Book Worms?

[Guest]

read the sorrow of war a long time ago - liked it a lot.

 

but get shantaram - that is one of the rare books that have the power to change your outlook on life.

and from what i can say the facts are authentic. i have been in some of the places decribed, i have hung with people who easily could have played a part in the book (and maybe have). honestly - that book brought me to tears at time. the memories...

 

i don't know, but i have difficulties with bruce chatwin, i just can't get to like his stuff. same with thereaux, the only book of his i liked was "saint jack". dunno, but many of those travel writers just have not spend enough time in the places they write about, IMHO.

if travel books, i generally look for the old books, like the journal of that mad japanese monk who travelled to tibet to get some rare scriptures.

 

i have also serious problems with most bangkok based whodunnit novels by farang writers. most of them are so badly researched that it makes me cringe. if one has some idea about police procedures, one knows that most farang writers have not spent more than a superficial second (if even that) on research. takes all the fun away. the only writer i know of who does his research relatively good in that aspect is chris moore, only problem is that his style is not really my thing.

and unfortunately, thai novelists are simply not up to par.

the biggest sham is that south east asian award, where every year a set country in rotation gets it, and even then it's more politics then quality.

 

not much into fantasy - tolkien has set a standard which i don't think anyone will ever be able to come close to. the fantasy writer other than tolkien i do like is moorcock with his eternal champion novels, especially elric of melnibone. that is really dark.

 

i love science fiction though - there are just so many great approaches. just starting with the original dune series (forget the books written by his son - they are a disgrace).

 

steven king, clancy, ludlum and all the other bestseller trash writers i only read when i just don't get anything else before a long train journey.

 

for me in asia the best and most imaginative writers are found in china and india (i am not much into most japanese modern writers - they are a bit too far out for my taste).

 

india anyhow has the world's best bookstores. amazing what you can fish out there. or in nepal - the famous pilgrim books store.

 

 

anybody ever read the "feluda" stories by satyajit ray (yes him - he did not only make some of the best films in the world).

feluda is some sort of private eye based in calcutta (sherlock holmes style), mainly written for children, but great stuff for adults as well.

these stories were published in several volumes by penguin books. excellent stuff!

[Sukhumvit]

Will be checking out Shantaram. It does sound like the sort of thing I'd be interested in.

 

[chuckwoww]

Don't get me started on Chatwin. I just can't decide whether I like him or hate him or if I'm just jealous because I had the same opportunities he did but I blew it.

 

I really (really) liked "In Patagonia" but it was all downhill after that for me. And the more I learned about him the less appealing he got. Not because he was gay but because he was such a bloody snob. He turned snobbery into an art form. And at the same time he could be quite charming and innocent. Fascinating person everybody agrees. But very confusing.

 

There have been a few attempts to pin him down. Nicholas Skakespeare wrote a biography and I just read another by a lady called Suzannah Clapp....yes Clapp (she edited most of his work at Doubleday) called "With Chatwin". It was a good read but needless to say Jan Morris slammed it.

 

http://www.litrev.dircon.co.uk/0197/morris.html

 

What a wicked little world those London literati live in.

[Zorro]

Someone gave me a copy of Da Vinci Code last week so i read it over the weekend.

 

Typical formula style thriller......the author is almost patronising in the way he treats the reader at times....there are many much better books out there.

[chuckwoww]

Yikes I said Doubleday!! It was Jonathan Cape. Now Chatwin's ghost will haunt me forever.

 

Some great reading suggestions here...thanks to torneyboy for starting the thread...

[Torneyboy]

Hi

 

Our main book chains best sellers (Fiction)...so far for Christmas.

 

The Da Vinci Code

Brother Fish..B Courtenay

Angels and Demons....Dan Brown

The Turning....Tim Winton

State of Fear....M crichton

 

Your stores?

[dddave]

 

A bit dated, but on a friends recommendation I've been reading several of Richard Russo's works: "NOBODYS FOOL", "THE WHORE'S CHILD" (short stories) and "THE RISK POOL".

Russo has an amazing ear for dialog and an ironic style that makes his Upper New York State settings deeply familiar.

[Torneyboy]

Dont know those...

I prefer a novel rather than short stories.

However i did read a book of short stories by the ex mp..J Archer....very good btw.

[Guest]

just finished reading 'undaunted courage', about the lewis/clark exploration of the west. interesting, only the style of the writer is extremely boring, and i had problems with his thinly veiled patriotism.

right now i am reading 'stalin - the court of the red tsar'. fascinating biography on stalin, and also the excellent style of writing keeps it interesting. very balanced so far.

[Ashman]

Just read 'Island Of The Sequined Love Nun' by Christopher Moore (not to be mistaken with Christopher G Moore) I totaly enjoyed this book which is a bizzare tale of a pilot who loses his liscence in a drunken accidentr while giving a hooker a lift in the cockpit, he then ends up on a remote Micronesian island flying a learjet. Hilairious tale, absolutely mad.

 

Fly, I used to read Moorcock I'd forgotten about the Byzantium, carthage trilogy. Love to read them again. He used to be my favourite.Behold The Man was excelent, about the time traveller who goes back in time to become Christ. Also the Great Rock And Roll Swindle. Saw him onstage with Hawkwind many moons ago.