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Post by klee on Aug 17, 2006 13:00:58 GMT
Did anyone else hear the Women's Hour serialisation of Valley Of The Dolls? They did it as a serious drama. The effect was rather like if they'd cast Judi Dench as Nomi Malone in a remake of Showgirls.
Ditto everything said about Haruki Murakami. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Wild Sheep Chase are amazing in particular. And David Mitchell. And Nancy Mitford. She's like Jilly Cooper but with a command of the semi-colon and fewer scenes about wobbly bits.
Some of the best books I've read over the past couple of years have been by Michel Faber. I wouldn't start on his best-seller The Crimson Petal And The White because it's a bit overdone and not representative of the rest of his work. Try Under The Skin and The Courage Consort: both are dark, witty and fabulous.
Of course, if you want a literary and slightly bitchy read you can do no better than Muriel Spark, who is my book idol. A Far Cry From Kensington, which is about London in the 50s, is one of the few books that can make me laugh out loud.
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Post by xenomaniac on Aug 17, 2006 17:06:55 GMT
"Norwegian Wood" will naturally lead you on to the rest of Murakami's output (the short stories aren't great, but "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" is fab.) Then you will need to buy EVERYTHING by David Mitchell, and finally the greatest undiscovered English novelist of this generation - Glen Duncan, for whom you may need a strong stomach and good attention span, but who writes utterly sublimely. We possibly share the same bookcase. I didn't get on with Glen Duncan's last one though, I, Lucifer is an amazingly Lowculture book come to think of it. |
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puppydogstail
Jane Asher
She never cooks, she keeps a filthy house and she talks profanely!
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Post by puppydogstail on Aug 17, 2006 21:03:57 GMT
The City And The Pillar by Gore Vidal is fucking gut wrenching. I want to throw myself under a bus everytime I read it but I still go back at least once a year. Brilliant. In a tramatic kinda way. With bumming!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2006 22:40:08 GMT
Of course, if you want a literary and slightly bitchy read you can do no better than Muriel Spark, who is my book idol. A Far Cry From Kensington, which is about London in the 50s, is one of the few books that can make me laugh out loud. Obvious though they may seem, I'd recommend The Girls of Slender Means or The Finishing School above that one. She's one of those writers who's actually at her best when she doesn't give a fuck about her characters and will just let them double-cross each other and then she'll sit back and judge their coldness. Bloody Catholics. I have somehow got into the habit of recommending Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer and How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff to literally everyone, because they are fairly easy to read linguistically, but have very emotional and resonant storylines to get all involved with. Anything by Margaret Atwood also tends to do the trick, or anything by Kate Atkinson except Emotionally Weird. Hell, read the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum, it's fucking crazy and very, very dark. Speaking of dark, read The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. Validate your crush on a random person you hardly know. Go on, you know you want to. If you have a lot of spare time (it's about 500 pages), PopCo by Scarlett Thomas is a rather good post-No Logo action adventure story, about a Finsbury Park Codecracker's grand-daughter who now creates code-cracking kits for a multi-national children's toy corporation, then falls in with the NoCo crowd and attempts to use her grandfather's books to bring down their hold on commercial capital. Read some poetry! Specifically Matthew Welton's The Book of Matthew, and the brilliant Van Der Kerkhoff cycle of poems. Or read Wallace Stevens, or Ginsberg. Don't read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's dull and unfinishable. |
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Post by klee on Aug 21, 2006 8:37:35 GMT
She's one of those writers who's actually at her best when she doesn't give a fuck about her characters and will just let them double-cross each other and then she'll sit back and judge their coldness. Ooh, like that bit in Memento Mori when Dame Lettie gets beaten to death with her own walking stick. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a thoroughly chilling book. When it was published in 1979 the thought of the US becoming a one-party theocratic state was science fiction: now it's eminently plausible. I like Emotionally Weird: its plot devices are occasionally annoying but there are some high-larious set-pieces in them. |
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Post by jode* on Aug 21, 2006 9:43:39 GMT
Don't read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's dull and unfinishable. It took me 4 months... the longest ever for any book. The story never gets going, nor are there any captivating parts or characters at all. Yes, the final chapter is great but not worth it. I can't remember anything that happened, only the heart wrenching feeling when I was "only" half way through. Bah! It sucks. On a positive note, the hardback does look wicked on my bookshelf. I would recommend The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. It's a really great story and somehow it makes you feel smart. It's about a series of murders in a Monestry and a labyrinthine medieval library. There's an incredibly clever main monk guy who's task is to solve the mystery. The history is actually interesting (and I hate history) but you have to be prepared beforehand as it's not really an easy read. Great though. The movie (Sean Connery and Christian Slater no less) doesn't live up to the book at all. |
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Post by Michael on Aug 21, 2006 9:48:02 GMT
How I Live Now is a fantastic read. Terrifying and really, really upsetting. It's like one of those Wednesday afternoon dramas on BBC1. Only good.
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Post by Lucinda on Aug 22, 2006 13:51:28 GMT
I'm so glad I found this thread! Strangely enough, like Jen, I was going to re-read The Time Traveler's Wife as well because I wasn't having much luck with anything else. I most recently tried to get into Zadie Smith's On Beauty because about 2 summers ago I read White Teeth and remembered enjoying it on lazy summer days. Anyway, I don't know what's wrong with me, I really can't seem to focus on any reading right now and I'd sort of given up.
I have one that's not a novel to recommend - The Timewaster Letters by Robin Cooper. It makes you want to laugh so hard, you cry. It's this guy who writes to all these different organisations with all these wacky questions, suggestions and ideas, and the results are hilarious. My description doesn't really do it justice, but you must have a read of it!
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Post by Cherubic on Aug 24, 2006 13:56:05 GMT
The Time Traveller's Wife and Jonathan Strange... both just fell into that gap between appalling and great where I can't actually remember very much about what happens.
I can't decide whether I like Kafka or not. When I'm reading his books I'm caught up in them, but as soon as I put them down I just can't face picking them up again. It doesn't help that he never finished anything.
I really liked Paulo Koehlo's (sp?) The Alchemist. But then I felt like a dirty airport lounge hippy.
I really liked a book called 'Love and Empire' by Gabrielle Orsenna, which I was given in a taxi in the Takla Makan desert. It's French, but quite funny despite that.
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Post by smellslikesomeghost on Aug 24, 2006 15:59:52 GMT
I must recommend to everyone "All my friends are superheroes" by Andrew Kaufman. This is utterly irresistible. It's a slim volume, with an intriguing title and cover. It is so sweet, without being in any way saccharine. I feel like I don't want to give too much away but the central concept is that everyone that Tom is friends with really is a super hero, but their special powers are not what you would guess. I know several people who have read it (it is a read in one go kinda book) and men and women alike adore it in equal measure. Nobody has had a bad word to say about it at the bookshop, which is rare. It is the sort of book to give as a gift, but you'll need one for yourself too!
(Apologies that I have cut and pasted from my blog but I am in a rush.)
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Post by elmsyrup on Aug 24, 2006 22:04:00 GMT
Most recently I've read The Yellow Wallpaper and Pet Shop Boys vs. America. I thought I'd got over my wanting-to-marry-Neil-Tennant phase when I was 14, but no, it's back again.
Now I'm reading Taming The Beast by Emily Maguire- it's filthy- and some boy came up to me and started going on about how he's read it and it was great and full of smut, etc. Unexpected. He didn't look like he could read.
Ms. SLSG has the best taste in books. I want to work in a bookshop.
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Post by Jen on Aug 28, 2006 22:10:03 GMT
Thank you everyone for your recommendations- I am ordering a few from Amazon this week at random, and will let you know how I get on. It's such a shame I owe my library money and can't go there instead...
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Post by xenomaniac on Aug 28, 2006 23:54:23 GMT
Thank you everyone for your recommendations- I am ordering a few from Amazon this week at random, and will let you know how I get on. It's such a shame I owe my library money and can't go there instead... You should have an apostrophe added into your surname. I still owe Leeds Uni library rather a lot but my surname messed up their records. Edit: That post was rather unconstructive so I'll recommend Tibor Fischer's Under The Frog. Ignore the title, it's an amazingly funny story set in the most horrific circumstances. |
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Post by Adrian on Aug 30, 2006 9:38:56 GMT
I really liked Paulo Koehlo's (sp?) The Alchemist. Sorry, but you get smited for that. Valley of the Dolls by Jaqueline Susan. It's got it all - retro New York, drug and alcohol abuse, bitchy women, prima donnas, glitzy frocks... the lot. Did anyone else see the film about Jaqueline Susan on BBC2 recently. She was played by Dame Bette Midler. It was pretty damn awful, but also rather endearing. She talked to God, at a tree in Central Park, a lot. A |
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Post by Cherubic on Sept 2, 2006 16:24:29 GMT
I really liked Paulo Koehlo's (sp?) The Alchemist. Sorry, but you get smited for that. I know, I deserve it. But despite the fact that it's terrible new age crap with an irritating conclusion and poorly executed fantastical premise I really liked it. It cheered me up. I also liked 100 years of Solitude and whatever that book by Isabelle Allende is called. I'm a sucker for magic realist tosh. |
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richdidnt
Su Pollard
Rabbit not included.
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Post by richdidnt on Sept 2, 2006 19:32:00 GMT
If you like fantasy books then I'd recommend Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire which is perhaps the best book I have read in ages. It follows the story of Elphaba, from childhood, to Shiz University to how she became the Wicked Witch of the West. It's quite dark in some places, and while it did go on to inspire the Musical Wicked, there are thankfully no musical numbers in the book.
Also I love Stephen Kings The Stand, and try to read it once every few years although my copy is now fallen apart due to the size of it. And although it's not a novel I absolutely love Slow News Day by Andi Watson, about an American coming to work on a local English newspaper and then finding love.
Rich
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Post by thelovelykate on Sept 9, 2006 13:07:45 GMT
Sorry, but you get smited for that. I know, I deserve it. But despite the fact that it's terrible new age crap with an irritating conclusion and poorly executed fantastical premise I really liked it. It cheered me up. I also liked 100 years of Solitude and whatever that book by Isabelle Allende is called. I'm a sucker for magic realist tosh. You may want to try 'Veronika Decides To Die' also by Paulo Coelho. No magic at all and it is much darker than 'The Alchemist' (it's set in a metal institute in Eastern Europe). However it is still really uplifting. Great twist at the end which I really should have seen coming but didn't because I am quite slow. |
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Post by Adrian on Sept 12, 2006 22:47:52 GMT
You may want to try 'Veronika Decides To Die' also by Paulo Coelho. No magic at all and it is much darker than 'The Alchemist' (it's set in a metal institute in Eastern Europe). However it is still really uplifting. Great twist at the end which I really should have seen coming but didn't because I am quite slow. Hmm. Are you sure? I hate Paulo Coelho's books and the nonsense he spouts. I read The Devil and Miss Prym and hated it and then read The Alchemist to prove to myself that I would hate it. That said, I have always liked the title 'Veronika decides to die'. It evokes opulent Russian spy suicides, or some such. A |
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Post by thelovelykate on Sept 13, 2006 12:56:43 GMT
I can understand the hatred - they are all a bit like the sort of wishy washy leftie 'believe in yourself' books that Oprah would have on her Book Club.
However 'VDTD' is much better. It's set in Slovenia! In a mental asylum! It's always cold and snowing! Communism has made everyone really miserable (including Veronika, hence the death decision)!
Despite all of the misery (and there is a lot of it) it is still very thought provoking in an understated way. It's good stuff - honest.
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Lisa
Su Pollard
Campaigning for the ghostly return of Toby - always my favourite serial killer
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Post by Lisa on Nov 15, 2006 13:46:04 GMT
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey; possibly the best book I have ever read.
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Post by Adrian on Nov 17, 2006 12:10:10 GMT
It's also really fake. There's been a big controversy about the whether the author is writing truthfully or completely fabricating his story. Oprah was called in, the publishers had a lawsuit filed against them. It's all here in more or less detail: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_FreyA |
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Lisa
Su Pollard
Campaigning for the ghostly return of Toby - always my favourite serial killer
Posts: 454
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Post by Lisa on Nov 17, 2006 14:56:09 GMT
Thanks for that, I'd assumed a lot would have been exaggerated but didn't know it was such a controversy... maybe Oprah could have defended with Judge Judy prosecuting?! Even if I had my receipt I don't think I'd be demanding a refund though, it was still a bloody good read.
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Post by LoveMusic on Nov 22, 2006 16:54:06 GMT
I adore The lost art of keeping secrets by Eva Rice
If i could - i would marry it
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Post by SBaholic on Feb 17, 2007 23:56:29 GMT
Now I'm reading Taming The Beast by Emily Maguire- it's filthy- and some boy came up to me and started going on about how he's read it and it was great and full of smut, etc. Unexpected. He didn't look like he could read. Ooh, I've never known anyone else to have read this before. Did you enjoy it? (I assume you've finished it, since this post is from August or something. I rarely come on this board so I have just discovered this thread) It's very masochistic, but I can't remember much else about it because I read it so long ago. It was very good though - Emily Maguire's new one is out next month - called Gospel According to Luke which looks like it might be in the same vein, and therefore I'm really looking forward to it. I'm reading a lot about the dead recently because of my dissertation (how fun!) so have just finished reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, which I didn't really enjoy very much. I didn't really accept the concept, and there was something just generally mundane about it all. However, my next book on my how-to-cheer-myself-up-let's-read-about-death! list is proving so much better. I'm about halfway through Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead. It's lovely. So well written, engaging and comforting. I haven't read to the end yet, but I would wish everyone else to go out and read it too. |
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Post by Cherubic on Feb 19, 2007 8:40:14 GMT
I have come to the conclusion that Anthony Burgess is very good, even if A Clockwork Orange is the most annoying book ever written.
Read A Dead Man in Deptford, about Christopher Marlowe, gay slut and super spy, or Earthly Powers, which although only half way through is brilliant. It's long (so long I'm going to have to dose up on escapist crap when I've finished it) but worth it.
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