Tomorrow I will have completed War and Peace by Tolstoy.What book would you recommend now?
Anything by Lee Childs. Not up there literally with War and Peace but chill out with Jack Reacher the hero.
Something by Bill Bryson for light relief.
Read the Slough House series by Mick Herron
Brilliant, totally un PC in places, like Le Carre at his peak
Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who have screwed up a case in any number of ways. The "slow horses," as they're called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here.
The Exegesis Seminar by A K Webb. If you can get into it, finish it and understand it - it will allow you to know why you are like you are.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
A wonderful example of mankind at his best and worst.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a modern classic, and wonderful story telling.
I've just started 'Catcher In The Rye', just in case I want to become a serial killer 😂. I'll let you know how I get on!
Edit: actually, I've just recalled that those associated with buying this were just obsessive, rather than aggressive, lol
"Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand
Mills and Boon.
Many thanks for suggestions so far but l will avoid Mills and Boon!
The Grapes of Wrath by Jon Steinbeck. Powerful writing if ever there was.
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Labryinth by Kate Mosse. No not that one
I'm currently doing the Stephen King Dark Tower marathon. It's the series itself but with a lot of his other books that share concepts and characters around this specific series. Basically this link which he promoted:
http://thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com/2012/04/the-dark-tower-suggested-reading-order_2128.html
I'm currently up to no.6 of the list but its been quite a ride so far.
Viz
Ulysses by James Joyce.
As a clue to its complexity it took him 7 years to write it. An amazing parallel to the work by Homer.
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Won the Booker prize and then the award as best of the first 25 (I think) Booker prizes.
Reading a lot of Bulgakov. Hard to appreciate without having been to Moscow but Master and Margherita a good start!
Quote from: Barrett487 on May 15, 2019, 07:35:44 PM
I've just started 'Catcher In The Rye', just in case I want to become a serial killer 😂. I'll let you know how I get on!
Edit: actually, I've just recalled that those associated with buying this were just obsessive, rather than aggressive, lol
Wasn't John Lennon's killer carrying a copy when he murdered the singer? or he claimed to have been influenced by it anyway.
But a classic of growing up and teenage angst, very influential - in a good way.
If you enjoyed War and Peace - you don't say if you did or not, you should enjoy the same author's Anna Karenina, which I think is brilliant, though my wife didn't like it.
Also, Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky.
Vasilly Grossman's Life and Fate is a modern War and Peace, covering WW2 and the Holocaust, and and Stalinist persecution in Russia. I found this compelling reading.
I'd read the book about a "Boy Pip that moves to Hammersmith", it has been made a movie 51x which i believe but haven't verified is more than any other book ever (except the Bible). The book is written by Charles Dickens and it's called "Great Expectations" and while the book is based partly in Hammersmith it accidentally describes the season for any boy in the Hammersmith End too.
Similar 'style/books
My biggest challenges but captivating
LES MISERABLES - Victor Hugo A huge book but a lot more about Thenadier looting the bodies at at the Battle of Waterloo :0)
PILLARS OF THE EARTH - Ken Follett
Also by Ken Follett "WORLD WITHOUT END" set about 150 years after POE.
Both made into TV Series but as per usual, the books by far exceed the TV/Movie
DR ZHIVAGO - Boris Pasternack
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD - THOMAS HARDY
FINALLY ANYTHING AND EVERTHING BY CHARLES DICKENS
Goodness knows why schools etc teach William Shakespeare instead of Dickens
Nothing by Nick Bateman
The Railway Detective series of books by Edward Marston,through to book seven now.
Set in Edwardian times.
Quote from: ron on May 15, 2019, 10:21:16 PM
Ulysses by James Joyce.
As a clue to its complexity it took him 7 years to write it. An amazing parallel to the work by Homer.
I admire you finishing this. I read about 40 pages and gave up.
Did you actually enjoy it?
A couple I've read lately and would recommend;
The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
If you like long books then Stephen King's uncut version of the stand is a great read and comes in at a whopping 1152 pages just shy of war and peace.
Around 1970 a lot of girls seemed to have a copy of Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers in their handbag.
When you finally finis War and Peace it feels like an achievement.Crime and Punishment my all time favourite but have been addicted to Russian literature (in English) for about 30 years.Best British author is ...?
Quote from: Russianrob on May 16, 2019, 09:55:04 AM
When you finally finis War and Peace it feels like an achievement.Crime and Punishment my all time favourite but have been addicted to Russian literature (in English) for about 30 years.Best British author is ...?
Charles Dickens
Something very, very short!
The Count of Monte Christo is easily the best book i've ever read (followed by Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series)
+1 for To Kill a Mockingbird and Far from the madding crowd as well
Bit surprised that nobody has recommended a book about Fulham... I have a couple of encyclopedia types, but are there others i should check out? Biographies?
Very much enjoying Legends of the Condors Heroes series if you like historical fantasy.
Otherwise early Wilbur Smith and the Courtney Family series are amazing.
Quote from: SWSixer on May 16, 2019, 06:40:50 AM
A couple I've read lately and would recommend;
The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing, not the most uplifting story but my partner enjoyed it.
As for my twopennyworth
I like the Anthony Beevor books about WW2, Stalingrad and Berlin are very good.
Bill Bryson's autobiography - the life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid had me laughing out loud on my own
Claire North - The first 15 lives of Harry August
Khalid Hossemi - The Kite Runner and 1000 splendid suns
The ball is round by david goldblatt. A history of why football is the mot popular sport around the world and how it took hold everywhere, including some obscure places you would not think of. Also, it addresses the social structures and effects on the game (and the people) in many different countries not only the 19th century but prior to that. An in depth book, over 900 pages. I found it in a used book store here in America so not sure how easy it will be to find. (It cost me 50 cents).
ps, Fulham get a mention early on as they were in the second wave of a few teams to join the founder members of the league.
Quote from: rogerpnowinFlorida on May 16, 2019, 12:23:14 PM
Quote from: Russianrob on May 16, 2019, 09:55:04 AM
When you finally finis War and Peace it feels like an achievement.Crime and Punishment my all time favourite but have been addicted to Russian literature (in English) for about 30 years.Best British author is ...?
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations... Still my fav all time book.
Quote from: Kentish Gent on May 16, 2019, 01:37:55 PM
Something very, very short!
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss?
Quote from: SWSixer on May 16, 2019, 06:39:40 AM
Quote from: ron on May 15, 2019, 10:21:16 PM
Ulysses by James Joyce.
As a clue to its complexity it took him 7 years to write it. An amazing parallel to the work by Homer.
I admire you finishing this. I read about 40 pages and gave up.
Did you actually enjoy it?
I've worked through it twice, but have to say that I had the companion volume; "The Bloomsday Book" by Harry Blamires at my elbow throughout. It provides insight into the sheer depth of the book and its constant references to the classical work by Homer.
Without it, Ulysses is daunting. My hat is off to you for managing 40 pages flying solo!
Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. The story of how India gained its independence. What went on was horrendous.
