frankie Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 The natural book scales of the world are obviously broken I think it broke because of the heavy weight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Sorry for jumping back a bit in the thread, but thanks for the review of Ready Player One - it sounds awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Sorry for jumping back a bit in the thread, but thanks for the review of Ready Player One - it sounds awesome! Yeah, I loved it, it was so much fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Book #5: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay ...... What's most alarming about the narrative style is just how funny it is. I couldn't help feeling that I shouldn't be laughing at the inner workings of a serial killer's mind, yet the almost stream-of-consciousness nature of the writing had me chuckling out loud on many occasions. Dexter's views on the people and places around him are cutting (sometimes quite literally) and often hilarious, and it is the book's neatest trick in that it has you eating out of his hand one minute and then questioning your own sympathies the next. The Crazy Finn is very pleased you liked the book! What you've written above ^ is very apt. It feels odd to be laughing out loud when reading about a serial killer minding his own business It's one of the things that makes me go back to the books. I'm really, really happy you enjoyed it, and I hope you keep on enjoying the rest of the series. A word of warning, though: the third book was really not up to par. When you get to it, and if you don't like it, do not give up on the series. I've read the first give books and so far the fifth novel is my absolute favorite. Bloody brilliant Book #6: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline A great review, but nonetheless I don't think I'll be adding this to my wishlist. I fear a lot of the references will go over my head. Sure I'm familiar with a lot of the 80s stuff, but I'm fearing the 70s will throw me off, and maybe some of the 80s stuff will be more known to the Brits and/or the Americans. Cheers VF, but I totally nicked those ideas off frankie. It's probably why her laptop broke You sonomabitch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 A great review, but nonetheless I don't think I'll be adding this to my wishlist. I fear a lot of the references will go over my head. Sure I'm familiar with a lot of the 80s stuff, but I'm fearing the 70s will throw me off, and maybe some of the 80s stuff will be more known to the Brits and/or the Americans. Hard for me to say, obviously. But I think he explains things well enough, and I'm sure you'd know most of the movies and some of the music. It's definitely going on the next challenge list now Aaaaaargh! Damn quote system! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hard for me to say, obviously. But I think he explains things well enough, and I'm sure you'd know most of the movies and some of the music. It's definitely going on the next challenge list now What? Seriously? On the challenge list? *ponders if this will be her last active year on BCF... if I mysteriously disappear from the forum come 2014, you can all blame it on Steve!* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 What? Seriously? On the challenge list? *ponders if this will be her last active year on BCF... if I mysteriously disappear from the forum come 2014, you can all blame it on Steve!* Or thank me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I had no idea it had come to this! Bye bye then! So, did you continue with Marathon Man last night, did you finish it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Yep, I finished it. Shall review it later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Yep, I finished it. Shall review it later Oooh, excellent stuf!! Can't wait to read your thoughts on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 *ponders if this will be her last active year on BCF... if I mysteriously disappear from the forum come 2014, you can all blame it on Steve!* Don't even joke about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 There there, Kylie. Don't stress - frankie is as addicted as the rest of us! She'd better be, anyway, or there will be trouble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Aw, thanks Janet. I think we should form a plan to keep her here, just in case. I'm lousy at thinking up plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Oh dear - so am I! We could bribe her with books something?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 We could bribe her with books something?! I am also thinking of leaving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Book #8: Marathon Man by William Goldman From Amazon: Tom 'Babe' Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence - and endlessly away from the spectre of his famous father's scandal-driven suicide. But an unexpected visit from his beloved older brother sets in motion a chain of events that plunges Babe into a vortex of treachery and murder. Stumbling into the violent world of couriers and assassins, espionage and torture, the boy who dreamed of winning races suddenly becomes a man forced to race for his life . . . Thoughts: There's a moment in this book where you can almost see William Goldman flooring the accelerator. Not just easing into it, but literally ramming it through the floor. For most of its first half, Marathon Man is a superb exercise in character building, as we meet Thomas Babington Levy (henceforth known as 'Babe', because that's the nicknamer his brother calls him), a 25 year old history student, working hard to live up to his father's memory. He is also training to run marathons and, each day, he goes out, past the stoop kids next door who rip into him every time they see him, and runs around the reservoir in Central Park. We are also introduced to the mysterious Scylla - the lurking hitman working for The Division, who senses that his number is about to be called in - and to Elsa, who catches Babe's eye as he studies at the library. It's when Babe's elder brother, Doc, turns up that these various threads are pulled together. No, that's unfair. They're not pulled together, because they were so wickedly entwined in the first place, and so quietly, deviously underpin the first half of the novel. And to say more than that, if you haven't read the book or seen the film before, would be a crime. But, suffice to say, that the novel then hits top speed and doesn't let up one iota for the rest of its tale. I saw the film years ago and, even though I remembered much of it, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book at all. Talking of the film, I did find myself wondering how they arrived at the casting of Dustin Hoffman as Babe because, on the page, he is tall and thin. It's almost Tom Cruise/Jack Reacher territory, but for the fact that Hoffman was superb in the role. I could hear his voice in my head during Babe's dialogue and thoughts, reeling the words off at a breathless, fidgety pace, and that - no doubt - is down to the fact that William Goldman was also wrote the screenplay (in addition to so many other greats, such as 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'All the President's Men' - it's a long list!). Despite the characters predicaments, the dialogue is often funny. Babe's thoughts veer off in some insane directions as his peril increases, and it swept me along, creating such a pace, such a sense of fear and tension, that it made the book impossible to put down. It really is an exemplary piece of thriller writing, the kind that they just don't seem to write anymore. Has it dated? Maybe a little, but that should not detract from it at all. In fact, the only part that fell a little flat for me was right towards the end . . . where Nazi war criminal Christian Szell, walking along in New York, is suddenly recognised from across the street, despite it being 30 years older and shaven headed (he was known in Auschwitz as the 'White Angel' because of his mop of white hair). Although his sense of panic was palpable, that scene just seemed a little out of place in a story that had been so believable up to and even after that point. So, if you go back a couple of pages you'd see that this was one of the books on Sari's challenge list. Thanks, Sari - such a great choice Oh, and one final word of advice: if your dentist ever - ever - asks you "Is it safe?" . . . RUN!!! 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am also thinking of leaving I'd better rescind my suggestion or I'll be bankrupt before I know it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Want!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 I finally got around to listening to some Rush music last night (because of you—had to see what all the damn fuss is about). They're not too bad at all. I may just listen to some more one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 The band Rush? I love the song 2112. Well, it's more like a short musical. In secondary school we had to turn a song into a story. I chose 2112 (a song/piece of music about 20 minutes in its entirety) and wrote something bordering on a short novel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) I finally got around to listening to some Rush music last night (because of you—had to see what all the damn fuss is about). They're not too bad at all. I may just listen to some more one day. The band Rush? I love the song 2112. Well, it's more like a short musical. In secondary school we had to turn a song into a story. I chose 2112 (a song/piece of music about 20 minutes in its entirety) and wrote something bordering on a short novel You are both welcome in my thread any time ETA: You definitely appreciate Ready Player One, Nollaig Edited February 5, 2013 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 So I was never welcome in your thread up until this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Everyone's welcome! But people who listen to Rush are doubly welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Oh dear - so am I! We could bribe her with books something?! Well it's a thought... Book #8: Marathon Man by William Goldman Great review, Steve! From Amazon: Tom 'Babe' Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence - and endlessly away from the spectre of his famous father's scandal-driven suicide. But an unexpected visit from his beloved older brother sets in motion a chain of events that plunges Babe into a vortex of treachery and murder. Stumbling into the violent world of couriers and assassins, espionage and torture, the boy who dreamed of winning races suddenly becomes a man forced to race for his life . . . It's when Babe's elder brother, Doc, turns up that these various threads are pulled together. No, that's unfair. They're not pulled together, because they were so wickedly entwined in the first place, and so quietly, deviously underpin the first half of the novel. And to say more than that, if you haven't read the book or seen the film before, would be a crime. But, suffice to say, that the novel then hits top speed and doesn't let up one iota for the rest of its tale. I saw the film years ago and, even though I remembered much of it, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book at all. Well said! I remember I didn't want to put the book down, and I loved it how I had no idea where the thing was going but it all was carefully planned and made sense. I never remember that the book has been made into a movie. I don't think I want to watch it, I so do not see Dustin Hoffman as Babe. The dentist bit is really awful... I'm so, so happy you enjoyed this novel! I did think you might, but one can never be 100% sure. Edit: So, have you already pre-ordered the Rush book?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Want!!! Then buy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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