Books.

[Renegade]

What I found with 1984 was that not much happened in the first 200 or so pages and then with about 5 or 6 to go it gets quite good!

[Snow]

I find [Haruki Murakami's] novels very pleasant to read but they tend to leave me feeling a little empty in the end. 'Norwegian Wood' and 'A Wild Sheep Chase' are both worth a look. Some of his short stories are nice. Tell us what you think of Sputnik Sweetheart when you finish it.

I finished Sputnik Sweetheart this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. I very much like Murakami's style and found the book 'hard to put down', as they say. The central theme was loneliness/urban isolation (which I believe is a thread running through all his work). Slightly surreal towards the end. It's definitely left me wanting more though, so I'll snaffle up the other two you mentioned at the earliest opportunity.

[Caley Stan]

Hopefully it puts an end to your communist tendencies! I read it in the 1980s when the parallels with the USSR were stark. It was probably the only set text at school that had any impact on me.

"Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."

Capitalism has been more effective in producing these results than communism IMO. Orwell was a fan of neither and 1984 offers comment on both.

DornochCaley, given your interest in all things left wing, i would recommend that you continue to read Orwell, especially his autobiographical pieces such as Homage to Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier.

[TopSix]

The Forgotten Highlander is by far the best book I've read this summer. A horrific account of the FEPOWs but compelling and a must - read.

[+Wanderer]

'Juliet, Naked' Nick Hornby. Easygoing read for the baby boomer generation. A nice mix of music, internet, human interest...and Hornby can write. Liked it a lot.

'Arthur and George' Julian Barnes. A wonderful book that I missed when it came out. I like JB a lot but this is pure class. Beautiful prose, based on a true story, 'Arthur' is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It's crime fiction but very very well-written. Unputdownable.

Due to airports I kinda got waylaid this year by Lee Childs :_thumbdown: , Stieg Larsson (oh jesus is that first book awful) :_moon: , Robert Harris :_nonono: ...but I learned my lesson and never again will I go down the pulp fiction route.

[Tug]

Vulcan 607

fascinating book about the blackbuck bombing raid of the falklands war

[DornochCaley]

Hopefully it puts an end to your communist tendencies! I read it in the 1980s when the parallels with the USSR were stark. It was probably the only set text at school that had any impact on me.

"Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves."

Capitalism has been more effective in producing these results than communism IMO. Orwell was a fan of neither and 1984 offers comment on both.

DornochCaley, given your interest in all things left wing, i would recommend that you continue to read Orwell, especially his autobiographical pieces such as Homage to Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier.

Correct. He is neither. But Socialist he is!

Thanks, i will give them ago. Homage to Catalonia was next on my list anyway after i finish "Fighters Against Facsism" that i recently got from the Imprerial War Museium.

The Forgotten Highlander is by far the best book I've read this summer. A horrific account of the FEPOWs but compelling and a must - read.

Yep, fantastic. I have been ranting about it since i finished it. Unbelievable tbh.

Just finished a fantastic book called "Daddy". It seems this year has been a good one when it comes to reading for me as it is another MUST read.

It is set during WW2.. An 11 year old boy is on the run from the Gestapo in France and his Father is sent to help him. Little does the boy know that this American is actually his father. He is on the run because his mother held codes to a vast sum of money. The Gestapo were hoping to find the boy in exchange for the codes off the woman.

Fantastic read and i finished all 370 pages in a day! Just could not put it down.

[Tug]

Cityboy. beer and loathing in the Square mile by Gerraint Anderson

Intresting book with a disclaimer at the front that it is fiction but the tales in it are also based round his life so not quite sure where the embelishment lies but an interesting read nonetheless about how a chancer can find himself earning massive sums of money for having the gift of the gab really