James Broonbreed Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 I read Nick Hornby - "Juliet, Naked" and Roddy Doyle - "The Van" last week. I'm becoming a big fan of Roddy's. Just starting James Joyce "Dubliners". Third attempt at it. I've never get very far through it before. It's nicely written and easy enough to read, it's just not very interesting. I also plan to read Joyce's "A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man" this year as part of my 50 book challenge, then next year I'm going to attempt to tackle "Ulysses".I just got 3 Joyce books from Ebay after reading on Vice that he had a thing for shagging women up the arse who farted. Intriguing.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Just finishing off Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Going back and reading a few of his books I missed during my teenage King phase. This is a good one. It's very hard to produce a story about vampires now with any real sense of fear or jeopardy in it as all the tropes are so well known. However throughout the book there's a sense that everything is up for grabs and anyone could die at any time (and they do). It's also got a few genuinely uncomfortable blood curdling sections which I found quite hard to get through, but a fair few of those involved very young children and I have a 4 month old daughter so I think we can put that down to my own projections and anxieties. But that's what a good horror writer should do I guess, build on those anxieties and fears that everyone has and construct an enjoyable scary narrative from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 (edited) I'm a huge King fan, but I've never read that one. Coincidentally one of my friends on Twitter is reading that one at the moment as well. Is there a new adaption coming out or something which has got people interested in it again? I'm hoping to fill in some gaps in my Stephen King reading over the rest of the year. I read The Tommyknockers and 2/11/63 recently and they were both great. Thinner wasn't so good. I've got Dr Sleep on my Kindle which I'm going to have to get my teeth in to soon. Too many books, not enough time! Edited May 11, 2015 by Lemonade Sparkle 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Fuck, sorry. Meant to hit quote but hit -Rep instead. ...fill in some gaps in Stephen King... xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 I'm a huge King fan, but I've never read that one. Coincidentally one of my friends on Twitter is reading that one at the moment as well. Is there a new adaption coming out or something which has got people interested in it again? I don't think so. I just went back to it as it was one I had heard of but never read before. I've got The Stand loaded on the kindle to go next and The Gunslinger is ready as well to start me on The Dark Tower series. The Guardian are doing a series at the moment where they re-read all of King's books chronologically. http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/rereading-stephen-king Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 The Dark Tower is a tough read. I've started it several times and never got beyond the first book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 The only King book which has defeated me in the past was Dolores Claiborne. So boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 I read that as a teenager, I don't remember much about it. Lisey's Story got the better of me a few years ago, I took it on holiday and got nowhere with it. The Duma Key is meant to be a real challenge as well. That's still on my to read list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Beasted through Irvine Welsh's newest one A Decent Ride about Juice Terry and his taxi driving and shagging adventures. Pretty good and now reading The Sex Lives Siamese Twins which is a change from his Edinburgh-based stuff and entertaining whilst ridiculous so far Finished Siamese Twins - it's quite different at times but then typically Welsh at others. An entertaining read for sure.Just started Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy this morning on a recommendation from my dad when we were chatting about A Scots Quair. Not bad so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Fear and Loathing in La Liga - Sid Lowe. Splendid stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I'm tearing through Trainspotting at the moment, so long since I read it last it's like a new book. Fucking barry likesay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Anyone listen to Billy Sangster's interview with Irvine Welsh on his podcast? Good stuff. That's a few big names he's had on too. http://wildbrigand.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I've started reading Joyland by Stephen King. I've always been put off of King because he looks like a massive creepy paedo and I generally don't go for the horror genre. This seems OK so far, it's pretty simple reading so it's easily absorbed when loads of other cunts are watching football really loud in the same room as me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I've started reading Joyland by Stephen King. I've always been put off of King because he looks like a massive creepy paedo and I generally don't go for the horror genre. This seems OK so far, it's pretty simple reading so it's easily absorbed when loads of other cunts are watching football really loud in the same room as me. I read that one a few weeks ago. It's pretty good. Bit lighter than some of his other books. It was basically my re-introduction to King after I read his biography/writing how to On Writing. Started it the same week I watched Adventureland so I had a really good visual cue for what the park in King's book looked like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I'm also picturing Adventureland half the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSJ81 Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 I just finished the family corleone. A prequel to the godfather. Really enjoyed it, but my obsession with Mafia films meant kept hearing voices of Mafia characters in my head while I read. the most disturbing was fat tony from the Simpsons every time don corleone spoke! Well worth a read if you like the genre though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Finished Joyland this morning. Entertaining but predictable. I didn't like the bit where he helped the crippled kid have a pish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Fear and Loathing in La Liga - Sid Lowe. Splendid stuff. Fantastic book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Just found out Irvine Welsh is doing an "Evening with" and a reading from A Decent Ride in Poland next week for the Literature Festival. Tickets booked! https://www.facebook.com/events/1576929485896926/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonie Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 I missed his Edinburgh version but I believe he did one at the Music Hall in Aberdeen too. Would have been keen to attend that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 I just re-read The Great Gatsby. It was better than I remember it. I think I must've read it in sporadic stots and bangs before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I've started reading 'the restaurant at the end of the universe'.I didn't realise Douglas Adams was dead. It's a shame he didn't get to see the hitchhikers guide movie as it really did the book justice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I've started reading 'the restaurant at the end of the universe'.I didn't realise Douglas Adams was dead. It's a shame he didn't get to see the hitchhikers guide movie as it really did the book justice. I've got the whole trilogy (of five books) loaded on my kindle ready to go at some point. Been years since I read them. I really enjoyed the film but it seems to have had a mixed reception from Hitchhikers fans who willfully ignored the fact that the story has changed every time it moves format from radio to book to text adventure to tv series to movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Broonbreed Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 It's been a few years since I read it but I thought the film was fairly true to the book..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 It's been a few years since I read it but I thought the film was fairly true to the book..... Hmm. Broadly. It changes a lot of the detail though, but I didn't mind that much. If you do a search online though there's a fuckload of fanboy arguments and nerd meltdowns about how bad the film was because Zaphod didn't have two heads side by side or the heart of gold was the wrong shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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