Just about to finish "Modern Baptists" by James Wilcox. Not bad but nothing special given its supposedly a modern classic. Seen it described as a cross between Diary of a Nobody and Confederacy of Dunces but nowhere near as good as either.
'RCT, that's what I thought of Catcher in the Rye when I was a teenager and was told to read it. Ditto On the Road.'
I'll have nothing said about Brother Jack Kerouac.
Didn't get it. Listens to Jazz, gets drunk/stoned, borrows money of rich mummy and daddy when broke. Dull.
Now, see, this is a common misconception that Kerouac was a spoilt rich kid. His dad, who died when Kerouac was fairly young, lost his print shop in a flood and had to go on the road, so to speak, in search for work, and so was unemployed for long periods. His mum, meanwhile, was a shoe skiver, in that she basically cut the excess soles from shoes in a shoe factory.
'RCT, that's what I thought of Catcher in the Rye when I was a teenager and was told to read it. Ditto On the Road.'
I'll have nothing said about Brother Jack Kerouac.
Didn't get it. Listens to Jazz, gets drunk/stoned, borrows money of rich mummy and daddy when broke. Dull.
Now, see, this is a common misconception that Kerouac was a spoilt rich kid. His dad, who died when Kerouac was fairly young, lost his print shop in a flood and had to go on the road, so to speak, in search for work, and so was unemployed for long periods. His mum, meanwhile, was a shoe skiver, in that she basically cut the excess soles from shoes in a shoe factory.
Makes it worse that he was constantly poncing off her then. And if you re-read the book he is constantly taking money off her.
Then again Jack might just have been playing up the "poor old me" bit a little too much.
Well, I admit, I am a Kerouac apologist (that's him in my avatar). But, yes, I agree he did get drunk rather a lot. I have a recording of him p*ssed on a radio show, which makes it all the worse when the host says, 'Good morning, Jack'!
'RCT, that's what I thought of Catcher in the Rye when I was a teenager and was told to read it. Ditto On the Road.'
I'll have nothing said about Brother Jack Kerouac.
Didn't get it. Listens to Jazz, gets drunk/stoned, borrows money of rich mummy and daddy when broke. Dull.
I read about a chapter of Catcher in the Rye when I was 14 and found the kid to be such a boring whiney tool that I gave up. I've ofetn considered having another pop at it but by the sounds of it my initial assessment is only likely to be confirmed.
Dara O Briain, Tickling the English: A cross between a tour diary and a sociological study of Englishness from someone with an outside perspective. Intelligent, witty and well written. It's humorous throughout, but I did only have one genuine lol moment. If you're looking for a comedian-branded joke book you might be disappointed. If you'd prefer something amusing and insightful, I'd recommend it.
I did the Siege of Krishnapur for my English Literature O Level. Suffice to say, I could never read it again. Ever.
Ain't that the way with having to read books at school. I, like many I suspect, was put off of Shakespeare through school readings. I didn't appreciate Animal Farm, though I suspect its really good. And as for Cider with Bloody Rosie - I can't see me ever reading anything by Lawrie Lee now.
Good call, yes that was a good school read. I can't really think of any others though. I remember our English teacher having a really spirited attempt at getting us to chant the stuff in Zigger Zagger, but no-one in our class was interested in the slightest. He'd have had more success in the East Stand.
Superbly well-written and lucid book about America (& UK) and Al-Qaeda since 9/11. Very illuminating
Check your inbox, mate
And I've just finish Carte Blance the new jefferey Deaver James Bond novel. Never read any Bond books before or any Jeffrey Deaver but it was a good story and moved along well even if the ideas and baddies were a bit OTT in a very Bond film way.
Great call. Still love re reading Wild Sheep Chase. Did you know he has a new book out, currently only in Japanese. English launch soon, called ''1 Q 84.''
Can see why The Guardian praised him as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his works and achievements.
Just started reading "The World According to Garp", quite riveting. Never seen the film so no idea what to expect, but it's building up to something odd, I can tell.
Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Sometimes informative, sometimes entertaining, but rarely both at the same time. I'd recommend getting it out of the library and reading about apostrophes and commas; I wouldn't recommend buying it and reading it cover to cover. Truss explains, after Kingsley Amis, that when it comes to punctuation there are two types of people: berks and wankers. Before reading it I thought I would be more of a berk, but as it turns out I'm probably more of a wanker than I thought. Not a fully fledged one, but halfway between the two; maybe more of a werk or a berker. For all those wankers that think punctuation is unimportant, it's definitely worth a look, just to see all the examples where just one mis-placed comma can totally alter the meaning of a sentence.
Banksy: Wall & Piece. OK there's not a lot to read as it's chiefly a picture book, but it is absolutely fascinating.
A tad limited as more detailed information has since come been unearthed, particularly from the Soviet side, but it's clear that Clark undertook a lot of diligent research.However it cost me £1.99 from Oxfam so i'm not complaining.
Comments
Loved this, best book I've read this year so far.
Just finished The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry. Disappointed as it got bogged down is so much self analysis. Just tell us a funny story Steve.
Just about to finish "Modern Baptists" by James Wilcox. Not bad but nothing special given its supposedly a modern classic. Seen it described as a cross between Diary of a Nobody and Confederacy of Dunces but nowhere near as good as either.
Now, see, this is a common misconception that Kerouac was a spoilt rich kid. His dad, who died when Kerouac was fairly young, lost his print shop in a flood and had to go on the road, so to speak, in search for work, and so was unemployed for long periods. His mum, meanwhile, was a shoe skiver, in that she basically cut the excess soles from shoes in a shoe factory.
Then again Jack might just have been playing up the "poor old me" bit a little too much.
Catcher in the Rye is doubly good because you can sing the title to that song from 'The Snowman' - you know 'I'm walking in the sky' - thus:
'Catcher in the Rye
Is very very hard to read....
Catcher in the Rye, It'll make you cry' etc repeat forever :[[
The Longest War by Peter Bergen.
Superbly well-written and lucid book about America (& UK) and Al-Qaeda since 9/11. Very illuminating
Check your inbox, mate
And I've just finish Carte Blance the new jefferey Deaver James Bond novel. Never read any Bond books before or any Jeffrey Deaver but it was a good story and moved along well even if the ideas and baddies were a bit OTT in a very Bond film way.
Stranger in Paradise by R B Parker, the Raymond Chandler of the 21st century
Still wading through 'The Spanish Civil War' by Anthony Beevor
Still love re reading Wild Sheep Chase.
Did you know he has a new book out, currently only in Japanese.
English launch soon, called ''1 Q 84.''
Can see why The Guardian praised him as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his works and achievements.
Barbarossa - Alan Clark.
A tad limited as more detailed information has since come been unearthed, particularly from the Soviet side, but it's clear that Clark undertook a lot of diligent research.However it cost me £1.99 from Oxfam so i'm not complaining.