Interesting. It’s on my list now.
I hadn’t heard of Stoner until about two months ago, but one of my former professors recently gave a talk on its reception in Germany
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The GOT Book Club
- Thread starter chicoazul
- Start date
I hadn’t heard of Stoner until about two months ago, but one of my former professors recently gave a talk on its reception in Germany
Been on my list for years and finally got around to reading it.
I think I was maybe expecting too much from it, with the film being such a classic, as I actually found it a bit dull and not in the slightest bit scary tbh.
Maybe if I’d read the book, before seeing the film, I’d have appreciated it more.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
Booker prize winner in the offing.
Just Googled Sandra Hill to see if I could find which one of her books was the NY Times best seller and I…Booker prize winner in the offing.
Intrigued by the very virile Viking. LolJust Googled Sandra Hill to see if I could find which one of her books was the NY Times best seller and I…
What true romantic fiction fan could possibly resist USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Sandra Hill’s buff and sexy Norsemen—whether they’re carousing with comely maids back in the eleventh century or making mischief in the present day after being miraculously transported through time? The latter is the case for The Very Virile Viking, who somehow finds himself in an unfamiliar kingdom called Hollywood and lusting after a gorgeous winemaker. Once again, Sandra Hill delivers a truly hilarious time travel romance that’s endearing, delightful, and sizzling hot—just like her hopelessly lost hero, The Very Virile Viking!
Took my time with this one and really enjoyed it. The writing is really beautiful, but you do have to take your time with it. There were a few occasions where I had to re-read a page to work out what the hell was supposed to be happening due to how poetic the writing style can get at times.
Up next, heard this is a brutal one…
My only big criticism of the book is that the violence and cruelty gets so over the top at points that it almost becomes parody.
For example:
There's a part just after the midway point where Glanton's gang are on a full rampage, scalping just about anyone to cash in. Peaceful tribes, travelling merchant's, random townsfolk, men, women & children.
They end up in this town and the residents are out trying to sell them stuff, tack for horses, food etc. and the judge ends up buying a pair of puppies from this little boy for a gold coin, before walking across a near by bridge and throwing the puppies off the edge into the water whilst another of the gang runs alongside the river firing his pistols at them as they float by.
It's so needlessly villainous, like "no, not the puppies", that it's almost too on the nose.
Anyway, still a fantastic read non-the-less and yes, very bleak!
Decided to pair it up, with the audio book of Ian Banks' 'The Wasp Factory' which also has a reputation of being a bit on the violent side:
Frank, no ordinary sixteen-year-old, lives with his father outside a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.
It has somewhat of a reputation this book as Frank is a psychopath and spends large parts of the book mutilating and killing small animals.
The thing is, it is also darkly hilarious in parts as well, but definitely not for the squeamish. I opted for the audio book version as it is narrated by Peter Kenny who also narrated the Witcher novels and is genuinely brilliant at the characterisations.
Definately worth the read if you have the stomach for the more brutal parts.
Over the last weeks I read "Trust" by Hernan Diaz (recommended by @sdk) and quite liked it. An exploration of wealth/capitalism in the early 1900s in the USA (among other things).
I also read the second book in Don Winslow's new Trilogy, called City of Dreams. It was ok. The first book, City of Fire, was about the Irish/Italian mob in Providence Rhode Island. The second book picks up with the leader of the Irish mob on the run, settling in San Diego and LA. It was a bit fanciful.
I also read "The Force" (also by Don Winslow)...a book I started awhile back but forgot to finish. I would recommend it. A great exploration of the police/criminal justice system in Harlem. Definitely a page-turner.
I also read "Different" by Franz de Waal, a primatologist/zoologist. It's a popular science book on sex/gender from an across-the-Order-Primates perspective, so encompasses views from non-human primates (monkeys, lemurs, apes) in terms of examining issues in human sexuality/gender. Generally good and I'll probably assign it for a class at some point.
I also read the second book in Don Winslow's new Trilogy, called City of Dreams. It was ok. The first book, City of Fire, was about the Irish/Italian mob in Providence Rhode Island. The second book picks up with the leader of the Irish mob on the run, settling in San Diego and LA. It was a bit fanciful.
I also read "The Force" (also by Don Winslow)...a book I started awhile back but forgot to finish. I would recommend it. A great exploration of the police/criminal justice system in Harlem. Definitely a page-turner.
I also read "Different" by Franz de Waal, a primatologist/zoologist. It's a popular science book on sex/gender from an across-the-Order-Primates perspective, so encompasses views from non-human primates (monkeys, lemurs, apes) in terms of examining issues in human sexuality/gender. Generally good and I'll probably assign it for a class at some point.
On deck is a pop-science book called "Foolproof: Why misinformation affects our minds and how to build immunity" that I downloaded from Amazon last night. So far, it is breezy and interesting, and develops a psychological framework for why people succumb to conspiracy theories.
Walter Ego
Player Valuation: £30m
Read this last week. Grim as anything without a happy ending. I wouldn’t recommend but he’s obviously a great writer. There’s some cracking lines in it, especially the ending.
Think it's close to perfect personally
BigMick
Player Valuation: £20m
I've always been ambivalent about Mailer's work - love some but think life is too short to wade through others - but this is imo his best work and fully justifies its length. This is Mailer at the peak of his powers, his writing taut and readable rather than overblown and flowery.
The Executioner's Song is a "non-fiction novel", and tells the story of Gary Gilmore who in 1977 was executed for the murder of two men in Utah. Mailer conducted copious interviews when researching the novel which gives it an authentic voice as he exposes the dark underbelly of small-town America of the 1970s.
What made the otherwise sordid tale notable was Gilmore's insistence that the death penalty to which he was sentenced be carried out. Mailer details the legal struggle that ensued and the media circus that surrounded the case, as well as the final months of Gilmore's life in a small Utah town where he lived with a distant cousin following his release from prison after 12 years inside.
The book was made into a TV film starring Tommy Lee Jones, who I think won some award, and Rosanna Arquette as his girlfriend Nicole. Mailer wrote the screenplay.
Oldie might remember the punk song Gary Gilmore's Eyes by The Adverts - Gilmore had requested that his eyes be donated to science after his execution as "they'd probably be the only body part usable".
Did you ever get into wheel of time?
Just started this and I'm about 50% of the way through The Way of Kings after a week. He is quite good at fleshing out the book universe.
Terrarian
Player Valuation: £50m
I haven't yet. I started The Wizards first rule, sword of truth series. I had forgotten actually, you've just reminded me. I will get book one soon.