What Books Are People Reading Now ?

[richardjm65]

Never read any Elmore Leonard books other than his crime and police stuff - I'll look for his earlier stuff. His crime writings are just so tight, with that fine, sparse dialogue.

Re Sebastian Faulks, I read Charlotte Grey, but thought it un-memorable. 'The English Patient' was good though. I've never quite come to terms with 'Catch 22' though I guess the whole point was the inherent idiocy of military management and the reactions of those who were trapped in or by it. Had some of that myself.

Sebastian Faulks also wrote 'Birdsong', which I thought was a very fine, powerful story of the first World War. Another of those that I keep on my shelf for re-reading.

[SteeleJoe]

Never read any Elmore Leonard books other than his crime and police stuff - I'll look for his earlier stuff. His crime writings are just so tight, with that fine, sparse dialogue.

You'll find the same with his western stories; and while I think his writing transcends the western genre that sparse dialogue if anything fits the westerns even more...

[keemapoot]

Never read any Elmore Leonard books other than his crime and police stuff - I'll look for his earlier stuff. His crime writings are just so tight, with that fine, sparse dialogue.

You'll find the same with his western stories; and while I think his writing transcends the western genre that sparse dialogue if anything fits the westerns even more...

Agreed, I like most of his stuff. Surprisingly, at the ripe old age of 89 he is busy working full time as a screenwriter on the Justified TV series, which I've also been watching and enjoying.

[SteeleJoe]

Never read any Elmore Leonard books other than his crime and police stuff - I'll look for his earlier stuff. His crime writings are just so tight, with that fine, sparse dialogue.

You'll find the same with his western stories; and while I think his writing transcends the western genre that sparse dialogue if anything fits the westerns even more...

Agreed, I like most of his stuff. Surprisingly, at the ripe old age of 89 he is busy working full time as a screenwriter on the Justified TV series, which I've also been watching and enjoying.

Heard about it, haven't seen it. The character (Raylan Givens) is a great one that appeared in 3 different books but while the guy who plays him was great in "Deadwood", I'd not have chosen for this -- but I will eventually watch it, I'm sure. Hope they can do his work justice. (I take satisfaction from the fact that Leonard thinks, as I do, that "Out of Sight" is the best movie made from his writing but a lot of stuff they've used has fallen well short.)

And I was already impressed by his longevity and work ethic 10 years ago - can't believe he's still at it.

Anyway, I better stop thread jacking...

[richardjm65]

Not thread jacking, SteeleJoe, all opinions on books, or their derivatives, are of interest. I've made notes of many books that I want to track down. When I get kindled up (in December when my buddy comes for his holiday), I've got so much I want to download. Being up in the boonies means you have to take what you can get. And it's rare to be offered a gem.

[espinoza]

I'm currently reading Conn Igguldens Wolf of the plains.

So far, a very good book about Dennis Khan.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Ulysses G.]

'Miami Blues', by Charles Willeford. Elmore Leonard says 'No one writes a better crime novel'. I'd like to read more of this guy's stuff.

Whoa...many, many authors - even highbrow ones like Amis or Bellow - say no one writes crime like Elmore Leonard ( and they've made so many movies from his books - most bad but a couple great ones) and I totally agree; for entertainment (as opposed to "serious" thought provoking literature) Leonard is unbeatable as far as I'm concerned.

Will download Charles Willeford now...thanks.

I'm a big Elmore Leonard fan - only his old cowboy books when he first started are not up to much.

The Charles Williford Hoke Mosely novels are pretty good. Also Cockfighter by him. He wrote a few stinkers, but these are all good.

Actually I've found - much to my surprise - that I enjoyed an anthology of his western short stories I was given (among them, a couple hat had also been made into films: most recently "3:10 to Yuma")...but each to his own, of course.

I've never read anything by him that I didn't at least like and many of them I loved.

Have you read Louie L'Amour? IMO, he was far superior (when it came to Cowboy stories) - to my surprise. If I had not read L'Amour first I might not have been as disappointed with Leonard's cowboy stories.

As far as Raylan Givens goes, that is modern stuff which I like. The books that I did not particularly like were all set in the old West. Anyway, I love anything somewhat modern by Elmore Leonard.

[SteeleJoe]

Have you read Louie L'Amour? IMO, he was far superior (when it came to Cowboy stories) - to my surprise. If I had not read L'Amour first I might not have been as disappointed with Leonard's cowboy stories.

As far as Raylan Givens goes, that is modern stuff which I like. The books that I did not particularly like were all set in the old West. Anyway, I love anything somewhat modern by Elmore Leonard.

Well L'Amour is, I believe, regarded as the ultimate of that genre. I think I read something of his decades ago and was surprised to like it but that's not ordinarily a genre I'd be interested in and didn't read any more.

I recently re-read "Cuba Libre" which has a cowboy character and some old west references but takes place in Cuba at the time of the Spanish American war...not set in modern times but great Leonard (and great material for a film).

[Ulysses G.]

I agree. Cowboy books are not something that would normally interest me, but I was in a situation where I did not have much available to me that I normally like to read and so I read a number of L'Amour's books and actually enjoyed them.

"Cuba Libre" was written pretty recently. The cowboy books that I did not like by Leonard were when he was first starting out in the early 1950s.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[SteeleJoe]

I agree. Cowboy books are not something that would normally interest me, but I was in a situation where I did not have much available to me that I normally like to read and so I read a number of L'Amour's books and actually enjoyed them.

"Cuba Libre" was written pretty recently. The books that I did not like by Leonard were when he was first starting out.

Well, personal taste varies of course. I have never even heard of that book and never read any westerns of his except for short stories but I know that "Hombre" was very well regarded by critics and readers alike (and it was good film). I was looking for the name of the collection(s) of short stories and I came across this:

'Elmore Leonard is to be honoured by the Western Writers of America for his lifetime contribution to the genre.

President of the organisation Johnny D Boggs said that Leonard, who honed his craft with westerns including Three-Ten to Yuma and Hombre before he turned to the crime writing he is better known for today, was "long overdue" for such recognition. "Elmore Leonard has had a tremendous impact on the western and crime genres," he said. "He has always been a gifted storyteller, and never afraid to take chances. That's why his westerns remain in print decades after they were first published, and why anthologies of his short western fiction fill bookshelves." '

But I know Leonard has said quite openly that he chose westerns because he thought they could sell - not a guy like L'Amour who went around in boots and a cowboy hat ie a real lover of 'The West'.

[Ulysses G.]

I don't really like cowboy books normally and I am comparing him to one of the best Western writers, but I really did not like these old books. Here is a customer review of one of them, "Last Stand at Sabor River." The reviewer feels much the same way that I do.

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother July 24, 2012

I like Elmore Leonard,and I have read almost all of his other books. That's why it's hard to believe he wrote this one.
The characters are caricatures. The "hero" is a battle-hardened war vet who previously stood off hostile Native Americans, basically by outwitting them at their own game of stalking, tracking, ambushing, and face-to-face combat. But in the time frame of the action, he has somehow forgotten everything he supposedly learned. He is so naive, gullible, off-guard and generally oblivious that it's impossible to care what happens to him. With a couple of exceptions, no matter what the situation, he manages to be the victim. People get the drop on him, corner him in dark barns and cellars, and generally spend their free time beating him to a pulp. He allows himself to be set up and manipulated by a teen-aged girl. And so on, and on, and on. Maybe he's a masochist; this is the only logical explanation.
I kept forcing myself to read on, but after yet another bone-head move by the hero, I couldn't stand it and quit. If you don't care about the main character, it's really hard to care what happens to him or how things turn out.
Another point: ranchers, farmers and people living in primitive dangerous situations tend to own dogs. Yet in this book, they don't. Especially the hero.
This is like a parody of Leonard's good books. Apparently the publisher decided to get sales based on the author's name; if written by a new or lesser-known author this book wouldn't have been published at all.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[DMC1]

Never read any Elmore Leonard books other than his crime and police stuff - I'll look for his earlier stuff. His crime writings are just so tight, with that fine, sparse dialogue.

Re Sebastian Faulks, I read Charlotte Grey, but thought it un-memorable. 'The English Patient' was good though. I've never quite come to terms with 'Catch 22' though I guess the whole point was the inherent idiocy of military management and the reactions of those who were trapped in or by it. Had some of that myself.

Sebastian Faulks also wrote 'Birdsong', which I thought was a very fine, powerful story of the first World War. Another of those that I keep on my shelf for re-reading.

Yes, Birdsong is a cracker

[SteeleJoe]

Sebastian Faulks also wrote 'Birdsong', which I thought was a very fine, powerful story of the first World War. Another of those that I keep on my shelf for re-reading.

Yes, Birdsong is a cracker

Yes, indeed.

[richardjm65]

Another book that I read recently was a biography of Aldous Huxley - (think 'Brave New World'), by Nicholas Murray. It was interesting, but I actually came to the conclusion that I was more interested in what Huxley had written, rather than what his life was all about. There were no real insights into why he wrote what he wrote. Mostly it was to do with the folk he kept company with. Even his experiments with LSD were not that enlightening.

Perhaps it was just a biography penned for academics. I'm not one of those. I did not learn much of value.

[tutsiwarrior]

re: westerns I picked up a copy of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove mostly because of his involvement in The Last Picture Show and was impressed...recommended...never did see the TV series...

[SteeleJoe]

re: westerns I picked up a copy of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove mostly because of his involvement in The Last Picture Show and was impressed...recommended...never did see the TV series...

Really, really like McMurtry. Read 3 or 4 of his books. Loved "Lonesome Dove" - which is much more than a western and doesn't resemble what one might think of the genre (won a Pulitzer Prize). When the series came out I loved it and it has a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes but, coincidentally I re-watched it not long ago and while it was still rather good it didn't stand the test of time so well; the New York Times said it had single-handedly restored the art of the mini- series but since then HBO and the like have taken TV to a whole other level . Still I think it's worth watching.

Anyway, McMurtry I think is very good - he's another one of my reliable writers for entertainment. He studied under Ken Kesey and became his friend (in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", Kesey and the Pranksters stop at McMurtry's house). He wrote "Terms of Endearment" and co-wrote the screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain" and a few other great movie scripts from his work like Hud and Last Picture. My favorite of his (and his frequent collaborator Diana Ossana, who was his partner in discovering the short story Brokeback Mountain and turning it into a multiple award winning script) might be "Zeke and Ned" if not Lonesome Dove.

[Ulysses G.]

I loved Lonesome Dove and the prequels and sequels were not bad either. The only one that was not that good was the one set when Gus and Call are young boys and have not developed the personalities that made them such compelling characters. I agree that the TV mini-series was GREAT when it came out, but has not aged well. It is still OK, but not nearly as wonderful as when it first appeared.

[Gaccha]

The Story of Philosophy by WIll Durant

This work of pithy, gorgeous prose by the Pulitzer Prize prize-winning author is now a central text in the popularising of philosophy. Written in 1926 it risks being an historical curiousity since by necessity it includes none of the later philosphers (Foucault, Baudrillard, Ranciere etc.). Yet despite the almost comical inclusions of philosphers who looked big in 1926 and have now vanished from existence (anyone reading Herbert Spencer?), the sheer enthusiasm of his subject is very infectious. I have a Santayana and a Voltaire book on my reading list.

Read, enjoy and prepare a money account for the great increase in philosophy texts you'll be reading.

Can you resist reading Schopenhauer after this...?

"What strikes the reader at once upon opening 'The World,Will and Idea' is its style. Here is no Chinese puzzle of Kantian terminology, no Hegelian obfuscation, no Spinozist geometry; everything is clarity and order; and all is admirably centered about the leading conception of the world as will, and therefore strife, and therefore misery. What blunt honesty, what refreshing vigor, what uncompromising direct-ness! Where his predecessors are abstract to the point of invisibility, with theories that give out few windows of illustra-tion upon the actual world, Schopenhauer, like the son of a bus-iness man, is rich in the concrete, in examples, in applications, even in humor.l After Kant, humor in philosophy was a startling innovation."

I bought it at Kinokuniya, but you can download it free off the internet.

[GarryP]

Just picked up the latest Odd Thomas book by Dean Koontz, Odd Apocalypse. An easy read and I really like the main character. I intended to pick up an Elmore Leonard to see why everyone seems to like him so much but there weren't any in stock.

[Ulysses G.]

On Elmore Leonard, keep trying. If you like him and most people do, you have years of good reading to look forward to.

[BookMan]

The TV Series 'Justified' is based on a couple of Elmore Leonard novels

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/elmore_leonard_rips_off_justified/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_(TV_series)

[SteeleJoe]

The TV Series 'Justified' is based on a couple of Elmore Leonard novels

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/elmore_leonard_rips_off_justified/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_(TV_series)

Yeah, we were discussing it a few posts back. I've not seen it but I'm pretty sure it isn't based on any of his novels but it features a protagonist (Raylan Givens), who was in 2 of them and a short story, in completely new stories. And Leonard has some advisory capacity in the series (and from what I recall reading somewhere, generally likes it).

EDIT: Oops! Guess I should have looked at the links BEFORE I posted...

Looks like the first season does basically follow the narrative of one of the previously written stories I read. The short story in one of his anthologies, I believe.

2ND EDIT: Guess I should have looked at BOTH links:

"Leonard wrote the story 'Fire in the Hole,' which made Raylan the star and sent him back home to Kentucky. This story became the basis for the pilot episode of Justified in 2010."

Edited May 3, 2013 by SteeleJoe

[mike_rad]

Holy Cow! by Sarah MacDonald, an Aussie broadcaster, absolutely hilarious, as anyone who's been there can relate to:

http://www.illiterarty.com/reviews/book-review-holy-cow-indian-adventure-sarah-macdonald

[OldChinaHam]

I would be reading Jared Diamond, THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAY, but holy cow I can't find a library in CM.

Does anyone know of a good library in CM which might have this book?

I have read JD's previous scribblings, and guys with beards are good writers.

So, please, which library should I use for English titles?

Re This Book:

Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence. Societies like those of the New Guinea Highlanders remind us that it was only yesterday—in evolutionary time—when everything changed and that we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional than to modern conditions.

The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today.

This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. A characteristically provocative, enlightening, and entertaining book, The World Until Yesterday will be essential and delightful reading.

[BookMan]

The TV Series 'Justified' is based on a couple of Elmore Leonard novels

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/08/elmore_leonard_rips_off_justified/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_(TV_series)

Yeah, we were discussing it a few posts back. I've not seen it but I'm pretty sure it isn't based on any of his novels but it features a protagonist (Raylan Givens), who was in 2 of them and a short story, in completely new stories. And Leonard has some advisory capacity in the series (and from what I recall reading somewhere, generally likes it).

EDIT: Oops! Guess I should have looked at the links BEFORE I posted...

Looks like the first season does basically follow the narrative of one of the previously written stories I read. The short story in one of his anthologies, I believe.

2ND EDIT: Guess I should have looked at BOTH links:

"Leonard wrote the story 'Fire in the Hole,' which made Raylan the star and sent him back home to Kentucky. This story became the basis for the pilot episode of Justified in 2010."

Sorry, I missed that post, just went back and read through

[ExpatOilWorker]

Reading "Kitchen confidential" by Anthony Bourdain, easy to read and good fun.

[DMC1]

Think I need to hit non fiction for a while. I'm struggling to enjoy anything. Any recommendations?

Just on 2nd book of the 'Dark Duet' series - pretty disappointing so far. Yet another 'miss' for me.

[Gaccha]

I would be reading Jared Diamond, THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAY, but holy cow I can't find a library in CM.

Does anyone know of a good library in CM which might have this book?

I have read JD's previous scribblings, and guys with beards are good writers.

So, please, which library should I use for English titles?

Re This Book:

Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence. Societies like those of the New Guinea Highlanders remind us that it was only yesterday—in evolutionary time—when everything changed and that we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional than to modern conditions.

The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today.

This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. A characteristically provocative, enlightening, and entertaining book, The World Until Yesterday will be essential and delightful reading.

Always check university libraries. They tend to be the best. Chiang Mai Uni has two Jared Diamond books but not the one you seek. You can wait 6 months or make a request to them to buy the book.

[OldChinaHam]

"Always check university libraries." Thank you. 2 outta 3 ain't bad!

And, what DMC1 says is actually true. After passing a certain age, this probably varies with the individual, fiction ceases to have much interest, especially with the world falling apart around us. It has been quite some time since I have been able to read more than a few pages of fiction. It may be my age, or it may just be my world.

[SteeleJoe]

"Always check university libraries." Thank you. 2 outta 3 ain't bad!

And, what DMC1 says is actually true. After passing a certain age, this probably varies with the individual, fiction ceases to have much interest, especially with the world falling apart around us. It has been quite some time since I have been able to read more than a few pages of fiction. It may be my age, or it may just be my world.

I started reading non fiction about 50% of the time in my late 20's - and my fiction was divided between "serious literature" and fun stuff. Now, 20 years later, it's about 95% non fiction and almost all my fiction is the "fun stuff"*.

Reliable writers of fun stuff for me:

Elmore Leonard

Larry McMurtry

Frederick Forsyth

John LeCarre

Carl Hiassen

James Lee Burke

Ed McBain

Wilbur Smith

* because it isn't what I think of as serious literature, that doesn't mean it isn't well written. I think the first four in that lost are brilliant writers - as previously mentioned, Leonard is known to be a favorite of even snooty intellectual and writers like Saul Bellow and Martin Amis, McMurtry has won a Pulitzer and other notable awards, LeCarre is very well regarded by critics as an author of quality who transcends his chosen genre, and I think Forsyth uses language brilliantly.

And the last 4 tell a good story and do it well - Smith is a guilty pleasure, very cheesy and predictable but good fun.