Last Book That You Read- Fiction

Fae wrote:

Tiff, join me on my Austen-thon. You know you want to!

And Rave - I'm crying ... we need the heaving bosoms.

OK what's next? I'm wide open, having only read Mansfield Park.

Start on Pride and Prejudice - and if you haven't read that go for Emma.

Fae wrote:

Start on Pride and Prejudice - and if you haven't read that go for Emma.

Ok I'll grab a copy of P & P and get going on that. I rather did like Austen's commentary in Mansfield Park, so looking forward to P&P. I've been reading almost exclusively non-fiction lately, other than the latest Bond and Bourne books, so some Jane Austen might go over well about now.

The great thing about Austen is that all her works have been well filmed. I quite enjoyed the two film versions I saw of Mansfield Park, seeing the characters brought to life.

Sense and Sensibility is a bit annoying. You want to smack Marianne.

I think it's Marianne anyway.

Ravenstone wrote:

Sense and Sensibility is a bit annoying. You want to smack Marianne.

I think it's Marianne anyway.

Thanks for the warning.

Well, she's so wet and wimpy, and gets away with murder, and everyone's all 'Oh poor Marianne'. Ah, poor bollocks. Show some bloody backbone, woman.

And whatisname who marries her in the end needs his head examining as well. There's some kind of martyr complex going on there. He obviously needs to feel like the knight in shining armour rescuing the damsel in distress all the time.

Oh dear lord. Not those ones!

The Prime Minister- Anthony Trollope

Any Human Heart- William Boyd

I AM THE CHEESE by Robert Cormier. Beautifully written, supremely gripping and deeply moving. That said, I do have some reservations about the ending (an aspect that the book's devoted fans hail as its masterstroke) - I'm not sure whether it explains things too much or not enough. Still, a unique and worthwhile read.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the other two that came after it. I enjoyed the first one but I don't know what happened with the others. Boob job? :roll: Too contrived, too unrealistic. This series is a bit like Pirates of the Caribbean, they should have left it with the first one.

PROTECT AND DEFEND by Vince Flynn :5*:

One of Flynn's best.

Guernica -Dave Boilling

Libra- Don DeLillo

the former quite nothing, the latter quite interesting even engrossing to a point. Three shots or four? Two shooters or more? Etc

:5*:

It's been about 8 years since I've read this one, but it still holds up. Excellent thriller about The Soviet Union attempting to hijack a space shuttle and bring it down onto Russian soil. Came out in 1989 and was very prescient about many of the things that eventually happened to the Soviet Union. Harrison's novel made me feel like I came away understanding space travel, but without ever making it boring or stiff. You feel like you really learn a lot about spying, politics and the shuttle programs by reading this novel, and you get the sense that the author really spent his time researching this novel.

For people who like intricate, complex, page-turning thrillers with interesting twists and cutting edge technology, you'll probably like this one.

I can't recommend this one highly enough!

x

I stand by Greene. A marvelous novelist.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Has any other great writer fallen out of favour as swiftly as Graham Greene?

I didn't know that Greene had ever fallen out of favour.

Just finished the new Stephen King 11/22/63 which is about a guy that goes back in time to try and prevent the Kennedy assassination. The portal takes him back to a specific time , date and place in 1958, so he has to live in the past for 5 years before he can safely try and stop Oswald. The character isn't sure if Oswald was part of a broader conspiracy, so he has to bide his time, rather than just take out Oswald at the first opportunity, in case Oswald was a patsy and the conspirators simply find another patsy.

Its an interesting take on time travel. Anytime the guy goes back to 1958, when he returns he only loses 2 minutes in 2011 time, but his natural aging continues, so if he spends a couple years in the past, he comes back two years older, even though he only loses 2 minutes in current time.

His pal who showed him the portal, used to pop back in time and buy cheap meat for his diner and then sell it at 2011 prices and make big profits. They have to be careful though as when you return to the present, the present reflects whatever changes you made in the past.

So if you want to undo what you did when visiting the past, you can just pop back and come right back. Every visit resets the past. If you just do a quick visit to buy meat and come right back you are not likely to influence the future in any noticeable way.

The first guy though becomes obsessed with saving Kennedy, but he screws it all up despite having 5 years to think it through, and then he gets sick so he recruits the other guy to go back and give it a try.

King likes Bond. There are a couple of general Bond references scattered throughout the text, plus another that really stands out. The main character kills time in 1962 reading the latest Fleming, TSWLM.

The book is well over 800 pages, so King can really take his time extending the narrative.

Its only the second King book I've read. The premise looked interesting so I picked it up and wasn't disappointed.

Loomis wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Has any other great writer fallen out of favour as swiftly as Graham Greene?

I didn't know that Greene had ever fallen out of favour.

He's certainly not held in the same honor and respect that he held when he was alive. Yes, he's a name author, but that's largely a holdover from the period when he was actually writing. Nobody in the critical world seems to devote too much time to him today, having moved on past the religious works of authors like Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess, and Nikos Kazantzakis. It's a shame, I'd add, since I think the Catholic/Orthodox sensibility is tailor-made for the form of the novel.

Knowing your sensibilities and theological understanding (something that is very rare in today's climate), I think you could write a great adaptation of THE END OF THE AFFAIR, THE POWER AND THE GLORY or, MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE.

Sharky wrote:

Knowing your sensibilities and theological understanding (something that is very rare in today's climate), I think you could write a great adaptation of THE END OF THE AFFAIR, THE POWER AND THE GLORY or, MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE.

If ever I can afford the rights...

x

Have you seen the Neil Jordan film?

x

Erica Ambler wrote:

Yes. It's utter crap.

Amen.

MISS LONELYHEARTS by Nathanael West

Hell of a novel.


THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West

Not quite as good as MISS LONELYHEARTS--it doesn't cut as deep--but still damned impressive.