sirinrob

oops re the bookshelf - been there

There is something about elegant books is there not? My copy of 'Salamander' by Thomas Wharton is like that, subtle embossing and well thought out design, all adds to the enjoyment

Rereading 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury.

Congratulations on graduating!!

I know I've indicated before that Walter Moers is one of my favourite fantasy writers, but have to add to Jasper Fforde.

yes I had thought of that, but for various reasons I can't at the moment . He's doing a signing in Cardiff (25th January) to tie in with the publication of 'Shades of Grey' so guess where I am on that day ....... ETA The review of SR is deliberately vague as I don't want to spoil others reading.

Favourite UK writers Jasper Fforde Thomas Hardy Dickens

I found this powerful and thought provoking. There were passages that made me feel uneasy, as I could see parallels with modern society. The unquestioning attitude of the populace, their acceptance of mediocre entertainment and the dominance of the media I found unsettling. I have 3 favourite characters - Clarissa, Montag and Faber. Each in their own way were rebelling against the 'norm'. I didn't dislike the Fire Chief Beatty, more felt pity for him as he was a puppet imo.

Finished 'Something Rotten' review here Having now read all 4 of the 'Thursday Next' series, I must say Jasper is an extremely competent wordsmith. As I progressed through the series, it was clear that his style has matured the further into the series I read. Yhe one book that was subtly differnet in style was 'The Well of Lost Plots'. I believe that's because it was set in BookWorld so Jasper made it fit that 'reality', rather than the grittier style of the others. If you like fantasy with a literary bent and humour then this series is highly recommended. Thanks to BookJumper for putting me on to these novels. Till I can get hold off 'First amongst Sequels' and both of the Nursery Crime books I have no more Jasper to read, but i plan to reread the series later, with a view to noting all the references I can spot.

This is the 4th Thursday Next novel. Like its predecessors its full of puns,literary references and silliness. I felt this was more polished than the others, the style having matured. The essential plot is that Thursday Next returns from BookWorld, to Swindon. She brings along with her, Friday(her son), Pickwick and Alan (Pickwicks son) and for better or worse Hamlet. She faces a multitude of problems including Kaine, Goliath, an assassin, a stalker to mention a few. Hamlet proves to be both a nuisance and an asset. Because of his unfamilarity with the Outland he causes mayhem initially, but in the end helps save the day. Alan the Dodo is hooligan, who causes a few problems, but there is a surprise twist that solves that. Friday proves to be like any 2 year old a handful, not helped by his insistence on speaking in 'Lorum Ipsum' . The novel is very funny and fast paced . The twists and turns towards the end of the book caught me out at times, which just added to my enjoyment. So long as you have read the first 3 books , this one will make sense. This comes highly recommended :mrgreen:

Reading Circle January 'Fahrenheit 451' Ray Bradbury February 'Macbeth' William Shakespeare March 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' Khaled Hosseini

@Chrissy - how many of the TN series have you read? I'm halfway through 'Something Rotten' having read the previous 3 books.

Non-Fiction since I have quite a few to read , this could get busy 'Iron Kingdom: The rise and downfall of Prussia 1600 - 1947' Christopher Clark 'With Their Backs to the World' Ǻsne Seierstad review 'The Rebel' Albert Camus review 'The Mercurial Emperor - The Magic Circle of Rudolf II in Renaissance Prague' Peter Marshell review 'Northern Shores - A History of the Baltic Sea and its Peoples' Alan Palmer review

Fiction This list will roll-up all of the fiction I've read in 2010. Where I have reread a book it will be marked with an 'R' 'Something Rotten' Jasper Fforde review 'Cousin Bette' Honor

Decided to keep a reading list this year, which will hopefully contain books that others find inspiring. When I've read a book, I'll post a review in the appropriate section with a link from this list. Decided I'd be strict on myself, so If I start a book, I'll finish it ( unless its dire) then review, onto next. Didn't see the need for a TBR list as thats fluid, and i reread alot as well.

The more the merrier . He is great fun, and a very competent wordsmith.

Ok BJ, looks like my copy of 'The Salamander' will be here this week, and I'm itching to read it, so a review in my usual manner will appear.

Noted that you have 'Salamander' by Thomas Wharton, but the eternal question have you read it?

finished 'Labyrinths' by Borges and binned 'Winkie' by clifford Chase as the writing is dross.

This offering is based on a great premise - a mangy teddy finds he can walk and talk. goes off into the woods for an amble. Unfortunately for him he is suspected to be a deadly terroist . Undergoes a ludricious trial and finally gets taken to Egypt in hand luggage. The problem I had with this is the execution - the writing is dire, so much so once I've written this this book goes for recycling. I believe it has got the attention it has due to political events in the US, as it parodies (if you can get past the dire prose) the US attitude. I gave up after about 4 chapters, ymmv

I read the Penguin translation of this. I am aware, that something is lost in translation, but I found this translation convincing. The warning about Hurley's translation given on here had been duly noted, and to my relief he hasn't had hand in this. As a spot check I compared on one of the pieces from the El Aleph in this edition against the Hurley version. This edition read far better, so I have confidence in this edition. The work is split into 3 sections Fictions, Essays and Parables. The fictions take up about 2/3 of the book, and are drawn from Ficciones and El Aleph. the majority from both are included. Each Fiction reads like a condensed novel in my view. Plot is often straightforward, acting a s framework for the development of a theme(s). Borges can be very sly , by leading the reader along a path and in the last line add an unexpected twist. some of the Fictions I could sense how it was going to end and I was proved right. A few were more obscure and will take rereading to see what he meant. The intellectual content is high and does require attentive reading, but the rewards are worth it. He covers philosophy, theology, mathematics and history. The main themes he considers are finitude/infinitude, reality/unreality, existence/nonexistence and real/mythic. I found that in one Fiction he would expound on reality, then a few fictions later treat reality from a diferent angle, but relating back. Amongst my favourites are 'The Library of Babel', The 'Deutsches Requiem' and the 'The Garden of forking Paths' his writing style is at once lucid and obscure, direct and indirect and absolute and ambivalent. He is fond of paradoxes, which he only partially explains, which added to the fun of reading. The Essays are erudite and I found drew threads within the fictions together and expounded on them further. With some of them, whilst I could follow the argument, I found myself disagreeing with him. The 'Refutation of Time ' being the example that springs to mind. The Parables are late works, written when he was going blind. They are very short, but his sly humour is very evident. The one that really made me smile was 'Borges and I'. I was impressed with this work and heartily recommend this as an introduction to Borges's work

Georgian lamb - thats lamb with plums and spices, probably with rice - nice and warming Hope that tooth gets sorted Mexicola had a similar problem myself and its not fun:(

Yes, I think the perceived difficulty ( for non-poetry readers) is the elucidation of meaning and getting the intrinsic meaning, as some poets obfuscate both . How poetry readers convince, without coercion, that poetry has so much to offer is a conundrum.

bet Jurisfiction would like a word......