Goodreads Ireland discussion
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What Are You Reading
I actually agree with that, Jamielynn, but everyone should have the same rights and opportunities. That's the fairest equality we'll ever know.
Wealth and looks have a huge impact on people's success, more so than any other factors. How do you address that?
Wealth and looks have a huge impact on people's success, more so than any other factors. How do you address that?
Just getting back on track, I recently finished Unspoken by Gererd Stembridge (thanks again, Allan :)) which I thought was excellent. I recommend it to all of you, and I just started Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, which is another xmas gift (thank you, Susan :)) After the first two chapters it's shaping up to be excellent.
Wish your son good luck from me, Jamielynn. I hope he likes it.
By the way, I agree about Baldwin.
By the way, I agree about Baldwin.
Interesting turn around in the feb monthly read. Glad your son got the job JL. hope he enjoys it
I'm just home from the launch of Portland based Willy Vlautin's latest novel, The Free, in the Ulster Museum this evening. I'd say that Vlautin is the closest writer to a modern day Steinbeck that I know of, and being a big fan of his previous work, I'd have been buying the book anyway, but I have to say he came across as a very genuine, personable and humble man, and his conversation with Glenn Patterson, one of my other favourite authors, was very interesting and enjoyable to listen to. And I have to say that it's the first time I've ever been to a book launch when there has been a 10 minute interval followed by a 40 minute solo gig by the author, including two songs inspired by the book!
A great night! I'd recommend Vlautin's work to anyone who hasn't came across him before.
What would you recommend as a starting point Allan? That's a very glowing reference I can't ignore.
My personal favourite of his is Northline, whose main protagonist is a casino waitress in Reno, Seraphina, but any of the three books he's brought out prior to this one is well worth reading. He's almost a laureate of the underdog in US society, which is where the Steinbeck comparisons come in, and indeed in the talk this evening, he admitted that Steinbeck is one of his inspirations. His other main one is Willy Nelson, so you'll get the drift of the sort of person he seems to be! :)
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And from myself-I love that book! Vlautin joked tonight, when someone asked about Steinbeck, that his aspiration was to be one of the bums from Mac's crew in Cannery Row.If you have Spotify, the name of his band is Richmond Fontaine, btw. I think he's probably better known for his music, but Americana type music is not really a genre I've really listened to in the past. The songs he played tonight were all enjoyable for their narratives, so I'll definitely be checking them out in future!
Allan wrote: "I'd say that Vlautin is the closest writer to a modern day Steinbeck that I know of..."
Allan, that all the convincing I need. Northline will be added.
And I love that he wanted to be in Mac's crew.
@Sara. I love Cannery Row. It's one of my all-time favourites, and if you do get 'round to reading I hope you enjoy it.
Allan, that all the convincing I need. Northline will be added.
And I love that he wanted to be in Mac's crew.
@Sara. I love Cannery Row. It's one of my all-time favourites, and if you do get 'round to reading I hope you enjoy it.
@Allan, I am going to try Northline. I went to University of Nevada, Reno, so it sounds like an interesting premise. It seems like quite a show he put on too. Roddy Doyle is coming to speak down at the bookstore I go to for author talks (2 1/2 hours away). Have you ever heard him speak? Would he be worth the drive? Ian Rankin is also coming and I found him very funny when he was Craig Ferguson's show. Advice anyone on who I should go and hear?
I've heard him, Susan. He's a charmer and a bit of a raconteur. I think you'll enjoy it. I'd definitely head there if I were you.
And I just added Northline, now. I meant to do it earlier but got sidetracked.
And I just added Northline, now. I meant to do it earlier but got sidetracked.
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@Sara. He's known for giving excellent talks. If you can, I'd recommend going. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, is one of my all-time favourites. It's very much a book about Dublin and it was the first book I ever read that portrayed Dublin as I would have recognised it.
@LMM. He's been nominated twice but never chosen: The Guts, and think the Snapper.
@LMM. He's been nominated twice but never chosen: The Guts, and think the Snapper.
I think I will, Declan. I trust your judgment. Does he ever speak in Dublin?I checked that book Northline and it seemed funny. The character had conversations with Paul Newman and the characters he played. That sounds funny.
I think we should beat Allan with a wet noodle for adding another book to our tottering TBR pile.
Lol "beat Allan with a wet noodle". Poor Allan. Lol. Also have that added to my tbr list.
It's funny you mention Roddy Doyle, because Patterson used him as an example last night of an Irish writer who writes about similar people to Vlautin, and it turned out that Vlautin is a massive fan of him as well. It's good that I've generated a bit of interest in Vlautin in the group-he's a writer that I introduced to the couple of my friends from home that read as well, and they loved his work as well. I'm thinking a March nomination.... :)
It's funny you wrote about Vlautin. I was checking the Book store's author events and there was Willy Vlautin. He's speaking Sun. 2/9 and Roddy Doyle is speaking Mon. 2/10. Unfortunately I won't be able to see either one since I've been called for jury duty on that Monday.
P.s. Be sure to have your partner beat you with the wet noodle for me.
Allan wrote: "Sara, those are some reading plans for February! Re Fortress of Solitude, don't feel intimidated! I've actually read it and listened on audiobook at different stages, and both were very enjoyable! ..."Whispersync is a good choice for a book you don't want to put down. Sometimes I am listening in the car and want to continue to book before going to sleep. The sync works seamlessly. I got the audiobook and ebook both for about $7.99 so I didn't mind trying it out. There is something I can't remember about the order to buy the audiobook and ebook. You get a better price doing it this way - but can't remember if it's ebook first or audio first. As an Audible subscriber it may not make a difference.
Allan wrote: "It's funny you mention Roddy Doyle, because Patterson used him as an example last night of an Irish writer who writes about similar people to Vlautin, and it turned out that Vlautin is a massive fa..."I just found out via an email from the Irish Embassy that Roddy Doyle will be at my local bookshop, Politics and Prose, this coming Monday night. I hope to go!
You should go, Barbara. I've tried to convince Sara to go, as well. It's a pefect excuse to meet for coffee.
I'll maybe have to take a race over to No Alibis this weekend-the new Adrian McKinty book is in!https://mobile.twitter.com/NOALIBISBO...
@Jamilynn. Maybe you'll read it yourself and tell.us what you think? And fair play to your ma expanding her horizons in her 80s.
@Allan. Has Susan turned you into a murder mystery fan?
@Allan. Has Susan turned you into a murder mystery fan?
Declan, I wouldn't say that I'm a big mystery fan, but I'm looking forward to the McKinty book because it's the final part of the trilogy that's set more or less on the street where I grew up. There's a lot of big McKinty fans in the group-Barbara, Cathleen and Cphe I know have all enjoyed books from the trilogy so far. I'll be interested to see how this one concludes!
Hopefully it lives up to your expectations, Allan.
Will he not be speaking in or near your area in the build-up to its release?
@Jamielynn. The Hunger Games was a group read, too. I enjoyed it much more than I thought. It is grim, though.
Will he not be speaking in or near your area in the build-up to its release?
@Jamielynn. The Hunger Games was a group read, too. I enjoyed it much more than I thought. It is grim, though.
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I'm already thinking that it would be good to do a different Lethem as a monthly read at some point.
Glad to see you're enjoying the book so far-I told you there was no need to feel intimidated by It! :)
So...I probably shouldn't have opened this thread because now I have at least three other books to read on my infinity pile of books. I've never read any of Roddy Doyle's books, and I see I've been missing out. Vlautin...The new Adrian McKinty...I only wish I could read more quickly.@Jamielynn, I think you'd really enjoy The Unlikely Pilgrimmage.
It shows that I am behind as my comments are out of sync. Anyway, Allan the event with Glenn Patterson and Vlatin sounds amazing!
@Sara. People are already proposing March books. I think the next monthly read might be pretty competitive.
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A lot of our books took a few tries to make it.
Declan wrote: "A lot of our books took a few tries to make it."That's a fact! The Third Policeman was nominated a few times and now made it. Finally I will be reading some of the Flann O'Brien on my shelves.
I was able to snag a copy of Vlatin's book The Motel Life on paperback swap. None of his others were available but I may buy the one Allan recommended (forget the title). My public library doesn't have his books - shame, shame. But the library tends to get rid of (recycles by selling in their used book stores) books fairly quickly as space is limited.
Jamie Lynn wrote: "But I disagreed LOL! All human beings are not equal. At least they aren't treated that way. They SHOULD be equal."You guys! [wags finger]
The question was do YOU THINK all human beings are created equally? You disagreed with yourself by clicking No.
And there's a huge difference between being different (male, female, abled, disabled, gay, straight, black, white. ) and being equal.
"All different, all equal" is a motto a friend of mine used to have.
Declan wrote: "After elevatorgate I saw this. If it isn't OK to say that the pay gap exists because of women's career choices than it isn't OK to paint men as default rapists. "Declan, I sorry I don't really get the point of your examples.
Assholes being horribly sexist towards men is no better than people being sexist towards women. That does nothing to change my belief that women and men should be treated equally, which is how I was defining feminism. (Like many others).
I take your initial point though, the "feminism" label is slanted towards one sex so it's hard to see it as a catch all term for antisexism. But the fact is Women are the minority, so a 'feminist' cause is an attempt to balance the scales.
Actually, the missus wrote an article on all this recently:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/fiona...
Damn. I'm always playing catch-up with discussions... I never think to check a thread for updates until I get a Goodreads email... and they sometimes don't always arrive.
Declan, re Adrian McKinty, he may well end up doing an event in No Alibis in Belfast for the book, but being the big international star that he is now, and living in Australia as he does, it may be a while before he makes it over. There's no word on the No Alibis website yet anyway ...Barbara, the Vlautin book I recommended was Northline, although I love The Motel Life as well - it was Vlautin's first, and has recently been made into a movie, though I haven't seen it!
Sara, I've read all of Lethem's books after Motherless Brooklyn, but haven't read any of his earlier work, which apparently is sci fi. If you do end up reading any of these, it'll be interesting to read what you think of him writing in this genre. :)
@John.My point was that modern feminism breeds misandry. All of those links I shared came straight from feminist organisations. So, if sexism prevents equality between the sexes,as asserted by your wife, then modern feminism is an impediment to equality. Egalitarianism is a much better term than feminism. We already have one.
Also, throughout the world women are the majority. Not the minority.
I joined the atheist movement to stand against religious bigotry through doctrine, but most feminists I meet don't give a damn about the plight of third-world women until the run out arguments.
When feminists can post that sort of crap and get away with it, and when The View can laugh at a man having his penis dismembered by his maniac wife and Sharon Osborne can laugh through her apology, we won't have equality.
Also, politicians pander to the feminist movement. They don't try do discredit it. Harriet Harman?
Also, throughout the world women are the majority. Not the minority.
I joined the atheist movement to stand against religious bigotry through doctrine, but most feminists I meet don't give a damn about the plight of third-world women until the run out arguments.
When feminists can post that sort of crap and get away with it, and when The View can laugh at a man having his penis dismembered by his maniac wife and Sharon Osborne can laugh through her apology, we won't have equality.
Also, politicians pander to the feminist movement. They don't try do discredit it. Harriet Harman?
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It's great to hear that you're feeling better, Sara, and also great to hear that Fortress is still keeping you engaged!
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Do other people read a lot of books translated into English from other languages? If not, what do you think is the biggest barrier to doing so? If so, where do you look to find books?
I've been inspired to go through my unread books shelf and create a new shelf on Goodreads, "translated-unread". Does anything on it look particularly good to folks? So far this year I've read 4 books in translation just by coincidence. I think I want to read 11 more..for a total of 15...which should be about 10% of the books I read this year.
I think some books don't translate very well. Maybe that's the publishers fault moreso than the writers. I've enjoyed jo Nesbo books and Gabriel Marquez but I don't even know where you'd go about looking for recommended reads of this type??
Working off a phone isn't great for adding links, thanks :) some very interesting reads there
Sara, you're doing well with translated fiction by the looks of things! I've got two shelves in my study with books by non US / UK / Irish authors, and only one of these two is actually translated fiction-a poor showing, I know! I'd say if anyone is qualified to comment on the books you have on the shelf you created, it'll be Barbara, remembering her interest in translated work.
Personally, once I finish Life after Life, then read the monthly read, I'll be reading the book that I nominated for the February read, which is translated from Norwegian. There's been so much hype, I want to see what the fuss is about. I'm not sure if you saw the Jonathan Lethem article about the author, Karl Ove Knausgaard, that I posted elsewhere, so I've included it below.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014...
Sara - the key, of course, is the translator. I have had pretty good experiences with fiction translated from Spanish. I still remember though reading a Julia Alvarez book -she writes in English- and she kept referring to "water bread". It really really annoyed me because it was so awkward. She was talking about the small bread rolls Dominicans have for breakfast - pain de agua. It was like translating Cafe au Lait - to coffee with milk - not the same. I have read several mysteries set in Scotland and Northern Ireland recently and they refer to baps, never translating. Baps are bread rolls eaten for breakfast. The term is more common in Scottish than NI books though I first encountered the word in Belfast.I have found some of the Scandinavian mysteries - Swedish and perhaps Norwegian - to have some awkwardly translated dialogue. Often translated works include the names of the translators but I haven't really paid attention to that.
I do have a friend on Goodreads who reads novels in Spanish, and I try to push myself to do so. But right now I am reading so many academic texts in Spanish and Portuguese, I need a rest.
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@Jamielynn. The 'human beings' argument is quite old and very effective. The fact that no one disagrees with it gives it weight. It attacks a stance that even the staunchest sexist wouldn't hold. It's called a strawman argument.