Safe As Book

[bravecaptain]

noncomformity by nelson algren

i can recommend all of his books.

i've had this for years but had never read it 'till last week.

its an essay from the early fifties.

beautiful writing about the role of the writer, especially interesting considering that senator joe mccarthy time and particularly pertinant now in these fear mongering, conformist days.

mx

[Kris]

[Tommy Tynans Lovechild]

wot even shittier than the ending to the beach? beach was pretty good 'til the last 100 pages and then it all went....

mmm wonder if i can turn this into a hollywood movie

..... crap.

All i seem to able to read these days is either When Saturday Comes or New Statesman. Hopefully some time off at easter will gimmie time to get into reading books again!

[Kris]

Totally agree. It's the one book where I think the hollywood-ised changed ending is actually better than the original
_________________
"fashioned by the blade of a world that doesn't care,
feeling so removed, drifting thru stealing air then...
pause and think about it, try to move and shift the pain, but it's there you feel it kicking and you scream and feel alive."

[John Mc]

The concise guide to books I've read recently:

The 911 Commission report - good

The Men Who Stare At Goats (Jon Ronson book) - good

Autumn of the Moguls (book about how media organisations are fallling apart) - good

45 (Bill "KLF" Drummonds book) - very good

Loving The Alien (David "that bloke out of Labyrinth" Bowie biography) - good

The Middle Mind (book about how no-one has the imagination to think about the possibility of a better world anymore) - confusing

[ciaranm]

A Secret Country by John Pilger...awesome polemic on Australian history

[Kris]

Sams Learn ASP.NET in 24 hours.



Oh hang on.. wrong thread.
_________________
"fashioned by the blade of a world that doesn't care,
feeling so removed, drifting thru stealing air then...
pause and think about it, try to move and shift the pain, but it's there you feel it kicking and you scream and feel alive."

[Bev]

[Peace Cat]

Just finished reading 'when we were orphans' purely because I got lent Ishiguru's new book and I realised I never got round to the one before. Anyway, its dead good- half the time you can't tell if the narrator is actually telling you whats happening, or whether he's lost the plot completely. Its really touching in places and is a hell of a lot less confusing than 'the unconsoled', which took me about three decades to read. Have to see if never let me go is as good.

[Guest]

One No, Many Yesses - its about the anti globalisation movement - its a good book and very nicelye explains what the anti globalisation movement stands for (which is what everyone criticises it for), theres a really good chapter on West Papua in there.

Also just read The Wayward Bus by Steinbeck - I love Steinbeck he's so compassionate and truthful, trying hard not to sound pretentious but he just seems to understand humanity and he never gets in the way of his characters.

Im reading Platform by Michel Houllebeque right now, its misanthropic, dry, and really funny.

[Bev]

[quote="Guest"]One No, Many Yesses - its about the anti globalisation movement - its a good book and very nicelye explains what the anti globalisation movement stands for (which is what everyone criticises it for), theres a really good chapter on West Papua in there.

Also just read The Wayward Bus by Steinbeck - I love Steinbeck he's so compassionate and truthful, trying hard not to sound pretentious but he just seems to understand humanity and he never gets in the way of his characters.

Im reading Platform by Michel Houllebeque right now, its misanthropic, dry, and reall]

what's the author of that "1 no, many yeses"??? I am slightly sure that I used to know the girlfriend of the brother of the person who wrote it... (maybe)

And I have to say, I've not got along with M.Houllebeue at all.

Tip o' the week: Brighton Rock.
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Scattershot Writing: www.jameseverington.blogspot.com

[guest]

He was, or is even, Paul Kingsnorth, sounds like a cool guy

Brighton Rock is indeed amazing, its so evocative the whole book is like an ashtray and stained curtains, and the twist is just pure cruelty. I keep meaning to read more Graham Green after that but never got round to it.

I could understand why you dont like Houllebeque, he is a little bit miserable in a 'oh Im so unhappy society's a sham and life is empty' way but I think he's hilarious.

[Bev]

[che]

i'm reading dispatches by michael herr. so far, it's turning out to be the best war book i've ever read. ever.

[gillworm]

I'm in serious need of a visit to the library but today I pulled 'All the Pretty Horses' down from the shelf to read again. It's spare but beautiful prose style and gritty story are a joy. But it all ends sadly.

When I was in my teen I worked my way through the Sudden western novels by Oliver Strange and Frederick H Christian, a million miles from the contemporary westerns that Cormack McCarthy writes. Now, I'd find it impossible to read such romantic nonsense.