what are you reading?

[koogy]

didn't really enjoy David Copperfield when i read it last year. probably lots of classic dickens tropes in there (the house boat for instance), but something just didn't gel for me. it's apparently dicken's favourite (and most autobiographical). Great Expectations covers a lot of the same ground, i think, and i much preferred that. maybe if i'd read them the other way around...

> Just recently (finally) gotten into Neal Stephenson

Seveneyes is 99p on amazon today. worth getting? the first page of reviews is all 2/5...

[Jonesey]

I quite enjoyed The Old Curiosity Shop when I read it recently. My internal speech sounded exactly like Keeley Hawes (except for Mr. Quilp who for some reason sounded like Tyrion Lannister).

Couldn't get on with Bleak House, though...some genuinely funny moments but the narrative was somehow confusing.

[offyoutoddle]

just read into everywhere and (something's coming through before that) by Paul McAuley.

I do like his stuff, and this new series is an absolute joy

[Deckard]

Must recommend this short story anthology by Ted Chiang - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223 ... and_Others

The hell and heaven story about angels manifesting on earth and the incidental miracles and deaths they cause is probably already my fave short sci-fi story of all time

The rest are almost as good including a few very clever time travel stories along with a brilliant alien communication idea. Oh and the beauty filter (it removes beauty and makes everyone average) that people can wear is a marvellous on-trend conception delivered in the book in a great way. 10/10

A quote from the book from someone arguing against a beauty filter -

When you watch Olympic athletes in competition, does your self-esteem plummet? Of course not. On the contrary, you feel wonder and admiration; you're inspired that such exceptional individuals exist. So why can't we feels the same way about beauty?

[Baggypants]

I've been rooting around gutenberg and read "The man who was Thursday", "The Man who knew too much", and "The Club of Queer Trades" all by G.K. Chesterton. The last two are detective stories which pour a good deal of scorn on Holmeses methods. The first is a sort of spy romp that ends in a sort of weird spiritual journey like a 19th century version of 2001.

[Mark]

I've been rooting around gutenberg and read "The man who was Thursday", "The Man who knew too much", and "The Club of Queer Trades" all by G.K. Chesterton. The last two are detective stories which pour a good deal of scorn on Holmeses methods. The first is a sort of spy romp that ends in a sort of weird spiritual journey like a 19th century version of 2001.

I've just downloaded those three, ta. I'd heard the "Thursday" title before and was intrigued, but I'd never remember to seek it out if I hadn't read it here.

I followed up David Copperfield with Benjamin Disraeli's "Sybil". Enjoyed it. A little odd since it clearly has a political agenda, and so it swings between story and history lesson without skipping a beat. It's largely about the divide between rich and poor in England in the 19th Century, and as such it's actually probably become far more relevant in recent years than it has been for a while - scarily so at times, and worth reading for that alone. One thing I will say for Benjamin though - he's very good at squalor. There's some excellent descriptions of filth in here.

Also after both this and David Copperfield I've now got the word "benignant" stuck in my head. I'd never heard it before - but in the last month it's seemingly been in every chapter I've read. (It makes sense - malign -> malignant, benign -> benignant, but in 44 years I'd never seen it until starting DC...)

[Mark]

I just tore through Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes, which was great fun - full of hard bastards knocking seven shades of sunshine out of each other. I do like Abercrombie - he's like David Gemmel's evil twin.

I then started on King Solomon's mines which I'm about 20% of the way through. I didn't realise that this features Allan Quatermain. It's good fun so far and amusingly politically incorrect. Some lovely turns of phrase too. He describes one of his companions as having some skill at medicine, and then follows it with an example:

Whilst we were at Durban he cut off a Kafir's big toe in a way which it was a pleasure to see. But he was quite nonplussed when the Kafir, who had sat stolidly watching the operation, asked him to put on another, saying that a "white one" would do at a pinch.

[rowan]

I've been rooting around gutenberg and read "The man who was Thursday", "The Man who knew too much", and "The Club of Queer Trades" all by G.K. Chesterton. The last two are detective stories which pour a good deal of scorn on Holmeses methods. The first is a sort of spy romp that ends in a sort of weird spiritual journey like a 19th century version of 2001.

Totally rate all those. I like GKC. I have a 'Complete works of' that someone gave me which I've not started though, it's a real doorstep [to the point of being physically awkward to read.]
You can probably find the Count of Monte Cristo on Gutenberg + 3 Musketeers & sequels by Alexandre Dumas which I'd recommend, especially Monte Cristo.

I just finished reading Racing the Beam, a platform study of the Atari VCS and it's really well researched & presented with "just the right amount" of information [at least, for what I was wanting.]

[PFVA]

Black Out by Mark Elsberg.

Interesting.

(And when did i stop having stocks of canned food and water for 10 days in the house?)

[venusian]

A Very Short Introduction to Politics - Kenneth Minogue. Very dense, quite right wing: half a page for socialism, a scathing last chapter is a paean to small government. Seems to have been written in the 90s so untouched by problems since. Would suit pogo.

Utopia For Realists - Rutger Bregman, translated version. Polemic for Universal Income and a 15 hour workweek. Inspiring stuff, brings together lots of well referenced sources. Who knew Nixon was poised to launch a War On Poverty? Would not suit pogo.

Postcapitalism, A Guide to Our Future - Paul Mason. Mr Mason is a well known Marxist ("well to the left of Corbyn", he says himself). This is a closely argued book. Not convinced by some of it but I'm learning lots about Marx with the tedious problem of actually reading him. Might make pogo explode.

The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen. Got this free in an Amazon offer. Like getting a free 10 litre bucket of chocolate and anchovy ice cream. Annoying from the start but you think you might be able to eat around the fishy bits. But you can't and anyway that's just too much ice cream in one go. Only ate a third of it. No pogo rating.

[Istar]

You all know I'm a die-hard 6502 guy, but I've always wondered what it would be like to fly a TIE Fighter instead of an X-Wing, so I grabbed a copy of this from an Amazon seller in the US and am a couple of chapters in.

[Mark]

I've been rooting around gutenberg and read "The man who was Thursday", "The Man who knew too much", and "The Club of Queer Trades" all by G.K. Chesterton. The last two are detective stories which pour a good deal of scorn on Holmeses methods. The first is a sort of spy romp that ends in a sort of weird spiritual journey like a 19th century version of 2001.

Just finished Club of Queer Trades. It's just about the most fun thing I can remember reading (other than perhaps Winnie the Pooh). Absolutely loved it - had a silly grin on my face from cover to cover. A hint of Dirk Gently about it perhaps? Loved the writing style - some properly delicious turns of phrase throughout. I'll probably pester everyone I know to read it for some time to come. Moving straight on to The Man Who Knew Too Much now.

[Baggypants]

I've been rooting around gutenberg and read "The man who was Thursday", "The Man who knew too much", and "The Club of Queer Trades" all by G.K. Chesterton. The last two are detective stories which pour a good deal of scorn on Holmeses methods. The first is a sort of spy romp that ends in a sort of weird spiritual journey like a 19th century version of 2001.

Just finished Club of Queer Trades. It's just about the most fun thing I can remember reading (other than perhaps Winnie the Pooh). Absolutely loved it - had a silly grin on my face from cover to cover. A hint of Dirk Gently about it perhaps? Loved the writing style - some properly delicious turns of phrase throughout. I'll probably pester everyone I know to read it for some time to come. Moving straight on to The Man Who Knew Too Much now.

I'll never think the same way about anyone who lives in a house named after a tree ever again

[Mark]

You can probably find the Count of Monte Cristo on Gutenberg + 3 Musketeers & sequels by Alexandre Dumas which I'd recommend, especially Monte Cristo.

You can indeed find the Count of Monte Cristo on Gutenberg - I've just finished reading it, and it was fantastic. Very long, but properly ace. It's one of those titles I'd obviously heard of, but actually knew nothing about at all, so I came at it completely fresh. Loved it - thanks for the recommendation. I'll definitely grab the Musketeer books for later.

[Mat]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through "Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari, and it's thought provoking stuff. I'm not a massive reader of non-fiction, but this has really grabbed me. Maybe not one for the more religious people out there, or anyone who really "believes" in, well, anything.
But if you're an atheist in the first place, you'll find yourself nodding along a lot. He's had me rethinking my personal stances on money and capitalism, as well as empires and their necessity for governing large civilizations.

Recommended!