2226 replies to this topic

[RedKelly]

Meg: Primal Waters by Steve Alten.
The last book I read was the classic To Kill a Mocking Bird plus I hear the movie is pretty good as well.

[Roebuck]

Been reading Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Vineland’, as somebody suggested it‘s a good primer for his new novel, ‘Inherent Vice’, with it’s similar cast of hippies, surfers, stoners and 60’s radicals. Vineland has a bunch of counter-culture survivors finding themselves back under unwelcome FBI scrutiny during the Reagan presidency. Cue a meandering road trip in a ‘stealth’ Trans-Am that puts K.I.T.T to shame. Being a Pynchon, there’s plenty of off-kilter humor (encompassing UFO’s, a town populated by the restless dead, a sisterhood of Californian ninja, Godzilla…) and an ending that pretty much expects you to draw your own conclusions.

[Tybre]

I was reading the Eight Doctors last week. Read the first 150 or so pages before I stopped to do my summer reading. Wish I hadn't.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was the WORST mystery I have ever read. Sets up the case over the first two or three pages, then we go on an about forty page detour, and then when we finally come back to the case I'd already figured it out. Top/middle of page 43 I figured out everything. The book was 256 pages, or somewhere around there. In reading it it seems to me that it wasn't really meant as a mystery, there's just a mystery there to help push things forward. But the book is classified as a mystery online, and that's why I chose it over Lord of the Flies. I love even some really crappy mysteries I've read, because even if I can figure them out pretty quickly, they are at least decently constructed. The answer to this mystery beats you so hard over the head you'd have to be a zombie to miss it, it takes the most random detours, and just made me want to pull my hair out. Piss awful book. I swear the only reason it's as loved as it apparently is is because the author decided to write from the perspective of a person who's mentally retarded...and honestly I can't even figure out what the kid's supposed to have. In my experience with autistic family members and friends and my own Asperger's, it definitely isn't an autism spectrum disorder, and if it's meant to be, it's been so heavily exaggerated it just irked me to no end.

[Kilroy6644]

Although it's been over a week since I finished them, here at last is my joint review of Red Alert and Fail-Safe.

Red Alert, by Peter George, is slim, bare-bones book. My edition clocks in at 163 pages. The entire story takes place over the course of two hours, and while it takes longer than that to read, it still goes quite quickly. While it is bare-bones, it is by no means lacking. For what it is (a bookstand thriller), it is sufficiently well-developed to keep you engaged. The characters, while not deep, are fleshed out enough to fill their roles.

Red Alert is probably best known as being the basis for Dr. Strangelove, and one can't help but make comparisons between the two. While there are many differences (among them the names), the characters are easily identifiable with their film counterparts. The plot is practically identical, but the ending is very different.

Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler, was the subject of a lawsuit. Peter George sued them, claiming they plagiarized Red Alert. The suit was settled out of court. Far be it from me to say whether they committed plagiarism or not, but if they did, they also accomplished the rare feat of surpassing the plagiarized work. The plots are very similar: an accidental attack is launched on Russia (by a mad general in RA, and a mechanical failure in FS), and a desperate attempt is made by the Americans to recall the bombers before an all-out nuclear war occurs. Both books feature Americans who think that the attack should be allowed to happen, and followed up with a massive strike to eliminate to Soviet menace, and cooler heads arguing against it.

Spoiler

When it seems certain that at least one of the bombers will get through, the President in each book offers to sacrifice an American city to keep the peace.

But Fail-Safe is definitely a better book than Red Alert. The characters are much more fleshed out, and the plot is more fully developed. Red Alert is good for a quick read, but Fail-Safe makes you think more.

One of the most notable differences between these books is the ending.

Spoiler

As mentioned above, the President in both books offers to sacrifice an American city if the bombers get through. In Red Alert, he offers to let the Russians bomb Atlantic City if our bomber destroys Kotlass. In the end, the damaged bomber gets through, but fails to drop the bomb. Kotlass and Atlantic City are both spared. In Fail-Safe, the President offers to bomb New York if Moscow is destroyed. In the end, both cities are destroyed by American bombs. I think this is a more satisfactory result. Not the destruction, but the fact that it's at American hands. I was not very pleased with the idea that the President would trust an enemy to stop with one city.

The film Fail-Safe is very faithful to the book, the key difference being that in the book, most of the blame is laid at the feet of the machines that run the system, while the movie rightly acknowledges that people are responsible.

[DaveBond21]

I am currently re-reading The Dead Zone by Stephen King. I've had a really good gap between reads this time, so it's almost as good as the first time.

[Aris007]

Right now I'm reading the forst chapter from Casino Royale. Man it's bloody amazing! I can't wait to read more!

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Barack Obama - The Audacity Of Hope. Started off OK, but drifts a bit towards the end. One more chapter to finish.

[DAN LIGHTER]

The Understudy by David Nicholls. So far so very good!

[Ambler]

Weep For Me
John D. MacDonald

One of John Mack's early works and once memorably described by him as 'very bad indeed'. When I'd finished reading it, this advert came to mind ...

[Tybre]

The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks
Started it...oh, two weeks ago? Three? Got distracted by other books and things, but finished it today. On the whole a very good book. Everything after the Inquiry feels a bit rushed, like Dicks had a deadline to meet (and maybe he did, I've no idea) and couldn't be bothered to really put meat on the last couple inches of bone. Still, a fun, quick read, and looking forward to reading Vampire Science when I've caught up on reading everything else.

Now to move on to finishing Thrilling Cities and Lord of Misrule. And hopefully by the time those are finished my copy of SilverFin will have arrived. Oh dear, it's really looking like Science is a long way off. Oh well, suppose that's what happens when you read as many books simultaneously as I tend to.

[Mr. Blofeld]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, by Jean-Dominique Bauby; a really extraordinary book, and I'm hoping to see the movie soon after I'm finished this.

[dodge]

Have nearly finished THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND by Jeff Deaver...a new discovery for me. Nicely written, beautifully structured and loaded with great plot twists.

[dodge]

CROSS COUNTRY by James Patterson. A suprisingly fine read from a guy who grinds out anywhee from 4-6 books a year. This one features Alex Cross against a human monster known as The Tiger and the manhunt moves to Africa, where the real horror begins. Now, I've seen the use of child soldiers before, both on the tube and in numerous films--but never as effectively managed as here. The scenes set in Nigeria and Darfur are almost too painful to read.

[DaveBond21]

Just finished THE BEACH by Alex Garland for the second time, and the first for 10 years. It's an excellent novel. I still can't believe what a mess they made of the movie.

[Tybre]

Picked up 4.50 from Paddington and The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Plan to start tomorrow, as I find since summer break I can only read in the mornings. Alas school eats up the most wonderful time of the day, and I've no time to read or do anything else.

[dodge]

Just finished THE BEACH by Alex Garland for the second time, and the first for 10 years. It's an excellent novel. I still can't believe what a mess they made of the movie.

The movie was surely a stinker, imo. Is the book's storyline different?

[jwheels]

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. The sequel to The DaVinci Code is pretty good. Basically it's just more of the same, but their entertaining, quick reads. My favorite is still Angels & Demons though

[Tybre]

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Last night I picked up The Lost Symbol, and intend on starting it after I'm done my two new Agatha Christie additions. Partially because, let's face it, Dan Brown doesn't have a chance in hell of surpassing Agatha Christie; but moreso because, basing off of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, and Angels & Demons, all of Dan Brown's books are essentially the same, just with changed names, slightly changed specifics to broad events, and changed locations. Still, the man is a talented writer, and I do enjoy his books, but the man also causes me a bit of frustration. Especially in Angels & Demons, there are plenty of moments where it's the ideal spot the end a chapter, and instead he keeps going. Such a technique works once or twice, but he pulled it a bit too often for my blood. Ah, but I ramble.

[RedKelly]

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. Only a little way into but confused about what is supposed to be about.

[Roebuck]

‘The Yiddish Policemen’s Union’. Michael Chabon always delivers a good read and his love of hardboiled crime fiction shines through here. There's never a sense of a Pulitzer winning author slumming it or doing a pastiche. It’s set in an alternate timeline where the state of Israel failed and instead Sitka, Alaska became the Jewish homeland.
After a junkie is killed in the rundown hotel where Meyer Landsman lives, the homicide detective realizes the two main clues (an unfinished chess game and a Polaroid photo of a signboard) have disturbing personal significance for him. A tough enough case to unravel at the best of time, Landsman is working against a ticking clock on this one, because Sitka reverts back to Alaskan federal control on New Years day, when Myer and his partner will stop being cops.

[dodge]

Back to Jeffery Deaver, this time THE SLEEPING DOLL. This dude is an absolute master of characterization, plotting and pacing.

[Tybre]

Been reading The Man Who Was Clever, but school's been a bit busy the past two days so I'm only on page 38 or so.

[Qwerty]

Currently on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Let us know how you make out.

[JimmyBond]

I'm reading Al Franken's: Lies, and the lying liars who tell them: A fair and balanced look at the right.

Being rather left leaning myself, I'm enjoying the book immensly. I realize many people probably would not, especially conservatives. An enjoyable read none the less

[Tybre]

Currently on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Let us know how you make out.

Finished it two days ago. Accounted for half of it. And after the narration of Hastings for Styles, the third-person of Paddington (granted, I've always preferred Poirot to Marple anyway) is infinitely more...dull. I actually very nearly fell asleep at one point.

[Qwerty]

Currently on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Let us know how you make out.

Finished it two days ago. Accounted for half of it. And after the narration of Hastings for Styles, the third-person of Paddington (granted, I've always preferred Poirot to Marple anyway) is infinitely more...dull. I actually very nearly fell asleep at one point.

Sorry to hear. Granted, I always generally preferred the Poirot books compared to the Marple ones, but thankfully both have some real winners.

[Dainshdude118]

Currently on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Let us know how you make out.

Finished it two days ago. Accounted for half of it. And after the narration of Hastings for Styles, the third-person of Paddington (granted, I've always preferred Poirot to Marple anyway) is infinitely more...dull. I actually very nearly fell asleep at one point.

Sorry to hear. Granted, I always generally preferred the Poirot books compared to the Marple ones, but thankfully both have some real winners.

I went to Agatha Christie's house, Greenway, when I was on holiday in the summer, very interesting, can thououghly reccomend it if anyone is in Devon.

Currently reading The Blair Years by Alastair Campbell.

[Tybre]

Currently on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Very nearly finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Fantastic read. Very good considering it was her first book. I'm not quite done, so I'm not having the final say yet, but I think I've got it worked out now, which if I'm correct will make the second time I've been correct out of a now total of fifteen-or-so Agatha Christie novels read. After this, on to 4.50 from Paddington.

Let us know how you make out.

Finished it two days ago. Accounted for half of it. And after the narration of Hastings for Styles, the third-person of Paddington (granted, I've always preferred Poirot to Marple anyway) is infinitely more...dull. I actually very nearly fell asleep at one point.

Sorry to hear. Granted, I always generally preferred the Poirot books compared to the Marple ones, but thankfully both have some real winners.

I've enjoyed some past Marple books as well. Paddington, thus far at least, isn't the best of the lot, but not the worst either. It's getting better as it goes along, but those first few chapters...If I want old women talking about gardening I'll go next door, thank you.

[Gabe Vieira]

Just finnished The Lost Symbol as well. Gotta say, as a (semi) Dan Brown hater, it was actually pretty good. It has nearly the exact same structre as Angels & Demons, which I hated, and the Da Vinci Code, which was good, but I liked the Angels & Demons movie better. Brown is an amazing storyteller, but not the best writer. He has gotten a lot better since Angels & Demons, I'll give him that. I found it predictable in parts, and it's not that his characters are unrealistic, it's that he has very little average characters in his books, again he did a better job with The Lost Symbol. Mal'akh however is a total ripoff of Francis Dolarhyde, only not as believable, and the final revelation about Mal'akh was one part I found predictable. I hated Sato's characterization even more though. You know how Hollywood turned Ventresca into McKenna in the Agnels & Demons movie? Guarentee they'll do the same with Sato. While I'm on the subject, Catherine Keener as Katherine, and Morgan Freeman as Bellamy for the film version. Oh, and I still have trouble picturing Tom Hanks as Langdon, as much as I love the guy, so I just pictured Jeremy Renner in 10 years. In the end though, I'll give it a solid 85%. The final 5 or so chapters, epilouge too, are the best in the book, by far, the revelation of the Ancient Mysteries is truely genius. I totally agree with it, BTW. I'm gonna go play Fallout 3 now.

[DrMaybe]

I'm about 800 pages into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's a very good read, but my hope that the author is going somewhere with it increases with every chapter. I hope it's not just a chronicle of events without a more profound point to it, á la Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Time will tell.