What is East Dulwich reading?

[El Pibe]

Am trying my first ever audiobook, the 70s classic of the Hobbit by Nicol Williamson.

I never thought I'd like Audiobooks, but surprising myself at how much I'm enjoying it, though i still prefer reading a book when on the train so have to switch to music, but it's great for walking.

His accents are all a bit hammy though. West country for hobbits, yorkshire for Dwarves, cockney for trolls, an odd greek/polish hybrid for goblins.

I'm not quite sure why Gollum is a gay welshman though, bit weird that.

[red devil]

El Pibe Wrote:

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> His accents are all a bit hammy though. West

> country for hobbits, yorkshire for Dwarves,

> cockney for trolls, an odd greek/polish hybrid for

> goblins.

> I'm not quite sure why Gollum is a gay welshman

> though, bit weird that.

Sounds spot on to me :)

[Ted Max]

May 1997. 15 feckin years ago. Cherie's hair on the doorstep. Major watching cricket at the Oval. The death of hope blah blah.

Wondering if there are any good books out there on this period to about 2007, preferably not written by axe-grinding nutters, and light on the "Noel doing lines off the Downing Street bannisters LOL" anecdotes. Bit of historical economic perspective would be nice; not interested in Blaircult etc etc.

Looking for the sort of thing I can impress my uncle with on our walking tour of Swabia this summer.

[nashoi]

I'm currently reading Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain, which is pretty good.

[tallulah71]

The Ascent of Man - Jacob Bronowski (when I'm feeling high-brow which ain't often)

Winter in Madrid - CJ Samson

[El Pibe]

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. Basically an episode of Morse set in Tokyo.

The Inheritance of Rome - A History of Europe 400 to 1000 by Chris Wickham. As good as history books get really. Good mix of social and political, enough unusual primary sources to add colour and plenty of myth busting about the 'dark ages'

[El Pibe]

Yeah I'm reading it now, matchsticks in eyes.

[Jah Lush]

The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd.

[uncleglen]

A Feast For Crows George RR Martin

[El Pibe]

Goodbye To All That autobiography/war memoirs of Robert Graves.

Very candid, witty and touching, highly recommend.

Will definitely pile into his I Claudius gubbins after this.

[Ridgley]

Most Evil Men in History - great read.

[El Pibe]

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes - Tamin Ansary

Only a couple of chapters in. He does a good narrative and keeps an eye on the sweep of history, but is a little light on detail and somewhat eclectic on his foci.

Also his tone can occasionally sound a little patronising, but a backkground in writing high-school curricula may be the cause of that.

It is a great starting point for anyone who wants to cure themselves of our own western myopia when it comes to the 'world' history, especially given Bush's clash of civilisations nonsense and the turbulent new era in in the continuing sweep of history.

Fukuyama really couldn't have got it more wrong id he'd tried.

[Annette Curtain]

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

Grayson Perry: Portrait of the artist as a young girl

Way too short, but very honest and bloody funny in places

"And this is where Grayson does all his w*nking" his mother would announce, as she opened his bedroom door when showing people round their house

[Ted Max]

Extracts from Richard Burton's diary:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9539100/Richard-Burton-Diaries-Part-Three-I-behaved-with-a-fair-amount-of-disgrace-yesterday.html

Too many quotable bits, but:

The Kennedy family are of course notorious satyrs. I was amazed when Bobby K took Margot Fonteyn off into a back bedroom in Pierre Salinger?s house and my asking Salinger, when they came back, ?where the hell have they been?? and Salinger?s fat-faced reply which was a finger over the lips. When Jack Kennedy was running for president and stayed with Sinatra at Palm Springs the place was like a whore-house with Kennedy as chief customer.

We have to see Princess Margaret again at the opening night of Staircase and she is infinitely boringly uncomfortable to be around and I don?t know how I can suffer to see myself in the film in front of such a snob-ridden load of ----- as one always gets [around her].

Tomorrow we go to Rome to accept Golden Masks or Silver Masks or whatever, for being rich and infamous, I suppose. That?s a splendid fracturing bore to look forward to.

Paris. At 12 noon I did something beyond outrage. I bought Elizabeth the jet plane we flew in yesterday. It costs, brand new, $960,000 [$6.8 million]. She was not displeased.

I remember Ivor [brother] and I once in the Negresco being so fed up with the lousy waiter?s lousy service combined with a ---- you attitude that Ivor poured a bowl of chips over his head and while he was shouting and bawling I sketted him with a carafe of water. We had the police an? all.

Last night as I lay reading in bed and E was around the corner of the room I asked: ?What are you doing lumpy?? She said like a little girl and quite seriously: ?Playing with my jewels.?

[Ted Max]

Prince Rainier and Grace are coming to lunch today and Rainier is bringing either a tiger or a panther as a present for E. That?s all I need. [Later] ?How big,? I said to Rainier, ?does a panther grow?? ?About this size,? he said, with a gesture that indicated something cosmic.

I nearly struck him, but didn?t because it would have been impolite, and also he might have struck me back. He had that look on his face which I can only describe as ?smug?, that total assurance that the man to whom he is speaking is absolutely terrified.

I love the Prince and I love his wife and I love Monaco, but if every time we come here we are going to be given a lion I?d rather write bad books at home.

[uncleglen]

Just finished Prey by Michael Crichton

[Jah Lush]

Just finished Ford Maddox Ford's tetralogy Parade's End. Much better than the TV series that is currently showing on a Friday night, though I have been enjoying that too.

[????]

Being a tight git using my iPad to download titles that are out of copyright and thus free, which also gives me a chance for some classics. Just finished some rollicking Sherlock Holmes and going to revisit Middlemarch.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I struggled with Parade's End and gave up after not very far in.

Found it somewhat turgid and wanted to slap the protaganist. Is it worth persevering with?

Haven't seen the TV series so no preconceptions.

[civilservant]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

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> I struggled with Parade's End and gave up after

> not very far in.

>

> Found it somewhat turgid and wanted to slap the

> protaganist. Is it worth persevering with?

>

> Haven't seen the TV series so no preconceptions.

In a word, yes

The protagonist is a kind of holy fool, so eminently slappable. (Haven't bothered with the TV series either)

[DaveR]

Two completely different but excellent books I read recently:

http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/43352/it-had-to-be-you-david-nobbs-9780007286294

http://www.pooreconomics.com/about-book

[Lin Henden]

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. This is spread across Burma, Malaya and India

Also just finished Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer about 2 people sharing secrets, desires and passions via emailing.

[civilservant]

13 Hours by Deon Meyer

A fast-paced police procedural translated from the Afrikaans no less. Meyer's USP is his perspective on modern South Africa, which he populates with believable and (mostly) sympathetically drawn characters.

I've read a few of his books so far and this one is an especially gripping read.

[TheArtfulDogger]

The teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

The "Hero" sounds like he has my sort of real world luck

[Jah Lush]

Last week I read:- We Really Must Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver.

Yesterday I read:- The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain.

And today I started - Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Mind by Rob Chapman.