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Mac

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Posts posted by Mac

  1. Today, I bought: The Passage by Justin Cronin; Buried Alive by J. A. Kerley; A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; The Devil's Star, The Snowman & The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo; The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (apologies for this, but I have to read it before I judge it); Angelology by Danielle Trussont and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.

     

    Ten books. Go Team Mac!

     

    I also bought the complete box set of The Thick Of It, the BBC television series written and directed by Armando Iannucci, who's something of a hero of mine. Wrong thread for mentioning this, but there you go.

     

    Chips for now.

  2. 1. My given name is Xerxes Blumenthal Hibiscus Phalanges IV but I generally go by Chip.

    2. I'm currently trapped beneath a futon, unable to contact anyone for help due to my hands being accidentally taped behind my back in a bizarre escape attempt I made four weeks ago.

    3. My house is made of several varieties of cheese (both soft and hard, obviously)

    4. Wednesday's are full of woe, when one wobbles within one's wonderful windmill. Well, they are for me, anyway.

    5. I regularly enjoy a sneeze in the wind.

     

    So. There you are. huh.gif

  3. I've tried doing this Mac, but it doesn't look like it's possible. I will flag the notion up in the staff room, and see if anyone can find a way to do it! Stay tuned........ :)

     

    Cheers, Chrissy. Most appreciated..xx

  4. Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks

     

    Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release - when it comes - is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

    Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

    It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilisations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.

    This was a brilliant novel. Brilliant. I am not a fan of Sci-Fi, it has to be said, but I make a rare exception with Banks' work. He writes intelligently, with wit, black humour and an extraordinary imagination. The plot seamlessly moves between multiple characters and environments without confusing the reader (me) and makes you care about the characters. I eagerly await Banks' novels, both contemporary and space opera and was so unbelievably excited when I spotted this in Waterstone's in Kendal.

     

    I particularly love the AI Minds he creates - the ship personalities, the hubs of the orbitals - because he clearly has so much fun in creating the caricatures involved. But, more than this, I love the ethical questions that so many of his books raise. For example, the creation of thousands of different 'Hells' in the virtual realm, where those judged as having lived a bad life have their personalities and souls transferred upon their death. Is this a good thing? This will, I am quite sure, sound ridiculous to many but I loved this book and actually experienced goosepimples reading - once again - the very last line of the book. Iain Banks rocks! This book gets, without a doubt...

     

    10/10 Abso-bloomin'-lutely Brilliant. cool.gif

  5. Hmmm. If you are a Christian and have never read the Bible or at least parts thereof (especially New Testament) then I think you could look a little shame faced. (This doesn't sounds like you are).

     

    If you are not a christian then does it really matter? It might be nice to have some idea of the events in the Bible because it helps us understand alot of art history and where our traditions come from.

     

    I am not at all religious in any organised sense (although I definitely believe in love and goodness and our own non-corporeal essence) and so any interest I might have in reading the Bible would be to see what all the furore is about. I have a strong interest in art and its history and studied this at A-level, so have researched influences on my own initiative.

     

    So. Erm...maybe I'll have a look at it one day? How does that sound? wink.gif

  6. Crikey. What a brilliant thread! I hated Harry Potter - it's almost like Rowling thinks we're children, for Pete's sake! mocking.gif I also hate everything (and I was forced to read the job lot by Mrs. Bloomin' Phillips at school) by Jane "agreeable" Austen. Wuthering Heights? Big pile of sh**e. Catcher in the Rye? Poke me in the eye - it's preferable.

     

    Erm...I'm sure there's more, but I'm getting hungry, so need to cook summat. x

  7. I agree there are no books I'm embarassed not to have read. I have to admit thought that there are plenty of books that I'm embarassed that I have read.

     

     

    ^ Yeah, I've got a few of those!

     

    Same here. But isn't it funny that some of the books I'm embarrassed about having read are some others favourite do-dah's!

     

    I've never read the Bible. Should I be embarrassed by this? I fully intend to never read it, anyway. Does this make me closed-minded? Is that even an expression? When will these questions ever end?

     

    ...apparently now...

  8. I always think it's a shame that publishers feel they have to reel punters in with a "THE NEW..." bla bla blahh tag. Most annoying, but I guess it helps the good authors so what the hey, hey?

     

    Does anyone else read Jo Nesbo as Jones Bo when all the letters are the same size?

     

    No? Just me then...blush.gif

  9. Isn't it good how we all feel differently about these things! What I wonder is how is it that we do see things differently from one another? What makes one love a historical novel and another despise it? Or how is it that I find Stephen King sometimes gratuitous, and yet found Vlad (whilst certainly very grim in places) to be...hmmm...acceptable? Not really the right word to use, but I didn't find it out of place. Does this make sense? So, what makes us all so different? Is it cultural? Is it genetic? This isn't the correct thread now, is it? I'll have the Mods after me with a big stick...lurker.gif

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