How is the Gormenghast Trilogy working out for you, Amber? I bought it a while ago - I love the character names - but I have yet to read it.
Recently I seem to have been starting a lot of books but not finished them - too much late night coding trying to get 1.02 out, I guess. Currently started but as yet unfinished:
Jacques the Fatalist - Diderot
Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - Dalquist
How Novels Work - John Mullan
Venus on the Half-Shell - Kilgore Trout (bought because I wanted to see what Jose Farmer did with a Vonnegut idea - so far, the writing is pretty dreadful, but then that was always the point of Kilgore Trout, I guess).
Oh, I adore it; this is actually my third time through. I was only a child when I first read it, and Fuschia with all of her flaws was a big impact on me. Now that I am older, I cannot help but admire his ability to make even the most grotesque caricatures of humanity into into believable characters. I’ve always enjoyed the first two books much more than the third, which is a good tale in itself, but against the other two it feels a bit weak. From what I gather, he never finished the last one, and it really should be viewed as a work in progress. You could go altogether without reading it and still enjoy the first two for what they are.
just finished: Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson (really cool, the movies are nice too)
almost finished: Musicophilia.Tales Of Music And The Brain by Oliver Sacks (reads like a novel)
about to start reading: Il cimitero di Praga by Umberto Eco
(all in dutch)
I used to love Franny and Zooey (I read it numerous times when I was in my twenties) but sadly couldn’t get into it as much when I went to re-read it a year or so ago. Hopefully it was a one-off and the next time I’ll love it again…
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Just finished: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Just started: Dark Matter by Juli Zeh
I guess it would be strange if one’s experience of a book would be always the same (truism alarm!).
This time I loved it in a slightly different way than when I read it - like you - a couple of times in my twenties (I am 31 now); I definitely laughed a lot more this time! – I also hope you will love it again next time
My partner gave me Books v. Cigarettes, a little collection of essays by George Orwell, today (i.e. Saturday) as a St George’s Day gift, and I will start that now!
I’ve now moved to Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar - it’s his second novel, and I can heartily recommend the first one, the Booker shortlisted In the Country of Men.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. An excellent debut fantasy novel, and a monster of one at that; it was the largest “first” novel of any author I’ve read, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
I’ve recently picked up Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock again after first reading it about 10 or 15 years ago. Still an excellent story of a haunted wood. I’ve got the next book in the cycle, Lavondyss, on my to-read list.
Once I’m done there, I’ll probably go back to Jack Whyte’s excellent historical fiction series The Camulod Chronicles, which is an historically plausible origin story of the King Arthur legend, with it’s roots in the fall of the Roman empire. I highly recommend picking up The Skystone, which is the first book in the series.
Bejeezuz!! Y,ve just taken me back 50 years
I read: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
Greenmantle (1916)
Mr Standfast (1919)
The Three Hostages (1924)
But never got around to: The Island of Sheep (1936)
But I will now! I’ve just ordered the Omnibus Edition, all five of 'em in one book
I’m in your debt Sir.
Just finished Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Big Country, and I’m halfway through Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full
Vic
By the way, if you like the Hannay books, have you read Erskine Childers’ The Riddle of the Sands? Very much in the same tradition, in fact possibly the “first modern thriller”. And Erskine Childers’ own life story – a conversion from Empire Loyalist to militant Irish nationalist – is interesting too.
I’m reading Silk Parachute, the latest collection of nonfiction stories from John McPhee and something like his 28th book. Among nonfiction writers he is a recognized master, winner of a Pulitzer and many other honors, and he has a fan page on FaceBook. Now cresting 80, he remains highly readable and interesting on almost any subject.
These pieces are often quite personal; the title story is perhaps the best writing I’ve ever read on the venerable topic of mothers. His passion for geology shows in a piece on the chalk region of Britain, where one may grow champagne-quality grapes. Others are on sports, outdoor life, food; all topics McPhee has often tackled and always memorably. For accuracy, wit, and purity of style, he is well worth a look.
Currently started but as yet unfinished:
