Books

[Craymen Edge]

I finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel today. It's centred around Thomas Cromwell, his rise to serving as Henry VIII's minister including the annulment of Henrys marriage to Catherine so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

I'm a fan of historical fiction, and the recreation of Tudor England and the politics is really interesting.

It's good, with reservations. I'm doing some reading up about it now, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only person to have problems with Mantel's style and use of pronouns. It's written in third person present tense but she generally refers to Cromwell as 'he' often without distinguishing between him and other men in the book - also referred to as 'he' - making it difficult sometimes to tell who's saying what.

Combined with all the politics, it made the book hard going at time. Ultimately I enjoyed it, so I'm glad I persevered.

[Sambob]

Just read all 72 issues of The Boys, along with 'herogasm' and 'butcher, baker, candlestick maker' miniseries. Its so awesome. Id read the first 10 or so a while ago from a mate but had a weird hankering to read the whole series.

Its basically a group of CIA type agents, called The Boys, made up of total anti-heroes that have been artificially empowered by a chemical called V, and their job is to police super heroes. The main protagonist, who is basically just rubbish but his heart is in the right place, is called Wee Hughie and he is physically based on Simon Pegg . The super heroes in the series are all basically aresholes that just go around shagging hookers and killing them because they are all super like.

Its a really well paced series and the main thing that strikes me, apart from the envisioning of realistic super heroes, is the relationship between the leader of The Boys, Butcher and Hughie, the newest member. Because the main characters are so strongly defined, even though they dont have a ton of backstory until quite late on, the series is able to really well capture different kinds of relationship, in particular the sort of 'awe inspiring figure who is also a bit of a bastard' role that Butcher fills. He is a total prick, but you cant help but like him, the series is almost as much about him as it is about Wee Hughie's journey down the rabbit hole as he discovers the truth about the sordid world of super heroes. At times its 'Walking Dead' levels of bleakness(the graphic novels, not the TV series) and at other times its hilarious, spotting the superheroes that are obvious send ups of Marvel or DC characters is entertaining such as Jack From Jupiter, who is an obvious clone of The Martian Manhunter, or the Homelander, who is Superman's near invincible counterpart.

At times its stunningly well drawn, and its easily one of the best series ive read so I recommend it, dont know if anybody else has read it or heard of it, its by Dynamite Comics.

[Craymen Edge]

I think there are a couple of Iain Banks fans here?

Sad news

http://www.orbitbooks.net/2013/04/03/a-personal-statement-from-iain-banks/

I am officially Very Poorly.

After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that it turns out is the least of my problems.

I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact Id started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day. When it hadnt gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.

I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.

The bottom line, now, Im afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, Im expected to live for several months and its extremely unlikely Ill live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.

[Hendo]

Rough going, poor sod.

[halfagogo]

thats very unhappy news. his books are always great reads even when you dont like them.

[Craymen Edge]

I finished The Yard, by Alex Grecian. It's a crime drama set in London in 1889, a year after Jack The Ripper, and revolves around a unit of Scotland Yard set up to specifically investigate murder cases.

His publisher oddly boasted that the author had never visited London before or during writing the book, but he did an ok job creating a vision of grimy Victorian London (i.e. It's pretty much like all recreations of Victorian London in fiction).

Unfortunately his dialogue is a bit off, and in a couple of places is about as authentic as Dick Van Dyke. Still, it's an enjoyable story (with maybe 1 sub plot too many). I'd read another story with these characters.

[Craymen Edge]

Also finished in the last few weeks:

The Bookman Histories -Lavie Tidhar

A fun sci-fi steampunk trilogy full of historical and literary characters, automatons, ninjas, spies, aliens and lots of other silly nonsense. Also book 3 starts in a secret village for retired intelligence agents and is like an OAP Bond movie. Awesome.

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovich

I don't know what you'd call this... Urban Fantasy? But that just conjours images of all the books about vampires trying to cop off with each other that you see in Waterstones. It's not that.

A PC in the metropolitan police graduates his probationary period and discovers 'gods', ghosts, myths and figures from folklore are real as he joins the unit for maintaining an uneasy peace between various supernatural factions and the law, and investigation of crimes with a supernatural element.

Interesting story and very funny.

[radiofloyd]

Recently I've read Spring Torrents by Ivan Turgenev and For Esme, With Love and Squalor & Other Stories by J.D. Salinger. Spring Torrents is the first novel I've read by Turgenev and it's really good. I wouldn't put it up there with Anna Karenina or War and Peace but I don't think its really considered one of his main novels. I need to read more Russian writers, especially Dostoevsky and Nabokov. For Esme was excellent as well, I remember reading The Catcher in the Rye years ago. Salinger has a very nice writing style. Oh and the last book I read was A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh, I thought it started well but didn't amount to much in the end.

I had to put The Magic Mountain on hold - I got a warning to return it to the library to avoid "legal proceedings". Turns out I only owed them €4. I'll finish it in the summer. I was reading American Pastoral by Philip Roth but my mother returned it to the library while I was reading it.

Right now I've just started A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley which seems excellent. I have three more books lined up to read - Humboldt's Gift (Saul Bellow), Under the Net (Iris Murdoch), The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen).

[Cyberpunk]

I just finished Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/764347.Unwind

A really good read, that at times creates some disturbing mental imagery. It's the kind of book you want to talk to your friends about, and find yourself dwelling on some time after you finish.

Also, it contained one of the most disturbing scenes I have ever read. It's not graphical description, but enough is put in to let you know what is happening, and it leaves you shocked to your core. I can't tell you the scene, as it will spoil the story for you.

Set in the near future, the novel follows three teens about to be unwound. Parents have the right to retroactively abort their childeren between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, and these kids are unwound. They are taken apart whilst alive and concious, and harvested for body parts to be transplanted to those in need of them, or the money to pay for the cosmentic parts. The law says that because 100% of these children are alive, albeit divided into different bodies, it is not murder, and the child has not died. Connor has always been trouble, sometimes unable to control his temper. When he finds out that his parents are about to have him unwound, he runs away and crosses paths with Risa and Lev. Risa is a state ward being sent away due to shortage of money and Lev is a tithe, sacrificed by his religious parents for a greater good.
Connor and Risa have only one goal: to be able to make it until their eighteenth birthday, when the law will protect them from being unwound. Lev, who has always believed in his special purpose, is deeply conflicted. Should he run with his two 'rescuers' or should he turn them in?

I not only found the three main characters, but also the friends and enemies they make on their journey drawn realistically and very relatable. Those characters have their faults – some more than the others – but in the end there was no one who deserved to be treated like he was nothing but human spare parts for those who could afford it. You will find yourself asking "what happens to the brain, etc?" It does get answered, and it's quite disturbing.

I found the book to be written as a teen sci-fi thriller, but I still got caught up in the story. I have since gone onto it's sequel UnWholley. I'd recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, if for nothing but the scene I referred to above.

[Craymen Edge]

This article taking the piss out of Dan Brown is awesome:

Don’t make fun of renowned Dan Brown

[radiofloyd]

This article taking the piss out of Dan Brown is awesome:

Don’t make fun of renowned Dan Brown

That's brilliant.

[Pikman]

I read Enders Game this week. Easy read as I guess it is sort of a kids book. Nice break from all the Philosophy and Science though.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, took 2 days and I couldn't put it down. Really excited for the film now, can't be bad if Ben Kingsley is in it right? Kids book or not, it was well paced, solidly written and addictive.

[Craymen Edge]

can't be bad if Ben Kingsley is in it right?

Actually, I quite like that despite being this massively respected actor, he'll seemingly say yes to any script that gets put in front of him.

Back on topic, I recently finished Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, which is an awesome geeky Novel. If you liked Ready Player One or Neal Stephenson or Douglas Coupland, you'd probably like this.

[radiofloyd]

Finished Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow which is a beautiful book, a work of art. Highest recommendation.

Before that I read A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley which was pretty good, although I think after a while the book started to lose its impact.

Currently reading Under the Net by Iris Murdoch. I have a hardback edition from 1969 and it has that lovely musty old book smell...

[radiofloyd]

Finished Under the Net by Irish Murdoch which was pretty good, it probably didn't help that I read it straight after Humboldt's Gift. Now reading The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen which is another British book I've been meaning to read for a while.

I bought some books online since I'm too lazy to go to the library in the summer:

Collected Poems - Robert Lowell
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
The Sound of the Mountain - Yasunari Kawabata
World's Fair - E.L. Doctorow
A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement - Anthony Powell

Most of those aren't available in the library anyway. The Collected Poems of Robert Lowell's is the first ever poetry book I've bought (hopefully of many!).

[Sambob]

I finally got round to reading world war z the other day. Its really good, I love the style its written in, it must have taken a lot of thought to get it done and as such I can see why people would be outraged that the film seems to have gone down the action thriller route. A film actually based on the book would be really good, I suppose they could do a short tv series with a few interviews and then that particular flashback, it could be more suited to that format.

[Jimboxy]

I think the book really laid the ground work for the style of zombie shows and films and games we have today. Naz is reading it at the moment as she wanted to see the film but had never read the book. She doesn't really want to see the film now.

[Sambob]

Yeah I could see it being a good game. Id actually like it to be a COD style game or maybe half life, where you are in the different scenarios, having to play through Yonkers, or the first time they try to win back the land for example, the bridge scene where they are trying to set off charges and so on, shame that will never happen.

The way the zombie scenario is portrayed in the book is, in my opinion, a perfect pitch of a perfect blend of zombie stuff. The way the outbreak works, the way people try to deal with it, the way the zombies themselves are, little things going wrong that might well go wrong but again, just enough to build tension and not too much so as to over tease, its all done really well.

[radiofloyd]

Read some more books recently.

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote which is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy who gets sent to live with an old uncle in a remote rural area. Capote wrote it when he was only 23. It's described as a "gothic" story which I think is a good way of describing it! It's a short novel, only around 150 pages, and very vivid.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan which passes back and forth between the lives of various inter-connected people, through the past and present. The book is plastered with comments about how hilarious it is (which I'm sure it was, I can't really remember) but it's very serious too. Excellent.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky - one more classic ticked off the list. I've already said vivid but C&P is the most vivid book I could imagine. It's about a student who decides to kill an old moneylender and the rest of the novel deals with the psychological effect this has on him. There are loads more interesting characters and subplots in it too.

Now I can move onto the books I bought, starting with The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.

[radiofloyd]

The last four books I've read have been The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, Wold's Fair by E.L. Doctorow, The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata and A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement by Anthony Powell.

The Moviegoer and World's Fair were both good reads, I felt like I'd probably get more out them on a second reading.

The Sound of the Mountain is an excellent book about an old man and his relationship with his family, Mikio Naruse made a film version which I'd love to see.

The "First Movement" of Anthony Powell's series contains the first three books out of twelve which he wrote between 1951 and 1975. I read the first part on its own last year, A Question of Upbringing. The second part, A Buyer's Market, is one of the best books I've ever read. It's more exciting than the title suggests. The series is similar to the Forsyte Saga or one of Tolstoy's epic dramas. The third part was great as well. Highest recommendation.

Right now I have re-borrowed The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann from the library which is an incredible novel, the page was still marked where I left it. And I also have Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and On Beauty by Zadie Smith to read.