A jolly good read?

[Wolf Hunting]

Just getting to the end of David Peace's 1977, second one in the Red Riding series. Absolutely brilliant crime fiction. Pretty brutal and harrowing, and none of the characters are what you'd call sympathetic but it's compelling stuff. Bit heavy on the anal sex, but when is that ever a bad thing?

The books are TOTALLY different. Characters that die in the films are alive 5 or more books in.

5 or more books in??
I thought there were only 4 in that series?

 

[PabloWolfo]

5 or more books in??
I thought there were only 4 in that series?

Including the ones that Eric Van Lustbader wrote after ludlum died, there's 10.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Including the ones that Eric Van Lustbader wrote after ludlum died, there's 10.

Right!
I'd better check them out online then.
Final q on this, having seen the films first, will that ruin the reading?
Sometimes it's best to read the books first then if the films are disappointing then it doesn't spoil it.
It sounds like if the books are that different, it'll not make much difference...

 

[PabloWolfo]

Right!
I'd better check them out online then.
Final q on this, having seen the films first, will that ruin the reading?
Sometimes it's best to read the books first then if the films are disappointing then it doesn't spoil it.
It sounds like if the books are that different, it'll not make much difference...

The books are so different, watching the films won't matter.

 

[Langers]

Just finished I, Partridge.

That is one fucking funny book! Loved it.

 

[Psychowolf]

Just finished I, Partridge.

That is one $#@!ing funny book! Loved it.

Plan to buy it on Kindle but just have that awful feeling that as soon as I buy it, it will be the daily deal for 99p . I did read the sample though and thought it was fantastic.

Also, this is going to sound a stupid question but I want to make sure before I get too the books. I bought the Game of Thrones box set and just want to make sure the order after the first book is Clash of kings, Storm of swords 1 & 2. It's just the box set has them ordered SoS 1, Clash of Kings then SoS 2. Just seems a strange way to arrange them out of order as they'll obviously fit in the box in the correct order :\.

 

[Langers]

The order is:

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow
A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold
A Feast For Crows
A Dance With Dragons

 

[Psychowolf]

Thanks. Guess they just boxed the set in the wrong order then. Doesn't come with A Dance With Dragons though so will have to get that when I get to it in about 10 years.

 

[Langers]

I think they're splitting A Dance With Dragons into 2 when they release it in paperback later this year.

 

[SSB]

Still not started I, Partridge.

Any recommendations of books to read on holiday? Looking for easy reading/humour.

 

[Langers]

Still not started I, Partridge.

Any recommendations of books to read on holiday? Looking for easy reading/humour.

You've just answered your own question!

 

[vicarious wolf]

Just finished reading 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac again - one of the few books I've read a second time, an autobiographical account of the author's trips across post-war America in his youth.

The manner in which it was written is probably as famous as the story itself, and something that I find incredible. Kerouac was struggling to find a method to chronicle his adventures several years later and, after quite a lot of frustration, he lost his patience, taped together a huge scroll of drawing paper and furiously started typing and typing....and typing. He later said he did this to achieve the 'kick-writing' momentum he wanted as he was convinced that his verbal flow was hampered when he had to change paper at the end of the page.

Fuelled by amphetemines, he banged away at the type-writer pretty much non-stop for 17 days until he was finished, the words flowing from him straight onto the scroll; no drafts, nothing. His girlfriend of the time told of him hanging damp t-shirts across his apartment because of him sweating so profusely.

Picture of the 120ft scroll;

The result of all that really is a remarkable piece of literature and probably the definitive account of the 'Beat' culture that hit America in the 40s/50s. Its his vivid narrative that brings to life these journeys and the tales of the sex, drugs and hedonism led by chief protagonist Neal Cassady (or Dean Moriarty depending on which version you read) that shocked so many people when it was released.

Well worth a read.

That's fantastic! I never knew that scroll existed. What a brilliant thing.

The story when I was getting into Kerouac (in the early '80s) was that On The Road was written in FOUR days, but that always seemed a little implausible. God, I got so into him. Vanity of Duluoz was my favourite; every sentence was an absolute stunner. Kerouac, Kesey and Roth saw me through my late teens.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

What do you do?
stick it in that thread...

 

[Toon Wolf]

I would highly recommend a book called The Sisters Brothers by Patrick De Witt. It's set in the American West about 2 brothers who are hired killers and have to go after a prospector in California. It's like a really good Coen Brothers film but in a book... Superb stuff.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sisters-Bro...3188/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331242868&sr=8-1

 

[nimrod]

That's fantastic! I never knew that scroll existed. What a brilliant thing.

The story when I was getting into Kerouac (in the early '80s) was that On The Road was written in FOUR days, but that always seemed a little implausible. God, I got so into him. Vanity of Duluoz was my favourite; every sentence was an absolute stunner. Kerouac, Kesey and Roth saw me through my late teens.

I've only read the Human Stain by Roth. Utterly brilliant read.

Toon, looks a good read. £1.99 on kindle too, bargain.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

That's fantastic! I never knew that scroll existed. What a brilliant thing.

The story when I was getting into Kerouac (in the early '80s) was that On The Road was written in FOUR days, but that always seemed a little implausible. God, I got so into him. Vanity of Duluoz was my favourite; every sentence was an absolute stunner. Kerouac, Kesey and Roth saw me through my late teens.

If I recall correctly it was written on an amphetamine binge, tht helps explain his relentless rushing style a little. I was never taken too much with Kerouac. One flew over the cuckoos nest is an amazing book, though I've not read anything else by him and I hadn't heard of Roth before.

I get so little chance to read good books these days, and I don't know if there's too many more authors who interest me that much.

I thought Sallingers, catcher in the eye was a fantastic read, I read it again about 2 weeks after I read it, and no I've not assassinated anyone...

 

[vicarious wolf]

I've only read the Human Stain by Roth. Utterly brilliant read.

Try Portnoy's Complaint. You'll never eat liver again.

 

[nimrod]

Try Portnoy's Complaint. You'll never eat liver again.

yeah I did mean to read that one. i was enthralled by his writing style. really superb.

i tend to read more sci fi than anything else these days. used to read much more fiction.

 

[vicarious wolf]

Sci-fi as in....? Do specify.

I'm currently reading Alex Scarrow's October Skies, which is about a load of 1850s settlers in America who mysteriously disappear on a journey across the Sierra Nevada. At the moment it's trying to decide if it's a murder story (which I'll be happy with) or something a bit more supernatural like Picnic at Hanging Rock.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

I would highly recommend a book called The Sisters Brothers by Patrick De Witt. It's set in the American West about 2 brothers who are hired killers and have to go after a prospector in California. It's like a really good Coen Brothers film but in a book... Superb stuff.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sisters-Bro...3188/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331242868&sr=8-1

Sounds right up my street - on wish list.