What is East Dulwich reading today?

[Keef]

capt_birdseye Wrote:

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> Read my first ever Harlen Coben last week which I

> picked up at the Book Swap. Terribly written,

> outrageous plot, unsympathetic characters, and a

> real page-turner. Bit of a guilty pleasure!

Exactly, they're bloody great!!! >:D<

Some of his are better than others (I've read most I think), but basically the plots will involve someone who died or went missing ages ago seeming to kind of turn up again.

I should mention Tony Parsons' "stories we could tell", really really enjoyed it. It was set a year before I was born, but I could still relate totally to the characters, and enjoyed the nostalgia. Jah I'll give it to you next time I see you, basically the main characters are about the age you would have been the year it was set. Would be interested to see if you think it rings true or not.

Have just started the second adventure of Captain Alatriste "Purity of Blood" by Arturo Perez-Reverte having read the first one sometime last year. They're really nicely written books set in early 17th century Spain, and offer quite a bit of interesting history around the fictional story. Apparently the author (a war reporter) was disgusted by the lack of 17th century history in his daughter's school text books, he decided to write about the era.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Finished Caro Fraser's The Pupil earlier this week. The hero comes from East Dulwich and at one point says:

'Piers,' he said. Piers looked at him enquiringly. 'As we say in East Dulwich, Piers,' continued Anthony in a quiet, conversational tone, 'why don't you fuck off?'

Also read Rebecca for the book club - quite a gothic romp.

Have started White Teeth which I enjoy for short periods but can't settle down to a long read with it.

As a little aside, have started reading Alexander McCall Smith's online book, Corduroy Mansions, which is here if you fancy it: C. Mansions

My guilty read this week is Deathly Hallows for the umpteenth time.

[Bellenden Belle]

I'm reading Karoo by Steve Tesich. I like it a lot. It trips you up - one minute you can't believe how vile the characters are and you're enjoying a rather biting satire on LA life; the next a single sentence will beautifully demonstrate how f**king hard it is to be human.

Even sadder that its author (who wrote the screenplay The World According to Garp) died of a heart attack shortly after completing it.

[SeanMacGabhann]

* slightly worried *

err.. PGC - is it Rebecca for the book club? I thought it was Jamaica Inn

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Sean, you're so right - that's what two glasses of wine does for one.

[SeanMacGabhann]

* and breathe again *

I just started it today in fact - quite the page-turner

[Jimbob]

started a new one over the weekend, called "sister kate:nursing through the troubles". its basically the memories of sister kate o,hanlon who was the head sister of the royal victoria hospital, a&e dept, belfast at the height of the troubles. talk about an eye opener. highly recommended.

[Strawbs]

Im am well in to Jamaica Inn at the moment, reading it for book club, didnt think I would like it but Im loving it!

[Jah Lush]

I'm enjoying Kate Atkinson's Emotionally Weird, which is another book I got from the last book swap. Quite funny and very well written.

[TillieTrotter]

Its a bit strange that one Jah, but a decent read.

[shoshntosh]

if you like kate atkinson, you might enjoy her brilliant play called "Abandonment". it's in a similar vein to emotionally weird (and behind the scenes at the museum, her other well-known one) but sometimes reading plays is a nice departure from novels (& mags and rags)

btw, i have just finished "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion, which was excellent. it deals primarily with grief, though, and not for the faint-hearted. i swear i could have filled the tub with my geyser of tears.

[Bellenden Belle]

Ah shoshntosh.... I don't often see mentions of Abandonment - did you see it on stage? I saw it up in Edinburgh (gosh that'll be about eight years ago now) and it was pretty awful..... maybe it was the production.

But I agree reading plays can sometimes be great - Owen McCafferty's monologues (published alongside his play Mojo Mickybo if I remember righty) are beautiful. And I remember debbie tucker green's Born Bad being an incredibe read.

[Bellenden Belle]

Also just wondering if anybody out there is feeling anxious about the new film version of Brideshead Revisited? One of my favourite books of all time .... I'm feeling terribly protective of it!

(the lead actor playing Charles does look rather dishy though!)

[Moos]

Hello Belle! Long time no cross-post. Equus was a great read. Didn't see the recent Harry Potter version, did anyone think it was any good?

[Moos]

rather agree with you about Brideshead, but have what I feel MUST be larger concerns.

OMG!!!

Have you heard [spit] Knightley is going to be allowed to mangle Eliza Doolittle in a new My Fair Lady? I'm so upset. And it's definitely not just the yoghurt talking.

[Bellenden Belle]

**Waves at Moos** Hello!

Mmmm, I don't know about Keira - sometime when I see her interviewed there is a playfulness that could serve Eliza rather well...I haven't seen many of her films to comment on her acting.

Equus is a great play. I saw the recent production and it was pretty solid - but maybe a little too polished - I saw a production at university which in its scruffy, low-budget way, somehow touched me far more.

[Moos]

I don't know, something about her sharp teeth bothers me.

Back to Brideshead, didn't you think Sebastian's eventual fate was extraordinarily cruel, although so well plotted that it could only be seen as inevitable? Breaks my heart just thinking about it.

I'm currently reading Sebastian Faulks' The Fatal Englishman, which is fascinating - thanks to whomever donated it to the ED book swap.

[Bellenden Belle]

Oh poor poor Sebastian - the forerunner indeed,,,, I never liked Julia.

Edited in case I give away any plot for those that haven't had the pleasure yet!

[shoshntosh]

dear BB,

don't give too much away! shame is me but i haven't read the book yet and am rushing to do so before the film hits our screens.

xx

[Jah Lush]

Strangely enough apart from the Sword Of Honour trilogy Brideshead Revisited is probably the only Evelyn Waugh book I that haven't read.

[Azul]

reading MAUS from art spiegelman

[jumpinjackflash]

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini - the guy that wrote 'The Kite Runners'. Almost finished - it is by far one of the most moving books I have ever read.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I finished No Highway by Neville Shute in the wee, small hours of this morning. Very nicely written and with splashes of humour, slightly frothy in places but not in a yukky way.

[i have it in mind for Mamora Man at the next book swap]

[bigbadwolf]

Ian Rankins Rebus series, I can't put them down.

[Strawbs]

Indignation by Philip Roth, its good, super easy reading but not terribly gritty so far..