What book(s) are you reading currently? - Page 389

Jolitorax · April 4th, 2024, 11:00 AM

Book Of The Dead (2007)
Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta #15
This is a repost since this one got lost in VEF downtime.

Soon after relocating to Charleston, S.C., to launch a private forensics lab, Scarpetta is asked to consult on the murder of U.S. tennis star Drew Martin, whose mutilated body was found in Rome. Contradictory evidence leaves Scarpetta, the Italian carabinieri and Scarpetta's lover, forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, stumped.

My Review : A great book but kinda got lost with the characters... should not have start with number 15

**Sir Honkers** · April 4th, 2024, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KissArmy

.

Just getting into this thanks to KissArmy

**ball7** · April 4th, 2024, 11:09 PM

A bit off-topic but I recall we having a writer among us - who had written a couple of books mostly non-fiction. Can anybody recall the member's username?

**Sir Honkers** · April 5th, 2024, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ball7

A bit off-topic but I recall we having a writer among us - who had written a couple of books mostly non-fiction. Can anybody recall the member's username?

It might be Carlton Brown.

Estreeter · April 5th, 2024, 10:41 AM

As a Catholic I had to buy this, Diary Of An American Exorcist

Msgr. Stephen Rossetti gives accounts and lessons he has learned from performing exorcisms

I started it last night and quite like it so far.

I think all you heathen atheists should get it

**Quicksilver66** · April 6th, 2024, 09:55 AM

I am still on my Faulkner read through, and onto volume 2 of the Library of America Faulkner which covers the period 1930-1935.

Faulkner was really in his stride now, and this volume opens with the superb masterpiece, As I Lay Dying. This follows the progress of a dysfunctional family of "poor white trash" and they travel on foot across Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha County to bury their unpleasant, deceased mother in her home town. The novel is bleakly comical - on their journey they are beset by storm, flood and fire and pursued by buzzards, as the sadistic matriarchs body decomposes in its coffin, setting up a smell that troubles half the county. On the journey Dewey Dell, the daughter who is pregnant, tries to get an abortion and is taken advantage of by a drug store clerk who claims it's part of the treatment. The novel's most sensitive and remarkable character, Darl, the second eldest son, is committed to an insane asylum at the end of the novel. He had tried to set fire to the barn in which his mother's body was resting for the night in order to put an end to the whole, absurd journey. The novel also contains one of the shortest chapters in all literature (perhaps the shortest) - "My mother is a fish". After burying their mother the lazy, shiftless father immediately gets a new pair of false teeth and a new wife. He uses the money his daughter had saved for her abortion to buy the teeth. As I Lay Dying is almost Shakespearian in its realisation of death and nothingness.

This volume also includes Sanctuary, which Faulkner disingenuously claimed to have written as a money making pot boiler, but really is a lot better than that. A dark and ironic novel about rape, murder, prostitution, social hypocrisy, judicial incompetence and mob "justice". The title "Sanctuary" is ironic, because there is no sanctuary from depravity and injustice in the novel - a bleak vision lightened only by Faulkner's superb writing and dark humour. The novel features one of his most notorious characters, the sadistic gangster Popeye, who is also impotent and has to rape his victim with a corn cob. The victim herself, the shallow and empty Temple Drake, then becomes his floozy and takes up residence in a Memphis brothel, which she half - heartedly tries to escape from, because, secretly, she likes it. Because Popeye is impotent, he gets his kicks from watching his friend, Red, have sex with Temple. He then murders Red in a jealous rage. Red's funeral then turns into a drunken brawl, as the attendees fight over booze, and Red's body tumbles out of the coffin in the confusion. Only in Faulkner! Utterly compelling and, like most Faulkner, darkly funny.

The message of As I Lay Dying is that the nuclear family is hell. The message of Sanctuary is that modern society is hell.

I'm just starting the third novel now, Light in August, another masterpiece which I read some years ago.

Faulkner really was a remarkable novelist.

**Sir Honkers** · April 6th, 2024, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estreeter

As a Catholic I had to buy this, Diary Of An American Exorcist

Msgr. Stephen Rossetti gives accounts and lessons he has learned from performing exorcisms

I started it last night and quite like it so far.

I think all you heathen atheists should get it

Okay...but will you have time to finish it before you're raptured Monday?

**jesegr** · April 8th, 2024, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Teenager Elsie Kerr is hospitalized with a high fever after being found raped and beaten. When eminent bacteriologist Sir Marcus Levin is asked to consult on the case, Elsie accuses him of the crime, pointing at him and screaming “Devil Daddy!”

Then things really start to get weird: Elsie ages eighty years in a matter of hours, and Sir Marcus finds himself racing to stop whatever killed her from spreading while at the same time trying to clear his name. But the trail will take some unexpected and sinister turns: a grisly corpse half-eaten by pigs, a coven of madmen with a diabolical plot, a grotesque and sacrilegious ritual, and an enigmatic old man who may be unable to die!

Thoroughly enjoyed this bizarre mix of medical mystery and occult horror from 1972. I have several of his ebooks on my to be read pile, all recently republished by Valancourt here in the states. Recommended for those with a taste for the odd and weird.

Jolitorax · April 9th, 2024, 08:48 PM

The Long Walk (1979)
Stephen King as Richard Bachman
This is a repost because this post was lost in VEF downtime

Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping... with the winner being awarded "The Prize"—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you're given a warning. Three warnings and you're out of the game—permanently...

My Review : As a big Stephen King fan it was my first read of this book. Captivating as always even if I have an hard time to believe that someone would be desperate enough to voluntarily subscribe in a deadly walk like that.

Jolitorax · April 14th, 2024, 02:05 AM

The Eyes Of Darkness (1981)
Dean Ray Koontz (As Leigh Nichols)
Read between May 26th and May 30th while away from VEF

Tina Evans dreams that her son Danny is still alive. And when she wakes, she finds a message scrawled on Danny's chalkboard: not dead. Tina searches for the truth and learns that there are some things worse than death.

My Review : A good Koontz book but really similar to some of his other books...

April 4th, 2024, 11:09 PM	#3883
ball7 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: MIA Posts: 15,691 Thanks: 66,289 Thanked 209,988 Times in 15,731 Posts	A bit off-topic but I recall we having a writer among us - who had written a couple of books mostly non-fiction. Can anybody recall the member's username? __________________ Hello, I must be going - Groucho Marx Looking for stills or scenes from the movie Agent BH 44 starring Ian Carmichael.

April 5th, 2024, 10:41 AM	#3885
Estreeter *Administrator* Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The 19th hole Posts: 58,120 Thanks: 449,724 Thanked 896,891 Times in 60,322 Posts	As a Catholic I had to buy this, Diary Of An American Exorcist Msgr. Stephen Rossetti gives accounts and lessons he has learned from performing exorcisms I started it last night and quite like it so far. I think all you heathen atheists should get it __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

April 6th, 2024, 09:55 AM	#3886
Quicksilver66 Vintage Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,107 Thanks: 3,922 Thanked 16,340 Times in 1,122 Posts	I am still on my Faulkner read through, and onto volume 2 of the Library of America Faulkner which covers the period 1930-1935. Faulkner was really in his stride now, and this volume opens with the superb masterpiece, As I Lay Dying. This follows the progress of a dysfunctional family of "poor white trash" and they travel on foot across Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha County to bury their unpleasant, deceased mother in her home town. The novel is bleakly comical - on their journey they are beset by storm, flood and fire and pursued by buzzards, as the sadistic matriarchs body decomposes in its coffin, setting up a smell that troubles half the county. On the journey Dewey Dell, the daughter who is pregnant, tries to get an abortion and is taken advantage of by a drug store clerk who claims it's part of the treatment. The novel's most sensitive and remarkable character, Darl, the second eldest son, is committed to an insane asylum at the end of the novel. He had tried to set fire to the barn in which his mother's body was resting for the night in order to put an end to the whole, absurd journey. The novel also contains one of the shortest chapters in all literature (perhaps the shortest) - "My mother is a fish". After burying their mother the lazy, shiftless father immediately gets a new pair of false teeth and a new wife. He uses the money his daughter had saved for her abortion to buy the teeth. As I Lay Dying is almost Shakespearian in its realisation of death and nothingness. This volume also includes Sanctuary, which Faulkner disingenuously claimed to have written as a money making pot boiler, but really is a lot better than that. A dark and ironic novel about rape, murder, prostitution, social hypocrisy, judicial incompetence and mob "justice". The title "Sanctuary" is ironic, because there is no sanctuary from depravity and injustice in the novel - a bleak vision lightened only by Faulkner's superb writing and dark humour. The novel features one of his most notorious characters, the sadistic gangster Popeye, who is also impotent and has to rape his victim with a corn cob. The victim herself, the shallow and empty Temple Drake, then becomes his floozy and takes up residence in a Memphis brothel, which she half - heartedly tries to escape from, because, secretly, she likes it. Because Popeye is impotent, he gets his kicks from watching his friend, Red, have sex with Temple. He then murders Red in a jealous rage. Red's funeral then turns into a drunken brawl, as the attendees fight over booze, and Red's body tumbles out of the coffin in the confusion. Only in Faulkner! Utterly compelling and, like most Faulkner, darkly funny. The message of As I Lay Dying is that the nuclear family is hell. The message of Sanctuary is that modern society is hell. I'm just starting the third novel now, Light in August, another masterpiece which I read some years ago. Faulkner really was a remarkable novelist. Last edited by Quicksilver66; April 7th, 2024 at 05:45 AM..

April 4th, 2024, 11:00 AM	#3881
Jolitorax Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Québec , Canada Posts: 304 Thanks: 5,887 Thanked 4,116 Times in 303 Posts	Book Of The Dead (2007) Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta #15 This is a repost since this one got lost in VEF downtime. Soon after relocating to Charleston, S.C., to launch a private forensics lab, Scarpetta is asked to consult on the murder of U.S. tennis star Drew Martin, whose mutilated body was found in Rome. Contradictory evidence leaves Scarpetta, the Italian carabinieri and Scarpetta's lover, forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, stumped. My Review : A great book but kinda got lost with the characters... should not have start with number 15

April 9th, 2024, 08:48 PM	#3889
Jolitorax Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Québec , Canada Posts: 304 Thanks: 5,887 Thanked 4,116 Times in 303 Posts	The Long Walk (1979) Stephen King as Richard Bachman This is a repost because this post was lost in VEF downtime Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping... with the winner being awarded "The Prize"—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you're given a warning. Three warnings and you're out of the game—permanently... My Review : As a big Stephen King fan it was my first read of this book. Captivating as always even if I have an hard time to believe that someone would be desperate enough to voluntarily subscribe in a deadly walk like that.

April 14th, 2024, 02:05 AM	#3890
Jolitorax Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Québec , Canada Posts: 304 Thanks: 5,887 Thanked 4,116 Times in 303 Posts	The Eyes Of Darkness (1981) Dean Ray Koontz (As Leigh Nichols) Read between May 26th and May 30th while away from VEF Tina Evans dreams that her son Danny is still alive. And when she wakes, she finds a message scrawled on Danny's chalkboard: not dead. Tina searches for the truth and learns that there are some things worse than death. My Review : A good Koontz book but really similar to some of his other books...