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Don Basilio
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« Reply #165 on: 16:14:18, 10-02-2008 » |
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I loved 'A Suitable Boy' although the ending left me feeling rather frustrated. I devoured it in about 5 days, as I recall. It`s a very different beast from 'An Equal Music' which is much darker in tone. Just about to open up his 'Two Lives'.
So next time you speak to Nigel in Mumbai, Mort, try to picture that sexy Muslim cricketer the heroine fancies or the sweet shoe salesman on the end of the phone, and you might be able to survive the interview without shrieking. |
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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A
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« Reply #166 on: 16:17:04, 10-02-2008 » |
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I have read Equal Music and enjoyed it , mainly because of the music content I think! I haven't been able to persevere with Suitable boy as I find it confusing when all the names look the same and I don't know what sex they are!!! ( I know , it's just me !)
I did however enjoy 'The Golden Gate' by Seth, written all in verse, including the acknowledgements at the beginning. I found it addictive and have read it twice... so far! very clever but it doesn't shout cleverness in your face I think.
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Well, there you are.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #167 on: 16:18:47, 10-02-2008 » |
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What's Equal Music like? After A Suitable Boy I thought I should like it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. As someone outside the 'music business', I found it a thoughtful insight into a musician's world. Seth wrote it inspired by his then partner Philippe Honoré, who's now lead 2nd violin in the Philharmonia, I recall. The narrator, Michael, plays second violin in a string quartet and it's about how he spots a former lover some ten years after their affair ended and tries to trace her again to find out why her musical activities have ceased. Seth successfully got Decca to produce a CD of the music mentioned in the novel:  It was a long time ago when I read it (8 or so years?) and I think a re-read is overdue. |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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martle
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« Reply #168 on: 18:38:14, 10-02-2008 » |
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Being the healthily cynical chap that I am, I don't necessarily expect too much from 'international bestsellers'; but I was given it for Xmas and have just read The Kite Runner by Khalid Housseni (now a major motion picture!).
Well. It's a knockout book. Afghanistan backdrop, gripping, beautiful, genuinely heart-rending, tough, exquisite and sometimes very funny. Extraordinary for a first novel. I'm told the film's pretty good too. Highly recommended.
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Green. Always green.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #169 on: 18:42:20, 10-02-2008 » |
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I'm about three quarters of the way through that at the moment, martle! I agree entirely...beautifully written and I suspect the heartache's going to get even greater. I missed the film (didnt want to see it before reading the book), so shall have to look out for the DVD.
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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martle
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« Reply #170 on: 18:52:49, 10-02-2008 » |
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beautifully written Funni, IGI - I was going to write that too, but it so often seems to mean 'elegant and stylish, but without much to say'. In this case, the style serves the very real and important substance of the book. |
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Green. Always green.
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Morticia
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« Reply #171 on: 19:13:00, 10-02-2008 » |
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A friend gave me very negative feedback about The Kite Flyer. Our tastes in reading matter are usually very similar but having read the comments above I can see I`m going to have to add it to my list.
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Daniel
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« Reply #172 on: 19:23:51, 10-02-2008 » |
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It is a while since I read The Kite Runner, but I remember feeling quite privileged/grateful that it allowed me a more personalised feeling for the kind of situations, fears and ambiguities that people living in that part of the world have to face, more than any news article or documentary ever could. And I found striking the links between personal emotional flaws and the whole wider messy situation too.
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martle
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« Reply #173 on: 19:24:21, 10-02-2008 » |
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Green. Always green.
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Morticia
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« Reply #174 on: 19:47:46, 10-02-2008 » |
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Just ignore me, Mart. Yes, The Kite Runner.   Exit stage Right to beat head repeatedly against wall. |
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tonybob
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« Reply #175 on: 22:15:24, 10-02-2008 » |
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*just* finished the rather provocative 'Behold the Man' by Michael Moorcock.
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sososo s & i.
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A
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« Reply #176 on: 22:19:30, 10-02-2008 » |
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Any good tonybob?
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Well, there you are.
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tonybob
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« Reply #177 on: 00:21:03, 11-02-2008 » |
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oh yes. i'm not a sci-fi fan as a rule, but this really pushes the boundaries, veering into philosophical 'what-if's' and jungian psychology. it really turns the biblical story of christ on its head. well worth a read. cheap, as well. |
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sososo s & i.
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richard barrett
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« Reply #178 on: 00:43:14, 11-02-2008 » |
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I read Behold the Man as a teenager and was thinking of rereading it, since there was probably a lot I missed the first time round. I think it's quite an impressive piece of writing, though I've never liked anything else I've read (or attempted to) by Moorcock.
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C Dish
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« Reply #179 on: 06:14:09, 11-02-2008 » |
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After the flooding of our basement I have out of gratitude at having salvaged it been reading Donald Barthelme's posthumously collected Teachings of Don B.
I imagine members might be thoroughly irritated by this author if they gave him a chance, but his nonchalant style and completely artless wit is refreshing in times that seem dire.
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inert fig here
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