My Name Is America: The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty. I couldnt put this book down, and finished it in like in like 5 hours. It's a journal by a Marine that was in the Vietnam War. I thought this would be the proper time to read it becuase after all tomarrow is Memorial Day.
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
Recently, I haven't really had that much time for reading and so unfortunately I can't remember the last book that I did manage to read.
Alfred Hitchcock: the Complete Films is not exactly the most analytical book out there on Hitchcock's works, but it nicely spans the entirety of the great director's career. It does give a lot of interesting background on his earlier films, though, and there are quite a few nice stills and promo photos from each of his films. Recommended for someone who is somewhat familiar with his works and wants to know a little more about his films.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
A couple of years ago I began re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia, this time in the later chronological ordering. The Horse and His Boy, which was the fifth book if I remember correctly, is now the third. This book always had the least impact on me in the series. For some reason Edmund, Lucy, and Susan seem very unfamiliar to me in this book...like friends who have drifted away and don't speak to you anymore.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
I just finished YOLT and TMWTGG, now it is time to buy and read all the others.
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett. Great hero/anti-hero, a half-breed Thai vice cop, son of a Thai prostitute and an American GI. Reads like Gorky Park.
Hilly...you old devil!
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
Again, not sure. I started Silverfin, but now my mate has convinced me to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so that I will be fully prepared when the 6th one is released.
Out of the Flames takes a look at the life and work of Michael Servetus and the impact of his discovery of blood circulation to the heart and lungs and his revisionist Christianimi Restitution (sorry if I spelled that incorrectly) on history. There are also lots of side trips into European history of the 1600's and the schism within the Protestant church between Calvin and ohers. It's definitely an interesting read even if you don't consider yourself to be a theologian or historian.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
scaramanga1The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
Currently reading No Deals Mr. Bond by John Gardner, recently finished Colonel Sun again, and also started reading for the second time the amazing yet you really have to be dedicated to read novel called House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. The last one is a book that is worthy of a cult following as it is quite amazing in structure -yet really works if you stick with it and can be bothered to use a mirror sometimes whilst reading it. Has to be one of the most eery books I've ever read.
Me too DFXX. I used to think she was the only good author in this world, but now I know she is second behind Dean Koontz. I've read all 46 of his books, so right now I'm reading Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, it is a little better than the movie, and the movie was great.
While I am a huge fan of Vladimir Nabokov, his playfully cryptic prose can cause any reader's head to run around in circles upon reading some of his work for the first time. Such is the case with the Eye, a semi-satirical take on the detective novel and commentary on the nature of the intertwined relationship between identity and memory after death. There are a lot of existential moments concerning the multifaceted nature of the unchanging self (etre en soi, sorry about the lack of accent marks). Wait a minute, Nabokov had a beef with Sartre, so I'm probably going to have to reread this again before I really figure out what's going on. But if you're interested in philosophy and absurdity you'll probably like this novel.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
scaramanga1The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
I have just finished reading Bullitt the novel which was written by Robert L. Pike is what the famous film of the same name -starring Steve McQueen was based on. It was a really enjoyable hard boiled detective novel -its a quick read and enjoyable -the film is quite different from the original in many ways but the you can see that this novel is the main influence for it.
I also recently read The Silver Mistress -a Modesty Blaise novel by Peter O'Donnell - as ever this was a great escapist romp with Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin working in tandem against formiddable odds. Top drawer stuff.
I'm returning to Fleming now and reading Goldfinger for the first time in years!
Once more a brilliant book by the master of weirdness. I love all the weirdness he puts in his books and I couldn't stop reading this 800 page book. And after finishing the last page I wanted to email him and telle him hey were is the rest......
The " X-( " is probably because you read it for school. Jane Eyre is a great novel; it's one that can best be appreciated when it isn't being shoved down your throat.
Walden Two by famous psychologist B.F. Skinner envisages a utopian society designed by principles of behavioral engineering. Few details are given as to the actual implementation of the intervention design; the book focuses mostly on the philosophical issues of behavior modification and its effects on politics and human nature. The book sparked controversy over Skinner's assertion that there is no such thing as free will; freedom in his utopian society was freedom from aversive control, better known as punishment. The individual's actions are dictated by various influences from the external environment.
The ideas presented certainly are thought-provoking but the writing itself isn't brilliant by any means. After graduating from college, Skinner found little success as a novelist because he focused on objective, scientific writing and went to law school to appease his father about his job prospects as a writer. Surprisingly enough, he was good friends with poet Robert Frost!
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
I read Casino Royale and am almost done with LALD. Whoopee!
Just this day, I finished reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I'll just say this: if the entire book was true, it pretty much screws up any galactic theory cooked up by astronomists gazing endlessly at the Moon in their observatories!
And the theory contributing to the fact that there are parallel universes outside our own... it makes our planet feel VERY small, doesn't it? Compare a fingernail, for example, to the entire human body, and we have our galaxy the Milky Way.
When you think how far everything extends, it just makes your brain explode.
Sounds like you're anticipating the 2nd book of the 5-book trilogy ) Supposedly the ultimate form of torture is to see how tiny and significant you are in the universe.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. It's for Honors English, but I enjoyed it a lot. I am currently reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. It's also for school, but I like it, not as much as the former though.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
The Chosen, by Chaim Potok. It's for Honors English, but I enjoyed it a lot. I am currently reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. It's also for school, but I like it, not as much as the former though.
I HATED the Chosen. I read it for English class this year (eighth grade), and I abhorred it.
Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver. It's a period piece, being set in pre-WWII Germany. A decent enough read, but not as enjoyable as Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes novels.
About a questionable art and antiquities collector who buries himself with his treasure and leaves his heirs to go searching for it. It was meant to be an enjoyable quick summer read, but I found it incredibly boring. Nice idea, but poorly executed IMO.
Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo: A Film Score Handbook is possibly one of the most difficult things I've ever read short of Madeline Albright's autobiography. Well, to be honest, I only managed to get through the first 14 chapters of the latter before I realized that I was getting way in over my head about American foreign policy. Yet despite my total lack of knowledge on music theory and musicology, I really enjoyed reading about all of Vertigo's influences from Herrmann's earlier works as well as various other Romantic composers. I also loved the various holograph score reprints which I've been wanting to find for ages now. There's actually not as much analysis about how certain thematic shifts and changes in orchestration contribute to the meaning of the film itself as I had expected to be, though.
Still, it's a definite must-read for Herrmann buffs.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
Re-read Lieutenant Hornblower, The second book chronologically in C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series. None of the Hornblower books are dissappointing, and Forester does an excellent job of bridging the history of his famous character in the early books. An interesting literary perspective about this book is that, while the book is about Hornblower, it follows primarily the thoughts and actions of Hornblower's shipmate Lieutenant Bush, leaving the reader never quite able to get into the protaganist's head. Quite well done!
Comments
Saw it on my father's shelf, and couldn't resist.
A couple of years ago I began re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia, this time in the later chronological ordering. The Horse and His Boy, which was the fifth book if I remember correctly, is now the third. This book always had the least impact on me in the series. For some reason Edmund, Lucy, and Susan seem very unfamiliar to me in this book...like friends who have drifted away and don't speak to you anymore.
I also recently read The Silver Mistress -a Modesty Blaise novel by Peter O'Donnell - as ever this was a great escapist romp with Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin working in tandem against formiddable odds. Top drawer stuff.
I'm returning to Fleming now and reading Goldfinger for the first time in years!
Filled with classic adventures like Worms Of The Earth and Kings Of The Night - always go to my head like wine.
Once more a brilliant book by the master of weirdness. I love all the weirdness he puts in his books and I couldn't stop reading this 800 page book. And after finishing the last page I wanted to email him and telle him hey were is the rest......
X-(
For school....
The " X-( " is probably because you read it for school. Jane Eyre is a great novel; it's one that can best be appreciated when it isn't being shoved down your throat.
The ideas presented certainly are thought-provoking but the writing itself isn't brilliant by any means. After graduating from college, Skinner found little success as a novelist because he focused on objective, scientific writing and went to law school to appease his father about his job prospects as a writer. Surprisingly enough, he was good friends with poet Robert Frost!
Sounds like you're anticipating the 2nd book of the 5-book trilogy
I HATED the Chosen. I read it for English class this year (eighth grade), and I abhorred it.
About a questionable art and antiquities collector who buries himself with his treasure and leaves his heirs to go searching for it. It was meant to be an enjoyable quick summer read, but I found it incredibly boring. Nice idea, but poorly executed IMO.
Still, it's a definite must-read for Herrmann buffs.
From the Weird Tales circle, Clark Ashton Smith, E. Hoffman Price, HP Lovecraft (naturally) Robert Bloch, etc.
Now I gotta get my hands on a first edition copy of the Necronomicon. However the mad Abdul Alhazred wasn't specific in where to obtain editions.