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Thread: Read a good book lately?

  1. #1036
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    Book review? - Real life saga!

    The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories - Ilan Pappe. https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asi...Channel=system looks like it could be an interesting read.

  2. #1037
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    the time travellers wife

    i'm going to affront the authorress by doing that most offensive of things, and compare it to the movie.

    the movie doesn't hold an unlit wax taper, let alone a candle, to this book.
    thoroughly lacking the poetry, the sex, the chalance. the vintage, the music, even the places.

    to pay dues, the movie would necessarily be about 4 hours long. and it would be great. it should probably star jennifer connelly, a "leon" era natalie portman or soarise ronan, and... i don't even know someone who could do it better than banna. maybe dan akroyd.

    written in a diary-entry style from the two agonists' perspectives (i think she could have added the daughter, but perhaps that would have taken something from it... i think she would have done it to good effect), the style almost got tedious a couple of times, but shelving that, the narrative is so well put on that you'd forgive it.

    I could wank on for a while on this one, but verbiage would be ultimately pointless. to use the same word twice in a sentence: beautiful, just fucking beautiful.

  3. #1038
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    Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front, a German 19 year olds transition from being at school to cannon fodder on the Western Front in

    WW1.

    The idea that wars should be fought by the people who want them but fought by others never seems to have caught on.

    Banned by the Nazi's in the 1930's and Erich Maria Remarque had his citizenship removed and exiled.

    These days he probably would have just disappeared and Hitler would have said whats the fuss about, can we have some more weapons please,

    and we'll keep an eye on the Russians for you.
    DeMyer's Laws - an argument that consists primarily of rambling quotes isn't worth bothering with.

  4. #1039
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    Quote Originally Posted by Voltaire View Post
    Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front, a German 19 year olds transition from being at school to cannon fodder on the Western Front in WW1.The idea that wars should be fought by the people who want them but fought by others never seems to have caught on.Banned by the Nazi's in the 1930's and Erich Maria Remarque had his citizenship removed and exiled.These days he probably would have just disappeared and Hitler would have said whats the fuss about, can we have some more weapons please, and we'll keep an eye on the Russians for you.
    Iirc it was a good read, gritty and real, right to the very last page.
    Last edited by eldog; 29th October 2018 at 09:05. Reason: A good read

    READ AND UDESTAND

  5. #1040
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    Quote Originally Posted by Voltaire View Post
    Just finished All Quiet on the Western Front, a German 19 year olds transition from being at school to cannon fodder on the Western Front in WW1.
    The idea that wars should be fought by the people who want them but fought by others never seems to have caught on.
    Indeed...
    I just finished a book "Forgotten Voices of the Falklands" which consists of transcripts of interviews with all sorts of participants. The feeling that the politicians on all sides had let everybody down was pretty strong. Then the general soldiery again had to pay the price of poor decisions by the brass.
    High miles, engine knock, rusty chrome, worn pegs...
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  6. #1041
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    Rocket Man

    Just finished this book about the life if Pete Conrad, fighter pilot, astronaut and entrepreneur. Fascinating story, easy to read and not filled with jargon. A solid 10 out of 10.

  7. #1042
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    Silence of the Lambs (set)

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading the complete set of four Hannibal Lecter books.

    Unusually, the films are almost as brilliant as the books thanks to superb acting and cinematography, but the books coupled with my vivid imagination trump them.

    I enjoyed the books so much that I rationed myself to a few minutes of actual reading per day (in the "reading room") plus several hours to digest each delicious morsel. The writing is exceptional - horrific in parts, of course, but the sinister way the tension builds throughout is unparalleled. Fabulous story-telling.

    15 out of 10 for Silence of the Lambs, 9 out of 10 for Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, and 6 out of 10 for Red Dragon (the prequel - not as coherent and polished as the rest).

  8. #1043
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    The Nutters Club, Mike King.
    A useful insight as to what it might be like to be suffering from mental illness, in many different forms. Well done Mike and thank you.
    Only a Rat can win a Rat Race!

  9. #1044
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    https://www.bookdepository.com/Autob...7359671&sr=1-2


    The Autobiography of James T Kirk, "edited" by David Goodman.

    I loved this but I had decided to engage full Star Trek NERD MODE before starting.

    It's well done, and a pleasing distraction from all the work related stuff I should be reading.

    Fans only of the well-known documentary series STAR TREK need apply.
    I thought elections were decided by angry posts on social media. - F5 Dave

  10. #1045
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    Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

    Biographical account of his time in the Spanish Civil War in the Barcelona area.

    Another Civil War fought in Proxy supplied by Superpowers who then were Nazi Germany and the USSR.

    Orwell went there as he saw it as the working class Vs the the wealthy land owners/church, but he who supplies the weapons calls the

    shots and in this case the Communists hijacked it.

    His dealings with the various communist splinter groups and their Soviet methods formed the basis for 1984.
    DeMyer's Laws - an argument that consists primarily of rambling quotes isn't worth bothering with.

  11. #1046
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    https://www.bookdepository.com/Beast...6252917&sr=1-1

    I am about half way through this. It is fascinating. I am a late convert to the Beastie Boys but I am thoroughly enjoyng this. Worth it for the NYC music survey of the first couple of chapters and their early iteration as a hardcore band.... which I sort of knew about but hadn t really explored.
    I thought elections were decided by angry posts on social media. - F5 Dave

  12. #1047
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    I'm dipping my toes into this tome of awe and edification.

    Modernist Cuisine. The Art and Science of Cooking

    I found a memory stick in my man bag, no, the one I carry my school stuff in. This book is on it, all 6 volumes. 2Gb PDF.

    This book is better than the internet. For me, food nerd. It shows a new world which prior to today I was never aware of. It's a document created by people, 40 or so, over 5 years in a space where money was no object. This experimental kitchen has a machine shop to build or customise equipment. Centrifuges, ultra sonic cleaners, MAPP and oxyacetylene are common equipment for recipes.

    The result of an ex Microsoft dudes ideas. On him! Nathan Myhrvold

    I would love to have it on my (reinforced, 18kg of paper) book shelf but it's very spendy.

    Physically it must be stunning, digitally its beautiful. This book demonstrates why we should never get rid of books, a writers vision in a tactile form.

    I'm off now, this book has the general appeal of rabbit punches to your kidneys. But is genuinely a stunning work!
    Manopausal.

  13. #1048
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    A Biker's Life, Henry Cole.

    I liked it. Gets a bit bitsy in the last third but up till then it's great... had me laughing quite a few times. Henry has been places and done things, as they say... He's straight to the point so it's a very direct style. Lots of strong opinions (agreed with nearly all of them), I'm not going to say it's literature by any means but still good reading.

  14. #1049
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    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

  15. #1050
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    Quote Originally Posted by OddDuck View Post
    A Biker's Life, Henry Cole.

    He's straight to the point so it's a very direct style.
    If it's anything like his TV show he'll use 16 words when he could have used 5
    "If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough power."


    Quote Originally Posted by scracha View Post
    Even BP would shy away from cleaning up a sidecar oil spill.
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Zevon
    Send Lawyers, guns and money, the shit has hit the fan

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