Anyone given 'The Cats Table' Michael Ondaatge a read ? I thought it was enjoyable read but lacked some of the grit and magic of his other books such as The Skin of a Lion.
Am reading Ernest Shackleton's account of his Antartic Expedition in 1914 when the boat was crushed and he had to cross the seas in open boats. Not a single man was lost despite terrible hardships. Comes across as a most extraordinary leader in whom his men placed total trust. I wonder if the same level of trust could happen nowadays.
Am reading Ernest Shackleton's account of his Antartic Expedition in 1914 when the boat was crushed and he had to cross the seas in open boats. Not a single man was lost despite terrible hardships. Comes across as a most extraordinary leader in whom his men placed total trust. I wonder if the same level of trust could happen nowadays.
One of the men in the boat was called Thomas Crean, he also sailed with Scott. There is a realy good book about his life at sea.
Moneyball. The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. A very enjoyable read about the Oakland A's and their path to becoming a successfull baseball team. And you don't really need to know a lot about baseball to enjoy the book.
Dominic Sandbrook - the way we were: Britain 1970-74
I've read "Never had it so good" & White Heat"
If you like that kind of thing, you would enjoy David Kynaston's series "Tales of A New Jerusalem" . First one is Austerity Britain 1945-51 and the next Family Britain 1951-1959 (I think). He's going to run it up to 1979.
Really good mix of politics, popular culture, archirtecture etc etc with very well-selected quotes from letters and diaries of ordinary people.
Re-reading Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, trying to get rid of the bad taste of that travesty of a film shown on TV the other night. How the hell did a book written in the 1930s end up with Mods and Rockers as the backdrop?
Anyway, I am reassured to find the book is as excellent as I remember. The most compelling aspect of Greene's book is his exploration, as a Roman Catholic, of the themes of sin and atonement, which were virtually ignored in the film.
Wasn't it written when he was realising the the hypocrisy of the religion he had been brainwashed into? Enjoyable read.
I am reading "Can't be Arsed" by Richard Wilson (the TV producer, not the actor). It's a list of reasons why you are wasting your time making lists of things to do before you die. Very funny in places.
im reading the flashman books by george macdonald fraser... what a complete lout!
These are legendary. I'm reading neuromancer by William Gibson. I can't believe I've left it this long! I can see where the matrix knicked its ideas from!
Dominic Sandbrook - the way we were: Britain 1970-74
I've read "Never had it so good" & White Heat"
If you like that kind of thing, you would enjoy David Kynaston's series "Tales of A New Jerusalem" . First one is Austerity Britain 1945-51 and the next Family Britain 1951-1959 (I think). He's going to run it up to 1979.
Really good mix of politics, popular culture, archirtecture etc etc with very well-selected quotes from letters and diaries of ordinary people.
I've read Never had it so good and White Heat also. I think Sandbrook is taking it to 79 and possibly further. Sandbrook was useful to read at Uni when I did an essay on the Sixties as a conservative decade and another one on comparisons between race relations in the uk and us during the 60s. I've got through the boring chapter on Environmentalism, after that came Ulster and Immigration, far more interesting. On to the Unions now. Poor old Heath he didn't have much luck.
I don't think so althogh he was never a very othodox Catholic. He became very left-wing as he got older and was criticial of the catholic hierachy. He can't really be compared with other Catholic writers of the time like Maugham and Waugh.
Comments
Harry Hole is a great character.
Read Stardust years ago and never really followed up on Gaiman. Wish I had done.
Reading Oscar and Lucinda by Carey atm, excellent novel, dunno why it has sat lonely on my bookshelf for 15 years
Half way through " The Leopard" and wishing there were more books out there to look forward to.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Crean_(explorer)
Really good mix of politics, popular culture, archirtecture etc etc with very well-selected quotes from letters and diaries of ordinary people.
Anyway, I am reassured to find the book is as excellent as I remember. The most compelling aspect of Greene's book is his exploration, as a Roman Catholic, of the themes of sin and atonement, which were virtually ignored in the film.
I am reading "Can't be Arsed" by Richard Wilson (the TV producer, not the actor). It's a list of reasons why you are wasting your time making lists of things to do before you die. Very funny in places.
I've got through the boring chapter on Environmentalism, after that came Ulster and Immigration, far more interesting. On to the Unions now. Poor old Heath he didn't have much luck.