Reply With QuoteChris Bronson sounds like the grandson of Charles Bronson. I can imagine a it'd make a good movie, maybe.
I've been reading a few books by James Becker recently. If you like Dan Brown then you might like these; ancient relics, codes, quests to foreign parts and a bit of history thrown in. Certainly not classic literature but I found them enjoyable.
These are the ones I'm reading, all featuring cop Chris Bronson and his ex-wife.
1. The First Apostle (2008)
2. The Moses Stone (2009)
3. The Messiah Secret (2010)
4. The Nosferatu Scroll (2011)
I'll buy this one when it comes out later this year, it's set at the London Olympics.
5. Echo of the Reich (2012)
EddieChris Bronson is back in this edge-of-your-seat thriller involving a secret Nazi WW2 weapon and a plot against the 2012 London Olympics.
Berlin, 1936: Hitler is determined to hold the best Olympic Games the world has ever seen. German athletes have trained full-time to ensure that 'Aryans' take all the top honours. Unfortunately, the African-American Jesse Owens spoils their plan, winning four gold medals. In a secret Nazi underground laboratory, scientists are at work on a devastating revenge.
London, 2012: Chris Bronson is working undercover for the Metropolitan Police, infiltrating a group of anarchists who have been smashing windows, sabotaging machinery and even digging tunnels under some of the Olympic sites in attempts to disrupt the Games. But he uncovers a plot that hints at a much more sinister plan and will lead him on a chase into the dark corners of German's Nazi past.
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Chris Bronson sounds like the grandson of Charles Bronson. I can imagine a it'd make a good movie, maybe.
Just read A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burrows. Really enjoyed it but read it mainly because of the John Carter film that I'm going to see.
I can't say I've actually read it (yet?), but I've decided to have another go at Proust's In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu). This will be my 4th or 5th attempt. :)
Best wishes,
Bob
Best of luck. I know how this goes; after 5 or 6 attempts I've never managed to get past page 50 of 'A passage to India'.Originally Posted by rfrazier
American Rust by Philipp Meyer. Kind of depressing but addictive. I want to read more from this bloke! Even NYT liked it 8)
I've started but never finished three or four Henry James novels. Five pages of a character turning their head to see who's walked through the door was too much for me. At the other end I've never got beyond the first hundred pages of Gravity's Rainbow- it requires a level of concentration thats almost tiring.Best of luck. I know how this goes; after 5 or 6 attempts I've never managed to get past page 50 of 'A passage to India'.
My wife has had James' Wings of the Doves as one of her holiday books for, must be, the last 10 years. ;)
I have managed Gravity's Rainbow. It is weird, but interesting.
Best wishes,
Bob
i've given up on 'blood meridian' by cormac mccarthy three times now,utter tosh.i don't care what the reviews say it's 400 pages of describing how hot and bleak the desert is,an absolute struggle from picking it up to throwing it down (3 times :) )
cheers,mick
Aw, I love that book. It's been many years since I read it, but should pick it up again sometime.
I'm currently reading The Pillars Of The Earth. Really enjoying it and have been up until the early hours every night since starting it last week as I just can't put it down. Into the final couple of hundred pages now and then I'll have to check out the sequel - hope it's as good as this one.
I found 'Blood Meridian' stunning, but I can understand its style not being for everyone. Judge Holden is one of the most powerful characters I think I've ever come across. I have two young children and I first read it when they were babies. There is a brief aside about a tree festooned with the corpses of infants (its not crucial to the plot so its not a spoiler) and that horrific image has stayed with me. I'd also challenge any father to read 'The Road', its deeply affecting.Aw, I love that book. It's been many years since I read it, but should pick it up again sometime.
I'm currently reading The Pillars Of The Earth. Really enjoying it and have been up until the early hours every night since starting it last week as I just can't put it down. Into the final couple of hundred pages now and then I'll have to check out the sequel - hope it's as good as this one.
Blood Meridian is my second favourite Cormac McCarthy book - after The Road. The Road is one of the best things I have ever read. As you say, as a father it's incredibly affecting and rewarding. I read it in a single sitting and felt utterly emotional, during and afterwards. It flows so well and the way it plays with words and grammar is almost poetic, while the subject matter itself is deeply disturbing, moving and enlightening. I can't praise it enough.
now then,'pillars of the earth' - one of my favourite books ever.i've tried to get everyone i know to read it but no takers yet,including my mum who is an avid reader.conversation went something like this ;
mum you've got to read this book,it's amazing
what's it about mickylall?
erm,well,i suppose it's about an out of work bricklayer in the 12th century that gets a job working for some monks
*totally blank look on face* will you get me some sausages when you go to the butcher's?
:lol: and yes the follow up 'world without end' is just as good.i had it for almost 12months before i began reading it as i couldn't face the disapointment of it not matching up to 'pillars'. simply fantastic books,everyone should read them.
cheers,mick
Just finished the Foundation series by Asimov. SLow and strange at times but interesting to see how some of the theories evolved.
Had to dip into the Sister Brothers as light relief at times and found it to be an excellent read.
Best
Den
Excellent - have just bought the e-book so I can carry straight on with it after finishing Pillars, which should happen this weekend if I get any time to myself... :thumbright:
Quite some time ago I read 'The Spire' by William Golding, which is about an obsessive medeval Cathedral builder, and every time someone mentions 'The Pillars of the Earth' it always put me in mind of this book although I've never read it and I'm sure they are very different.
Love the original Foundation Trilogy, although the later books aren't on the same level in my opinion. Apparently based on Gibbon's history of the fall of the Roman Empire and the more I read about this period in history the more echoes I can see. And of course without it I strongly suspect we wouldn't have had The Hitchhiker's Guide...
The Spire is an excellent book. I haven't read The Pillars of the Earth but having seem the tv adaptation, it did seem rather like The Spire with added bonking.
You could say im sad but i like it but at the mo I am reading the bio of steve jobs. Its actually quite interesting.
I started out on Asimov as a teenager- quite some years ago. An amazing set of worlds to get lost in. A product of their in the 'classic' sc-fi genre.
Did you read the later Elijah Bailey books?
I thought it was a really interesting read - quite an insight and not afraid to show the unlikeable side of his character either. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be present in those board meetings that all seemed to end quite literally in tears!
Here's a few with an American flavor.
Fiction
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Little Girl Lost, Gone Baby Gone by Richard Aleas.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Not for the faint of heart.
Non Fiction
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan
My Dark Places by James Ellroy
Two more. . .
Alias Shakespeare by Joseph Sobran
Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson
Just started Game Of Thrones. I haven't read fantasy in a while and this is a bit of a doorstop. Okay so far :D
One of my all-time favourites. Sets out clearly the roots of the Vietnam war and also explains why US involvement there was always going to end badly given the approach taken. It's very interesting indeed and a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the Vietnam war and its context.
Neil Sheehan's latest, "A Fiery Peace in a Cold War" uses a similar device to "Bright Shining Lie" in that it tells the story of the development of the US' ICBM capability through the life of Bernard Schriever, the USAF general and talented engineer who saw the potential of the ICBM and fought tooth and nail to get the systems developed. Again, very interesting stuff and written in wonderfully vivid, lucid prose.
I found an interesting article on Sheehan and his books HERE.
Chris Ryan - The Watchman. Excellent read!
Anatomy of a Quagmire by David Halberstam is another very good Viet Nam analysis.
Enjoy!
-C
For Vietnam, the book that made the greatest impact on me is 'Dispatches' by Michael Herr. Herr apparently co-wrote of 'Apocalypse Now', (along side Joseph Conrad of course). 'Dispatches' is a record of his time as a journalist covering the war and the language is great, a sort of fruity 60s new journalism, that covers the glamour and excitement as well as the sheer horror. I guess its the book that all subsequent war reporters have in the back of their mind.
If you like 'Carter beats the Devil' try 'The Prestige' although frankly this is one instance where the film is on a par with the book so either is just as enjoyable. And its got Tesla in it - I never think that things go far wrong if they've got some reference to Tesla. 'The Prestige' has a harder edge than the Gould book and I preferred it because of that. It's also brilliantly structured - like a complex illusion itself.
I've read all the George Martin books - the last writer I read book to book and back to back was James Elroy and that experience drove me slowly crazy as the sentences got shorter and shorter. You can tell Martin is a TV writer, all the books are episodic, and each chapter ends in a hook. Its a bit like glutting on sweets, you just keep gorging until you realise that you've had more than enough and you get this strong sense of guilt that you could have eaten something a lot more healthy. Each book is huge and overall I guess I must have ploughed through 10,000+ pages. Overall, its like a sitcom, you get the strong sense that something is about to happen to change the status quo but afterwards the realisation that nothing has been concluded, which means you read the next chapter and the next just to get to see what happens. But Martin is clever, each chapter deals with a different part of the story so you have to read 10 before you find out what happened in the chapter that hooked you. And guess what? By the time you've reached that story arc again you've been hooked by the others. :twisted: It's consummate epic writing. But beware, once you enter you probably won't get out until you've read the lot and like I said that's 10,000+ pages.
I'd also suggest Page after Page by Tim Page and a Bright Shining Lie for some more excellent Vietnam war insights from the personal perspective.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Superb Book, read this while I was at school, it inspired me to go and see some of Tim Pages photos in a collective show in Sheffield, and also went to hear him give a lecture. In his lecture someone asked him what he did now, he replied that "he still took the odd photo and masturbated a lot" :DFor Vietnam, the book that made the greatest impact on me is 'Dispatches' by Michael Herr. Herr apparently co-wrote of 'Apocalypse Now', (along side Joseph Conrad of course). 'Dispatches' is a record of his time as a journalist covering the war and the language is great, a sort of fruity 60s new journalism, that covers the glamour and excitement as well as the sheer horror. I guess its the book that all subsequent war reporters have in the back of their mind.
When working in London years ago, I saw Page walking down Fleet Street bedecked with a couple of Leica M6s. He was a bit of a hero of mine, so I plucked up courage and went up to him to say hello and that I admired his work. He looked at me for a second and said wearily., "Oh fuck off. " Needless to say I'm not now in the habit of approaching any celebrities, even if I do lke them.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
I went to see Don McCullin giving a talk some time ago now when he first retired. He seemed very weary and some of the stories he told were extremely grim. The thing I remember most is that he said that his intention (and that of others of his generation including Page one would assume) was to publicise the horror in such a way that the world had to take notice. The cost of this was to witness horrors that the rest of us probably couldn't even imagine. The tradgedy was that nothing had changed as a reult, the world just simply looked and moved on. What's even worse is that this style of photography seems to have almost engendered a sort of voyeuristic response, you can see for example how the opening scene of 'Saving Private Ryan' is influenced by teh style of Capa's pictures from the 'D' Day landings.
Later I happened to be in a photography gallery to see an exhibition of McCullin's work. It turns out that he was selling prints through the exhibition, including some of his more famous images, I guess as a way to provide some sort of pension. I couldn't figure out who would buy this stuff and why. When I asked the gallery owner he shrugged and said that the only buyer who made sense to him was a Swiss journalist who bought a picture to remind herself and her family how many blessings they had to count.
I got a sense from McCullin that he felt guilty. If I were him or Page I think I'd want to keep away from people too, particularly if there was a hint of hero workship in the encounter...
When working in London years ago, I saw Page walking down Fleet Street bedecked with a couple of Leica M6s. He was a bit of a hero of mine, so I plucked up courage and went up to him to say hello and that I admired his work. He looked at me for a second and said wearily., "Oh fuck off. " Needless to say I'm not now in the habit of approaching any celebrities, even if I do lke them.[/quote][/quote][/quote]
I used to know a reasonably well known celebrity and got to see the other side of this. When people approached him, they knew who he was, always addressing him by his first name. But he didn't know who they were, didn't know what they wanted from him, didn't know how they were going to behave. It wasn't unknown for someone to pick a fight, just to boast that they'd thumped someone famous.
The guy I knew was actually very good, he always talked to someone as a person, always treated them with respect when he could and was remarkably witty.
I guess this is all part of modern celebrity, but it did strike me that if you had several years of this it would make you very wary of people, particularly if what you did was likely to be used by someone or reported in a way that you couldn't control. Add guilt to this equation and it might get quite toxic.
An absolutely stunning work by, IMO, one of the finest writers to come out of Amercia in recent years. A real pity he took his life.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is a collection of his essays, which is very funny and beautifully written - it's a good introduction for anyone who's nerving themselves up for the behemoth that is Infinite Jest.
im big in to my horror/thriller books..just finished re-reading Stephen King's Misery..great read..and a brilliant film worth watching to those who haven't!
I must confess I did not read all 70 something pages, anyway....I just finished "Extra virginity" by Tom Mueller. An enjoyable read if you are interested in food in general or olive oil in particular. It has a journalistic approach, it's not really a novel. If of interest, I wrote a short review in my signature blog.
Book One by Chip Kidd.
Never heard of Chip Kidd? If you've read Jo Nesbo, Orhan Panuk, Haruki Murakami, Elmore Leonard, or Michael Crichton you've seen his work. Chip is the book jacket for all these authors. Book One is a collection of all his book covers, with notes on how they were composed and designed.
-C
read a few good books lately
replay by ken grimwood. really enjoyed this although it did turn into bit of a romance novel towards the end
anubis gates by tim powers. one of the better books i've read in a long while,great story with fantastic characters
flashman by george macdonald fraser.my first flashman book and not my last,genuinely laugh out loud funny at the political incorrectness of a true coward and skirt chaser - very,very funny.sharpe he isn't :lol:
name of the wind by patrick rothfuss.haven't read much fantasy before but this was really good,very well written and a great story
cheers,mick
Probably already been in the thread somewhere, but "John Dies at the End" - I'm a little more than half way through, and it's very readable
just read american assassin by vince flynn and like all his books a very good read
Hollywood And The Ivy Look. A beautiful coffee table book about Ivy League fashion in the 50s and 60s.
Very cool book with some great photos- I've also had one but sold it (at a profit) when the book was temporarily unavailable. People go on about watches being an investment but i think I've made more from selling old photography and art books than I ever have from bloody watches :evil: :)
I picked up mine pre-launch from John Simons in London (who also held the UK launch party). Ivy League/American clothing is of far greater interest to me than watches and takes a much larger percentage of my dough too.Very cool book with some great photos- I've also had one but sold it (at a profit) when the book was temporarily unavailable. People go on about watches being an investment but i think I've made more from selling old photography and art books than I ever have from bloody watches :evil: :)
My bedside book at the moment is, Generation of Swine, Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s by Hunter S. Thompson.
From 1988, It basically contains 100 of of his columns from the San Francisco Examiner, describing US politics in the 1980s.
I enjoy his stuff and it's nice to be able to break it up into bite size pieces of barminess. :D
Cheers,
Neil.
Good taste, that man! ;)
His short work can be a little hit-and-miss, but it retains an energy which his longer work sometimes loses ("The Great Shark Hunt" is a good collection, too, if you've not read it already). Having said which, I think my favourite of his books remains "Hell's Angels". It might all be made-up nonsense, depending on who you believe, but it's a cracking read.
Reefer men by Tony Thompson .
just finished "Cityboy" by Geraint Anderson,
Very amusing (if you're of or share or have experienced the mindset of such folk), had me laughing out loud with much of the description. tailed off badly at the end though...
he has a website http://www.cityboy.biz/
I see by your avatar you are a devotee. :DGood taste, that man! ;)
His short work can be a little hit-and-miss, but it retains an energy which his longer work sometimes loses ("The Great Shark Hunt" is a good collection, too, if you've not read it already). Having said which, I think my favourite of his books remains "Hell's Angels". It might all be made-up nonsense, depending on who you believe, but it's a cracking read.
I read Hells Angels many years ago so probably due a re-read.
My favourite is fear and loathing in Las Vegas.
Cheers,
Neil.
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Just read 'The city and the city' by China Miéville. Mixture of police procedural and allegorical Orwellian Distopia, which could represent the start of a whole new genre.
Ironically (considering the subject matter of the book) in two minds - on one hand this is a clever idea which if less skillfully handled could have been a mess. On the other, the police procedural aspect was not as good as say 'Gorki Park' and although necessary to hang the idea on could have been more engaging. I also got a sense that the science (or rather speculative) fiction aspect seemed a little stale in places.
But I'd recommend anyone read it and make their own mind up, there far worse and less inventive books out there.
I've read and I recommend it- his political point doesn't come across strongly enough but its a highly orginal book. To my mind Mr Miéville is the most consistently interesting author working in England today. You could say the same for JG Ballard, but if we were somewhere else in Europe he would be a national hero.
"Son of Hamas". Remarkable insight into the birth of Hamas and how the "spiritual figurehead's" son become a Shin Bet informant/agent.
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