What Book Are You Reading Now?

fuzzy

Under-the-ground I read The Power and the Glory last year. The tension in it is gripping isn't it? He paints such striking scenes with so few words. I love those kind of 'reluctant hero' type characters and all. Where their strength of character isn't apparent at first but emerges as the book progesses.

I very rarely use the word awesome but when I read books by people like him I'm genuinely in awe of their talent. Read a few of his last year.

Harvest

fuzzy I'm just looking on my shelf. I've got/read The Human Factor, Our Man In Havana, Travels With My Aunt and Brighton Rock - which is ace as is the film.

fuzzy

Harvest Think I might get Brighton Rock for holiday reading in Llandudno in a couple of weeks actually.

I read The End of the Affair and the Heart of the Matter along with Power and the Glory last year. All exceptionally good. There's a lot to go at with him isn't there. Prolific bastard. Hemingway is another I keep meaning to explore. Only read a couple of his and enjoyed them a lot.

Under-the-ground

fuzzy going to give heart of the matter a go. Also on the list is the lighthouse one on here.

I promised myself I will give the first f Scot Fitzgerald book a go. What a talent he was

Harvest

fuzzy Yeh, Brighton Rock's a belter. Llandudno is also a belter. Went there for a few days with my lad when we did the lad/dad trips to Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland over three different summers. The other quieter beach is great for sitting on a rock and staring nonchalantly into the distance.

I get Hemingway mixed up with Steinbeck for some reason. I don't think I've ever read any Hemingway but should. Steinbeck, I've read The Grapes of Wrath which I loved and also Travels With Charlie. Only read The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, like most people I imagine.

fuzzy

Under-the-ground Read a Hemingway memoir of when he was in Paris in the 20s and mates with Scott Fitzgerald. Some funny bits. Pair of piss pots. Like Withnail and I and Fitzgerald was the drama queen. But yes, some writer. I read a few by him in the 90s. I remember I liked his short stories best.

Young_Marxist_at_Tescos

Harvest Brighton Rock’s got one of the best opening lines ever.

CBIT

Harvest Remember reading The Red Pony at primary school, jeez thats some ending.

Harvest

Young_Marxist_at_Tescos Just checked. Yep, sets the tone perfectly.

Travis_Bickle

Kevin_Stapleton ordered this from Waterstones today.

Anchor

Travis_Bickle Throughly enjoyimng this yin.

Harvest

CBIT Not familiar with that one.

Rudi

One of the best things Fitzgerald wrote was The Crack-Up, written in a sanatorium after suffering an alcohol induced nervous breakdown. Someone once told me that you should read all the Fitzgerald you can get your hands on, then read all the Hemingway to flush the Fitzgerald out of your system. Hemingway wrote some amazing stories and virtually invented a writing style, but I can't get on with people who kill animals to prove how hard they are. Typed standing up as well, Hemingway. A Clean, Well Lighted Place is one of the best short stories ever.

Jon

Rudi Was Hemingway a journalist before he started writing? Sure I read somewhere that that’s how his style evolved.

Greene had his books divided into his novels and his entertainments. Our Man In Havana is one of my all time favourite books. I can’t imagine humour is in anyway easy to write.

Rudi

Jon Yeah, he reported on the Spanish Civil War. The Sun Also Rises is a good book. There's a financial transaction on virtually every page. "The world is a good place to buy into."
Greene, I've not read a lot of him. I should, really.

Jon

Read a really good book last year, a kind of bio of Louis Bromfield (I’d never heard of him) who was one of those expats in Paris but fucked off to the country. Seems he out sold them all in his day and thought they were all chums but there was a lot of back biting among that set. Still, they’d all go up to his gaff for the weekend and drink his wine. He seemed more into his garden than the highlife.

Harvest

This thread from the last few days has made me add about six books to my list. Can everyone stop recommending good stuff to read.

albert_herbert_hawkins

Natives by Akala, it's not great.

Harvest

Just reading about Graham Greene on Wiki. He's from the brewing family ie Greene King. So there you have it.

fuzzy

Harvest I never knew that! Their IPA is quite nice if you want to drink all day and not get too trollied. You could probably still read a good Graham Greene book on it. You couldn't say that about Stella.

Harvest

fuzzy Not that I drink it but Stella's come down in strength a bit I understand. Less wife-beating tackle now, more heated argument.

Jon

fuzzy Their IPA is quite nice if you want to drink all day and not get too trollied.

Is this something new? I’d be smashed after an hour these days.

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