Una Veteran Member Posts:1721  
| 7/24/2006 4:37 PM |
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hmmm, Beckett V Orwell. I'm not sure if you can compare their technical modes of writing. I guess from a journalistic point of view, Orwell's books, articles and essays are the pinacle of economic writing. Non-fiction is different.
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GarVeteran Member Posts:1676
| 7/24/2006 4:39 PM |
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All depends on what you are after......
Music: 'Milk It!' by Jim DeRogatis
Sport: 'Booked!' by Tom Humphries
Film: 'Which Lie Did I Tell?' by William Goldman
I'd recommend anything by Mario Puzo, Graham Greene or Mark Bowden. I've recently read 'Forza Italia' by Paddy Agnew, 'Everyman' by Philip Roth and 'Paula Spencer' by Roddy Doyle, but just started in on 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan.
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palace Basic Member Posts:392
| 7/24/2006 4:52 PM |
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i'll bow to your greater knowledge from a journalistic point of view, una... you're becoming quite ubiquitous in your paper these days - fair play to you...
i was being slightly tongue in cheek because you can't get any more economical than beckett's late period stuff... if he could have written prose without using words, i'm sure he would have tried
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/24/2006 5:13 PM |
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"if he could have written prose without using words, i'm sure he would have tried" - that's a good one, must remember that.
thanks for the nice fair play remark :)
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Antistar Advanced Member Posts:544
| 7/24/2006 5:30 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
hmmm, Beckett V Orwell. I'm not sure if you can compare their technical modes of writing. I guess from a journalistic point of view, Orwell's books, articles and essays are the pinacle of economic writing. Non-fiction is different.
More of a Marian Keyes person myself. She's an absolute fcuking genius. Beckett and Orwell are NOTHING next to her. |
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AntistarAdvanced Member Posts:544
| 7/24/2006 5:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
hmmm, Beckett V Orwell. I'm not sure if you can compare their technical modes of writing. I guess from a journalistic point of view, Orwell's books, articles and essays are the pinacle of economic writing. Non-fiction is different.
Una, there are two Ns in 'pinnacle'!!! Anyway, what do I know-I don't write for a top-quality national Sunday broadsheet newspaper!!!!!! No offence, but poor spelling and misplaced apostrophes
does my head in. Rant over. Sorry. |
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 7/24/2006 9:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by palace
i don't know how to do that quote thing - how crap am i?
At the top of each post on a thread there are a couple of icons, it's the one with the little circle-y arrrow. If you're not sure, hover your mouse cursor over each icon and a description will appear next to your cursor. Alternatively you can just type quotes using forum code in the message box. Begin with quote in square brackets , type your quote and end with /quote in square brackets and it will appear as a quote
Thus ends any useful contribution I can make to a thread about books as all I seem to read for pleasure these days is articles like "Engine management for beginners" or "Do you need adjustable Coil-overs?"
Sad, but true. |
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palaceBasic Member Posts:392
| 7/25/2006 8:21 AM |
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quote:
Una, there are two Ns in 'pinnacle'
just trying out the quote thing - wonder if it worked...
...antistar, she may just have made a typo... i'm on a laptop and forever miss letters or mix them up...
...anyway, aside from that, i don't think spelling everything right is the be all and end all - it's the beauty of the words that count, isn't it?... if the idea's right and you understand it and you like the way it's written, then who gives a toss about spelling...
...and anyway, una will have her sub-editor to sort out those problems for her 
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Vent My SpleenAdvanced Member Posts:500
| 7/25/2006 9:23 AM |
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I'd recommend Papillion also, great read. For me, Camus and Beckett would be too much like hard work for hols. I like to put the old brain firmly in neutral.
If you are looking for some superior reading in the line of thrillers, anything by Michael Connelly or Henning Mankell would be my poolside recommendation. Particularly Mankell whose books are set in southern Sweden. The landscape is so foreign to our own as to be interesting for that alone.
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| 7/25/2006 9:27 AM |
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Oh i nearly forgot Amercian Pastoral by Philip Roth as well, great great book. And of course Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels which must be the most powerful and most carufully crafted book every written IM(H)O.
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off the postBasic Member Posts:284
| 7/25/2006 10:03 AM |
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Has anyone read "War and Peace"? Only started it on Monday nite. When I'm half way through it I'll come back with a more rounded opinion of it...which should be around Christmas..
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/25/2006 10:33 AM |
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my spelling is s**t. I have no problem admitting that fact.
I like John Connolly thrillers. I have only read Every Dead Thing and Dark Hollow (Dark/Black Hollow? Can't remember) but they are excellent holiday material.
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nerrawBasic Member Posts:475
| 7/25/2006 11:10 AM |
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Its not exactly holiday reading but at college I had to read The Trial by Franz Kafka.
Worth reading alone just to fully appreciate when someone describes something as kafkaesque.
His collection of short stories are also quite good. I don't read half as much as I should, will pick up some of the recommendations.
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GarVeteran Member Posts:1676
| 7/25/2006 11:14 AM |
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Una....You were right the first time, it's 'Dark Hollow'. One of the best things about Connolly is his taste in music, he's always namedropping bands in his books. In fact, I got a decent compilation cd with 'The Black Angel' that features acts such as Pinetop Seven, Kate Bush, Lambchop, Red House Painters, Neko Case and The Go-Betweens.
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ishrinkBasic Member Posts:195
| 7/25/2006 11:48 AM |
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Recent reads of mine I'd recommend;
Chronicles : Volume 1 - Bob Dylan
The Proud Highway - Hunter S Thompson
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/25/2006 12:05 PM |
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Gar: CD/Book combo - awesome!
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Vent My SpleenAdvanced Member Posts:500
| 7/25/2006 12:16 PM |
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Conolly also has a good blog on his site www.johnconolly.com if you are interested in how a writer practices his craft and the general things around it like promos, dealing with publishers etc etc
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AntistarAdvanced Member Posts:544
| 7/25/2006 1:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nerraw
Its not exactly holiday reading but at college I had to read The Trial by Franz Kafka.
Worth reading alone just to fully appreciate when someone describes something as kafkaesque.
His collection of short stories are also quite good. I don't read half as much as I should, will pick up some of the recommendations.
From "The Squid and the Whale": Trying to impress Sophie, Walt tells her she really should read Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," because it's a masterpiece. She does. And when she tries to discuss it with him, it becomes clear he hasn't read it himself. "It's very Kafkaesque," he says, trying to weasel out of any meaningful conversation. Pause. "It's written by Franz Kafka," Sophie says, deadpan. "It would have to be."
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/25/2006 2:21 PM |
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I love that film. It's the fillet of cinema.
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| 7/25/2006 2:53 PM |
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i love jesse eisenberg & owen kline's performances in that film....they were outstanding
as were jeff daniels and laura linney but i just wasn't expecting the level of intensity which was delivered by their younger co-stars
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