Dave James Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 As close to actually being there as I'd ever want to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Percival Everett: Assumption The most disturbing Everett book that I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Le Carré's latest. Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong? You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years. I couldn't follow Tinker either. Struggled to the end then got rid of the copies of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People that I had been planning to read next. I consoled myself while reading Tinker with spotting instances of bad grammar and poor sentence construction. A pity, as I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 I finished Pharr's S.R.O. Definitely an underground classic. Some parts are a bit repetitive, but it actually has some interesting echoes of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. I am trying to wrap up Ellison's Juneteenth for Black History Month. It certainly has some strong passages, but overall kind of diffuse and unfocused. I suppose that is what happens when a book is written and rewritten and rewritten. I can't even imagine reading the entire thing that came out a couple of years ago. It is supposedly three times as long. On the bus, I am reading Banville's The Sea, which won the Booker Prize in 2005. I find it very much in the spirit and perhaps even style of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 As close to actually being there as I'd ever want to get. I thought it was a brilliant book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 As close to actually being there as I'd ever want to get. I thought it was a brilliant book. So did I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Le Carré's latest. Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong? You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years. I couldn't follow Tinker either. Struggled to the end then got rid of the copies of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People that I had been planning to read next. I consoled myself while reading Tinker with spotting instances of bad grammar and poor sentence construction. A pity, as I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. You surprise me Crisp. Those three novels, published collectively as 'Smiley vs Karla' are easily my favourite Le Carre's and are generally regarded as not only his best work but the best of the genre. While they all have complex plots I never found them particularly difficult to follow, just superb storytelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Le Carré's latest. Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong? You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years. I couldn't follow Tinker either. Struggled to the end then got rid of the copies of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People that I had been planning to read next. I consoled myself while reading Tinker with spotting instances of bad grammar and poor sentence construction. A pity, as I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. You surprise me Crisp. Those three novels, published collectively as 'Smiley vs Karla' are easily my favourite Le Carre's and are generally regarded as not only his best work but the best of the genre. While they all have complex plots I never found them particularly difficult to follow, just superb storytelling. Part of the problem may be that Le Carré deliberately sets out to mystify the reader as part of his narrative method. Very often his central characters don't know what's going on themselves, particularly in the earlier parts of the books. His use of secret service jargon ("lamplighters" etc) without explanation is another factor. But all gets resolved eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Glad you guys are discussing Le Carre; after seeing the Gary Oldman flick, I'm ready to dive in. Any suggestions as to where to start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Glad you guys are discussing Le Carre; after seeing the Gary Oldman flick, I'm ready to dive in. Any suggestions as to where to start? In view of the way the discussion has gone, start with a shorter, early one. I think The looking Glass War is great - full of atmosphere from the first page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Glad you guys are discussing Le Carre; after seeing the Gary Oldman flick, I'm ready to dive in. Any suggestions as to where to start? In view of the way the discussion has gone, start with a shorter, early one. I think The looking Glass War is great - full of atmosphere from the first page. Good choice. 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' would be another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Shalom Auslander: Hope: A Tragedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Glad you guys are discussing Le Carre; after seeing the Gary Oldman flick, I'm ready to dive in. Any suggestions as to where to start? In view of the way the discussion has gone, start with a shorter, early one. I think The looking Glass War is great - full of atmosphere from the first page. Good choice. 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' would be another. Am currently reading the more recent Le Carrés and have just finished this: While they don't equal the earlier classics, they still stand out nowadays as exemplary writing. Of these newer ones, the best I've come across so far is this, but I haven't got to the end of the list yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Dana Spiotta: Stone Arabia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 The liner note booklet to Dylan Bootleg Vols. 1-3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Peter Lovesey - Swing, Swing Together: A Sergeant Cribb Investigation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Finally started Now Wait for Last Year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Continuing my journey through this series - this time an evocative setting in Cambridge. You'd never know the writer was American given her geographically accurate descriptions of various parts of Britain and her character descriptions. Enjoying this long but engaging biography. He's just arrived in Gaul and is chasing down the Helvitti. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Elmore Leonard - Pronto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 You surprise me Crisp. Those three novels, published collectively as 'Smiley vs Karla' are easily my favourite Le Carre's and are generally regarded as not only his best work but the best of the genre. While they all have complex plots I never found them particularly difficult to follow, just superb storytelling. Perhaps because I'm a journalist, I'm rather into simple, solid sentences these days, so perhaps that's part of the problem I had with Tinker. As I said, I didn't read the others, although I started Schoolboy before abandoning it. I'm currently reading Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, which has a complicated structure and grapples with some quite ineffable themes but is a masterpiece of clarity. The odd Oxford comma aside, each sentence is beautifully composed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Maugham was an awesome writer. I need to re-read some of his novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crisp Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 This my first Maugham, though I've long been aware of his work. I also have Of Human Bondage lined up. Which ones are your favourites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Of Human Bondage is superb. I did it for 'A' Level in 1972-3..and still enjoyed it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Elmore Leonard - Pronto Must try that one. Just finished this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 I need to read that one day. I've seen two movies adapted from it, and enjoyed them both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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