ejp626 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Wrapped up Shamsie's Kartography. Quite interesting in the way somewhat muted-fairy tale elements are used throughout. Anya Ulinich's Petropolis. It starts off seeming it will be A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian written from the perspective of the mail-order bride (though she ends up in the US not the UK in this novel). But it has more layers than that and was overall a fairly fun romp. Just starting Narayan's Mr. Sampath: The Printer of Malgudi. Looks very promising. I've put my name in the library queue for some of Tony Judt's later essay collections, so I might be reading some non-fiction come Feb. That's probably about the same time I will be tackling Mahfouz's The Cairo Trilogy. Quote
jazzbo Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Decided to join the throngs who have read this book and its companions and see what the fuss is. Quote
Van Basten II Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Decided to join the throngs who have read this book and its companions and see what the fuss is. My 5 cents, the first book is better than it gets weaker for each following effort, it's not great litterature by any means, to be quite mean you're kinda of happy there won't be a 4th volume the themes are interesting about how machist Sweden is and what really goes on there behing the cover of social-democracy , but in a way the writer makes a mess of them all. Still kudos for creating a character like Lisbeth Sallander. Wouldn't be suprised if she gets a life outside of Larsson's imagination. Quote
jlhoots Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 Decided to join the throngs who have read this book and its companions and see what the fuss is. My 5 cents, the first book is better than it gets weaker for each following effort, it's not great litterature by any means, to be quite mean you're kinda of happy there won't be a 4th volume the themes are interesting about how machist Sweden is and what really goes on there behing the cover of social-democracy , but in a way the writer makes a mess of them all. Still kudos for creating a character like Lisbeth Sallander. Wouldn't be suprised if she gets a life outside of Larsson's imagination. I enjoyed all 3 of them. Found them to be compulsively readable. Quote
MartyJazz Posted January 19, 2011 Report Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids and the Long Con that is Breaking America by Matt Taibbi Using much colorful language, Taibbi basically excoriates Wall Street investment bankers who have acted (and continue to act) fraudulently without fear of reprisal due to a Congress and Federal government that are in collusion with the perps. An entire chapter titled "Biggest Asshole In The Universe" is devoted to Alan Greenspan, damning him for purposefully and stupidly eviscerating much of the regulation that existed before he became chief of the Fed. The result of this collusion is described as a giant "casino" that effectively has destroyed the savings of many Americans while rewarding the super wealthy for considerable graft and corruption. An entertaining, if somewhat depressing, read. Edited January 19, 2011 by MartyJazz Quote
Matthew Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 After recently re-reading three Raymond Chandler novels, I'm now reading a biography of him by Tom Hiney. Fascinating to get the background to Philip Marlowe! Thanks for posting this book, I was able to check out a copy from the local library. I kept meaning to read Chandler's biography at some point, and you gave me a nice shove. Quote
BillF Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 After recently re-reading three Raymond Chandler novels, I'm now reading a biography of him by Tom Hiney. Fascinating to get the background to Philip Marlowe! Thanks for posting this book, I was able to check out a copy from the local library. I kept meaning to read Chandler's biography at some point, and you gave me a nice shove. Mine was a library copy, too, but I was so impressed by it that I've bought a used copy from Amazon for the princely sum of £2.74! Quote
Matthew Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 A Legend In The Making: The New York Yankees In 1939 by Richard J. Tofel. Nice book on the '39 Yankees, which was the year that Lou Gehrig had to quit baseball because of ALS (which in America in known as "Lou Gehrig's disease). Many consider this one of the best teams of all-time. Interesting cast of characters, with Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Red Ruffing, etc. Ghost of Miles: If you haven't read it yet, I think you'd enjoy it. Quote
GA Russell Posted January 27, 2011 Report Posted January 27, 2011 This week I read The Highly Effective Detective by Richard Yancey. Very light reading with a lot of laughs. I had never heard of it before two months ago, but The Mystery Guild and its sister clubs are offering an anthology of two of the novels, and I figured that they were probably pretty good for them to do that. So I took a flyer, and I'm glad I did. Tonight I start a similar Mystery Guild anthology I was unfamiliar with, Double Negative by David Carkeet. Quote
BruceH Posted January 28, 2011 Report Posted January 28, 2011 Decided to join the throngs who have read this book and its companions and see what the fuss is. My 5 cents, the first book is better than it gets weaker for each following effort, it's not great litterature by any means, to be quite mean you're kinda of happy there won't be a 4th volume the themes are interesting about how machist Sweden is and what really goes on there behing the cover of social-democracy , but in a way the writer makes a mess of them all. Still kudos for creating a character like Lisbeth Sallander. Wouldn't be suprised if she gets a life outside of Larsson's imagination. I found the second to be the weakest, mainly because Lisbeth is gone for a large chunk of the book. Thought things improved a bit with the third, but have to agree that the first is the best, as far as I'm concerned. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted January 28, 2011 Report Posted January 28, 2011 Enjoyed this greatly - not 'great literature' (or should that be 'fine letters'?) but an engaging read. Very strange - a long way from your usual detective novel. A strange women keeps a paralysed intruder in her cellar! Quote
Matthew Posted January 31, 2011 Report Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) The Ultimate Weird Tales Collection by Clark Ashton Smith. Nice short stories in the H. P Lovecraft vein, very enjoyable. Edited January 31, 2011 by Matthew Quote
Chicago Expat Posted January 31, 2011 Report Posted January 31, 2011 Clarence Cooper, Jr. - "Black" also reading... Mike Carey & Peter Gross - "Unwritten" Quote
jlhoots Posted February 1, 2011 Report Posted February 1, 2011 David Fulmer: Lost River (the 4th Valentin St. Cyr mystery). I hope there'll be a 5th. Quote
paul secor Posted February 5, 2011 Report Posted February 5, 2011 Louis Armstrong - A Self Portrait Short book consisting of Louis Armstrong's words from a magazine interview plus some photographs. Nice to read Louis' own words without some critic/sociologist interpeting them. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Posted February 6, 2011 Enjoyed Shamsie's Broken Verses quite a bit. Wasn't that taken with the last quarter or so of Narayan's Mr. Sampath. I found the first third of Narayan's The Financial Expert kind of hard going, but it has picked up midway. I think my favorite of his books so far is The Bachelor of Arts, but I also enjoyed The English Teacher. On deck - Shamsie Burnt Shadows Nabokov Invitation to a Beheading and finally Mahfouz Cairo Trilogy Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted February 13, 2011 Report Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) Really enjoyed this very disturbing book about a young, isolated narcissist. Psychological issues lead him to forget points of stress in his life - the book unfolds what happens in the gaps. Set in Cambridge at the time I was at University elsewhere - very good sense of time and place and, like Jonathan Coe's 'The Rotter's Club', bang on in its musical references. Edited February 13, 2011 by A Lark Ascending Quote
paul secor Posted February 14, 2011 Report Posted February 14, 2011 Really enjoyed this very disturbing book about a young, isolated narcissist. Psychological issues lead him to forget points of stress in his life - the book unfolds what happens in the gaps. Set in Cambridge at the time I was at University elsewhere - very good sense of time and place and, like Jonathan Coe's 'The Rotter's Club', bang on in its musical references. Read it a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. As you say, it is a disturbing book. I'm sure that some of the academic references went by me, but I did enjoy what I was able to pick up on. Quote
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