What book(s) are you reading currently?

[scoundrel]

I am the sort of person who reads several books in parallel, probably expressing a restless, superficial mind. Currently, I am re-reading 'The Stand', by Stephen King, after Leprechaun's contribution to the recent Bird Flu thread reminded me how much I had enjoyed this book over a decade ago.

I am also reading Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' for the umteenth time, and Elizabeth Gaskell's 'North and South': nothing to do with the terrible TV series I hastily switch over from, which seems to be like Gone With The Wind rewritten for idiots. This one is the same plot as Pride and Prejudice but with some very different takes on the social divide: less good because there is very little humour, but clever and interesting.

[snorkie]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I am also reading Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' for the umteenth time

'Pride and Prejudice' is one of my multi-read favorites, as well (I own four different filmed versions - finding something good in each). Now, currently . . .

1) Non-fiction: 'Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for no-limit hold 'em'
2) Graphic short stories: 'The best of The Spirit' by Will Eisner (I refused to see the movie).
3) Queued-up fiction: Recently purchased a new copy of, and plan to re-read 'Farewell, My Lovely' by Raymond Chandler. A terrific film noir under the title "Murder My Sweet."

I also have a couple of fly-fishing and golf magazines laying around.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by snorkie

'Pride and Prejudice' is one of my multi-read favorites, as well (I own four different filmed versions - finding something good in each). Now, currently . . .


Queued-up fiction: Recently purchased a new copy of, and plan to re-read 'Farewell, My Lovely' by Raymond Chandler. A terrific film noir under the title "Murder My Sweet."

Chandler's books spawned a number of top notch Hollywood b/w film noir thrillers, most notably The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart. The Big Sleep, The Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodbye are (IMO) his best works: totally effortless tours de force in storytelling, no arty farty attempts at ''style'' or ''art'' but in fact they are beautifully written because Chandler merely tells the story, making every word count. He could write ten million times better than the average Booker Prize winner today and without even trying: in his non-fiction writings he sometimes makes disparaging remarks about ''fine writing'', and clearly had no use for it. What mattered (and what paid the bills) was telling the story.

Farewell, My Lovely is good stuff. I think you will not be disappointed, snorkie.

[edgarcasey]

Great thread.

The Breaks Richard Price
Ladies Man Richard Price
Mozart* Marcia Davenport

*This one I just started, as I have been in a major Mozart mode lately, listening to the Requiem, Die Zauberflote, the Clarinet Concerto, Eine Kliene Nachtmusik, etc., etc... practicing the B Flat Major Piano Sonata, and so forth. This is undoubtedly one of the great biographies of the twentieth century.[/URL]

[Clouddancer]

A very funny book set in a UK advertising agency told almost the entire way through by E.mail.
Insincerity: Backstabbing on a major scale: Top line bitchiness. I haven't laughed as much since I read "Wilt".
Any one who has worked in a large office will recognise the characters within, immediately.
I thoroughly recommend for a lighthearted throwaway read.

[snorkie]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

The Long Goodbye are (IMO) his best works: totally effortless tours de force in storytelling, no arty farty attempts at ''style'' or ''art'' but in fact they are

Farewell, My Lovely is good stuff. I think you will not be disappointed, snorkie.

Totally agree. Just the way Chandler describes bar drinks early in "The Long Goodbye" demonstrates what a master he was. Where Hammett purposely aimed for literary fiction, Chandler seemed to easily hit that mark. Both were able to make crime fiction something more than simple potboilers.

[flangeworthy]

Gentlemen, may I recommend the 'Flashman' series by George MacDonald Fraser? Highly entertaining and superbly politically-incorrect. If you don't find Flashman a truly inspirational character, then you should probably be reading something by Enid Blyton.

[rustler]

Currently I am reading Lady Antonia Fraser's, ' Cromwell: Our chief of men.' It is a mammoth work, and thoroughly absorbing. Cromwell has always fascinated me, and though I have a couple of biographies on him, this is by far the best!

I am also reading 'Phoenix: Policing the shadows'. The secret war against terrorism in Northern Ireland. Detective Superintendent Ian Phoenix was head of the Northern Ireland police counter surveillance unit. He was amongst those who lost their lives when an RAF Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994.
It is a fascinating account of the secret, and often dirty, war against terrorism in Northern Ireland.
He must have been an interesting man.

[rustler]

Mary Tudor, by Jasper Ridley, Book Club edition, 1973.

Jasper Ridley is one of my favourite historical authors. The details that he unearths in his biographies is simply stunning!

No monarch was as popular as Queen Mary was when they came to the throne. No monarch was so unpopular when they died. Mary was queen for just four years!
In that short time she earned the name by which she is popularly known to Britons today - Bloody Mary.

It is a fascinating book, and it charts her somewhat savage upbringing by her father Henry VIII, and her separation from her mother Queen Katherine of Aragon.
It is a somewhat tragic tale.

[SanteeFats]

Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon. A nice little fantasy book IMO.