this summer I have mostly been reading...

[egb_hibs]

one upside of a knackered pc - and the fine weather - is that i've blasted my usual piteous reading average into touch. since start of june:

The strange death of tory england (as recommended by colr) - very interesting.

world on fire - amy chau - standard anti-globalisation fare is elevated by a more nuanced view than usual which deals in some uncomfortable areas. this wee tome is no more reassuring for socialists or handwringers than it is for liberal capitalists i'm afraid. i'll visit some of it's themes in due course.

mussolini by nicholas farrell (as recommended by 0762) - ridiculously biased biography of benito m. the author succeeds in making what seems to be his point - that mussolini's form of socialism was considerably more benign than others abroad in europe during the 20th c - but so what? being least bad **** in a gaggle of ****s, still makes you a ****. summat the writer seems perilously close to forgetting.

Animal Farm - Orwell - top stuff

have i got views for you - boris johnstone - mildy amusing to dip into

prayers for the assassin - superior potboiler, made interesting by it's central conceit: it's set in a future 'islamic republic of america'

the devils - fyodor dostoyevsky - fecking phenomenal. just fecking fecking brilliant. if animal farm lacerates the horrors of leninism / stalinism from a contemporary vantage point, this book anticipates the inevitable consequences of october from the middle of the 19th century. and that's not even what it's really about. this book has killed my inverted snobbery in respect of 'literature'.

the retreat of reason - anthony browne - damning attack on the anti-rational and anti-liberal PC sentiment that are stifling reasoned debate within the public discourse.


also listened to a couple of audio books:

the last kingdom by bernard cornwell - top stuff. recommended to all who like a historical romp.

flashman by george mcdonald fraser - magnificently un-PC and totally hilarious. it should be banned.

[Colr]

haven't had much of a chance to read much recently.

Started Saturday by MsEwan - complete shite.

On holiday in a while and have Beyond Black - ghosty book set in North London.

Got The Age of Reason by Jean Paul Sarte to take as well.

Looking for recommendations.

[Colr]

The missus who is a big Rebus fan reckons Mark Billingham is good.
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[Colr]

New Rebus out soon:-

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[Bartok]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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one downside of a knackered pc - and the fine weather - is that i've blasted my usual piteous reading average into touch. since start of june:

The strange death of tory england (as recommended by colr) - very interesting.

world on fire - amy chau - standard anti-globalisation fare is elevated by a more nuanced view than usual which deals in some uncomfortable areas. this wee tome is no more reassuring for socialists or handwringers than it is for liberal capitalists i'm afraid. i'll visit some of it's themes in due course.

mussolini by nicholas farrell (as recommended by 0762) - ridiculously biased biography of benito m. the author succeeds in making what seems to be his point - that mussolini's form of socialism was considerably more benign than others abroad in europe during the 20th c - but so what? being least bad **** in a gaggle of ****s, still makes you a ****. summat the writer seems perilously close to forgetting.

Animal Farm - Orwell - top stuff

have i got views for you - boris johnstone - mildy amusing to dip into

prayers for the assassin - superior potboiler, made interesting by it's central conceit: it's set in a future 'islamic republic of america'

the devils - fyodor dostoyevsky - fecking phenomenal. just fecking fecking brilliant. if animal farm lacerates the horrors of leninism / stalinism from a contemporary vantage point, this book anticipates the inevitable consequences of october from the middle of the 19th century. and that's not even what it's really about. this book has killed my inverted snobbery in respect of 'literature'.

the retreat of reason - anthony browne - damning attack on the anti-rational and anti-liberal PC sentiment that are stifling reasoned debate within the public discourse.


also listened to a couple of audio books:

the last kingdom by bernard cornwell - top stuff. recommended to all who like a historical romp.

flashman by george mcdonald fraser - magnificently un-PC and totally hilarious. it should be banned.

I'm jealous of that campaign.
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I have had to read a lot of US history. Nothing outstanding so far. Apart from that, more Aubrey/Maturin :YAYYY: and Alex Ferguson's autobiography
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is about all.

[egb_hibs]

Originally Posted by Dixie Chicken
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I'm jealous of that campaign.
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I have had to read a lot of US history. Nothing outstanding so far. Apart from that, more Aubrey/Maturin :YAYYY: and Alex Ferguson's autobiography
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is about all.

col my missus is after a history of american pioneers / settlers. anything you could recommend on that front (anyone else please chip in)

[Hibbie0762]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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mussolini by nicholas farrell (as recommended by 0762) - ridiculously biased biography of benito m. the author succeeds in making what seems to be his point - that mussolini's form of socialism was considerably more benign than others abroad in europe during the 20th c - but so what? being least bad **** in a gaggle of ****s, still makes you a ****. summat the writer seems perilously close to forgetting.

Glad you got round to it - I never claimed it was an entirely unbiased biog, but then neither are the others available.

For perspective, I have read a couple of other biogs since Farrell's as well. I don't disagree that Musso was a monster (in an age of monsters). My point at the time was that absolute demonisation - of which too many of the earlier biogs were guilty - does a disservice to history and to truth. One aspect which Farrell's biog does bring out more clearly than some of the others was to what extent Musso's failing was weakness and indecision rather than despotism. I reckon I better understood both Musso and the tragedy which he bestowed upon modern Italy when I understood that.

The other aspect which is generally neglected in other biogs is the shameful role of the Italian Communist Party in Musso's final demise, and more particularly the demise of his mistress Petacci, who was after all guilty of no more than shagging the wee guy. Being summarily shot and then strung up by a Communist mob by the feet without her knickers was a severe price to pay for that.

[egb_hibs]

Glad you got round to it - I never claimed it was an entirely unbiased biog, but then neither are the others available.

For perspective, I have read a couple of other biogs since Farrell's as well. I don't disagree that Musso was a monster (in an age of monsters). My point at the time was that absolute demonisation - of which too many of the earlier biogs were guilty - does a disservice to history and to truth. One aspect which Farrell's biog does bring out more clearly than some of the others was to what extent Musso's failing was weakness and indecision rather than despotism. I reckon I better understood both Musso and the tragedy which he bestowed upon modern Italy when I understood that.

The other aspect which is generally neglected in other biogs is the shameful role of the Italian Communist Party in Musso's final demise, and more particularly the demise of his mistress Petacci, who was after all guilty of no more than shagging the wee guy. Being summarily shot and then strung up by a Communist mob by the feet without her knickers was a severe price to pay for that.

Don't disagree with any of that. But then I've never shared the establishment view that Farrell was trying to attack, that positions M as somehow worse than the soviets or indeed their proxies, in the face of any rational argument that justifies that view. In fact it seemed to me that M simply learned from Lenin's experiences and implemented from the outset the results of those lessons; nationalism as platform for social mobilisation etc.

PS thanks for pointing me to it, I did enjoy it, and I was pre-warned of the bias by your earlier comments.

[Hibbie0762]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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Don't disagree with any of that. But then I've never shared the establishment view that Farrell was trying to attack, that positions M as somehow worse than the soviets or indeed their proxies, in the face of any rational argument that justifies that view. In fact it seemed to me that M simply learned from Lenin's experiences and implemented from the outset the results of those lessons; nationalism as platform for social mobilisation etc.

PS thanks for pointing me to it, I did enjoy it, and I was pre-warned of the bias by your earlier comments.

Fine - if nothing else, it is quite a good read, and I am glad you got something from it.

[Bartok]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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col my missus is after a history of american pioneers / settlers. anything you could recommend on that front (anyone else please chip in)

I don't know if this qualifies but I read this biography - Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer, by John MacK Faragher. It isn't the book that is outstanding but the man's life, quite incredible stuff and well worth reading for entertainment alone. DB is responsible for one of my fave quotes: "I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks."
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[Brainwrong]

A Short HIstory of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson.

This book should be read by every single earth based human, very good.

[Sancho Panza]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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the devils - fyodor dostoyevsky - fecking phenomenal. just fecking fecking brilliant. if animal farm lacerates the horrors of leninism / stalinism from a contemporary vantage point, this book anticipates the inevitable consequences of october from the middle of the 19th century. and that's not even what it's really about. this book has killed my inverted snobbery in respect of 'literature'.

Must get round to that some time. It's been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now (although my edition is translated as Demons rather than The Devils). It's the only one of Dostoyevsky's major novels that I haven't read yet. I went through a bit of an angry young man phase in my mid twenties when I read Crime & Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot and Notes From the Underground. Your recommendation might just give me the impetus to read it, however I feel that I've probably already fulfilled my quota of 19th Century Russian masterpieces for this year, having spent the whole of June reading War & Peace (fecking phenomenal but I still prefer Anna Karenina). I think I may have mellowed with old age and now prefer Tolstoy's profound relections on the meaning of existence to Dostoyevsy's rantings.

I recently finished Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures, (his follow-up to Easy Riders, Raging Bulls) about Miramax, the Sundance festival and the rise of indie movies. Wasn't that impressed to be honest. It could be quickly summed up as "Harvey Weinstein is a ****". Not a patch on his earlier work and a big disappointment.

Followed that up with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which I enjoyed and made me want to see the film again. Couldn't help the nagging doubt, however, that Capote was far more interested in the two killers, particularly Perry Smith, than in the Clutter family that they brutally murdered.

Currently reading Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities which is great and should appeal to egb's French Revolution fascination!

I'm off to the South of France next week to lie on the beach reading books for a week!:YAYYY: Swithering whether to take a whole pile or just The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas must be one of the best writers for page-turning adventure stories. Read The Three Musketeers a year or two back and couldn't put it down. Real Boys' Own stuff. Feck Dan Brown, Alexander Dumas is The Man!
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[egb_hibs]

Originally Posted by Sancho Panza
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Must get round to that some time. It's been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now (although my edition is translated as Demons rather than The Devils). It's the only one of Dostoyevsky's major novels that I haven't read yet. I went through a bit of an angry young man phase in my mid twenties when I read Crime & Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot and Notes From the Underground. Your recommendation might just give me the impetus to read it, however I feel that I've probably already fulfilled my quota of 19th Century Russian masterpieces for this year, having spent the whole of June reading War & Peace (fecking phenomenal but I still prefer Anna Karenina). I think I may have mellowed with old age and now prefer Tolstoy's profound relections on the meaning of existence to Dostoyevsy's rantings.

It's the first dostoyevsky and first 'russian' I've read. I thought it was brilliant and much more readable than i'd expected. glad i checked some amazon reviews which (correctly) said the first 3rd was difficult (it was) but then it really takes off and had me gripped. the missus said i was just unreachable when reading it which never happens to me.

anyway, i've now got 'fathers and sons' by turgenev. turgenev is apparently lampooned in the devils so i thought i'd get the other side of the story as it were. d gets wired in about russian literati like t and their courting of nihilst youth of whom d clearly dissaproves. and rightly so - though i'm not convinced that his own apparent slavophile notions would be much better.

i'd love to hear what you think of devils / demons / the possessed once you've read it. my interpretation was it was about nihlism - but juxtaposes the political nihilism dostoyevsky seems to see as a displacement of religious faith versus the desperate self-destroying apathy of a genuine 'born nihilist'.

this is a slightly different emphasis than i've read in reviews but the thing is so multi-layered there's probably loads of interpretations. i'd love to hear your own take - and who you think is who in my own interpretation.

ps make sure you have an edition containing the chapter 'stravogin's confession' which was banned on the original serialised publication. funnily enough the penguin version i have includes it as an appendix rather than re-inserting it where it should have been. interestingly enough, this reordering actually ends up having a devastating effect. hard to judge having only read it one way, but i think it's more effective than it would have been reading it in it's original sequence.

it ends up working like a flashback, casting an awful new light on events you've already read about rather than telgraphing them up front to an extent. funny how these things work out.

[Pilrig]

Deception Point by famed DB, his best IMO better than DVC


Minstrels in the Gallery - the story of Jethro Tull by the guy who edits the "A New Day" fanzine.

The Secret of the Spear by cannae remember his name but it's aboot the Spear of Destiny.

Soembdy mentioned George MacDonald Fraser of 'Flashman' fame, I'd recommend the "Steel Bonnets", the definitve history of the Border Reivers (until Alastair Moffat writes his forthcoming book about them).

[mr hibs fan]

Haha

My reading list is shoite!

Basically, read Trainspotting a couple of times, read "The Princess Bride" which was "abridged" by William Goldman a couple of times and now reading that "Heartfelt". A poor selection, although it's so bad mainly due to the fact that all my books are in a box in my parents attic.

[part/time supporter]

I'm going through an "alternate history" phase at the moment...

Read and enjoyed Fatherland (Robert Harris)

Ploughing through The Man in the High Castle (Philip K Dick) at the moment, but not really enjoying the repetitive in-joke - I'm reading someone writing about someone in an alternate universe reading someone who is writing about an alternate universe - it wears very thin very quickly.

The thing I enjoyed most was something I found on the internet which hypothesised what would have happened to the UK (and Ireland) if Gordon Banks had played in the 1970 WC 1/4 final. The basic synopsis is that England would have held on to win 2-1, Labour would have won the 1970 election, Ted Heath would have been punted by the Tories and replaced with Enoch Powell, who would have then won the next election and fucked up the country over the next decade.

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An entertaining read if you dislike Thatcher et al. I got into an argument with my Powell-loving old man over this on Sunday.

[HenryLB]

I've just finished Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. Thompson's style is really entertaining, but it's a bit too detailed if you're only casually interested in, say, the New Hampshire democratic primary of 1972.

I also just read Palestine by Joe Sacco, a comic based on a trip he made during the first intifada. Bit out of date, but as a snapshot of ordinary Palestininans under the occupation it's very good.

[Dub]

Originally Posted by egb_hibs
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1. Animal Farm - Orwell - top stuff
2. have i got views for you - boris johnstone - mildy amusing to dip into
3. prayers for the assassin
4. the retreat of reason - anthony browne

I have only read one out of your list (1.) I wouldnt mind a read at Boris's book and have never even heard of 3 + 4 although from what you write I would like to have a read at both. Who wrote 3. ?

[Lix]

Originally Posted by Brainwrong
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A Short HIstory of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson.

This book should be read by every single earth based human, very good.

Totally agree ... it changed the way I looked at a lot of things ... not enjoyed a book that much in ages ...

currently just starting 'The Last King of Scotland' as recommended on here ... so far so good!
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