The 'Currently Reading' Thread.

[HarmonicGenerator]

My sister got me Ready Player Two for Christmas, and I finished it yesterday afternoon. It’s... not good. Tone and pace all over the place, characters speak in movie-references to an infuriating extent, the main character is an absolute Twitter-troll fanboy-incel-type, and the ending rips off at least three Black Mirrors (but presents it as a happy ending). And yet... it was so readable! I can’t say I recommend it but it’s certainly an easy Christmas time relaxation kind of read.

[hallicks]

I found the first one a bit all over the place as well. The stereotyping of the Japanese characters was laughably shit, the ending IIRC was proper ex machina rubbish, the narrative was scattershot at best. Having said all that, it's somehow an easy enough read. 

One of those rare instances where the film is a massive, massive improvement on the book, even if it does have Simon Pegg in it. 

[wordsfromlee]

1 hour ago, hallicks said:

One of those rare instances where the film is a massive, massive improvement on the book, even if it does have Simon Pegg in it. 

I thought the opposite. I found that in the movie they removed all the interesting detective/adventure stuff of the book and replaced it with flashing lights, car chases and dumbed down action sequences. I get that they couldn't have done it just like the book as otherwise it would be way too long, but they seemed to have spent more time on getting the rights to and cramming in as many pop culture references on screen as they could than anything else.

I reckon it would have worked great as a mini-series.

Has anyone read his other book Armada?

[hallicks]

2 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

I thought the opposite. I found that in the movie they removed all the interesting detective/adventure stuff of the book and replaced it with flashing lights, car chases and dumbed down action sequences. I get that they couldn't have done it just like the book as otherwise it would be way too long, but they seemed to have spent more time on getting the rights to and cramming in as many pop culture references on screen as they could than anything else. 

I dunno, the book is also a procession of cultural references that add little or nothing to the story. I find his writing style a bit sloppy and it stops me giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I suppose that's just me being a knob. 

I thought the divergence from the book was necessary to make it work, but it's just taste at the end of day and I'll freely admit my taste in films is utter rubbish. For instance, my favourite film is TimeCop... 

[RedRooster]

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.

It’s an excellent book about William Dodd, the American ambassador to Germany during the 1930s. It’s both fascinating and terrifying - you can, depressingly, draw parallels between the account this book gives of the rise of the Nazis to the rise of certain present day politicians and ideologies.

It’s also really interesting to read about things I’d never really considered - for instance, tourists were able to visit Nazi Germany. Many of them were going there, having a great time and deciding the horror stories about the Nazis must be untrue. This was long before the war of course, but it seems so strange.

[Just Some Guy]

56 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.

Is that the same Erik Larson who writes The Savage Dragon comic?

To be fair the Nazi's were able to pull the wool over the eyes of many.

I read about a visit by a 1930s human rights organisation to a concentration camp. All the sick were whipped out to a death camp in the week before and those left forced to clean it up. Tah-dah, a lovely spacious place for the Jews to stay.

Fucking sickening!

 

[RedRooster]

44 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

Is that the same Erik Larson who writes The Savage Dragon comic?

No, that’s Erik Larsen. 

Yeah, the book contains very similar stories about Concentration Camps. It’s deeply disturbing.

[ElCece]

3 hours ago, RedRooster said:

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.

It’s an excellent book about William Dodd, the American ambassador to Germany during the 1930s. It’s both fascinating and terrifying - you can, depressingly, draw parallels between the account this book gives of the rise of the Nazis to the rise of certain present day politicians and ideologies.

It’s also really interesting to read about things I’d never really considered - for instance, tourists were able to visit Nazi Germany. Many of them were going there, having a great time and deciding the horror stories about the Nazis must be untrue. This was long before the war of course, but it seems so strange.

Travellers in the Third Reich explores this extensively as well. Was first hand letter that up most of the book so was a fairly unfiltered insight.  Seemed to be a mixture of people genuinely oblivious, knowingly oblivious, willfully disregarding human rights crimes and supporting the human rights crimes. 

Seemed largely to depend on nationality with British and Americans particuarly treat particularly favourably. 

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, ElCece said:

Travellers in the Third Reich explores this extensively as well. Was first hand letter that up most of the book so was a fairly unfiltered insight.  Seemed to be a mixture of people genuinely oblivious, knowingly oblivious, willfully disregarding human rights crimes and supporting the human rights crimes. 

Seemed largely to depend on nationality with British and Americans particuarly treat particularly favourably. 

Thanks, I’ve just bought this. I’ll probably need a palate cleanser before reading more about the Nazis, perhaps something funny (the book I read before this was Nothing To Envy, which is real life accounts of living in North Korea - another harrowing read) but it sounds a worthwhile read.

[unfitfinlay]

Fire and Blood by George R.R Martin.

I've gone a bit off him lately, because of the shit last season of Game of Thrones and the fact it's becoming increasingly clear that the main story is never going to be finished. This was a pound on Christmas Eve though so I thought I'd give it a bash.

I really enjoyed it overall. It's written in the style of a history text book but I never found it to be overly dry and even the most minor characters still felt like real people rather than just names on a page. The only problem I had with it is the ending. Because it isn't one. Like most of his stuff, it needs at least one sequel, which is probably never going to happen either.

[ElCece]

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

Thanks, I’ve just bought this. I’ll probably need a palate cleanser before reading more about the Nazis, perhaps something funny (the book I read before this was Nothing To Envy, which is real life accounts of living in North Korea - another harrowing read) but it sounds a worthwhile read.

Hope you enjoy, a palate cleanser might not be a bad idea. I have to say nothing to envy sounds intriguing, I've a couple fiction novels I am really keen to get through soon but will get this on my kindle for after. 

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, ElCece said:

Hope you enjoy, a palate cleanser might not be a bad idea. I have to say nothing to envy sounds intriguing, I've a couple fiction novels I am really keen to get through soon but will get this on my kindle for after. 

It’s excellent. It’s first hand accounts from North Korean escapees, and it’s often heartbreaking, especially, in some cases, when you consider who they have had to leave behind. But it’s powerful stuff and worth your time.

[Wideload90]

Currently devouring 'One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time' by Craig Brown. I have never read a biography like it and it has raised the bar considerably. Brown views the Beatles from every angle possible, utilising different perspectives whilst maintaining a quaint social commentary of the 60's. Visiting the childhood homes of Lennon and McCartney and the derelict cinemas in Hamburg reflect the depth of research for the book.

Chapters are 1-5 pages long and provide digestible tales on the Beatles from their origins to the height of Beatlemania and beyond. I've laughed at the anecdotes and read in awe of the power of the Beatles. The claims that they healed America following the assassination of JFK is something I never considered but would agree with amongst other things. 

Far too much to go into but it's easily my read of the year.

I cannot recommend highly enough but I am also disappointed as future biographies will not match the quality of this one. 

[waters44]

Can anyone recommend a good fantasy series (not Game of Thrones) that I can get my teeth stuck in to over Christmas please?

A friend has mentioned the "Wheel of Time" and "Riftwar Saga" - are they worth checking out?

[ReturnOfTheMack]

I wasn't a fan of Wheel of Time, and can't speak for Riftwar.

I'd say the Mistborn saga, or the Drenai books by Gemmell.