The GOT Book Club

[random]

Just started getting into Jussi Adler-Olsson. Scandi noir writer. Recommended.

Thanks for the heads up on this author, I have just read the first four books in the dept Q series (some of the titles are different depending on the country of release).




Book 1 is definitely the pick of the bunch,
Book 2 I thought the story line had too many plot holes and was a bit 'iffy', the worst out of the ones I have read so far
Book 3 was a big improvement on book 2 and a decent read
Book 4 not as good as book 3 and parts towards the end of the book stretched things imo


I would say that the scenarios the author comes up with in all 4 books are interesting, there are a couple of on-going story arcs that continue through the series, so although I think book two was poor, it still needs to be read to enable you to keep up with things that are happening.

 

[random]

There have been some more Jack Reacher books written since I last read what was available, I did enjoy them so have just blasted through number one again



The only thing that I thought was iffy........

Spoiler

I thought it was too much of a leap from finding a key in the gun box left for safekeeping to knowing to ask at the barbers shop what it fitted

Will attack book two again next

 

[degsy]

There have been some more Jack Reacher books written since I last read what was available, I did enjoy them so have just blasted through number one again

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The only thing that I thought was iffy........
...Will attack book two again next

Was 5ft 6in Cruise playing 6ft 5in bald Reacher - now that IS iffy

 

[random]

Was 5ft 6in Cruise playing 6ft 5in bald Reacher - now that IS iffy

the power of film...

 

[Daz1878]

Finished Battlefield Earth. It was awful - both the writing and the story. To be honest, I just couldn't get into it at all, so maybe I should revisit it some day. It's not the sort of thing I'd normally read - which is partly why I chose it - but I just got nothing out of it. Maybe I should give it another chance, but with countless books on the pile, I'm in no rush to pick it up again...

 

[tommytowne]

Was 5ft 6in Cruise playing 6ft 5in bald Reacher - now that IS iffy

Having read most of the books it was ridiculous casting.
It tainted my mental image of the big man.

 

[Philw]

Was 5ft 6in Cruise playing 6ft 5in bald Reacher - now that IS iffy

Having read most of the books it was ridiculous casting.
It tainted my mental image of the big man.

As someone who has never read any of the books, 0 hoots were given...

 

[tommytowne]

I wouldn't normally bother with John Grisham novels, but I picked up The Reckoning a short while back.
Not a particularly rivetting read but notable for the passages on the Bataan death march in the Philippines in WW2. Although told in a fictional sense, those chapters were obviously based on true testimony, and left me stunned.

 

[tommytowne]

As someone who has never read any of the books, 0 hoots were given...

Best you dont attempt reading any Jack Reacher books. After reading a few chapters, you feel empowered in being able to completely destroy anything up to 12 badass lids singlehandedly.

 

[BigMick]

Read this a few weeks' ago. The plot is the depiction of the future and evolution of humanity, from the present day (actually the 1930s when the book was published) to the eventual end of Man.

Very interesting in most part, a bit dated in the technological aspects but that was to be expected. The author was from the Wirral, haven't seen anything else by him, has anyone ?

Apparently there's been a film adaptation, but I think it would have been difficult to fit everything in, anyone seen it ?

I bought it secondhand years' ago and if you see a copy it's worth a read, if only for the imaginings of the future of the human race - the book covers millions of years.

I read this many years ago, along with a few others by Stapledon, including Last Men in London and Star Maker, which was mind-boggling! I've just seen the Star Maker ebook is available for 99p, a bargain, but a quick glance at the preview suggests the formatting is poor.

 

[BigMick]

just finished The Gulag Archipelago (vol 1) by Solzhenitsyn

That was one serious book, it explains Article 58 that was used to put people in jail, the subsequent torture they endured to get 'confessions' was horrific.

I had heard about the Gulags and seen some films, but nothing prepares you for reading this 1st hand account. I will definitely be reading vols 2 & 3 at some point in the future.

One of the best non-fiction books I have read


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I'm currently rereading this. I have to confess that, as with almost every other book about Stalin, I can only read a couple of chapters at a time before I need a break from the sheer horror of it all and read something lighter.

 

[COYBL25]

I'm currently rereading this. I have to confess that, as with almost every other book about Stalin, I can only read a couple of chapters at a time before I need a break from the sheer horror of it all and read something lighter.

You find that when you read books like this, that tears are streaming down your face without you even realising it.

I prefer to read them alone, so I can concentrate fully and also so non of the family can see me crying !

 

[BigMick]

You find that when you read books like this, that tears are streaming down your face without you even realising it.

I prefer to read them alone, so I can concentrate fully and also so non of the family can see me crying !

For anyone who hasn't read any Solzhenitsyn I'd recommend his novella, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and his short stories as a good starting point - being fiction they are slightly less horrifying than his factual work. I've got two short story collections, We never Make Mistakes and For the Good of the Cause, but don't think they are currently in print in the UK.

Reading Solzhenitsyn can certainly be emotionally draining but his warmth, humanity and mordant humour shine through it all and, importantly for his readers, he rarely wrote a dull line.

 

[tommytowne]

For anyone who hasn't read any Solzhenitsyn I'd recommend his novella, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and his short stories as a good starting point - being fiction they are slightly less horrifying than his factual work. I've got two short story collections, We never Make Mistakes and For the Good of the Cause, but don't think they are currently in print in the UK.

Reading Solzhenitsyn can certainly be emotionally draining but his warmth, humanity and mordant humour shine through it all and, importantly for his readers, he rarely wrote a dull line.

I watched the film of Ivan Denisovich with Tom Courtenay and then a year or two later read The Gulag Archipelago. I couldn't believe the horrors people endured.
The things you encounter when reading fact or fiction stimulate further investigation. My latest being what I posted yesterday about the Bataan death march. Truly horrid accounts of ill treatment of fellow humans.

 

[Deleted member 48881]

Now reading. Love Agatha