What good books are you reading?

[kickstart]

On ‎26‎/‎9‎/‎2559 at 5:51 PM, stander said:

Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin

 

Try  George  Orwell, Burmese Days .

 

I am reading now Tomas  Hardy   Tess of the D 'Urdervilles, I like his descriptive   writing about  Victorian  farming/countryside.

Not read  George Orwell ,1984 for a while ,next will be Evelyn  Waugh,  Brideshead  Revisited ,and then a Ian McEwan.

[upside]

The Bald Man. 

 

By B Books. 

[Henryford]

10 hours ago, kickstart said:

 

Try  George  Orwell, Burmese Days .

 

I am reading now Tomas  Hardy   Tess of the D 'Urdervilles, I like his descriptive   writing about  Victorian  farming/countryside.

Not read  George Orwell ,1984 for a while ,next will be Evelyn  Waugh,  Brideshead  Revisited ,and then a Ian McEwan.

 

The best George Orwell for me was "Down and out in Paris and London".

[Peterw42]

Wilber Smith is always a good read, grand epic stories, and all the books loosely link together.

[Peterw42]

6 minutes ago, Henryford said:

 

The best George Orwell for me was "Down and out in Paris and London".

 

A great book,

How some people are doing Thailand.

[Speedo1968]

On 10/9/2016 at 8:50 PM, Khon Kaen Dave said:

speedo 1968

i too went to a grammar school.It was Adium and stanhope in Deptford London SE8. We were lucky,our English teacher was a woman of the times.We read Sallinger,as i said.And she advised us to read last exit to Brooklyn,lady Chatterly,and, others even when they were banned by the obscene publication society.(60's trial,i believe)

she also told me to read Stokers Dracula,but as a love story,not just a horror story.Frnkenstien,by Mary Shelly was great,after it was explained to me that she wrote it after a dream brought on by copious amounts of laudanum and a night in a chateaux with lord Byron,Shelly,and Dr Polidori,on the shores of lake Geneva.

What a fantastic mind.

I,like you have a kindle,but the feel of a well thumbed page from a crisp,if ancient tome is pleasure itself.

carry on the good work Mon Ami

Hello Khon Kaen Dave

Actually I don't have a Kindle of any kind, would never use.

Books were the things to pass on especially during the Hippie Trails of the 60's and 70's.   Read on the long long  slow slow train journeys and pass them on and sometimes get one in return.    That's when I first read the Hobbit ( since when I have read what are thought to be the original tales for that and Lord of The Rings, more than a 1,000 years old, gathered together in the Mabinogion ).

Although not from taking laudanum but other interesting you have Speed by William S Burroughs 1970 - yes the son of the author of Tarzan: also Carlos Castaneda - The Teachings of Don Juan: The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell bu Aldous Huxley.

Guess the 1960's publication acts had a lot to answer for, e.g closing of OZ magazine etc.

On the subject of banned books Noddy books were banned in Queensland State Australia because he never went to school !

 

If you are a Khon Kaen resident any good second hand book shops there, I live in Banphai about 45km southof KK.

The only one I know was in Bangkok near what was The Delta hotel many years ago.

[DM07]

Depends....

I am a big Stephen King- fan and I found the newer "Black House", "11.22.63", "Mr. Mercedes" or "Doctor Sleep" to be quiet entertaining.

 

[tutsiwarrior]

2 hours ago, DM07 said:

Depends....

I am a big Stephen King- fan and I found the newer "Black House", "11.22.63", "Mr. Mercedes" or "Doctor Sleep" to be quiet entertaining.

 

 

yeah...I useta scorn Stephen King as an icon of crass 'popular culture' until I read some of his stuff...very nicely put together as well as being entertaining...I reckoned that if Stanley Kubrick took on The Shining he musta been impressed with the source material...

[DM07]

27 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

 

yeah...I useta scorn Stephen King as an icon of crass 'popular culture' until I read some of his stuff...very nicely put together as well as being entertaining...I reckoned that if Stanley Kubrick took on The Shining he musta been impressed with the source material...

He has many really amazing titles under his belt.
The Stand, It, Misery, Storm of the Century, The Long Walk (as Richard Bachman), Eyes of the Dragon (as Richard Bachman) and a bunch of short- stories as well (The Mist comes to mind)!

For his genre, he is a master and I enjoyed his company on many holidays!

[tutsiwarrior]

indeed for his genre he is unequalled...

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Speedo 1968

There are so many Tolkien books,that are meant to date back well before the rings.

There was the Silmaridian (excuse spelling) The adventures of Tom Bombadil and a few others that stray from my ancient mind.I get lost in book's,i have a good imagination and the thing seems to come to life for me.Besides the Thai books,Leather has done some good stuff.

There is a book shop in KK and i know where it is by walking there.I will be away for a while,having a Holiday in kho chang,but when i return i will visit kk and get you the details of where it is.There are stacks of books there.

I too read the Rings on a long journey across  the states on a Amtrack bus,back in the day,i gave it away to a girl where i  stayed.I wrote my name and address on it and told her to pass it on,spreading the word so to speak.I never did hear from her again,i often wonder where my book is now and how many have read it. the most strangest book i ever read was about an elderly woman who had a fascination for Richard Gere,she wrote a letter to him,which he answered in fan mail fashion.She became obsessed with him,thinking the letter was just for her and full of hidden messages.When she died,her son finds the letter and contacts Richard Gere and he becomes obsessed.I think its called "letter's to Ricard Gere(that would make sense) but i dont remember the author,but if ever you see it,read it's excellent.

All the best

KKD

[LongTimeLurker]

The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek

 

The Carlos Casteneda series of books.

Edited October 12, 2016 by LongTimeLurker

[piersbeckett]

On 01/10/2016 at 3:46 PM, overherebc said:

Good to point that out, as I should have done, otherwise we'd have a lot of bikers complaining.

Absolutely; it's part road novel and part philosophy as the title might suggest.

[piersbeckett]

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust.

I was once asked many years ago if I'd read Proust to which I replied, "No, it's just the way I walk".

Presently I'm 88% in (kindle version); it's a slog but instructive, inspirational even, if you've any aspirations yourself in the writing department.

Philosophically, I'd say it's more interesting than revealing and personally I could never have countenanced it during my working life but in retirement providing I can occasionally swap over to a shorter tome which I have been doing (Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, The Brothers Karamasov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Chis Hitchens's  'God Is Not Great', I think I'll get through it!

[tutsiwarrior]

there's no need to slog thru the entire 'Remembrance...'

 

if ye just read and appreciate 'Swann's Way' that's enough to get the general idea of what Proust was trine to say...

 

oh...Odette! (odet-tuh)

 

 

Edited October 13, 2016 by tutsiwarrior

[tutsiwarrior]

and Bob Dylan receives the Nobel Prize in Literature...

 

jeezuz, is nothin' holy?

 

yeah, I'll admit that some of his stuff is quite nice and I know 'the times they are achangin' by heart, it was a clarion to youth in the 60s...

 

but some of his stuff is gobbledygook!...there ain't no way to make sense of 'tears of rage' or 'I shall be released'...and Bob should admit that the words simply sounded good together and that he was simply trine to entertain...

 

they should give me that prize...de prize money is good an de vodka is gettin' expensive...

 

 

[SinCityGr8One]

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

[thedivezone]

On 9/28/2016 at 8:07 AM, uptheos said:

The Road to Little Dribbling

Bill Bryson

Quite funny.

 

Basically a follow up to Notes From a Small Island

  UUUUhhh ,  i've got that one at home, still unopened, been waiting for a special moment to start reading it.

 

If you're a fan of Bryson, as i am, you can't go wrong in picking up " At  Home " , in my view his best so far.

[newnative]

Liked the Stephen King comments several have posted.  It had been a number of years since I read a King novel but my sister recently recommended Mr. Mercedes and I loved it.  I'm now reading the sequel, Finders Keepers, and it is equally good.  Excellent writing with many passages that I've lingered over and admired, while at the same time being greatly entertained.