poppyshake Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Good haul VF Tom All Alones is brilliant (reminds me I must get hold of her other book ) I saw a book by John Lanchester at Waterstone's the other day and picked it up .. it wasn't that one but I think it said 'from the author of Capital' on it so that's obviously his most popular book. You've bought two books called Capital .. was that just a co-incidence or were you looking for London books in particular? Hope JSAMN is still going well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 Yep London books.... from that thread Willoyd started. JSAMN had an accident .... same as those other two books before it was in a bag with one of the kids drinks...it got a soaking. I put it on the radiator to dry out and the pages have swelled...it is now twice as big as before but still readable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Great bargains there VF, King Solomon's Carpet is on my wishlist & i really enjoyed Tom-All-Alones i plan on rereading it now that i've read Bleak House Shame about the book accident if your copy is the same as mine it must be the size of a small bungalow now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 Great bargains there VF, King Solomon's Carpet is on my wishlist & i really enjoyed Tom-All-Alones i plan on rereading it now that i've read Bleak House Shame about the book accident if your copy is the same as mine it must be the size of a small bungalow now Yes it is pretty huge....it is a second hand paperback I don't think the gummed spine is strong enough to hold the pages together now so it will probably only survive till I finish reading at the very most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Just bought 6 books all second hand from Amazon; King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark Capital John Lanchester Capital Maureen Duffy Tom's All Alone Lynne Shepherd Sweet Thames Matthew Kneale total £16.86 with postage, all books 1p each What a great collection! Have read all in the last couple of years bar the Matthew Kneale, and whilst the Vine and the Shepherd were probably my favourites, they were all excellent reads. All of them are reviewed in the first dozen or so posts of the London Fiction thread, in the Fiction section (including Sweet Thames, by Janet). Edited December 1, 2013 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 What a great collection! Have read all in the last couple of years bar the Matthew Kneale, and whilst the Vine and the Shepherd were probably my favourites, they were all excellent reads. All of them are reviewed in the first dozen or so posts of the London Fiction thread, in the Fiction section (including Sweet Thames, by Janet). I know that's where I stole them from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Half way through Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell.x Are you enjoying it? x Just bought 6 books all second hand from Amazon; King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark Capital John Lanchester Capital Maureen Duffy Tom's All Alone Lynne Shepherd Sweet Thames Matthew Kneale total £16.86 with postage, all books 1p each x Nice haul ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 Hi Athena yes JSAMN is very good. Slow and meandering, but good. To my amazement Suzanna Clarke writes with some conventions that Jack Vance my fave author does also! The first is the use of huge footnotes interspersed in with the text. I only saw this before with Vance but I realise now that it is just a 19th century style of writing they have both copied. The second is the way the authors both meander off into little side episodes. The third is the very similar treatment of magic. Both posit that magic is done through intermediaries from other realms or dimensions (Vance calls them sandestins as well as faeries, Clarke just has faeries). So I feel very at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Sounds good ! I hope you enjoy the rest of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 I finally finished Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell. Amazing! might try to review it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 James Your reading totals are great this year ,along with writing on top of it . Great work ! I noticed you bought a book by Matthew Kneale. I read "English Passengers" a few years back and loved it, but I'm a sucker for a Seafaring Tale ..... Really interesting story ! Too bad I don't remember more about it , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I loved English Passengers too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 (edited) Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell 6/6 Special award: Best Book Of The Year Suzanna Clarke I don't even know if I can review this monster of a book right now. I only finished it a couple of hours ago and I had tears in my eyes. Even now bits of it bring a lump to my throat Childermas with his pistol out trying to defend the dead body of poor Vinculus; Arabella seen in the mirror desperately running down the corridor to escape from Faerie; the strange death of Drawlight The way the characters in the book develop is nothing short of awesome and masterful. At first the magic seems such a harmless jolly jape but we find that there is no such thing as harmless magic. The book becomes darker and more powerful as it goes on towards its conclusion. The changing relationship between the two magicians is brilliant. I loved the way that minor characters grew and became more important. My favourite was the servant Childermas: I was very happy that he turned out to be a hero. I felt most sorry for the miserable Drawlight. The last three or four chapters of the story are packed full of excitement and danger. This is the sort of fantasy I like. All the magic made perfect sense and not an orc or elf in sight . Plus all the good manners and nice clothes and houses of Regency England. Edited December 7, 2013 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 A great review VF, and with the line of "All the magic made perfect sense and not an orc or elf in sight " really made me chuckle . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Glad you enjoyed it VF. I started reading JSAMN a few months ago, and while I really enjoyed it at first I ended up getting stuck about halfway through and just giving up. Perhaps I'll go back to it when the TV series gets made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 Glad you enjoyed it VF. I started reading JSAMN a few months ago, and while I really enjoyed it at first I ended up getting stuck about halfway through and just giving up. Perhaps I'll go back to it when the TV series gets made. It's worth hanging in there or even starting again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 A great review VF, and with the line of "All the magic made perfect sense and not an orc or elf in sight " really made me chuckle . . Only good elf is a dead elf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I'd probably have to start again, since I've forgotten most of what happened. All I really remember is mad king George, the talking gargoyles, the dead soldiers, and the ships in the rain. Great to hear it has a good ending, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 I'm glad to hear you really enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell ! I'll have to get around to reading it sometime, when I'm in the mood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Lovely to see someone else enjoying JSAMN so much, and your thoughts sum it up perfectly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I'm very happy you enjoyd JS&MN! It's a great novel... And even if it was long and had loads of footnotes, it didn't bother me personallly.... I can't believe you got this for 1p only! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 I'm very happy you enjoyd JS&MN! It's a great novel... And even if it was long and had loads of footnotes, it didn't bother me personallly.... I can't believe you got this for 1p only! I like the footnotes, it's the way Jack Vance used to write too......yes 1p was a good score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed JS&MN! Thrilled, in fact. As much as I hate hearing about books being ruined, I had to chuckle when I pictured JS&MN becoming twice its usual size after getting soaked. Goodness me, that must have made it even more difficult to read! On the subject of editions, I originally read the all-in-one volume, but I picked up a three-volume set later when I found it for a cheap price. Next time I read it, I will definitely read the shorter books. I'm sure it was only released that way for the convenience of readers (wasn't Lord of the Rings originally one volume, but it's now traditionally three volumes to make it easier to read?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 On the subject of editions, I originally read the all-in-one volume, but I picked up a three-volume set later when I found it for a cheap price. Next time I read it, I will definitely read the shorter books. I'm sure it was only released that way for the convenience of readers (wasn't Lord of the Rings originally one volume, but it's now traditionally three volumes to make it easier to read?)x I think this is true, yes . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 I have now lent the book out and the person I gave it to has told me it is falling apart as he reads. So I will probably get another 1p copy at some point as a keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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