[Falling Down]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/game-of-thrones-is-'fantasy-gateway-drug'-201111044505/

 

[Dolly]

Very
 good.
Sean Been though

 

[Jaspersharpe]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/game-of-thrones-is-'fantasy-gateway-drug'-201111044505/

 

That's class.

Looks like Fiend's work:

[Falling Down]

Moose, what is your favourite book (having Moby Dick as second)?

I finished King of the City the other day.  It's very worthwhile, entertaining and quite unique.

In between I gobbled up Tracey Emin's 'Strangeland' and Simon Armitage's interpretation of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' in olde english scouse with it taking place in Cheshire, Staffs and Merseyside.

[moose]

Moose, what is your favourite book (having Moby Dick as second)?

My favourite book is Proust's In Search of Lost Time - I'm waiting for the right time to start the final (seventh) volume.  It's got its flaws, the sentences can be very convoluted and difficult to follow, at least until you "tune-in", and some sections significantly outstay their welcome (unavoidable for a book about an obsessive snob, even one of huge insight).  But, I've never read anything with as much... well, truth... about everthing.   From the fleeting impression of a snatch of music, or a shaft of sunlight through a tree, to the most profound truths of memory and prejudice.  And all shot through with setpieces of incredibly savage social comment and black humour. 

Most of my other favourites are fairly predictable: The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Germinal etc.  Though, I'm far more likely to reread Vurt by Jeff Noon or The Player of Games by Iain M Banks.

[andy popp]

Moose, what is your favourite book (having Moby Dick as second)?

My favourite book is Proust's In Search of Lost Time - I'm waiting for the right time to start the final (seventh) volume.  It's got its flaws, the sentences can be very convoluted and difficult to follow, at least until you "tune-in", and some sections significantly outstay their welcome (unavoidable for a book about an obsessive snob, even one of huge insight).  But, I've never read anything with as much... well, truth... about everthing.   From the fleeting impression of a snatch of music, or a shaft of sunlight through a tree, to the most profound truths of memory and prejudice.  And all shot through with setpieces of incredibly savage social comment and black humour. 

A man of true taste and discretion! It is about everything ... simpy, what it is to be.

Liking Proust is a kind of literary love that dare not speak its name, it has picked up such (unwarranted) connotations of pretentiousness and, basically, showing-off.

If you think its good now wait till you get to end of Vol. 7

[Falling Down]

I read Swann's Way a few years back and loved it.  Before i dive in to volume two, have either of you read both the English translations and which do you prefer?

(This thread just gets better by the way)

[andy popp]

I read the Scott-Moncrieff.

Its meant to have its imperfections but also its own qualities.

[Mike Tyson]

I was surprised nobody had recommended Mark Beaumont's books, they are great reads.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Cycled-World/dp/0593062337

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Cycled-Americas/dp/0593066987

[moose]

I read Swann's Way a few years back and loved it.  Before i dive in to volume two, have either of you read both the English translations and which do you prefer?

I'm reading the current Penguin translations (each volume by a different translator): In Search of Lost Time as opposed to The Remembrance of Things Past. 

I've read excerpts of Scott-Moncrieff and find tend to find them a bit opaque, verging on a parody of the popular conception of Proust.  The current translators claim (well they would) that their translation is more akin to the original spirit, which is reportedly rather more direct and ribald than you would expect.  They claim that some of the language of Scott-Moncrieff owes more to the translator's personal prejudices about Proust and love of flowery language than fidelity to the original. 

By the way, if you are thinking of reembarking the great journey, I found this book handy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marcel-Prousts-Search-Lost-Time/dp/0307472329/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1321057286&sr=8-4

It especially useful when having to re-acquaintance yourself with the story after a break, and for explicating the relationships between the characters - especially those inbred Guermantes.

@ andy popp

I'm looking forward to, yet also fearing, starting on Vol.7.  I've been girding my loins for a quite while!  It's been the same for all the preceding volumes: almost dreading the commitment and initial confusion.  An initial period of barely managing a couple of pages a day, having to read and reread passages.  Until eventually the language just clicks and I can read with fluidity and real enjoyment, just glorying in the humour and insight, rather than getting bogged down in the minutia of sub-subclauses.  It can be hard work, but it's a rare book that makes you feel that there is nothing else you could be reading that would be a better use of time.

[Falling Down]

Thanks gentlemen.  I read the Scott-Moncrieff version of Swann's Way but have plumped for the Penguin edition, a second reading and starting from the beginning.

[andy_e]

I'm America's number two Proust scholar.

[Falling Down]

Andy and Moose - thanks.  I'm midway through The Way of Swann and it's a markedly different and more fulfilling experience in comparison with my first reading some time ago. Whether that's down to the translation or my state of mind... whatever.... it's just such an immersive, amazing experience    . 

The Patrick Alexander guide helps a lot. Highly recommended.

[lagerstarfish]

A couple of short novels that my eldest child and have been discussing. Both would be good for a train journey.

Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog - interesting way to introduce an 11 year old to political satire and the Russian revolution. A man transplants human balls and a bit of brain into a dog. Dog develops select human traits and much is revealed about what Bulgakov thinks is wrong with post revolution Russia.

Tom Baker's The Boy Who Kicked Pigs - grotesque tale about an unpleasant little twat who gets what he deserves - daughter #1 had her first experience of not wanting a book to end. A tiny bit Wasp Factory ish, but less realistic.

[andy popp]

Currently in the thrall of Patti Smith's Just Kids; a memoir of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe - a deceptive book seemingly written in a plain descriptive prose but conjuring up real poetry and an enchanted other worldly ambience.

A terrific document of a time and a place as well.

[fried]

Just finished 'Woodlands' by Oliver Rackham, loved its 'fall between two stools' not academic enough for the professional ecologist and too difficult for the layman style. Suited me perfectly. if you're interested in woodlands and their management a fascinating read that shatters a lot of myths.

Wish me luck, next book is 'Swann's way', I went for the Penguin translation. I read about half of this a long time ago and gave it away 'cos I was doing a one way walk and needed to get rid of all my books. I loved it at the time.

[sheavi]

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Catch 22*
Rings of Saturn*
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors*
You got nothing coming - notes from a prison fish
Complicity
A Scanner Darkly
The Gone Away World*
The Snow Leopard
No one Here Gets Out Alive

Read a various times in my life so may have a different perspective in them now. Defo recommend*

[sheavi]

Oh and 'Voice of the Fire' - 1st chapter can/is hard going but stick with it.

[Falling Down]

That's a brilliant book.  On a related theme I bought Somnium by Steve Moore; no relation to Alan but is his partner in esoteric explorations.  It's on the shelf but I've dipped in to find Arthur Machen meets Iain Sinclair.

I finished In The Way Of Swann / Swann's Way on Tuesday evening and I'm soaking it all in.  So pleased I took Andy and Moose's advice and gave it another go. It's just all there, a truly immersive and emotional experience, funny and bawdy too.

Devoured Atomised (Houllebecq) in a single evening and a long spell of middle of the night Insomnia on Wednesday and thought it was tragic, riveting, very moving, and not at all unpleasant apart from the grisly descriptions of the Californian satanist murders.

Between books there's been Arc 1.1 a new SF journal on the iPad with a great great short from Big Ron's ghostwriter/one of the the UK's best novelists M John Harrison and at the other end of the scale Slightly Foxed, a Christmas gift for the keen reader, being a quarterly journal of reviews and essays only in print on lovely paper.

[JamieG]

I'm currently reading "Blood Meridian" by Cormack McCarthy at the moment and I think it is brilliant. Unlike another book i've ever read.

[butters]

Devoured Atomised (Houllebecq) in a single evening and middle of the night Insomnia on Wednesday and thought it was tragic, riveting, very moving, and not at all unpleasant apart from the grisly descriptions of the Californian satanist murders.

Atomised is amazing - surprised that you haven't picked that up before. His other books are also worth reading though often darker and more challenging.

Is the Insomnia a reference to another book BTW or just you saying that you read it while suffering from it?

Personally I have been reading John Le Carre - have gotten through The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and the Karla Triology (Tinker, Tailor.... The Honourable Schoolboy and Smileys People) in about a week - fantastic writing, very few wasted words and excellent plot construtuction. Any other recommendations by him or just read the lot?   

[Falling Down]

Sadly, just run of the mill insomnia.

[Jaspersharpe]

Atomised is brilliant. Platform is very good too.

[sheavi]

Atomised looks good but it's not on kindle or e-book unfortunately.

[Falling Down]

I read it on my kindle (from the UK Amazon store).