Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Know what you mean about the perv thing.

>

> Larsson was so lauded that I

> avoided him for ages and was pleasantly

> surprised.

>

>

I agree with you about recommendations and avoiding Larsson - but I gotta say I thought GWADT was Jeffrey Archer-esque.

I am really surprised that you liked it.


Currently i am reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

Mockney, I'm glad you liked Blood Meridian. I too had to re-read the ending a couple of times and it stayed with me for a long long time. I felt traumatised for a while afterwards.


Speaking of trauma, the GWADT trilogy - Jah will probably tell me off for my pseudo-feminist bandwagon, but really, can we not have some heroines who are kick-ass without having to undergo graphically violent rape as the catalyst to their finding their inner strength? Please? Enough with the goddamn torture porn.

I'm working my way through Cormac McCarthy, nearing the end of the Border Trilogy at present. And also have Brothers by Yu Hua on the go - really enjoying this one. Have just re-read Graham Greene's The Comedians - have a habit of reverting to his writings every so often.

Don't bother learning to read Mick Mac, it's a waste of time. When I picked up the keys to my new transit I got a free CD of Ross Kemp reading Sun Tzu, the only 'book' you'll ever need.


For those that will insist on wasting their time reading, current political events reminded me of a book I was given a couple of years ago called Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir. The author's father was a moroccan general and the king's closest aide. She was brought up within the King's family, as a kind of official companion to his daughter, until in 1972 her father was accused of plotting to overthrow the King, leading to his execution and the imprisonment of his family (including the author) for the next 20+ years in a desert gaol before finally escaping. A fascinating incite into how events can change lives so radically so quickly. Apparently, not that I've bothered reading it of course, waste of time.

Rosie, I'm glad I'm not alone.


The judge, he's just us isn't he, an immortal expression of humanity.

There is no morality etc....


By the way have you read much HP lovecraft? If the road was Philip k dick, blood meridian was surely he.

Our McCormac is a closet sic fi fan!!!

I'm surprised at you Rosie. Why would I think that? And Mockney I never had you down as a pseudo-feminist. Seriously though, it's never nice to read that sort of imagery. I've managed to steer well clear of the GWADT trilogy, far too many people reading it on the train for my liking. Call it literary snobbery if you will but it's that kind of mainstream popularity that seriously puts me off.

Now We Are Sixty (doffing its cap to A.A. Milne)


"I wear a suit by Giorgio Armani

I like an after-shave called Frangipani,

I've got this bird who's Azerbaijani,

I feel like I'm twenty-three.


"I've got a CD of right-on hip hop,

I've got a Warhol print of a flip-flop,

I drive a Porsche-style Honda that's tip-top,

Who's coming clubbing with me?"


etc.

I read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell recently. From reading the reviews of it on Amazon, it would seem to be a Marmite book - people either love it or hate. I loved it. I could see that it was a critique of slavery in a way but along the way it was a series of entertaining thrillers, expertly written in styles appropriate to the settings of the six, connected, stories. Apparently it was recommended by Richard and Judy but I didn't know that at the time and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Read it and see.

Haha Jah, you have accused me of such in the past, but I think it was in an entirely other, more flippant (ah yes, I remember now - footballing) context.


I too suffer from the kind of intellectual snobbery (or wanton contrariness) that prevented my reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Harry Potter, or any of the GWADT trilogy. But then a friend showed me passages in the book and I took against it for quite another reason. I think a good writer is capable of closing the door on acts of grotesque violence, while leaving you in no doubt of what's happening - recognising that your own imagination can conjure just how horrible a situation might be, without resorting to graphic titillation.


Actually, to come back to Mockney's point about the Judge and Blood Meridian, I think Cormac McCarthy's ending does exactly that. And it's brilliant and beautiful in its spare, lean prose. That ending's stayed with me for years. I had no idea he was a sci-fi fan: am not a reader of the sci-fi, but I'm experimenting this year, so will check it out Mockney.


I'm finally getting round to reading Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. The quality of the writing is exceptional, and makes me stop and pause every few pages at a particularly exquisite sentence. It makes me sad that I am a dullard with nary an original thought in my head, but fuck me it's glorious reading.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • shared to nextdoor facebook keep us updated pIease ty
    • We have had Tony and team do a number of repairs and decorative work over the past year in our Victorian terrace in Peckham. Most recently, they painted the majority of our house while we were on holiday, where they spent 12 hour days over two weeks working non stop to complete plastering, walls & ceilings, and woodwork paint on custom joinery. Tony communicated throughout but kept the end result a surprise. We returned to the most beautiful house decor, with the whole place spotless too. I would have no hesitation in recommending TDR, the work is always to an extremely high standard, well priced and I always trust Tony and his work. We will use TDR again for further work in our house. 
    • It's quite normal with chain shops that have a large real estate portfolio who are in the proverbial. When the writing is on the wall they know exactly how much they can afford to pay to keep a site open and the landlord then has a choice:  accept the lower rent or find a new tenant. Finding a new tenant sometimes means not getting any rent from an insolvent company, paying to clear their stuff out and giving the new tenant a rent free period to fit out their shop and establish themselves. It can be expensive for the landlord to refuse a rent reduction. I think this landlord has probably landed on their feet here though, getting Tesco interested. 
    • When I used to go to the one in Woodwarde road I found them expensive but not exceptional- They kept suggesting I have an acid treatment on my toenails which have a tendancy to become ingrown-I think it was many hundreds of pounds (about £400 5 or so years ago) when I found my current Podiatrist (who teaches at The Royal college of Podiatrists) he told me that A: that treatment was'nt foolproof and the nail could grow back and B: that he really did'nt reccomend it in my case. I also did'nt like how the charges at Woodwarde rd just kept getting higher and varied depending on whom was treating me.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...