GR Book Club - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Phillip K Dick

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PostRe: GR Book Club - Get your book in by Saturday night!!
by False » Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:56 am

Is it too late to join?

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Rocsteady
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PostRe: GR Book Club - Get your book in by Saturday night!!
by Rocsteady » Sat Jan 28, 2017 12:09 pm

Nah course not I'll add you and sawyerpip in, get thinking of some good gooseberry fool to plow through.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - Get your book in by Saturday night!!
by False » Sat Jan 28, 2017 12:18 pm

Got mine already.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - Get your book in by Saturday night!!
by Rocsteady » Sun Jan 29, 2017 10:37 am

I'm feeling pretty rough so gonna keep this brief, had a lot great suggestions so thanks to everyone that sent something in! If nothing else, I'll have a load of great books to read through whatever happens.

I'm going to start us off with my chosen short story, then will run the people who've PM'd me through a random number generator.

So, my selection is this six word 'novel', often attributed to Hemingway but apparently actually predating him:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

That's it. Now that I've got my current choice out of the way, let's see who comes up...




It's come up with number 1, the first person to PM me was Banjo, so that's who we're going with.

He has selected: The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov

According to Banjo: Kurkov is an interesting satirical writer, and being Ukrainian lends his work a voice and style you're not commonly going to see. Other works of his are very fun.

Some positive reviews from professional literary critics:

"An ebullient black comedy... Reminiscent of the best Soviet dissident literature" (Daily Telegraph)

"Full of touches of grim insight and tactful surrealism, with just enough of the absurd to suggest a cross between John le Carre's Smiley and Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita" (John Burnside Scotland on Sunday)

"Kurkov is a fine satirist and a real, blackly comic find" (Observer)

"Kurkov flips from mock-tragedy to comedy and back again, planting the ominous and the absurd neatly among deadpan descriptions of a daily life in denial" (The Times)

"Kurkov received universal praise for his debut novel Death and the Penguin... Kurkov's latest is better" (Time Out)


Available from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Case-Generals- ... 0099455250

It's only 192 pages so not excuse for not reading it, could probably get it done in a couple of hours.

Synopsis:

The corpse of a distinguished general is found attached to an advertising balloon—and minus his thumb. Police Lieutenant Viktor Slutsky is sent in to investigate. So, too, is KGB officer Nik Tsensky. They begin their investigations unbeknownst to each other, but quickly find themselves mystified about developments caused by the other.

Thus begins a comedy of very dangerous errors as the two crisscross Europe, Russia, and the Ukraine, catalysts in a bizarre battle between the Russian and Ukrainian secret services.

What ensues is simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and suspenseful, with a fascinating cast of characters who would seem absurd if they weren’t so compelling: a larger-than-life hitman, a deaf-and-dumb blonde, and a turtle. Then there’s the gun that shoots backwards...

And as the two faithful investigators find themselves to be pawns in a story of post-Soviet collapse, it becomes—as usual in the work of this modern Russian master—an inspiring tale of resilience against the dark forces of the day.


Can you hook us up Irene?

I'll update the OP properly later, I want to go back to bed.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Superking » Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:44 pm

Just ordered a second hand copy with Amazon Prime for £2.75 which seems pretty reasonable.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Banjo » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:06 pm

Alright, my pick! I've slacked so much on literature over the last few years, and Kurkov now has quite a respectable catalogue of work compared to when I first discovered him (a chance encounter with A Matter of Death and Life, which I saw in a Waterstones around ten years ago, which is even shorter than this). I personally can't vouch for General's Thumb, as it has sat unread on my pile for a long time, but if reviews are to be believed then it should be a good read, as I thoroughly enjoyed Death and the Penguin.

Here's hoping this gets book club off to a good start.

_wheredoigonow_
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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Errkal » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:08 pm

Gonna see if Irene can do something on the book front save buying it from Kindle, can't be doing with physical books actual paper just feel horrid and belugh.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Parksey » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:07 pm

I presume the page limit had to be around 300 to give Irene plenty of time to type it all out in MS Word.

Got to finish my current book first anyway before I start another. Them's my rulez.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Denster » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:12 pm

I love buying books. I'll order this now.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Rocsteady » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:24 pm

Parksey wrote:I presume the page limit had to be around 300 to give Irene plenty of time to type it all out in MS Word.

Got to finish my current book first anyway before I start another. Them's my rulez.

:lol:

Irene mentioned how to get them to me so I've just done it myself.

I'm currently living off of £300 a month, if you can afford to buy them please do so as we should support the authors. Having said that:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/sr8cdoa4w6vr55w/The_Case_of_the_General%27s_Thumb_-_Andrei_Kurkov.epub

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Rocsteady » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:26 pm

If you have a Kindle you have to download Calibre to convert it to .mobi. But if you have a Kindle you should really have Calibre already.

Will get started on this book later.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Frank » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:26 pm

Could you share the method? :shifty: There's a bunch of books I've looked for digital copies of but can never find. I've got worn-out paperbacks so it's that big a no-no, right?

Will get it downloaded later. Excited.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Errkal » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:33 pm

Rocsteady wrote:If you have a Kindle you have to download Calibre to convert it to .mobi. But if you have a Kindle you should really have Calibre already.

Will get started on this book later.


Thanks. It works great I iBooks so I'm all set from that :D

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Rocsteady » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:40 pm

Frank wrote:Could you share the method? :shifty: There's a bunch of books I've looked for digital copies of but can never find. I've got worn-out paperbacks so it's that big a no-no, right?

Will get it downloaded later. Excited.

Yeah it's using an IRC client to download books, just Google that and the first result is a Reddit page which has instructions.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Frank » Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:51 pm

That's amazing. Thanks guys :wub: Will try and get started on Banjo's choice ASAP!

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Knoyleo » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:08 pm

Errkal wrote:can't be doing with physical books actual paper just feel horrid and belugh.

What? :lol:

Just bought this on kindle for convenience sake, so I'll make a start this evening.

Are we able to change our submissions? I submitted mine late last night in a bit of a rush, and might want to swap it to something else.

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Errkal » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:13 pm

Knoyleo wrote:
Errkal wrote:can't be doing with physical books actual paper just feel horrid and belugh.

What? :lol:



I greatly despise books, I hate the feel of the paper and don't like seeing a physical width of what I have left, also turning the page bugs me.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Knoyleo » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:14 pm

Oh my god

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Rocsteady » Sun Jan 29, 2017 10:19 pm

Knoyleo wrote:
Errkal wrote:can't be doing with physical books actual paper just feel horrid and belugh.

What? :lol:

Just bought this on kindle for convenience sake, so I'll make a start this evening.

Are we able to change our submissions? I submitted mine late last night in a bit of a rush, and might want to swap it to something else.

Yeah course, people are welcome to change whenever. Banjo can submit another after we've finished this one as well.

Errkal, that's weird. Paper books are great, hefty and satisfying.

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PostRe: GR Book Club - First Book! The Case of the General's Thumb by Andrey Kurkov
by Errkal » Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:51 am

It isn't that weird, luckily being alive now and not a few years ago I can still read as tablets and things make it possible for me.

Anyway, in regards this book, it is really enjoyable so far. I'm 25% of the way through so far and really enjoying it.


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