The 'Currently Reading' Thread.

[SuperBacon]

On 8/20/2023 at 10:02 PM, SuperBacon said:

Needed a novel after though so have started Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow which I've heard great things about,

Finished this at the weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. 

It's not a very original story (young boy and young girl meet and are friends and love each other dearly) but it's so well written and so well told, that it was just a really easy read.

I don't tend to read nearly 500 page novels in around 2 weeks so that shows how much I enjoyed it.

The main characters are also gamers, and become programmers, and there is just the right balance in terms of references (even as an incredibly casual gamer I got most of them) but it's done in a very natural way that I don't think would lose anyone.

That's not to say its similar to Ready Player One (which I'll be honest I have never read or seen, but can imagine that's very much a "gamer" book where you need to get the references) so don't expect the same if you are to read this. Its quite a conventional novel, just set in that world, but that sounds like a disservice. 

Well impressed and gutted when it finished. Can see why it's sold so many copies.

Bought Bob Mortimers The Satsuma Complex so am going to start that next. 

[Nexus]

19 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Finished this at the weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. 

It's not a very original story (young boy and young girl meet and are friends and love each other dearly) but it's so well written and so well told, that it was just a really easy read.

I don't tend to read nearly 500 page novels in around 2 weeks so that shows how much I enjoyed it.

The main characters are also gamers, and become programmers, and there is just the right balance in terms of references (even as an incredibly casual gamer I got most of them) but it's done in a very natural way that I don't think would lose anyone.

That's not to say its similar to Ready Player One (which I'll be honest I have never read or seen, but can imagine that's very much a "gamer" book where you need to get the references) so don't expect the same if you are to read this. Its quite a conventional novel, just set in that world, but that sounds like a disservice. 

Well impressed and gutted when it finished. Can see why it's sold so many copies.

Bought Bob Mortimers The Satsuma Complex so am going to start that next. 

The way I described Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was "Ready Player One but not shit." One of the best books I've read recently.

[Gus Mears]

Frankenstein, one of the free classics you can get via Prime on Kindle. Disappointed by the lack of Puttin on the Ritz.

[Carbomb]

5 minutes ago, Gus Mears said:

Frankenstein, one of the free classics you can get via Prime on Kindle. Disappointed by the lack of Puttin on the Ritz.

I'd have thought the Gutenberg Project would be your first stop for anything public domain?

[Gus Mears]

Usually, but not when it's something I wasn't intending on reading and it's one click to download. Spur of the moment reading.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, Gus Mears said:

Usually, but not when it's something I wasn't intending on reading and it's one click to download. Spur of the moment reading.

Yeh, that's fair enough. 

Talking of which, I need to sort out a new e-reader when I've got the cash.

[Gus Mears]

My brain has ruined Frankenstein by insisting I read all the monster dialogue in Bob Mortimer's Jonjo Shelvey voice.

[hallicks]

The party’s over - the rise and fall of the conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak. An analysis of the Conservative Party since 1979, how it works, how they’ve been able to win elections, and how years of catering to a diminishing voter base means they’ve (hopefully) fucked themselves for good.

It examines in great detail the efforts of these administrations to serve their class interests, and in doing so, destroying the fabric of the country. It’s all written in a very factual and dispassionate way, albeit through a left-wing lens.

On the whole, one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read, as the scale of what was done in the 80s, early 90’s and 2010’s is almost unimaginable. Hardly breaking news to the communities that suffered then and continue to do so, but if we’re to understand why the tories are cunts, it’s essential reading. 

[BomberPat]

On 8/21/2023 at 9:47 AM, BomberPat said:

The only downside is that the book is called The Case For Auschwitz, which isn't something I want to be seen reading on the train. 

Only the epilogue to go on this. It's been heavy going, but incredible stuff.

Richard Evans' book on the Irving/Lipstadt case is fantastic in how it tackles the question of how you prove a historian is being wilfully dishonest rather than just bad at their job, but van Pelt's work just goes so much deeper into every aspect of the case; from the history of "negationism" (his preferred term, rather than "Holocaust denial") and how David Irving came to be part of that movement, to the architectural history of Auschwitz, the provenance of many of the documents cited in the case, and a blow-by-blow account of his own experience of the trial itself.

It's exhausting stuff, but something I've realised in my own writing about cons and conspiracies in recent months is that there's very little merit in "debunking" conspiracy theories and pseudoscience/pseudohistory, as all of the information necessary to do so is already out there and, in most cases, is the accepted view; the people who believe an alternative have already made the decision to disregard that, and won't be swayed by it, so you end up rather smugly preaching to the choir instead. What I think is far more important is taking the opposite approach, and asking how do we know what we know to be true? I don't think I've seen a better example of answering that question than what van Pelt did in this trial, and does in this book. He writes very clearly and eloquently about the difference between intentional and unintentional evidence, and how negationists calls for "one single proof" are ahistorical, that nothing is ever proved by "one single proof", but by a confluence of evidence - a famous part of the trial was when he was on the witness stand, and Irving insisted that the fact that nobody had found evidence of holes in the roof of Crematorium 2 meant that there were no holes through which Zyklon B could be administered, and in his words, "no holes, no Holocaust". The point made by van Pelt, and by the defence, is that Irving seized upon one piece of evidence that he felt supported his stance, while ignoring the considerably greater evidence to the contrary, and the work this book does to explain why the evidence to the contrary was stronger is as good as anything I've read on this topic.

There's also some personal asides that really hit me. There's a point, which I never knew about, where as van Pelt is in the witness box being questioned by David Irving, he had his grandmother's yellow star in his inside pocket. 

Hard to say I would recommend the book, given the subject matter, and if you're vaguely interested in the Irving/Lipstadt trial, I'd probably recommend the movie Denial and Richard Evans' Telling Lies About Hitler before this, but if you end up as deep down the rabbit hole as I have, this is absolutely essential reading.

 

Next up I have Bryan and Mary Talbot's graphic novel biography of the surrealist writer and artist Leonora Carrington. The Talbots are some of my favourite comic book writers and artists, and one of the few who I'll instantly buy up anything either of them produce, and Carrington is a fascinating person that I should really know more about, so it seems like the perfect opportunity to start learning more about her.

After that, I really, really need to start reading some fiction again.

[SuperBacon]

The Satsuma Complex is an absolute joy, and incredibly Bob Mortimer.

At one point someone asks a character if they enioyed something and they reply "No it was deeply shit" which is phrase I have never heard before, but something that only Bob would come up with (obviously) or say.

The main character also has this wonderful thing of asking of an item "Is it achieving for you what you want it to?" which again is very Bob.

I'm not a big fan of audio books but I think I'll make an exception at some point for this.

Such a lovely, easy read. He is a national treasure. 

Oh, and he also refers to his willy as his "Edward" 🤣

[The Gaffer]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

The Satsuma Complex is an absolute joy, and incredibly Bob Mortimer.

At one point someone asks a character if they enioyed something and they reply "No it was deeply shit" which is phrase I have never heard before, but something that only Bob would come up with (obviously) or say.

The main character also has this wonderful thing of asking of an item "Is it achieving for you what you want it to?" which again is very Bob.

I'm not a big fan of audio books but I think I'll make an exception at some point for this.

Such a lovely, easy read. He is a national treasure. 

Oh, and he also refers to his willy as his "Edward" 🤣

Really enjoyed this as well. Forget his name, but the main baddie who 

Spoiler

Loudly sings God Save The Queen and rubs people's heads as he fucks them up SHOUTING IN CAPS

is a revelation and a comic character I'd like to see more of. 

[hallicks]

Read Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow after your recommendations. It was a very easy read, and very compelling (I was reading it at home as well as on my commute, which is rare). There's a couple of very poignant, touching moments. There was just something missing that meant I didn't think it was great. I suspect it's because the way both main characters act when they're depressed reminds me too much of how selfish I am when I'm feeling down. But then, I already know about that. I think a great book has to make you feel something different, or see something about yourself in a different way. I didn't get that with this, but it was a good read. Also the writing is just, ever so slightly, up its own arse.

[BomberPat]

I picked Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow up yesterday on a whim too, so might get on that soon.

In the meantime, after a really heavy read for my last proper book, and finishing the Talbots book in one or two sittings, and after a few years of all but exclusively reading non-fiction, I've decided to work through a bit of my fiction backlog before I fall down the next non-fiction rabbit hole, and I'm starting with some books that films I like were based off, and picked up a set of three Ira Levin books, and The Night Of The Hunter by Davis Grubb, considering it's one of my favourite films and I've never read the book.

I've started with The Boys From Brazil. It's a kind of book I haven't read in years, that kind of on-the-nose page turner, where the writing sometimes feels a bit hacky and uninventive, but everything adds up to just making you want to keep reading a little longer to see what comes next. I don't know if I'd say I'm enjoying it per sé yet, but it works, and it's a bit of a palette cleanser, inasmuch as a book about Nazis can be.

 

Oh, and just remembered that between those I read The Territories Vol. 1, a collection of short stories published by Hybrid Shoot, all set in an imagined version of the '80s wrestling scene. It's all pretty standard stuff, nothing terrible, but what I tend to think of as Men's Writing - clearly inspired by American writers with a diet of Chandler and Hemingway; first-person, superficially flawed protagonists, largely booze and drugs and womanising taken as read. It was fine. Nothing bad, but nothing that you'd be writing home about at all. If anything, one of the more disappointing things was that there was no real original ideas or creativity in how they imagined the wrestling world - there are characters that are very obviously just direct substitutes for the Ultimate Warrior, The Sheik, Lou Thesz, the Von Erichs, and so on, rather than trying on genuinely fresh ideas. There's a very telling typo/editing error at one point, when a character named Terry, the head booker of the Memphis territory, is inadvertently referred to as "Jerry". 

Edited October 30, 2023 by BomberPat

[Keith Houchen]

Bit of a cheat as I’m not reading it yet, but I’ve mentioned this before because my mate wrote it. Drag: A British History by Jacob Bloomfield. 
 

I’ve mentioned it in discussions with @BomberPat and @Carbomb before and the book is now out. It explores how ubiquitous drag has been in British history, not just Working Class history but Monarchy as well. The author appeared on the Versus History podcast to discuss it. It’s a twenty minute listen if you’re interested. 
 

https://spotify.link/bRfopUqf7Cb

[Keith Houchen]

I’ve never been an avid reader. I put it down to my attention span being shit, I start reading a book, put it down, and rarely start reading it again. My girlfriend got me a kindle and within a week I’ve read two Orwell novels and an Oscar Wilde story. Now I’ve got a Steinbeck collection to read after I read Blood Meridian!