The Book Club

I'm just about finished with You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers and will move onto the last couple of stories in Murakami's After The Quake before reading either an Iain M. Banks novel or some classic lit that I've had lying around for yons.

Originally posted by Budvar Huber

Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope I also read a number of film-related books recently, including a book of screenplays by Werner Herzog, Herzog's travel notebook "Of Walking in Ice,"

Where did you find a copy of this book?

I read Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland" and really liked it a lot. I then read "South of the Border, West of the Sun" and wasn't a thrilled about that. Any other recommendations by this author?

Right now, I'm reading "Down and Out in Paris and London" by Orwell.

Just got past the intros to Tolkien's 'The Silmarillion'.

Now that book really is hard work!

Another one I started, put down, and never went back to. I read The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and then started The Silmarillion. Started, but never finished.

Thanks for that lads!

Really looking forward to starting into it now. :D

I was one of the fortunate that received a copy of The Hobbit when the original movie came out. I do not think I even tried to read it.

Originally posted by Element115 Thanks for that lads! Really looking forward to starting into it now. :D

No problem. We're here to help.

Originally posted by Lickmodem > Originally posted by Budvar Huber> > > > Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope> > I also read a number of film-related books recently, including a book of screenplays by Werner Herzog, Herzog's travel notebook "Of Walking in Ice," > > > > Where did you find a copy of this book?>

'Of Walking in Ice' and the screenplays (there are several volumes of those) I found in the library at my university. I'm not sure where it can be found, as it's not exactly well-known. He walks from Munich to Paris on foot during the winter of 1974, breaking into people's empty vacation homes for shelter when inns were not available. A short little book, but you can see bits of things he was thinking about that eventually made it into later films, such as Heart of Glass and Stroszek.

Originally posted by Buffer Low > Originally posted by His Holiness, The Pope> The best book I've read in a long time was "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Then I re-read one of my very all-time favorite books, "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Goethe not long ago. Then I read "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs, which was very unlike the Cronenberg movie and rather rambling, though it had some great fragments. I also read a number of film-related books recently, including a book of screenplays by Werner Herzog, Herzog's travel notebook "Of Walking in Ice," a Cinema Theory book, Hitchcock on Hitchcock, the book of the film "El Topo" by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and the Arrabal play "Fando y Lis." Then I just finished "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" by De Quincey, and last night I started on "The Monk" by Antonin Artaud. But seriously...I don't read that much.

David, i can't believe that all the books you have listed i have read, my favourite is "one hundred years of solitude" the ending just killed me. At the moment i'm reading "dude, where's my country" by michael moore (brilliant stuff) and yesterday i finished reading kurt cobain's journals (depressing but fascinating at the same time). How did you come across De Quincey's "confessions of an english opium eater? I must have first read that book 15 years ago, i still find it heartbreaking, especially when he meets that girl on the streets. I loved the ending of 100 Years. I walked around in a daze for about an hour after reading it. Probably the best ending I've read in a book. De Quincey and Burroughs I both spotted probably 5 years ago but never bothered to read until just recently.

Next on my list are Maldoror by Lautreamont, Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez, and Justine by De Sade.

For any fellow baseball nuts out there (hello? any? ), I would recommend Roger Angell's latest book, Game Time. I picked this up on a whim at the library on New Year's Eve, and have been going through it since. It's a collection of his baseball pieces in the New Yorker and is a great sports read, way better than a lot of the other baseball books at my local library :D

So anyway, if you like reading about the players and the game, this is a good one to pick up

Originally posted by Budvar Huber Right now I am reading "Open World: The Truth about globalisation" by Philippe Legrain. A positive view of the so called globalisation. Quite easy to read, full of real world examples, it reads like an extended magazine article: controversial, long on the facts and not unnecesarily dwelling on the theory, a mistake often made by the pro-globalisation establishment which "gives the impression of caring more about dogma than it does about people"

I want to recommend also any of the Kurt Wallander books by the swedish author Henning Mankell. Dark, bleak crime stories beautifully written and full of verve and passion. If you like Ian Rankin you'll love Mankell.

Bit tired of reading currently. Do you think the Philippe Legrain book adds something new / different to Noreena Hertz "The Silent Takeover - Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy"? Read most of the Henning books last year while on holiday. They are pretty well written. Some others perhaps worthwhile:

• Doing Nothing - Steven Harrison
• anything from Cesare Pavese f.e. Lavorare Stanca (working is tiresome?) or his diary
• You are not a stranger here - Adam Haslett (just read one short story from it; intense)

Books I recommend:-

"Unknown Pleasures" Jason Cowley "Noise Abatement" Carol Anne Davis "The Outsider" Albert Camus "Kinski Uncut" Klaus Kinski "Krautrocksampler" Julian Cope "Nothing" Paul Morley

Originally posted by Positone > Originally posted by Budvar Huber> Right now I am reading "Open World: The Truth about globalisation" by Philippe Legrain. A positive view of the so called globalisation. Quite easy to read, full of real world examples, it reads like an extended magazine article: controversial, long on the facts and not unnecesarily dwelling on the theory, a mistake often made by the pro-globalisation establishment which "gives the impression of caring more about dogma than it does about people"> > I want to recommend also any of the Kurt Wallander books by the swedish author Henning Mankell. Dark, bleak crime stories beautifully written and full of verve and passion. If you like Ian Rankin you'll love Mankell.

Bit tired of reading currently. Do you think the Philippe Legrain book adds something new / different to Noreena Hertz "The Silent Takeover - Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy"? Read most of the Henning books last year while on holiday. They are pretty well written. Some others perhaps worthwhile:

• Doing Nothing - Steven Harrison
• anything from Cesare Pavese f.e. Lavorare Stanca (working is tiresome?) or his diary
• You are not a stranger here - Adam Haslett (just read one short story from it; intense)

Well, Noreena Hertz is, although from a quite civilised standing, against globalisation, while Legrain is, much as myself, in favour of it. I think both books when read together give you, whatever your personal stance on the subject is, a wholer view of the problem.

I just picked up George Plimpton's Shadow Box at a used book sale at the library yesterday, I'm about sixty pages into it so I can't really "recommend" it overall. But based on what I've read so far, it's pretty good, especially for something I hardly consider a sport (boxing, which is now more scripted than rasslin' matches)

Originally posted by Budvar Huber

Well, Noreena Hertz is, although from a quite civilised standing, against globalisation, while Legrain is, much as myself, in favour of it. I think both books when read together give you, whatever your personal stance on the subject is, a wholer view of the problem.

Civilised: yes i can see your point. She doesn't make a standpoint against globalisation as far as i could read. There are a lot of examples of what globalisation can mean; also for people. But i will see if i can get hold of the Legrain book. Thanks for the reading suggestion anyway.

Originally posted by Adam Tate Books I recommend:-"Nothing" Paul Morley

Unfortunately don't go to the bookstores as often as I used to, and that book has popped into my mind more than a few times since its initial publishing, yet I somehow forget to look for it. Just checked, and it was published here in the states, so I'll go buy or order it tomorrow.

Originally posted by Green > Originally posted by Adam Tate> Books I recommend:-> > > "Nothing" Paul Morley

Unfortunately don't go to the bookstores as often as I used to, and that book has popped into my mind more than a few times since its initial publishing, yet I somehow forget to look for it. Just checked, and it was published here in the states, so I'll go buy or order it tomorrow.

Smart move - "Nothing" is hilarious (despite serious subject matter related to the suicide of Morley's father). As expected there is a lot discussion of Joy Division all in Morley's unique style.

reading what has to be the best book ever to be kept in the bathroom - midnight in the garden of evel kenievel.

a collection of the work of a daily telegraph sports columnist who writes about sport & sports people on telly.

hilatious & great to dip into