by happenstance I saw it in Waterstones a few weeks ago and bought it. It's sitting on my shelf until I get some good 'reading time' .. I read it years and years ago when I was a young' rebel' .. it's a great satirical read .. the movie is also very well worth a watch.
I bought catch 22 a couple of years ago. Have tried unsuccessfully to read it on three occasions now. Most recently was last week, i got about 200 pages in and found to be still struggling.
Read Headhunters by Jo Nesbo but didn't enjoy it very much. Missed the harry Hole character. A bit like Stig Larsson without Salander. Le Carre's 'Absolute Friends' was excellent, especially the revolutionary bit in the '60's. Keith Richards Life was surprisingly good. Mandelson's 'The Third Man' gives wondrous insight into New Labout. They put so much effort into turning old Labour into a soft Tory party that they didn't have many policies for government. Just started 'The Journey' by Tony Blair. Okay so far.
TBH, wolfboy, it was a tad disappointing IMHO. Much preferred " The Snowman" which was the last to be published before Phantom.
LOVED Harry Hole like yourself - make sure you have a box of tissues at the ready for his latest though....
Haven't read " Headhunters" but would like to catch the film at some point.
Have you read the Wallender books ? My son introduced me to them before the Scandinavian authors took off. Unsure at first but the more I read, the more I enjoy them.
Don't forget The Leopard, which was between The Snowman & Phantom. I thoroughly enjoyed The Leopard although the stories ARE getting more & more unbelievable.
The SS - A New History by Adrian Neale. After my trip to Yad Vashem in Israel and also to Auschwitz, my mind has remained haunted by the 'how on earth could it have happened' question. I have never remotely understood it, but felt that I should. The SS (Schutzstaffel) is indelibly linked with 'the final solution', but who exactly were the people within it and how did they get to power? This book answers those questions and I selected it as it was highly recommended by historians. The book dissects the bureaucracy and organisational reach of the convoluted structures of the SS and how, under Himmler, it became the aristocracy of the Nazi party. The rise of nationalism yet again be it Argentina or Europe seemed to me to make this a necessary book but obviously, it is neither an enjoyable nor a 'holiday read'. I don't think I ever appreciated that the SS could be seen as a 'state within a state', or how all encompassing and complex the assorted ideologies and structures were. It is a meticulous book for anyone who wants to know about the SS.
I like historical novels. I got really hooked on Simon Scarrow's Roman army books. Read them all. I am now finding it hard to get a book to enjoy that has the same page turning, cant put down quality.
Any suggestions please??
Currently reading "The Reverse of the Medal", no. 11 in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series
I'm having a break from the Scandinavia authors at the moment, reading some biographies. I thought The Leopard was possibly the best Harry Hole, although surviving an avalanche seems highly unlikely. Wallender's not bad, a tad slow. I quite like the Nicci French books which are written by two people. Blue Monday is good. Some people rave about the Jack Reader character but it's not for me.
I Partridge - We Need To Talk About Alan (sorry if it's already been done).
For anyone who understands and enjoys AP, this is Coogan's (and Ianucci's) best work for years. Extremely funny without most of the excessive farces, written as an "Alan's Ashes" - style memoir. Refers to all the great Partridge moments with superb brash, opinionated, un-self-aware(!), clumsy comment throughout. Just very very funny.
I've received Aggers' Ashes The Inside Story of the 2011 Ashes Tour as a Fathers' Day present. No football last night so read a bit of it and enjoyable if you like Aggers which I do.
I Partridge - We Need To Talk About Alan (sorry if it's already been done).
For anyone who understands and enjoys AP, this is Coogan's (and Ianucci's) best work for years. Extremely funny without most of the excessive farces, written as an "Alan's Ashes" - style memoir. Refers to all the great Partridge moments with superb brash, opinionated, un-self-aware(!), clumsy comment throughout. Just very very funny.
It was actually predominantly written by Neil and Rob Gibbons (a couple of friends of mine). And there is even a Charlton reference...
Began reading Sherlock Holmes yesterday with the first one A Study in Scarlet. Going well so far and enjoying it.
Also picked up Napoleon and Wellington by Andrew Roberts yesterday for £4 from the second hand book stall on the south bank. Read a few pages and looks like it should be good. For a history graduate I know very little about Napoleon.
Love the Wallender books. I have read 4 now and can't see myself ever tiring of them. Also really liked the BBC series. Just started "All hell Let Loose", WWII history by Max Hastings (I think). Early days but is interesting.
On holiday I managed layer cake (much better than the film) viva la madness, the henchmens book club, how to survive the zombie apocalypse, kill zone and judas pig
"Freedom and Its Betrayal (Six Enemies of Human Liberty)" [viz Helvetius, Rousseau, Fichte, Hegel, Saint-Simon and Maistre] (transcripts of radio lectures in 1952 by Isaiah Berlin)..............riveting.
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson: The Book of the Dead. The third book I've read from the QI stable and probably the best. Short biographical sketches of people who led some amazing lives.
We Don't Know What We're Doing - Adrian Chiles. It's about why we feel the way we do about our teams, obviously with specific reference to WBA, but it could apply to any club outside the Sky favourites. Very enjoyable.
House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, a new Sherlock Holmes book which stands up well to the originals
Azincourt - Bernard Cornwall. Good , easy to read historical novel about the English archers at Agincourt
Just starting Just Kids by Patti Smith and will then check out the new Jake Arnott Book, House of Rumour. Love Jake Arnott's work. So simple but so subversive and clever.
A good follow up, I have really enjoyed all his books, from an author who really knows the backbone of his novels (archeology, diving). Just done my first scuba session in Cyprus, amazing what I had already picked up from these
Hugo - I have the 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and disappeared as part of my holiday reading...good to see you liked it. Will let you know how I get on.
Quote Len Glover: The Outsider By Albert Camus. Essential reading for Charlton fans! Bleak, depressing but nevertheless an uncomfortable ring of truth and thus compulsive. Only 116 pages or so.
Thanks for the recommendation, Len. Very good book. Compelling reading with, as you say, "an uncomfortable ring of truth". I'm glad that I also learned what The Cure song, "Killing an Arab" is about.
I found it was refreshing that it was so short (an easy two day read for me, and I'm a slow reader). I imagine that if someone tried to publish such a short story these days, the publishers would insist on an extra 300 pages of needless descriptions and sub-plots to make it fit the ubiquitous inch-thick novel format.
Comments
Especially the bit about Major Major Major Major.
I thought The Leopard was possibly the best Harry Hole, although surviving an avalanche seems highly unlikely.
Wallender's not bad, a tad slow.
I quite like the Nicci French books which are written by two people. Blue Monday is good.
Some people rave about the Jack Reader character but it's not for me.
For anyone who understands and enjoys AP, this is Coogan's (and Ianucci's) best work for years. Extremely funny without most of the excessive farces, written as an "Alan's Ashes" - style memoir. Refers to all the great Partridge moments with superb brash, opinionated, un-self-aware(!), clumsy comment throughout. Just very very funny.
Also picked up Napoleon and Wellington by Andrew Roberts yesterday for £4 from the second hand book stall on the south bank. Read a few pages and looks like it should be good. For a history graduate I know very little about Napoleon.
Just started "All hell Let Loose", WWII history by Max Hastings (I think). Early days but is interesting.
First passenger railway - Canterbury to Whistable, also sold the first ever season tickets.
(I'll get me flag)
MASSIVE.
3rd book finished now and looking forward to rest of the Rebus story
Azincourt - Bernard Cornwall. Good , easy to read historical novel about the English archers at Agincourt
Just starting Just Kids by Patti Smith and will then check out the new Jake Arnott Book, House of Rumour. Love Jake Arnott's work. So simple but so subversive and clever.
A good follow up, I have really enjoyed all his books, from an author who really knows the backbone of his novels (archeology, diving). Just done my first scuba session in Cyprus, amazing what I had already picked up from these
Hugo - I have the 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and disappeared as part of my holiday reading...good to see you liked it. Will let you know how I get on.
Thanks for the recommendation, Len. Very good book. Compelling reading with, as you say, "an uncomfortable ring of truth". I'm glad that I also learned what The Cure song, "Killing an Arab" is about.
I found it was refreshing that it was so short (an easy two day read for me, and I'm a slow reader). I imagine that if someone tried to publish such a short story these days, the publishers would insist on an extra 300 pages of needless descriptions and sub-plots to make it fit the ubiquitous inch-thick novel format.