Amazon exiles discussion
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"I read a book once - Green it was"
anyway, folk stopped reading?finished Sisyphean, which was one very unique read - 4 novellas on a related theme, taking place in the far distant future when humanity has evolved almost beyond recognition. no explanation as to the whys and wheres of how humanity got there (this would probably take many volumes to outline), just the stories and your imagination. def recommended.
now reading Vernon Subutex, 1, with aim of reviewing - amazon, in their obvious wisdom, have invited me to join their 'vine voice' programme, which i accepted once i made sure i wasn't going to be bombarded by all sorts a useless crap - they provide lists of a 'personal' and a wider nature for selection of items to review - better still, you get to keep the stuff! doesn't seem to feature pre-release music, but offers plenty books. this one, i'm enjoying but finding the explosive 'blurbs' are a bit overdone.
anyhoo, bob dylan fans, i imagine, will already have these two highly regarded volumes by ian bell, but if not kindle offering both for a tuppence less than a fiver the pair,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Upon-Ti...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Out-Min...
Oooh! Vine Voice no less! We are in esteemed company!My recent reading:
Adventures Of A Jelly Baby - Judy Cornwell
3/5 Well-written and a host of information on many of the stalwarts of British stage and screen. I was interested because she spent some of her childhood in Queensland.
East West Street: On the Origins of "Genocide" and "Crimes Against Humanity" - Philippe Sands
5/5 Totally immersive even though the subjext matter is potentially dry; a master class in attention to detail and diligent research.
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T' Be: The Lionel Bart Story - David & Caroline Stafford
4/5 A fascinating man. I always felt sorry for him but I think he led his life on his own terms and, given the chance, would probably have never changed a thing.
Bermondsey Boy: Memories Of A Forgotten World - Tommy Steele
5/5 Well-written memoir of growing up in London in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Tommy knows when to stop writing - i.e. when fame comes knocking. His family are a delight and the mood is almost Call The Midwife-like.
Pep : The Story of Cec Pepper, The Best Cricketer Never To Represent Australia - Ken Piesse
3/5 A fascinating man (I suspect I wouldn't have liked him) but the narrative gets bogged down in statistics. I want to know about the bloke who was the highest paid cricketer in post-war England, who fathered three children with three different women and pissed off Bradman to the extent that he never got a test call-up despite amazing figures with both bat and ball.
Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
5/5 Fascinating family saga of Koreans in Japan over the course of the 20th Century. Apartheid by any other name.
The Lost Man - Jane Harper
5/5 I loved both The Dry and Force of Nature but this has surpassed both of those. If you like crime associated with local atmosphere (as in Vera or Shetland), then this mystery thriller set in the Queensland outback is a must read. The heat and red dirt will assail you from every page, but the characters are just as real as the landscape. Un-put-downable!
Vine? Pah! I got accepted on the severnvine program!Seems legit!! Haha!!
Hi Sera_6969,
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well, it is true, sera, that not everone can be me, or is able to create such insightful and incisive reviews like what i can! never mind, one day...................😜
Lez wrote: "Val, do you know about this other Tommy Steele talent? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i3mtxXS..."
Yes, Lez, I did know of that. Quite small I think? And I'm not sure why the Council(?) changed the wording on the plaque.
"And here is your kick starter for ten Exiles College, Cambridge."The Heretics Of De'ath (The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage) The First Chronicle by Howard Of Warwick. A bit of a medieval rib tickler come murder mystery this one which I've just started, described as Python collides with Cadfael.
anyhoo, Vernon Subutex, 1 was a might overblown, didn't live up to the blurb - was expecting some kinda fast paced 'diva'-like thriller, didnae get it. not really inclined to read the follow up volumes.why Wait Until Spring, Bandini ain't quoted much as an american classic novel is beyond me! by bukowski's hero, john fante, this blurb says it well,
"A powerful, lyrical and touching tale of a turbulent adolescent trying to break out of the suffocating, prison-like confinements of family, poverty and religion in a small town, Wait Until Spring, Bandini tells the story of a winter in the childhood of Arturo Bandini, oldest son of Italian immigrants living in Colorado during the Great Depression. With its powerful and evocative account of tragic love affairs, grinding poverty and adolescence in turmoil, this first novel from the Bandini quartet is a much-neglected masterpiece of modern American literature"
found this in vine - interested enough to give it a wallop,
There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
Reading Stephen King's The Institute at the moment. Very good! Proper return to form I reckon. SK's been so prolific for many years, it seems he's done everything and is struggling for ideas. No such worries here; genuinely hard to put down, it's a case of 'Ah just another ten or so pages then I'll get on with stuff' but fifty pages later it's 'Ah just another ten or so pages'...When Kingy's on it, there's no better storyteller. None!
And now to something a tad more brutal; am revisiting Clive Barker's collections of short stories Books Of Blood. Dunno how many volumes there is but we have six and I'm now catching up on the odd story that didn't get read first time around - which is quite a few. Either that or I've just forgot I read some.Now on In The Hills The Cities (Vol 1) - two twin cities in Yugoslavia (yes BOB were written in the 80s) get together every ten years and have a contest; each city builds a 'giant' out of ten thousand-or-so of it's inhabitants, all bound with rope and working together to create a moving freakish affair that reaches the clouds!! Blood n guts on the menu then? It's Clive Barker, what else??
Maybe the above should go on the 'Horror' forum but... well this is a book thread innit?
Yes Blast, it's ok if ya put up horror stuff on here, even if we don't perceive it as 'cool' - or No, go put it on Horror Forum...Anything?? FFS!
Yes I am in a mood.
yes blastro, it's ok if ya put up horror stuff on here! you're positively more than welcome, and i value your contribution! reading's a very individual and personal pursuit, and i enjoy reading your impressions on such, enthusiasm for it shines thru'! and that's what it's all about, innit? and what's cool, i wouldn't know!if we can all enjoy a read and put our views on here, then all is good with the world - be it 'captain underpants' or dostoevski, a good book's a good book!
now git y'sel' outta that f***in' mood! :)
i'm persevering, and t.b.h., struggling a bit with There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra, although it is informing me big style on a part of history i wanted to find out more about. and i'll tell you where my interest comes from, the playground! when i was a boy, anyone even a little skinny was called a 'biafran'! and shamefully enough, i knew nothing else about the atrocities that took place - didn't even know where biafra was! now rectifying things, but finding it a little dry.there are references in the book to achebe's acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart, and i kinda fancy a shot, wondering if anyone else has read it?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biafra-Story...Frederick Forsyth's book on Biafra, where he was a war reporter before his novelist days. Apparently, it spares nobody.
The late Peter Sissons was also reporting the war. He was with the Nigerian army, Forsyth with the Biafrans, and one time the Biafrans Forsyth was embedded with ambushed a convoy coming up a road. Sissons was one of several journalists in the convoy and was shot through the legs. He was fortunate; a photographer was killed.
innaresting! that could be worth a look!previous shame and ignorance dissipating slowly but surely.
Tech XXIII wrote: "yes blastro, it's ok if ya put up horror stuff on here! you're positively more than welcome, and i value your contribution! reading's a very individual and personal pursuit, and i enjoy reading you..."My apologies Tech. Was in an awfully nasty mood earlier and - I've said it before - I should absolutely not bring it on here. Been to the docs this morning at nine and came away pretty much fuming. She's not a bad GP in any way... in fact I think sometimes - regardless of how much I hate it - I need a good kick up the arse... and one was delivered this morning. : )
That is of course no excuse to rant on here; just in a way of explanation is all.
Tech XXIII wrote: "innaresting! that could be worth a look!previous shame and ignorance dissipating slowly but surely."
I'd also recommend 'Unreasonable Behaviour' by the great Don McCullin if you've not read it. The Biafra section isn't long - around 10 to 12 pages - but fascinatingly tragicomic.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unreasonable...
Blastronaut Mk2 wrote: "Reading Stephen King's The Institute at the moment. Very good! Proper return to form I reckon. SK's been so prolific for many years, it seems he's done everything and is struggling for ideas. No su..."Thanks, Blastro, The Institute and The Outsider are on the way! Gotsta admit King's output since 1991 (when he gave up drugs) some 90% of it is shite, not that I wish him continue get stoned...
His collections of short stories feel more reliable in quality though.
Hello Post. Can't disagree with you re SK's short stories. Always top notch. Reckon Nightmares And Dreamscapes is his best collection but one could also argue a case for Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, Everything's Eventual, and The Bachman Books, to name a few more; all excellent. I also think his best efforts came early on (no junk no soul maybe?) but there has been the odd un that's stood out in more recent times, just not many. Reckon the belated sequel to The Shining - Doctor Sleep - was cracking and a worthy follow-up, and The Institute was of equal quality. Not so much with others from quite a few years now.
Don't get me wrong, I find something to like in almost everything he writes but... it's usually a case of just 'good' or 'not bad' and I expect more from The King. At times it feels like the FG gag...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IFGJ...
… but he still be capable of a little magic. Maybe he simply falls off the wagon every few years? : )
The first chapter of The Institute is quite steady going but after that it zings along at a fair lick. Hope you enjoy it dude!
EDIT - Did I just say 'Zing'? Oh dear...
Another one from Books Of Blood - The Age Of Desire. This one's about a fellow who agrees to dodgy experimental treatment that increases sex drive. He ends up on a murderous rampage wanting to stick it into anybody and anything... including a brick wall, which was painful. In turns hilarious and unpleasant.If only he'd seen that ad "Come up and see me, make me smi-yi-yi-yile!" - might've all turned out so differently.
tell you what, blastro, ain't nobody gonna use the a.t.m. after him!anyhoo, me being a cheap bastid. obtained all three ebooks in chinua achebe's 'african trilogy' series for buckshee by trailing for p.d.f.s - cool. although, as i said, 'there was a country' is a bit dry, i have a hankering to read some of his fiction so,
Things Fall Apart
No Longer at Ease
Arrow of God
will be my next reading. unless i don't like it, then it'll be something else!
ATM? Not sure it'd touch the sides Tech! Tho the chap in question rates ten outa ten for effort, it seems he scores much less when it comes down to... err, dimensions. Just as well I suppose.Not that I'm suggesting the use of - after the rape of - said ATM whatever the case, I must add. : )
Got a self-help book awaiting my perusal; it's called The Chimp Paradox. Now, I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking - 'Well how many does it take?' but honestly, I've never read so much as a single one before.In the past, key-workers, CPNs, councellors etc, have steered me away from such readings but someone I'm seeing presently thinks this will be of benefit to me.
Probably a silly question but... anyone heard of it? My other half has covered a little of the book during her nurse training so I'm guessing it's not as 'Out There' as I first suspected.
That'd be a 'No' then? Well, once read, I shall return with a verdict.
Sorry Blastro, I don't know the title and am no expert on self-help books. I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating - if you get something out of it that's all that matters. Good luck!
"Refreshingly free of psychobabble" according to one review, so that's a good start. I'll be interested in your verdict, Blastro.
Thanks ladies, I shall let yous know if it helps (or not) in even the slightest. As I said, I've been told in the past to steer well clear of such stuff but don't reckon it can hurt owt giving just this one a go. We shall see.
Just got a little more gore to read by that naughty Clive Barker before I start on self-help-chimps. : )
depends what you're able to get out of it, blastro, if it does benefit then bingo, but if not, don't try to squeeze anything out of it.it's an area i've never explored, that's not to say i've never had the need to, but, yes, keep us in the loop.
I hear ya Tech. It's all I can do not to dismiss it from the get-go so no worries there. Hopefully it'll surprise but I'm sure there'll be no miracles therein.Will let y'all know in any case.
meanwhile, the first in chinua achebe's 'african trilogy', Things Fall Apart was an absorbing and instructive read - the fall and attempted rise of okonkwo, a great man and warrior among his people, how his life and actions are dictated by tradition, often with negative results - an interesting commentary on the need to get past these traditions and accept other peoples of the world, no matter how cruel they behave. will definitely follow up with rest of trilogy.started United States of Japan, a book that openly tributes philip k dick's 'man in the high castle', picks up the ball and runs with it, and so far, fascinatingly so. if you know dick's book, you'll know that the setting is an america that lost w.w.2, the axis powers dividing the spoils as the germans taking the east coast, japan the west. this centres on the japanese take over. not far in yet, but very promising and potentially a fitting tribute.
Tech XXIII wrote: "meanwhile, the first in chinua achebe's 'african trilogy', Things Fall Apart was an absorbing and instructive read - the fall and attempted rise of okonkwo, a great man and warrior a..."Many years ago, Penguin did a 'box set' of 12 or 15 Modern Classics, some complete novels, some extracts. Included was Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' which I didn't expect to like but was very impressed by. It included the really creepy couple of sentences:
'Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string'
it makes total sense in context (and probably in personal safety), just that it was a way of life very far removed from our own. i imagine you'd observe these rules to ensure your survival - brilliant book, will do pts 2 and 3 soon.
Ok just made a start on the Chimp Book. So, whenever I have a mardy, or bang on about irrelevant stuff and get sidetracked, just think 'Chimp'. : ) This particular mind management affair refers to the Limbic 'emotional' part of the brain as The Chimp which can , at times, take over and become stronger than the Frontal part which is the 'normal' human part. Now we'll see if this simplification of things actually helps me keep the little ****** in it's place. Will let yous know as I progress.EDIT - Must correct meself. Said chimp isn't always to be locked away, it's just a case of taming it somewhat. I think. Hope that clears that one up? As mud?? Alright then!
Note - No animals have been hurt in this process... apart from possibly the subject.
We await with bated breath Blastro....
Probably should post on here more than just the music voting threads.Anyway, in between writing the final part of my mystery trilogy, I have managed to read a couple of very good books recently. Don't laugh, but until last month, I'd never read Stephen King's "The Shining" nor seen the film. I know there's a lot of discussion over which is best, but having read the book and then gone straight into the film, I was surprised at how faithful the adaptation was. Yes, there were changes, but on the whole I'd say that I enjoyed both equally.
Now onto a lesser-known title. I can highly recommend "The Archivist's Story" by Travis Holland. Set in Moscow just before WWII, the story concerns the tale of a clerk who works at Lubyanka prison and is responsible for cataloging and destroying the works of poets and writers rounded up during the communist purge. A really effective tale that's full of character studies and a brooding atmosphere.
It's beautifully written and is a quick read at 241 pages. I'm gobsmacked that the author had never bothered to release any more novels after this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Archivists-S...
Deeply into The Goldfinch, after having read gonna watch movie by the book. Recommended.
I loved that book, Post, but didn't go to see the movie, as it didn't get great reviews. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.
"Probably should post on here more"yes, you bloody should! don't be feart to punt your books or impart updates either!
got a whole pile of a queue just now - all i need is some time to read them,
The Future Starts Here: Adventures in the Twenty-First Century
The Book of Human Insects
Watchmen, Complete Edition
Miracle on Cherry Hill
amongst others
nocheese wrote: "I loved that book, Post, but didn't go to see the movie, as it didn't get great reviews. I'll be interested to see what you think of it."First I read about film, that's how I discovered the book and decided to start with latter, you know, get my own images in my head of characters. Yeah I'll just keep expectations low when watching. Might be couple days to finish the book.
Tech XXIII wrote: ""Probably should post on here more"yes, you bloody should! don't be feart to punt your books or impart updates either!
How's that then?
https://monkeyarkwright.wordpress.com...
aye, that's the kinda thing, rob!looking forward to reading.
Gratuitous poster to advertised my (now complete) YA mystery trilogy. Feel free to share here, there and everywhere.Please!
https://monkeyarkwright.wordpress.com...
well, i've got my copy (although, as with the other volumes, it is available in paperback form, i bought the kindle version - this is because i am a tightwad!), can i get it signed please, rob?
Fair enough, thanks again Tech. I decided to get some paperbacks made ,via the print-on-demand, purely for reasons of vanity - but bugger me if a work colleague actually wanted the paperback and got me to sign it for his son!!!!It would be good if they offered the change to digitally sign a Kindle version, wouldn't it?
but then how do you put it on ebay? :)i remember terry pratchett saying that the most valuable of his books would be the ones he hadn't signed!
is it just me? (probably) but book releases by favourite authors seem to go by me, and i don't hear of them until much later dates. everyone knows how highly i rate the irish genius, patrick mccabe, and there you go, a new book came out in november! even worse (or even better), it's a follow up to his acknowledged classic The Butcher Boy, catching up with the adult francie brady and his tortured mind,The Big Yaroo
'the butcher boy' transferred to film sensationally well, stephen rea is brilliant as francie's cursed father, but the casting genius is sinead o'conner playing the virgin mary, who appears in visions, "for f***'s sake, francie, that's the best one yet" - a very dark film from a very dark book - what more could anyone want?
Somebody should update Patrick McCabe’s Wiki page, which makes no mention of any published work since 2013. I wanted to jog my memory as I thought I had read other of his books as well as The Butcher Boy, but it seems I haven’t. I agree about the virtues of both book and film, neither of them a comfortable experience mind you. I’ve seen the film of Breakfast on Pluto, also recommended, and not as unremittingly bleak as The Butcher Boy.
Amazon exiles
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