Current Reading - Books best thread

[Sundeporino]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Just finished Sarah Thorntons "Seven Days In The Art World".

Consisting of seven chapters in which the author spends a day with erm seven different people involved in varying positions within the Art lark. Artist, Critic, Curator, Collector, Lecturer etc.

Some interesting stuff involved if a bit shallow as she obviously doesnt want to piss anyone off.

[Lucia Lanigan]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Still laughing at "a teenaged, Buddhist Alan Partridge". Poor old Jack, that's dead-on.

I'm reading Clarice Lispector's brilliant The Passion According to G.H. Woman kills cockroach; this does her head in.

[Land Waster]

Current Reading - Books best thread

There seems to be an increasing number of books which narrate history from a female perspective, and I really enjoyed this one:

The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars

It's partly a classical soap opera, and during the reigns of the first century CE emperors the wives and mothers provided plenty of lurid storylines.

But the book also highlights what life was like for the women and children of antiquity, which can sometimes make for uncomfortable reading.

[Land Waster]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Staying on the theme of Rome, I've just finished the excellent 'Barbarians' by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terry-Jones-...rds=barbarians

It's an enjoyable and sometimes thought provoking discussion of how the various tribes that have been labelled as 'barbarian' were often anything but. They were smeared by Roman historians who had their own agenda to plug.

It could be argued that the Roman Empire, which was notoriously averse to change and scientific progress, held back the intellectual development of mankind by several centuries.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Current Reading - Books best thread

That was pretty much the view of Petr Beckmann in an entertaining rant in his book "The History of Pi". Chapter called "The Roman Pest".

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Btw, my current read is "The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Steven Pinker - a history of violence and humanity. Brilliant and fascinating study of the long term decline of savagery, examining possible factors behind the happy direction of that trend.

[imp]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Currently half way through Adam Johnson's 'The Orphan Master's Son' - I was dubious about a book written by an American set in North Korea, but when I saw the heavily reduced hardback I gave it a try, and it's brilliantly written so far.

As this is a football message board, I'd better point out that this is not the same Adam Johnson who plays as a wide midfielder for Sunderland FC!!!!! LOL!!!!!

[Crusoe]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Went for some lighter holiday reading with Felix Gilman's "The Half-Made World" and "The Rise of Ransom City". Vaguely Mieville-ish world, a late 1800s setting in a Wild West sort of world riven by war. The opposing sides, the roguish Gun and the fascistic Line, are demonically driven worshippers of guns and trains, and everyone else is trying to avoid the war. The first book follows an Agent of the Gun driven by his demonic masters to find the secret of a superweapon, while the second book (more interesting, although rushed towards the end) follows an ambitious inventor pimping his new non-electric light around small towns, his rise to power, and fall into exile. Enjoyable.

Currently reading Nick Harkaway's new book, "Tigerman", about a British Army veteran acting as the sole representative of HMG on a doomed Indian Ocean island that's home to bizarre volcanic pollution and a fleet of pirates, mafia and deniable rendition ships. Much less fantastical (so far) than his previous books, but still thrilling and I think about to take a superhero tangent.

Next up: Nikil Saval's "Cubed", a history of office work and office spaces. Read the first couple of chapters for free and it seems a thoughtful and entertaining read.

[Land Waster]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Recently finished reading David Kynaston's book about Britain from 1951-57.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Britain-1951-1957-Tales-Jerusalem-ebook/dp/B005AU7FWG/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406005748&sr=1-5&keywords=david+k

Like the previous book in the series 'Austerity Britain', it combines a general narrative with copious and enjoyable vignettes from everyday life gleaned from diaries of the period.

One of the main themes of this period is the dull, staid conservatism that hung like a London smog over British life. That can be best understood as a reaction to the trauma and disruption of WW2, and a collective desire to 'get back to normal' and lead a quiet undisturbed life.

Things were slowly beginning to change though. The end of rationing in 1954 laid the basis for the so-called 'age of affluence' and the birth of the consumer society that we know today.

And the age of deference was beginning to crumble too. When George VI died in 1952, BBC radio suspended it's normal services for an offical period of mourning. Large numbers of listeners wrote into the BBC to complain that they were overreacting to the monarch's death.

It was fascinating to read about the controversial birth of commercial television in Britain. A sizeable number of politicians, public figures and Joe Public were bitterly opposed to the idea, convinced that it would be the end of Western civilzation as they knew it.

If only they were alive to see the Jeremy Kyle show, then we could reassure them that their fears were unfounded...

[hawkvshandsaw]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Halfway through Mark Fisher's 'Ghosts of My Life'. A mixture of insightful analysis and middle-aged 'it were better when I were a lad' ranting, but that's kind of why it works.

[beak]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Currently reading The Castle, the last bit of Kafka I've not read.

This K chap seems a right petulant, demanding arsehole though. Don't think I'd let him in my castle either, to be honest, and am finding myself siding with the villagers.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Current Reading - Books best thread

I picked up The Windsor Faction by D.J. Taylor while trolling for an alternate history read, largely because it's been nominated for the genre's Sidewise award this year. A decision which has dramatically divided devotees.

The book's Point of Divergence is that Wallis Simpson dies in 1936, so Edward VIII doesn't abdicate. This provides anti-war conspirators with potential leadership during the months of the phoney war.

I rather enjoyed it. It's very well written and acutely observes members of the literary and political classes — some real, some imagined — in London at the time. I can see though why hardcore Alt Hist types don't like it though. It could have been written just as effectively without the PoD at all, as it only serves to make the plot slightly more credible. If, however, you're into WW2 history, and it's politics, then it's worth your time.

[Land Waster]

Current Reading - Books best thread

I’m currently reading ‘Supermac - The Life of Harold MacMillan’ by D R Thorpe which is a superb example of what a good biography should be. It explains MacMillan’s character and puts his life into the context of the times in which he lived. It’s also written with a fluency and style that makes it very entertaining at times.

That’s not an easy task when writing about a man like Supermac who had an outwardly dull persona which concealed inner sadness and ruthlessness that eventually propelled him to the top as PM.

[Crusoe]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Ploughing my way through Donald L Miller's Supreme City, a history (of sorts) of Midtown Manhattan in the 1920s. Each chapter reflects a different person or aspect of the city -- Walker's mayoralty, Tammany, bootleggers, the Holland Tunnel and GW Bridge, Grand Central Station, Park Avenue, Rubinstein vs Arden, Dempsey, Ruth, etc.

It's interesting and informative but a few schoolboy errors and the sheer length of it are a bit draining. Looking forward to Lauren Beukes' Broken Monsters and David Mitchell's new book after this.

[WOM]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Just finished Hotel on the Place Vendome by Tilar Mazzeo. It's a history of The Ritz hotel in Paris, with an 85% focus on the years of the Nazi occupation. Everyone's it in, from Coco Chanel and Hemingway to the local girls who made their bets on the war's outcome by taking up, very publicly, with their occupiers.

It's a marvellous story well told and abundantly sourced and noted. But for some reason she thinks Papa capped hisself in Key West, not Idaho. But I'll let that go. Recommended.

[WOM]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Prior to that, Driving Mr Albert by Michael Paterniti. Young guy drives old guy across America with Einstein's brain in a tupperware container. Nonfiction.

Light. Inconsequential. Fun.

[ursus arctos]

Current Reading - Books best thread

I need to get to the library.

I haven't even heard of Supreme City, which is troubling.

[Lucia Lanigan]

Current Reading - Books best thread

I'm reading Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Dance of Reality, a memoir where you know the farthest fetched parts are true and the more mundane aspects (like the years when things happened) made up. The man is a genius.

[WOM]

Current Reading - Books best thread

We don't do this anymore, but the short list for the Booker is out now.

Joshua Ferris (US)
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

Richard Flanagan (Australian)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Karen Joy Fowler (US)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Howard Jacobson (British)
J

Neel Mukherjee (British)
The Lives of Others

Ali Smith (British)
How to be Both

[Crusoe]

Current Reading - Books best thread

ursus arctos wrote: I need to get to the library.

I haven't even heard of Supreme City, which is troubling.

It only came out very recently. I'd read one of Miller's other books (an excellent history of the 8th Air Force, which I think Spielberg is giving the Band of Brothers treatment). I believe he's written a similar social history of Chicago around/post-Great Fire.

[Crusoe]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Just finished Lauren Beukes' Broken Monsters. Enjoyable. Police procedural (a genre I normally hate) meets fantasy horror; I like her mix of the everyday thriller with the less than mundane elements.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Current Reading - Books best thread

I'm about half way through "Superintelligence" by Nick Bostrom, which is reviewed as part of this Guardian piece:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/17/superintelligence-nick-brostrom-rough-ride-future-james-lovelock-review

He examines, with impressive logic and lateral thinking, the different scenarios in which a general artificial intelligence (AI) - i.e. a computer with superhuman capabilities across a very broad spectrum of functionality, resulting say from competitive military IT research, might take over the world and destroy humanity (e.g. by using its superhuman analytical powers to devise new technologies we cannot currently imagine). It's a fascinating book, exploring ideas in great depth, and the ideas in it may become rather crucial at some future point perhaps only a few decades away.

If you try it, don't be put off by Chapter 1, which is less accessible and less interesting than all the subsequent chapters I've read so far.

[The Inner Light]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Just Started Anthony Beevor, History of Second World War, Also Quicksilver Vol 1 Barque Cycle, Neal Stephenson, very detailed and dense but strangely satisfying for it. Thank god for Trafford Libraries. Just bought the Ball is Round by David Goldblatt, Have to wait! my wife says we dont talk enough suprisingly

[Lucia Lanigan]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Three by musicians.

Faithfull: fantastic read, this one. Striking how much of her legend was grotty projection and how much more interesting she is than it. Wanting to disappear when you're supposed to be people's sixties dream girl is very understandable, and she did it properly as a full-time addict. Nice also that she doesn't seem too regretful about all that, even as she doesn't spare the rod about how horrible it could be. Timeframes slip all over the shop, as they probably do in the eye of the storm, but she's a sharp mind and good storyteller.

Keith Richards' Life: great fun, mostly for his infectious enthusiasm about playing music, but also for the blackly comic, ongoing stream of associates dropping like flies around him. Nice tips on being a famous heroin addict under heavy manners from the Canadian authorities: when in New York, order a coffee for the spoon, pop over to the toy shop to buy some junior medicine kits "for your neice" because the plungers work with the needles you're using as hat pins, et voila. I wonder if that kind of thinking was behind the pimp fashion for fedoras.

Kristen Hersh's Paradoxical Undressing: as vivid, unexpected and accessible as her music. Great stuff.

[Benjm]

Current Reading - Books best thread

Just finished Chapter and Verse by Bernard Sumner. It's a good read and gives a strong sense of our (well, my) hero's personality and motivations. Already Peter Hook has laid into it in predictable but depressing fashion. I saw Bad Lieutenant and they only played 3 NO/JD songs - just waiting for the witness summons.