I've read a number over the last two or three months;
"The Gathering" by Anne Enright (2007) - a woman from a dysfunctional Irish family seeks to come to terms with the recent death of her emotionally damaged brother. The backcloth is one of festering family secrets and warped recollections over three generations. Very well written but, for me, no better than a 6 out of 10.
"The Ghost Road" by Pat Barker (1995) - the third book in Barker's regeneration trilogy, although it can, in my view, be read perfectly well on a stand alone basis. It looks at the impact of the First World War on those caught up in its horrors, including Rivers, the psychiatrist tasked with treating some of the worst affected men returning from the front. An excellent read and a thoroughly deserving winner of the Booker Prize.
"A Month of Sundays" by John Updike (1974) - a disgraced clergyman - a serial shagger, who is obsessed with sex - is sent away to a retreat for a month to contemplate the error of his ways. Needless to say, he doesn't. As with most of Updike's work, very funny.
"I, Claudius" by Robert Graves (1934) - written as Claudius' autobiography, Robert Graves looks at the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome. The characterisation is superb and the book is loaded with interesting historical detail, without in any sense weighing it down. A tremendous piece of work, which I unhesitatingly recommend. It was subsequently made into that superb BBC series.
"The Magus" by John Fowles (1977) - set on a remote Greek island, the protagonist finds himself caught up in a game of deception and trickery with the rich and elderly owner of a large, remote villa. A good piece of psychological fiction and critically acclaimed, although I thought that - at 656 pages - Fowles took a little too long to get the story out.
"The Life and Times of Michael K" by J.M.Coetzee (1983) - another Booker Prize winner. A simple young gardener in South Africa tries to take his mother away from the violence in the city to find a new life in the countryside but he is thwarted at every turn. A stark and superbly written tale, that pulls no punches.
"Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) - it revolves around the fire-bombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut witnessed himself as a POW. The story is told through the bizarre perceptions and hallucinations (not to mention time travel) of Billy Pilgrim. A most unusual novel - very funny and there are almost shades of Catch 22 in some of Billy's ramblings.
On a separate note, I tend to get nearly everything out of library these days. It preserves space in the house, utilises a very important local service and saves money (which can then be spent/squandered on away trips - delete as appropriate).
Magnus Mills - All Quiet On The Orient Express, one of them strangely sinister books that hardly anything happens in but increases your paranoia even when just going to the post office.
No time for goodbye - Linwood Barclay. Another intriguing mystery about a woman's search for answers about her family who disappeared overnight twenty five years before.
About halfway through The Nowhere Men, a book about the 'unseen world' of football scouts, where the author spends time with several different scouts.
The detail that these guys look at players is incredible but they tend to be vastly underpaid and undervalued, particularly with the increase in technology.
Charlton get a few mentions. One chapter is about a Sheff Utd scout visiting the Valley to scout their upcoming opponents Colchester Utd (game we lost 2-0 - "Charlton were abject"). No real mention of our players but some interesting comments about certain players - on Wordsworth: "talented player but cheating himself, happy picking up two grand and being the best player in an average team".
Sordell gets a mention from a few years back. Was an angry young man who would sometimes have to be taken off to calm down. Coaches weren't sure about him but then he'd do something out of nothing and smash it in the bottom corner.
'The Making of Tesco' .. not as dry or as propagandic and boring as one might suppose as it was written by a Tesco PR gal .. good story and also an interesting slant on English social history, especially post WW2
"The Definitive Biography" of Ian Dury, by Will Birch (Sidgwick & Jackson, 2010) - available secondhand for a song through Amazon. Dury (1942-2000) had a fascinating life - crippled by polio, bullied at boarding school, trained as a painter under Peter Blake at the RCA, worked as a tutor at art college, a punk-poet pioneer of the 1970s London pub-rock circuit. Then the massive hits with The Blockheads, commercial decline, and reinvention as an actor. This is a rattling good read, highly recommended to musos of a certain age....
Just finishing yet another Rebus (A Question of Blood) - cracking read. Watched the TV adaptation of it a fortnight ago, a little resemblance to the written story, but not much.
'The Cuckoo's Calling' .. J K Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith) .. just brilliant .. a really amusing, intriguing read .. much better than 'The Casual Vacancy' .. this could be the start of a whole new detective series
Really enjoying the Luminaries, this year's Booker prize winner. A great big modern day Dickensian kind of a novel set in the Neq Zealand gold rush of the mid 19th century.
I've had a break recently. Ibrahimovic's book was alright, Steinbeck's The Pearl was as good as expected. I have Of Mice and Men in the post and Hemingway's A Call to Arms on my phone. I basically picked the Hemingway as it was described as bleak, I've said I'll give some sci-fi a go so will also try to get something depressing. I've had a couple recommended but I can't remember their names.
I've had a break recently. Ibrahimovic's book was alright, Steinbeck's The Pearl was as good as expected. I have Of Mice and Men in the post and Hemingway's A Call to Arms on my phone. I basically picked the Hemingway as it was described as bleak, I've said I'll give some sci-fi a go so will also try to get something depressing. I've had a couple recommended but I can't remember their names.
Sorry but I don't get this. reading has always been a joy for me so why would you read something depressing when you have already decided that that's what it will be?
I get that your attempting to read some classics/ new or different genres but take each book at face value and don't pre judge. What someone calls depressing may be uplifting to you depending on your situation at the time of reading. Everybody has their own view and opinion and yours or mine is as valid as the next mans. For example I find Pratchett hugely depressing mostly because I don't think he writes very well and is way too amused by his own so called cleverness and fourth form idea of humour. On the other hand I know very intelligent, well read people who think he is somewhere up there with Shakespeare.
As I said don't pre judge and don't feel you have to read something just because you have been told it's depressing and therefore worthy of your time.
Just finished Linwood Barclay's "Fear the Worst" - best one of his I have read so far. Hope they make it into a film.
I really enjoy ol Linwood's books, I have 'A Tap on the Window' and will read it soon .. for me, 'No Time to Say Goodbye', his first, is still his best
I've had a break recently. Ibrahimovic's book was alright, Steinbeck's The Pearl was as good as expected. I have Of Mice and Men in the post and Hemingway's A Call to Arms on my phone. I basically picked the Hemingway as it was described as bleak, I've said I'll give some sci-fi a go so will also try to get something depressing. I've had a couple recommended but I can't remember their names.
Sorry but I don't get this. reading has always been a joy for me so why would you read something depressing when you have already decided that that's what it will be?
People read books for all kinds of reasons. Loads of people like misery fiction like "A child called It", or aspirational chick-lit stuff or comedy or thrillers. Melancholia can certainly be pleasurable and much of the best poetry is bleak. Wouldn't seek out depressing novels but I wouldn't avoid them either.
This book is a portrait of post industrial Scotland constructed from narrative snapshots of a group of apparently disparate characters. The narrative starts with from Michael, struggling with writing the the catalogue for a big gallery retrospective of his father's photos, to Don Lennie, the conservative socialist, and then to Peter Bond, a spy who decided to drop his real name - Jimmy. The smells sights and character of Scotland ooze from the pages, it is epic in many ways.
This is easily my book of the year. Books like this can become turgid and heavy, but James Robertson has made it accessible to everyone. I have been absolutely mesmerised by it.
I've had a break recently. Ibrahimovic's book was alright, Steinbeck's The Pearl was as good as expected. I have Of Mice and Men in the post and Hemingway's A Call to Arms on my phone. I basically picked the Hemingway as it was described as bleak, I've said I'll give some sci-fi a go so will also try to get something depressing. I've had a couple recommended but I can't remember their names.
Sorry but I don't get this. reading has always been a joy for me so why would you read something depressing when you have already decided that that's what it will be?
I get that your attempting to read some classics/ new or different genres but take each book at face value and don't pre judge. What someone calls depressing may be uplifting to you depending on your situation at the time of reading. Everybody has their own view and opinion and yours or mine is as valid as the next mans. For example I find Pratchett hugely depressing mostly because I don't think he writes very well and is way too amused by his own so called cleverness and fourth form idea of humour. On the other hand I know very intelligent, well read people who think he is somewhere up there with Shakespeare.
As I said don't pre judge and don't feel you have to read something just because you have been told it's depressing and therefore worthy of your time.
The most enjoyable and fulfilling books I have read this year have been The Grapes of Wrath and 1984. I like something that makes me sit and contemplate, so it's not necessarily in order to bum me out but to appreciate and ponder during and afterwards. The books that seem to make me do that most are rather bleak.
My favourite films have somewhat hopeless endings, it's probably a progression from that. However, I don't confine myself to movies like Mulholland Drive and Apocalypse Now.
I've just finished East of Eden. It was very good, I love Steinbeck's more abstract, insightful parts. I'll check out the film in the next couple of days as well.
Before that A Call to Arms was decent though a bit too much of a love story for my personal taste, then Cormac McCarthy's The Road. That was cool, I came across that by accident and I'll be reading Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West fairly soon. I've been recommended Ender's Game for a sci-fi so I'll try that for a change of pace next.
Currently reading 'untouchables' a book by journalists about corruption in the met police in the 80's and 90's. A few years old now but it is a he'll or an eye opener. Sometimes relies too much on believing the stories of one over another even though both sides have history of being economical either the truth. That said if even a small amount of it is true then it is pretty damming.
A life too short: The tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng. It's been mentioned on here before. Tragic and very moving. Anybody who has been touched by depression will see parallels and for anybody who hasn't it will be a bit of an eye opener.
A house on fire: The rise and fall of Philadelphia soul by John A.Jackson What it says on the tin really. Good account of Philly Soul covering a period from the sixties through it's heyday in the seventies.
Magnus Mills - The Restraint of Beasts. Darkly humorous, and - like everything else he's written - vaguely unsettling Christian Wolmar- Broken Rails. Dissects how bad privatisation was for the railways - specifically Railtrack Matthew Gast - 802.11n: A Survivial Guide. A riveting read from start to finish (not)
Wagons West The epic storey of Americas overland trails by Frank McLynn. Real cowboy and Indian stuff. Fascinating.
I really enjoyed this one (what I can remember of it) .. I've been doing fiction .. 'Doctor Sleep' by Stephen King .. he's almost back to his old best .. and that is brilliant bordering on genius
Comments
"The Gathering" by Anne Enright (2007) - a woman from a dysfunctional Irish family seeks to come to terms with the recent death of her emotionally damaged brother. The backcloth is one of festering family secrets and warped recollections over three generations. Very well written but, for me, no better than a 6 out of 10.
"The Ghost Road" by Pat Barker (1995) - the third book in Barker's regeneration trilogy, although it can, in my view, be read perfectly well on a stand alone basis. It looks at the impact of the First World War on those caught up in its horrors, including Rivers, the psychiatrist tasked with treating some of the worst affected men returning from the front. An excellent read and a thoroughly deserving winner of the Booker Prize.
"A Month of Sundays" by John Updike (1974) - a disgraced clergyman - a serial shagger, who is obsessed with sex - is sent away to a retreat for a month to contemplate the error of his ways. Needless to say, he doesn't. As with most of Updike's work, very funny.
"I, Claudius" by Robert Graves (1934) - written as Claudius' autobiography, Robert Graves looks at the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome. The characterisation is superb and the book is loaded with interesting historical detail, without in any sense weighing it down. A tremendous piece of work, which I unhesitatingly recommend. It was subsequently made into that superb BBC series.
"The Magus" by John Fowles (1977) - set on a remote Greek island, the protagonist finds himself caught up in a game of deception and trickery with the rich and elderly owner of a large, remote villa. A good piece of psychological fiction and critically acclaimed, although I thought that - at 656 pages - Fowles took a little too long to get the story out.
"The Life and Times of Michael K" by J.M.Coetzee (1983) - another Booker Prize winner. A simple young gardener in South Africa tries to take his mother away from the violence in the city to find a new life in the countryside but he is thwarted at every turn. A stark and superbly written tale, that pulls no punches.
"Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) - it revolves around the fire-bombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut witnessed himself as a POW. The story is told through the bizarre perceptions and hallucinations (not to mention time travel) of Billy Pilgrim. A most unusual novel - very funny and there are almost shades of Catch 22 in some of Billy's ramblings.
On a separate note, I tend to get nearly everything out of library these days. It preserves space in the house, utilises a very important local service and saves money (which can then be spent/squandered on away trips - delete as appropriate).
The detail that these guys look at players is incredible but they tend to be vastly underpaid and undervalued, particularly with the increase in technology.
Charlton get a few mentions. One chapter is about a Sheff Utd scout visiting the Valley to scout their upcoming opponents Colchester Utd (game we lost 2-0 - "Charlton were abject"). No real mention of our players but some interesting comments about certain players - on Wordsworth: "talented player but cheating himself, happy picking up two grand and being the best player in an average team".
Sordell gets a mention from a few years back. Was an angry young man who would sometimes have to be taken off to calm down. Coaches weren't sure about him but then he'd do something out of nothing and smash it in the bottom corner.
Enjoying it very much.
Blood River-----Tim Butcher----A journey across The Congo. Africa at its worst-----a good read.
Kindness of Strangers----Mike Mcintre . A journey across the USA pennyless
I get that your attempting to read some classics/ new or different genres but take each book at face value and don't pre judge. What someone calls depressing may be uplifting to you depending on your situation at the time of reading. Everybody has their own view and opinion and yours or mine is as valid as the next mans. For example I find Pratchett hugely depressing mostly because I don't think he writes very well and is way too amused by his own so called cleverness and fourth form idea of humour. On the other hand I know very intelligent, well read people who think he is somewhere up there with Shakespeare.
As I said don't pre judge and don't feel you have to read something just because you have been told it's depressing and therefore worthy of your time.
This book is a portrait of post industrial Scotland constructed from narrative snapshots of a group of apparently disparate characters. The narrative starts with from Michael, struggling with writing the the catalogue for a big gallery retrospective of his father's photos, to Don Lennie, the conservative socialist, and then to Peter Bond, a spy who decided to drop his real name - Jimmy. The smells sights and character of Scotland ooze from the pages, it is epic in many ways.
This is easily my book of the year. Books like this can become turgid and heavy, but James Robertson has made it accessible to everyone. I have been absolutely mesmerised by it.
My favourite films have somewhat hopeless endings, it's probably a progression from that. However, I don't confine myself to movies like Mulholland Drive and Apocalypse Now.
Before that A Call to Arms was decent though a bit too much of a love story for my personal taste, then Cormac McCarthy's The Road. That was cool, I came across that by accident and I'll be reading Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West fairly soon. I've been recommended Ender's Game for a sci-fi so I'll try that for a change of pace next.
A life too short: The tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng. It's been mentioned on here before. Tragic and very moving. Anybody who has been touched by depression will see parallels and for anybody who hasn't it will be a bit of an eye opener.
A house on fire: The rise and fall of Philadelphia soul by John A.Jackson
What it says on the tin really. Good account of Philly Soul covering a period from the sixties through it's heyday in the seventies.
Christian Wolmar- Broken Rails. Dissects how bad privatisation was for the railways - specifically Railtrack
Matthew Gast - 802.11n: A Survivial Guide. A riveting read from start to finish (not)
The epic storey of Americas overland trails by Frank McLynn.
Real cowboy and Indian stuff.
Fascinating.