One of the things I miss about reading for study is the sensation of falling for an author and devouring them - among others, Douglas Coupland shaped my sixth-form existence and my third year of university was made all the more perverted and perverse by Chuck Palahniuk.
Last year I read The Sirens of Titan about two weeks before Kurt Vonnegut's death (completely co-incidentally, honest) and enjoyed it so much that I'm planning a bit of a Vonnegut-fest for this autumn. Anyway, here's a choice quote from Mother Night to give you a measure of the man:
Drawn crudely in the dust of three window-panes were a swastika, a hammer and sickle, and the Stars and Stripes. I had drawn the three symbols weeks before, at the conclusion of an argument about patriotism with Kraft. I had given a hearty cheer for each symbol, demonstrating to Kraft the meaning of patriotism to, respectively, a Nazi, a Communist, and an American. "Hooray, hooray, hooray," I'd said.
Oh and feel free to visit my Amazon Wish List if you'd like to donate to my worthy cause ;)
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Weekend of Books
The weekend in dear, dear Ipswich necessitated the expected amount of train travel which , in turn, necessitated a lot of reading. In the last few years I've fallen into the habit of only reading at bedtime (for no more noble reason than I tend to spend my bus journey to and from work in the world of iPod and my evenings either working or socialising) but this weekend I spent a good 10 hours, all told, immersed in Bit of a Blur - Alex James' dense account of his years as part of Blur - and On Chesil Beach - the Ian McEwan Booker Prize nominated novella.
Bit of a Blur was a fun read - an unexpectedly well written romp through britpop from the inside. I was surprised about at how little nostalgia it stirred in me - although too young and too provincial to have really been a part of britpop, I watched avidly from the sidelines and was there in my own small way. I do remember being furious at not being allowed to go to Mile End but I made several pilgrimages to The Good Mixer, the Camden pub where Graham Coxon famously held court. Essentially, though, as James (who I never met) reminds me, the spirit of louche cleverness of the people involved and their inimitable sense of cool was never going to be mastered by a 13 year old private school girl from Ipswich, no matter how hard she tried.
Anyway, I love Ian McEwan.
I always feel he's at his best with partnerships - the kinship-resentment of long term friendship played out in Amsterdam makes it easily one of my favourite books and On Chesil Beach bests even that. Maybe it owes a little to my joy at rediscovering the pleasure of unencumbered reading but this soaring, tragic love story lifted and broke me in a way I wasn't expecting. If you haven't already (and, admittedly, I'm a good 18 months late on this one), go read.
Bit of a Blur was a fun read - an unexpectedly well written romp through britpop from the inside. I was surprised about at how little nostalgia it stirred in me - although too young and too provincial to have really been a part of britpop, I watched avidly from the sidelines and was there in my own small way. I do remember being furious at not being allowed to go to Mile End but I made several pilgrimages to The Good Mixer, the Camden pub where Graham Coxon famously held court. Essentially, though, as James (who I never met) reminds me, the spirit of louche cleverness of the people involved and their inimitable sense of cool was never going to be mastered by a 13 year old private school girl from Ipswich, no matter how hard she tried.
Anyway, I love Ian McEwan.
I always feel he's at his best with partnerships - the kinship-resentment of long term friendship played out in Amsterdam makes it easily one of my favourite books and On Chesil Beach bests even that. Maybe it owes a little to my joy at rediscovering the pleasure of unencumbered reading but this soaring, tragic love story lifted and broke me in a way I wasn't expecting. If you haven't already (and, admittedly, I'm a good 18 months late on this one), go read.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Currently Reading 03.07.08
A Home at the End of the World
Is great and won a Pulizer prize but (I've just discovered) was made into a film staring...wait for it...Colin Farrell. Yeuch!
Also, and call me a complete pleb, but I can't help comparing it to Tales From the City (even if I do find it better written, with fleshier characters and a more interesting exploration of their journeying sexuality).
The Kite Runner
Like, a billion years later than everyone else.
Is great and won a Pulizer prize but (I've just discovered) was made into a film staring...wait for it...Colin Farrell. Yeuch!
Also, and call me a complete pleb, but I can't help comparing it to Tales From the City (even if I do find it better written, with fleshier characters and a more interesting exploration of their journeying sexuality).
The Kite Runner
Like, a billion years later than everyone else.
Monday, 16 June 2008
Currently Reading 16.06.08
Will try to keep this fairly regularly updated, although I'm nowhere near articulate enough to actually review the books I read, even in my own mind.
A very non-fiction haul for me - I've been reading A Year of Living Biblically for months in a rather half-arsed way, someone gave me Stasiland about a week ago and I can't put it down and I picked up Flat Earth News last night and was immediately hooked.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Wild Swimming from Amazon but I guess that doesn't really count as a "book I'm reading". Any suggestions for some fiction to balance this lot out?
A very non-fiction haul for me - I've been reading A Year of Living Biblically for months in a rather half-arsed way, someone gave me Stasiland about a week ago and I can't put it down and I picked up Flat Earth News last night and was immediately hooked.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Wild Swimming from Amazon but I guess that doesn't really count as a "book I'm reading". Any suggestions for some fiction to balance this lot out?
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