The Literature Thread

[Cuttooth]

I read The Left hand of Darkness earlier this year. I didn't love it, but I liked it enough to finish it. Probably the best thing I can say about it, the world and society in it were really memorable/unique.

I loved it and tore through it in a way I haven’t done with a book in a long time, finding the political intrigue and final third enthralling. I can see though why she got some flak for how she used pronouns at the time, something it seems she came to realise was a bit of a mistake.

[Squinty]

I finished On Bloody Sunday by Julieann Campbell the day before last. I thought it was exceptional throughout. Highly recommend it if you are interested in Irish history or examples of state corruption.

I'm working through Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. It was going ok until he got the job at the French hotel. There is only so much detail I can take about a mundane job

[Oblomov Boblomov]

The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Attwood

Really enjoyed this. Got through it very quickly, as it's so easy to read. Couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the ending, but I think I understand the point Attwood was making with it.

--

Started the fourth Dune book this morning. I've heard very good things about this one, so I'm hoping it grabs me a little more enthusiastically than books two and three did.

[Memento Mori]

The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Attwood

Really enjoyed this. Got through it very quickly, as it's so easy to read. Couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the ending, but I think I understand the point Attwood was making with it.

--

Started the fourth Dune book this morning. I've heard very good things about this one, so I'm hoping it grabs me a little more enthusiastically than books two and three did.

From what I hear every subsequent Dune book is worse than the last. I didn't make it beyond book 3.

[Squinty]

Tried reading Swastika Night and I could not stick with it until the end. Good idea/general messaging and very on point prediction for the time, but the execution of it just didn't work for me. The info dumping via character dialogue just annoyed me. It also had these long descriptive passages that just did nothing.

[Rex Kramer]

I'm currently reading The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane. Essentially it's a book about walking and old paths and by-ways but it delves much deeper into local folklore and beautiful descriptive prose. I've just got on to a chapter about walking in the West Bank which is particularly eye opening given the current situation. I bounced off one of his other books (Underland) but I think I will go back to it after this as I'm much more in the rhythm of his style now. I'd definitely recommend and it often appears under the 99p Kindle deal of the day.

[Cuttooth]

Gone through a few books for the first time recently:

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller

A really enjoyable read in spite of the subject matter but one that is very obviously three separate books entwined together after the fact. Having never heard of the Wandering Jew myth I was wondering what was up with the guy who was at least 1200 years old by the end. I assumed there was meant to be a link to the theory that before the apocalypse scientists had found a way to create a new form of life, and that this meant robots, but this probably isn’t the actual intention.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Being 200 years removed from when it was written, the melodrama makes this unintentionally kind of funny in places. The build up of Frankenstein being horrified at seeing the creature in the mountains to the creature’s first words being basically “ah I was expecting this reaction” made me laugh out loud.

Great book though.

The Mist - Stephen King

The first Stephen King I’ve ever read! It’s alright! It’s interesting just how closely the 2007 film kept to the plot aside from the ending, which I actually prefer in the book. Better to have a little bit of hope with a story like this than something as cruel as the film’s ending.

Apparently King thought up the story when waiting in line at the supermarket while on holiday. I do wonder whether Mrs King might have read this and asked who else might have been in line.

I have this as part of the Skeleton Crew collection, which I’m making my way through.

[Squinty]

I must reread Frankenstein. I really enjoyed it 10+ years ago. I haven't read that many classics, it was one of the few that held up. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Stevenson was another one.

I'm reading Dear Child. Some of the stuff near the end of the book gets a bit implausible, but it's been a decent read so far. I might watch the Netflix series.

[Memento Mori]

The Mist - Stephen King

The first Stephen King I’ve ever read! It’s alright! It’s interesting just how closely the 2007 film kept to the plot aside from the ending, which I actually prefer in the book. Better to have a little bit of hope with a story like this than something as cruel as the film’s ending.

Apparently King thought up the story when waiting in line at the supermarket while on holiday. I do wonder whether Mrs King might have read this and asked who else might have been in line.

I have this as part of the Skeleton Crew collection, which I’m making my way through.

Skeleton Crew is probably my favourite King anthology, it's gone some absolute bangers.

The Mist
The Jaunt
The Raft
Survivor Type

Some of my favourite King books:

'Salem's Lot (my version contains two additional 'Salem's Lot short stories which are collected in Night Shift- one of which is a great epilogue for the book)
Pet Sematary
IT
11.22.63
The Stand
Gerald's Game
Misery
The Shining (the movie is better though)

[Squinty]

The most recent King books I read were two of his Bachman books, The Long Walk and The Running Man. Loved them. The Long Walk is an absolutely strawberry floated up book.

Speaking of strawberry floated up books, I'm reading Blood Meridian. The main character is a total psychopath. The amount of violence he commits nonchalantly is disturbing.

[more heat than light]

Just a heads up for anyone interested, you can now get 15 hours of audiobooks per month on Spotify with a premium account. Definitely going to be giving that a try.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Attwood

Really enjoyed this. Got through it very quickly, as it's so easy to read. Couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the ending, but I think I understand the point Attwood was making with it.

--

Started the fourth Dune book this morning. I've heard very good things about this one, so I'm hoping it grabs me a little more enthusiastically than books two and three did.

From what I hear every subsequent Dune book is worse than the last. I didn't make it beyond book 3.

Just finished 4, and I would say I enjoyed it more than 2 or 3. It is a very focused story, almost entirely centred on one character, which reduces the difficulty of following the (still often convoluted) writing.

1 >>>> 4 >> 3 > 2

I'm taking a break from it for now, and have started Jane Eyre. As expected, the prose is astonishing and brilliant. Charlotte Bronte was undoubtedly a genius. It certainly takes one to somehow have me gripped on the intentionally mundane life of a young orphan girl sent to a boarding school in the mid-19th century!

[Memento Mori]

Read two good Japanese whodunnits recently I'd recommend to whodunnit fans:

The Decagon House Murders- A detective story book club visits an island where brutal murders occurred a year before and then starting all getting killed off themselves ala And Then There Were None. This one beat me. Thought I'd got the murderer and then one of the characters suggested my solution.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders- After an eccentric artist is found dead in a locked room, a note is discovered detailing how he was planning to ritualistically murder his daughters and stepdaughters to summon a goddess. And then all the women start getting murdered the same way. Got the murderer about half way through along with how they did most of the murders.

[Zilnad]

Just added those to my wishlist. Love a good murder mystery and love a good Japanese author/setting.

[Squinty]

Reading Watchers by Dean Koontz. It's pretty good so far.

[Captain Kinopio]

The White Tiger, Aravind Adagia - 8

Really enjoyable story. I'm not sure I understand the framing device for how it's told but it didn't really make any difference to the narrative. Very easy read.

[Squinty]

Finished Watchers. It was very enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone who likes light horror.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

To sum it up in one word, I would go with: crap. I think there could be some really useful thoughts in there for people struggling with particular types of mental health issues, especially if they involve feelings of worthlessness. The story itself is bobbins to the point it clearly gives up on its own consistency about halfway through, no longer really bothering to utilise the core plot mechanism as anything other than a vehicle for philosophical musings. It reads like a children's book trying to send a message to adults.

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

I read this years ago, and if anything enjoyed it even more than I remembered. I love Mitchell's writing when he doesn't get himself too bogged down in fantasy. To be able to write a first novel like this in your 20s is an astonishing feat. You can clearly see the blueprint for Cloud Atlas in it. Brilliant.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Outstanding. What an excellent book. One of those that every single person should read. I ordered the blu-ray as I was nearing the end, and will be hoping to watch it this evening.

Oh, and just because I didn't round off my thoughts on Jane Eyre earlier in the thread:

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Exquisite. Never before have I re-read so many sentences and even entire paragraphs purely for the enjoyment of doing so.

[Curls]

Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver

I'll give this a 7/10 - it was consistently a good book and i enjoyed the ride. It just took me a very long time to get through it, it's probably more due to my attention span than the book's fault. It could be that I upgrade this to an 8 as it settles.



I've moved on to Tomorrow,Tomorrow or something like that, seems like an easier read so far. I probably need something a bit lighter.

[Curls]

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

I read this years ago, and if anything enjoyed it even more than I remembered. I love Mitchell's writing when he doesn't get himself too bogged down in fantasy. To be able to write a first novel like this in your 20s is an astonishing feat. You can clearly see the blueprint for Cloud Atlas in it. Brilliant.

I may give this a go next, it sounds good. How many pages is it would you estimate?