The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

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At the moment I am reading Orhan Parmuk, My Name is Red.

It's very hard to classify. It is partly a murder mystery, partly an exposition of 16th century Constantinople, partly an examination of art history (particularly the last days of Islamic illumination and it's 'battle' with Frankish style) and part examination of islamic fundamentalism. It is fascinating. Parmuk tells the tale from the view of a number of protagonists: some living, some dead, some figurative (given voice by a coffee-house story-teller).

The other I have started is Barbarians at the Gate. I'm not far into it but there is a sense that many of the themes that led to our current economic crisis were present in the late 1980s.
 
Claude Balls said:
Perservere!

It is one of my favourite books. Some might find that it has no particular storyline - or not one worthy of 600 odd pages - but the language is supreme.


I'm currently reading Great Expectations. Very good so far.
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I am getting into it. I have read lots of the classics and have a routine of reading lots of contemporary stuff, then slipping in a classic. The trouble is that the writing style takes a while to get used to. I am 50 pages in now and flying.

Great Expectations is fantastic. One of the best books ever written.
 

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reading order of the phoenix now
that 4, 6, 7, 3 and now 5. Wont bother reading 1 or 2 again tho so next up is catch 22
 
Cultural Amnesia - Clive James.

A-Z of 20th C cultural figures (Anna Akhmatova - Stefan Zweig). Unsurprisingly self indulgent and pompous in tone albeit pretty interesting to date.
 
Catch 22 is easily my favourite book ever.

One of the best things I have ever heard a writer say about his work was Joseph Heller upon the release of Closing Time in 1994. This was a sequel to Catch 22 which was published in 1961.

A journalist asked if he was feeling any pressure as he had not written anything as good as Catch 22 for 33 years.

Heller replied, " Nobody else has written anything that good either ".

Brilliant.
 
JimDocker said:
Catch 22 is easily my favourite book ever.

One of the best things I have ever heard a writer say about his work was Joseph Heller upon the release of Closing Time in 1994. This was a sequel to Catch 22 which was published in 1961.

A journalist asked if he was feeling any pressure as he had not written anything as good as Catch 22 for 33 years.

Heller replied, " Nobody else has written anything that good either ".

Brilliant.
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Reading it now..found it a tad hard to get into ..but it's improving.
 
The Emergency- Ireland during WW2.



Ive never read anything about Ireland, but this book is very interesting. Do you know that the Irish Prime Minister actually went to the German ambassador in Dublin to pass his condolences to the German people when Hitler died. wow.
 

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I finished American Psycho last night, finally. I say 4/5. Entertaining, disturbing. I started out hating him for his superficial, material values, but coupled with all his murderous sprees and inability to feel, I just felt sorry for him.

Just started 'Invitation to a Beheading' by Vladimir Nabokov. It's weird...
 
I'm reading "The Hardest (Working) Man In Showbiz" - The autobiography of Ron Jeremy. It's pretty interesting, but it would be a bit boring for anyone with no interest in pr0n.
 
Just finished Smoky Joes Cafe. Was a short read, but was kinda interesting as I have never really read anything about Vietnam.


Made me look up a whole lot of things such as Agent Orange & Napalm etc. Next time I see a viet vet charity Ill be sure to donate some coin!
 

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The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

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