As for Lord of the Rings, I love the story about Tolkein dribbling on to CS Lewis (who wrote Narnia) about his next instalment of LOTR. Lewis was clearly bored to to a coma as Tolkein outline the plot: 'Not another fucking dwarf'. Class!!
Catch 22 is not only a brilliant book it has given a phrase that everyone (most) understands even though they might not know its origin. I loathed The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. I read it hoping that I could like something in it but came to the conclusion that it was shite and pretentious shite at that. Emperor's new clothes and all that. Has anyone actually finished A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking? Apparently it is the most unfinished-read book BUT looks great on a coffee table!
I did, but it was a struggle, and the vast majority of it never went in. All I can really remember are the graphs explaining whether we'd end up with a Big Crunch to go with the Big Bang.
Managed to slog my way through Lord of the Rings, but by the time I got my hands on the 3rd part from the school library I was having real trouble remembering what had happened in the 1st one. The main book I can recall giving up in frustration was Wuthering Heights. Great romance my arse! Just the trials and tribulations of a bunch of unpleasant people who quite frankly deserve each other, and not in a good way.
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco is worth avoiding. I did finish it a number of years ago, but I couldn't tell you anything about it other than there was a dodgy publishing house involved and it explained what Foucault's Pendulum actually is for (an experiment to demonstrate the earth's rotation, just in case you were wondering).
A journalist said to Joseph Heller in 1999 that he hadn't written anything as good since he wrote Catch 22. Heller replied "No one else has either."
Can this be the same Heller that Lord Romford met and described as the most humble famous person ever?
Yes. Bear in mind the context. The journalist was being overly vicious (though, to be fair, he was right) and Heller responded with wit and bravado (and, to be fair, if you consider the popular critical acclaim for and social influence of Catch-22 and compare that to every book since, he was probably right too.) To be honest, Heller may well have treated journalists like shit for his entire career, but he treated me and my fellow booksellers like valued human beings and was genuinely lovely.
That is good to hear Lord R. Catch 22 is my favourite book of all time
Someone called Major Major Major is called up to the army and within four days promoted to the rank of Major by an IBM with a sense of humour. That still makes me laugh.
I would spring to the defence of the book Cloud Atlas. It's odd, certainly, but it does all make sense in the end. You just have to be a bit patient before the loose ends tie up.
Cant imagine what the film is like, but will wait for a very dreary Sunday afternoon before I invest 3 hours in it.
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Managed to slog my way through Lord of the Rings, but by the time I got my hands on the 3rd part from the school library I was having real trouble remembering what had happened in the 1st one. The main book I can recall giving up in frustration was Wuthering Heights. Great romance my arse! Just the trials and tribulations of a bunch of unpleasant people who quite frankly deserve each other, and not in a good way.
Bear in mind the context. The journalist was being overly vicious (though, to be fair, he was right) and Heller responded with wit and bravado (and, to be fair, if you consider the popular critical acclaim for and social influence of Catch-22 and compare that to every book since, he was probably right too.)
To be honest, Heller may well have treated journalists like shit for his entire career, but he treated me and my fellow booksellers like valued human beings and was genuinely lovely.
Cant imagine what the film is like, but will wait for a very dreary Sunday afternoon before I invest 3 hours in it.