Gaarder – Sophie’s World (easy for a philosophy student to pick this, but it is a tour de force of a novel)
Gene Brewer – K-Pax (knocks 7 bells out of the film. Brilliant exploration of an alien in a mental health institution)
Stephen King – 11.22.63 (proper return to form for King. A time travel novel with a twist or 2)
Tressell – The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist (simply one of those books that everyone should read.)
Irvine Welsh – skagboys (what renton & co did when aged 16/17/18, before they became drug addicts. Genuinely hilarious, with laugh out lud moments. Really humanises the characters.)
Alex Garland – Coma (not dis-similar to the bridge by banks. Read this in a day because I got hooked)
David Peace – The Red Riding Quartet (loosely set around the Yorkshire rippers murders, exploring police corruption & similar. Weird, but good)
Phillip Pullman – His Dark Materials trilogy (another 3 books will be published in this series soon – the first this October)
JK Rowlings books as Robert Galbraith in the Cormoran Strike series are fantastic reads also.

Non-Fiction
Dan Arieley – The Upside of Irrationality (behavioural economics. Humans behave less rationally than we think. Is this a bad thing? Can we use this information?)
George Orwell – Down & Out in Paris & London (awesome autobiographical work)
Alain de Botton – Status Anxiety (why do we want to climb the social ladder, & what does this do/mean? TBH, all de Botton’s books are worth a read, especially The News, a users manual, and Religion for Atheists)
Kate Fox – Watching the English (brilliant exploration of our idiosyncracies)
Robert Eastway et al – Why do Buses come in 3’s? (how maths issues affect our lives)
Hofstadter & Dennett – The Minds I (brilliant exploration of mind, the individual, consciousness. Speculations, and the use of other authors. Briliant.)
Derren Brown – Happy (an exploration of modern life, using stoicism. Do we create unnecessary stress?)
Mark Kermode – The Good, The Bad, & The Multiplex (anyone with a vague interest in film/cinema has to read this book.)
Naomi Klein – No Logo/The Shock Doctrine (investigations into machinations of capitalist endeavour.)
William Shatner – Shatner Rules (ever wondered how William Shatner became the man he is? Here you go! Hilariously entertaining)
Michael Schermer – Why People Believe Weird Things (it doesn’t hurt to have a little scepticism!)
Nick Davies – Hack Attack (how a journalist identified, then exposed phone hacking at the notw)

 

[Parkins left foot]

If you like criminal genre then the books by Philip Kerr are worth looking at.

Just before the 2nd WW, + during & after with one main character going through that period. Look for the books featuring Bernie Gunther.

 

[Tredman]

.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Irvine Welsh – skagboys (what renton & co did when aged 16/17/18, before they became drug addicts. Genuinely hilarious, with laugh out lud moments. Really humanises the characters.)

George Orwell – Down & Out in Paris & London (awesome autobiographical work)

Skagboys - Bloody hell, if you laugh out loud at the last chapter theres something not right with you! It is a brilliant book though, but I find the descent into addiction a very powerful and accurate portrayal, very uncomfortable personally.

Down & Out - If you liked that, Jack Londons People of the Abyss is worth a read. Its an interesting account of the working class in this country when we were at the peak of our powers and riches as a Nation, yet the poverty that people experienced shocked London

 

[Tredman]

Reading ‘Once upon a time in the East’ by Xiaolu Guo. It’s a memoir, so mostly non-fiction about the author growing up in 70s China. Fantastic book so far, seems such a different culture - for example her grandmother didn’t know her own name, it was was common for women to just be called wife or grandmother.

 

[sycophantia]

Just read the first 2 books in the Codenamed Villanelle series (Killng Eve).
Same characters and 'feel' as the tv series but the story follows a different and surprising pattern. I'm really enjoying them. I think you can read and watch both formats at the same time no problem....well I can anyway

 

[Hereford Wolf]

If you like history, then The History Of England by Peter Ackroyd (5 Volumes) is a great and interesting read.