Torneyboy Posted December 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/stories/114.asp. Part of an interview with her on her new book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Hi Just noticed in todays paper. Google wants to save you a trip to the Library. Google has teamed up with some of the worlds best Librarys to out books online. The nonprofit Internet Archive said librarys form five countries including China and India have agreed to add one million digitised books to its archive with about 70000 expected to be online by April next year. Google plans to scan millions of books from Oxford University,Harvard University and others. Great news for some i guess...me however i prefer the good old hard back in my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I guess you've finished the Da Vinci cobblers by now. Dunno about you but I was v. disappointed in it. Thought the characters were one dimensional, that plonker on the estate outside Paris what ho! And if you've got to the end weren't you also surprised at how flat the ending was and how it was telegraphed from at least several hundred pages before. No, lots of hype about it but didn't deliver imvho. All mouth and no trousers as they say in these parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 the best book i have read in years, and on my top ten list is "shantaram" - the true story of an australian escaped convict's rise in bombays underworld of the 70's and early 80's. incredibly uplifting book of redemption, outstanding! can't wait until the rest of the trilogy appears. and at least for me it does evoce many memories of my time in bombay in the late 80's/early 90's. read books of cormac mccarthy, mostly playing in the badlands of the texas-mexico border. unblievably athmospheric prose. always a journey into the dark recesses of humanity. also on my top ten is moorcock's col. pyat series (1st: bycantinium endures, 2nd: the laughter of cartagae, 3rd: don't remember), written over the last 20 odd years, the last of the four books is to be published soon. very different from the genius moorcocks main fame - SF/fantasy. col. pyat is a racist antisemitic ukrainian who gets completely uprooted by the russian revolution and cocain and scizophrenia. he travels madly around the world, gets into the worst shit ever (heart of darkness is a holiday trip compared to pyat's adventures). the books are equally violent, contain the worst sexual abysses and excesses, and at times so humorous that you have to take the book out of your hand pissing yourself laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 oh, another book i recently read i can highly recommend is "Q" - a wierd mystery playing in the confusing times of the early days of the reformation, visting all the lesser known and forgotten events such as the revolution of munster and the anabaptists in the netherlands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Does anybody read Sue Townsend's books? The Adrian Mole series. They are a light-hearted piss take of life in modern England. Very funny I think but maybe you have to be English to really appreciate the humour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 >>>Does anybody read Sue Townsend's books? The Adrian Mole series.<<< YES! very funny! and: "yes minister", "yes prime minister" as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Hm. Finally. The Alexander trilogy is great. Another Alexander book just out by Steven Pressfield, very worth a read. However his "Gates of Fire" about Thermopyle was outstanding. Enjoyed Spartan immensely. Well worth a read is "the walled Orchard" by Holt (forget the first name). Immesnsely variable author, but "Orchard" was brilliant. (I almost hate to admit a penchant for Robert Jordan, but eagerly awaiting his next, and was rocked to find Donaldson has written another "Unbeliever" book). -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Fly, Shantaram sounds interesting. Will look out for it. Here's a couple that you may have read:- "The sorrow of War" by Bao Ninh. Fiction. Story of a North Vietnamese soldier's war. Very poignant. Was banned in VN. "What am I doing here?" by Bruce Chatwin. Wow. This guy had such an interesting, although short life. This is biographical including his meetings with the likes of Indira Ghandi and time spent with Klaus Kinski in Africa. "Marching Powder" by Rusty Young, (almost typed his surname as Nail!). About a guy who is nabbed in Bolivia for smuggling coke. He's sent to a bizarre prison where the prisoners are allowed to have their families inside with them. Quite an eye opener. He developed lots of friendships and relationships over the time he was inside and witnessed quite a few horrific things including a graphic murder of a prisoner by a crowd of prisoners. "Stormy Weather" by Carl Hiaasen. Surreal tale about a hurricane hitting Florida and all the whackos that come out of the woodwork. V. funny in parts. Ludicrous in others. Read John Burdett's "Bangkok 8" not so long ago suffering Thailand withdrawal symptoms. Has an interesting Thai police detective main character who has an almost fatherly relationship with his corrupt police colonel boss. The story is a bit far fetched and starts with a former US marine being killed by a car load of cobras. Unfortunately the rest of the book doesn't live up to the thriller start. Particularly disappointing is the depiction of the female Fbi agent and her relationship with the hero. As for the comeuppance of the villain it doesn't provide a satisfactory resolution. Had a fantasy book recommended to me the other day. Not a big fantasy reader but this one is supposed to be excellent. It's "Magician" by Raymond Feist. Pretty old book so most fantasy fans will have discovered it by now. Saw a review of "14th of an elephant" by Ian Denys Peek which sounded interesting. True story about experiences on the Burma Railway during ww2. Will try to get hold of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I guess you've finished the Da Vinci cobblers by now. Dunno about you but I was v. disappointed in it. Thought the characters were one dimensional, that plonker on the estate outside Paris what ho! And if you've got to the end weren't you also surprised at how flat the ending was and how it was telegraphed from at least several hundred pages before. No, lots of hype about it but didn't deliver imvho. All mouth and no trousers as they say in these parts. I pretty much agree with you. It was a decent book but didn't deserve all the attention it got. First half was good, second half a little disappointing. I think it was a best-seller (was it?) for its originality maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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