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The Godfather, how they made such a great film out of such a rank awful book is beyond meOriginally Posted by bobocat
Who Cares Who Wins - SAS The Final Cash-In
Andy McGrabb
Although I am not to the halfway point, this book is hilarious. It probably helps to have read of some of the heroic exploits of the SAS and SBS, fact and fiction, and perhaps even some time in the green suit.
The Godfather, how they made such a great film out of such a rank awful book is beyond me
Thanks, I’ll have a look at those.
Stumbled across this thread as it had been bumped. Some great sounding reads in here.
Really surprised to hear this view. Puzo's book is widely thought to be pretty good by most, very atmospheric and adds to the back story in some areas/characters bringing them vividly to life, for me particularly the Don's 'muscle' Luca Brasi and why his reputation is so fearsome.
I've got this lined up on my Kindle too.. Currently reading A Spy Among Friends by the same author.
This was an excellent read - more and more intense as it went on, definitely recommend it!
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I can second the recommendation for Bad Blood below too.. really enjoyed that.
A book I recently re-read which is one of my favourites is 'Any Human Heart' by William Boyd. The TV adaptation was fairly good but the book is 10x better.
I've listened to a few of the Terry Pratchett books on "The Witches." I think I prefer them to "The Watch" books and the others I have read also. The characters are very likeable, I think the guy who plays Neil in the "Young Ones" does the narration and the way he does Granny Weatherwax creases me up.
Me too actually. I've never read the Godfather, however, just finished The Sicilian and just started another Puzo with The family. Have kept me entertained so far. Found them easy reading.
Bob Rotella, golf is not a game of perfect.
Still hasn’t worked 😂😂
Just finished rereading Jupiter's Travels, Ted Simon's story of his three-year, 63,000 mile journey round the world on a Triumph Tiger 500.
I originally read the book when it was first published in 1979 and apart from the odd anecdote I'd forgotten most of it. It was, apparently, the inspiration for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's journey - Long Way Round - from London to New York.
What a different place the world was in the mid-seventies which, in my mind at least, is recent history - he was able to cross Libya (received with much kindness and hospitality) and Sudan (again hospitality and gracious people), Rhodesia was still under UDI, Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina were under military dictatorships.
If you like thoughtful travelogues, this is one of the best and Ted Simon, as a trained journalist, is an excellent chronicler.
I re-read Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four for the first time in about 20 years.
A masterpiece. It’s frightening just how prophetic the book was given how close some of the behaviours were seeing today are.
There is also Dreaming of Jupiter. Try Lone Rider by Elspeth Beard. RTW on a BMW R65. A really good book. I got rid of about 100 of my paperbacks recently, and there was plenty of cycling the world and motorbiking the world books in there. I think that I shall have to start offering my read books on SC for free.
Another travel author I could recommend is Julian Sayerer. He really is very good; superbly descriptive. Or Tim Moore, who cycles down through Finland and onwards. Can be a bit of an arrogant secondary school teacher type in some of his books, but I think the difficulties he faced in The Cyclist who went out in the Cold reset his character.
My Name’5 Doddie. has passed around our house, funny yet sad, Not just for rugby fans.
I should read Dreaming of Jupiter, not least because Ted Simon was 70 when he set out for the second time. I have Lone Rider and also Old Man on a Bike by Simon Gandolfi lined up (recent birthday pressies).
Hadn't heard of Julian Sayerer but did try a Tim Moore once - Travels with my Donkey.
I generally prefer travel books and writers from another age - Patrick Leigh Fermor (masterful - I think you can learn more of European history from his books than on a 3 year history degree course), Eric Newby, John Steinbeck and some of the early Paul Theroux train-travel stuff.
I love Fermor and Theroux, although the latter is a bit of a curmudgeon, albeit an entertaining one. In a similar vein, think of Fleming as a travel writer who added a spy plot as a bonus. I hadn't heard of Dreaming of Jupiter but now on my to -ead list. I'm rather enjoying the Great Game by Peter Hopkirk. It is great history for Flashman fan. I've also started another Ben Macntyre book, Operation Mincemeat. I'm also continuing to slog my way through Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, The Histories by Herodotus and Clive James's Cultural Amnesia.
The Hard Way Out - My Life with the Hells Angels and Why I Turned Against Them.
Dave Atwell
I have just finished this. I can't describe it as a good book, but it is OK.
Dave gets into the security business starting in shopping malls, trying to keep the riff raff out. He is as keen as mustard and moves onto bigger things, eventually guarding VIPs. Along the way he comes into contact with the local biker club and eventually joins, working his way up through the level of the club until he is a prospect. The club is taken over by the Hells Angels and Dave soon gets patched. He eventually turns against the whole system and goes undercover for the police.
I have decided to pass my books on rather than filling my bookshelves again, so if anyone wants this just note your interest in this thread and PM me your details. I am away for a while so it may not be sent immediately. Free of charge. UK only please.
Last edited by Templogin; 28th July 2020 at 17:00. Reason: Additional Info
That sounds just like my kind of read. I'd like that.
The book is yours. Just PM your details.
I just finished "Ghost In The Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker" by Kevin Mitnick.
It's pretty interesting for the most part, but the retelling of all the hacks get a bit repetitive (and he's clearly a big fan of himself). Most interesting to me, was how much of his hacking was down to social engineering for getting access, before his actual tech skills were used to exploit computer vulnerabilities. And this was all before people freely posted so much info about themselves online.
I think you'd want at least a passing interest in IT/InfoSec to enjoy it.
I read this on foot of the recommendations here. Jesus Christ - what a story!! If it were a piece of fiction written by Fleming or le Carré I would have binned it on account of it being completely unbelievable. A phenomenal story, hard to believe it happened in the not too distant past.
This was an excellent read - more and more intense as it went on, definitely recommend it!
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Yep - it’s brilliantly told too!
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Sorry to quote you over 6 months later. I tried reading the wasp factory but could not get on with it. Seemed gloomy and a bit depressing.
Then started looking into the culture but it looked very complicated and not very accessible to new readers so i gave up before i started.
Maybe i will try a 3rd time to read Iain.
Undercover- The True Story of Britain’s Secret Police
Rob Evans and Paul Lewis
The true story of the undercover police (Special Branch) Special Demonstration Squad, and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, spying on what the police deemed to be domestic extremists, by infiltrating themselves into the protest groups. A sad indictment of the surveillance state in which we live but a fascinating read.
Rather then let books gather dust on my bookshelf I give them away free of charge once read. If you would like to be the next person to read this book then leave a note of interest in the thread, then PM me your details so that I can put the book in the post to you. UK only please due to postage costs.
Just finished 'Command and Control' by Eric Schlosser...Non fiction detailing the US safety and control of nuclear weapons since their early days...my god how have we made it this far ? a thoroughly gripping and interesting read...if not scary given what could have been
I enjoyed this as well. A similar book is Daniel Ellsberg's The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.
Just reread my favorite book yet again.
Battle Scars - Jason Fox
A great insight into PTSD, very well written.
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Just dipping into this.
I love old pulp fiction.
Cheers,
Neil.
I started to re-read the sequel yesterday. The LOTR always seems like an autumn and winter book for me.
Also reading.
Thrilling Cities by Ian Fleming for some retro travel writing. Some great stories and fun to pick out ideas that became Bond characters or plotlines. .
The Undercover Economist by Tim Hartford. I really enjoy his column in the FT. This is a a good intro to economics for anyone without an economic background (like me). Lively writing and good examples, albeit a little dated. I originally read it after it just came out. I've ordered the sequel.
Have you read Dan Walsh?
'These are the days that must happen to you'
Not a literary masterpiece, but very engaging and brilliantly funny.
Ooh, that looks good! I love me a bit of Hammett and Chandler.Just dipping into this.
I love old pulp fiction.
I've ordered this recently - I've not read it, but I'm really looking forward to receiving it. Jeff Vandermeer is a great author, and wrote Annihilation, which was turned into a great film.
Capone
The Life and World of Al Capone.
By John Kobler
Recommended
No, I'll add it to the list. I did read Simon Gandolfi's 'Old Man on a Bike' about his trip from Mexico to Ushuaia on a Honda 125 (pizza delivery bike as he calls it) at the age of 73. Quite entertaining, and as he is a novelist the style was quite different to Ted Simon's approach as a trained journalist.
Probably like many of us, I have the same lovely edition of the book, given to me when I was a kid. It always makes me smile to see it. Hope you enjoyed it just as much on your latest journey through it!
I have just read David Copperfield, which is a lengthy but very good read, perfect for currently spending so much time at home. I would love to re-read the Hobbit and try the Lord of the Rings (which I’ve not previously gotten to), and they are next on my list.
Just reread my favorite book yet again.
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Private Island - Why Britain Now Belongs to Someone Else
James Meek
A fascinating read about the privatisation of Britain's 'great' institutions, with chapters on Royal Mail, the railways, water, electricity, health, and housing. I expected this to be an anti Tory rant, but Labour come in for several swift kickings too. Two highlights of the book for me was that our then government saw state ownership of electricity production to be something to be got rid of. They have in the long term succeeded to get it out of state control, into private control and much of it back into back into state control, just not our state. Ditto the railways. Selling off council housing and failing to use that pot of money to build, albeit fewer houses, and the general lack of house building in the country has left us with the awful housing sector that we have with some doing very nicely out of it whilst others may live in places unfit for human habitation, wherever people can be squeezed in; bed in a shed was mentioned.
There's a final chapter about Thanet, Nigel Farage, and the rise of UKIP in the area that makes for interesting reading.
Rather then let books gather dust on my bookshelf I give them away free of charge once read. If you would like to be the next person to read this book then leave a note of interest in the thread, then PM me your details so that I can put the book in the post to you. UK only please due to postage costs.
Three sips of gin by Tim Bax. Autobiography by a man who was a sealous scout. Very funny in places. During basic training a flashbang was thrown into their barrack room to wake them up. The trainee officer in the adjacent bed said “i say old chap, was that you?”
The Spy and the Traitor
Ben Macintyre
Having just finished this book there is little that I can add to this review above. A non-fiction page turner is a rare thing for me, but this certainly fills the description. An absolutely brilliant book.
Rather than let books gather dust on my bookshelf I give them away once read. If you would like to be the next person to read this book leave a note of interest in the thread, then PM me your details so that I can put the book in the post to you. UK only please due to postage costs.
Next on the reading list is The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Callum Macdonald
Last edited by Templogin; 11th September 2020 at 14:19. Reason: Added info
I'm about to finish Operation Micemeat. I'd love to read this next.
I'm happy to do the same with my copy of Operation Mincemeat. Same as above, leave a note of interest and PM me details.
Consider it yours.
Reilly Ace of Spies
By Robin Bruce Lockhart
The True story of Britain’s greatest spy
“Makes James Bond look like a piece of nonsense I Dreamed up” Ian Fleming
I just finished John le Carré's recent best-selling British spy novel. Superb! This guy never ages...he continues to marvel!
There was a TV series from the book starring Sam Neill in the 80's, recently shown again on TPTV.
Cheers,
Neil.
I recently read the Maddadam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood. Seemed pandemic appropriate and the first especially is very very good
It's a really good series, that gets progressively darker.
Agreed.
Nice to watch it again after so many years.
Cheers,
Neil.
I'm reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (HPMOR) now. is a Harry Potter fan fiction by Eliezer Yudkowsky. I really like the idea and approach of the author to the interpretation of the main story. I need to write a small academic paper about this book since I am a college student. I decided to write an assignment about this book because it struck me from the first pages. I have seen a lot of great reviews about her on some professional writing services. Have you read this book?
Last edited by bobocat; 24th October 2020 at 10:13.
I just finished John le Carré's recent best-selling British spy novel. Superb! This guy never ages...he continues to marvel!
I've just finished that and agree with PC. Amazing how Le Carre's style has changed over the years but the stories are always gripping. Also just finished A Perfect Spy which is partly autobiographical and much less overtly political.
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair.
Chicago 1906, exploitation of immigrant labour, working conditions in the stockyards and meat industry, food adulteration, sexual abuse of female workers, political gerrymandering, strikebreaking, destitution, prostitution, the birth of the socialist movement in the USA.
What’s not to like? Enjoy.
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The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Callum Macdonald
The life and death of Reinhard Heydrich. Full of political intrigues, chicanery and sheer brutality. Not an easy read, but perhaps there are too many easier distractions in life?
Rather than let books gather dust on my bookshelf I give them away once read. If you would like to be the next person to read this book leave a note of interest in the thread, then PM me your details so that I can put the book in the post to you. UK only please due to postage costs.
Next on the reading list is:
Unfolding Travels: World Travels on a Folding Bike Paperback
Gianni Filippini
That's a very kind offer - may I have it? Have you read HHHH, by Laurent Binet? It's a funny book about the difficulties that the author had in writing about Heydrich's assassination. It's a funny mix of the story and autobiography. I really enjoyed it.
Edit - there's a monument to some of the Czech and Slovak paratroopers in a park in Leamington Spa, one town over from my UK base. Lidice was the town razed by the Nazis in retribution for the attack on Heydrich.
Last edited by Qatar-wol; 20th October 2020 at 08:26.
A fascinating read.
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