Quote from: remus on February 11, 2017, 03:44:50 pmJust finished off Law unto himself, Mike Law's autobiography.Really good, reminded me a little of Andy Pollit's book but a little more coherent. A really succinct history of some good bits of australian climbing history if nothing else.Is this available at a reasonable price anywhere; kindle etc. £14 is a bit of a hard hit.
Just finished off Law unto himself, Mike Law's autobiography.Really good, reminded me a little of Andy Pollit's book but a little more coherent. A really succinct history of some good bits of australian climbing history if nothing else.
The Circle by Dave Eggers. Sort of a satire of the dystopian present more than future. A fairly interesting idea on the premise of a girl starting work at a kind of Google/Facebook-esque enterprise. The storyline after this is much like The Firm (the John Grisham novel/film with Keanu Reeves). Ultimately I found the novel irritating and predictable. I didn't warm to the protagonist so I didn't really care what happened to her. Lots of characters used as mouthpieces for the author's ideology (which I have some sympathy with). Apparently it's being made into a film which I think would be a better medium for the idea. At novel length it became trite and tedious. Though I did persevere reading it so it must have something about it.
Quote from: Yossarian on January 20, 2017, 04:53:29 pmCurrently enjoying Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman OhlerI'll be interested in your verdict on this - it caused some controversy amongst historians.
Currently enjoying Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler
Quote from: andy popp on January 20, 2017, 04:59:33 pmQuote from: Yossarian on January 20, 2017, 04:53:29 pmCurrently enjoying Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman OhlerI'll be interested in your verdict on this - it caused some controversy amongst historians.I finished this the other day. I thought it was fascinating. I appreciate that it wasn't universally acclaimed, and that various other historians have issues with some parts of it. But even if those sections are perhaps overstated, the accounts of the tank crews early in the war and the Seehund crews at the end of it were very powerful.
The rate at which you guys consume books astounds me. I usually manage a few pages on the 10 min train ride to work and back and 5 mins at night before I fall asleep on the book.
Quote from: SA Chris on March 10, 2017, 08:55:40 amThe rate at which you guys consume books astounds me. I usually manage a few pages on the 10 min train ride to work and back and 5 mins at night before I fall asleep on the book.I'm the same unless I feel the need to sit down and read for an hour. We don't have TV, so when I'm not arsing about on forums... it does happen once and again.
The Underground Railroad about the secret network that smuggled escaped slaves to free states in the north. In a kind magical realist touch the underground railroad is real, not a metaphor. I thought the book worthwhile but this device didn't work for me. The vast majority of the book is perfectly plausible and realistic so bits that weren't felt out of place. If he was going to do this he needed to do it much more wholeheartedly. Finally, I'm nearing the end of Lucy Hughes-Hallet's biography of Gabriele D'Annunzio The Pike. This is, as others here have said before, magnificent.
I have a stock of Lee Childs' Jack Reacher books purchased from charity shops for the direst emergencies of self-doubt!
Probably my least favourite of his books. It's OK, but a bit...meh.
The Price of Glory, Verdun 1916, Alistair Horne Literature disguised as military history. The Guns of August and Price of Glory where both written in 1962, The Guns of August seems the more contemporary in tone and style, the Price of Glory more traditional, though I thought it was the best of the three.
I finished Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads on Audible the other day. All 20something hours of it. I'm always a bit suspicious of non-fiction bestsellers, and was also quite surprised that this had become one. But as an alternative angle on a big subject - the effect of the silk road and that region on world history - it's a really brilliant piece of work. Some excellent torture techniques too. For example, sewing someone up inside a camel...