Karsa Orlong Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Just starting The Many-Coloured Land. It's all your fault Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Just starting The Many-Coloured Land. It's all your fault Oh wow! Hope you like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite books. I haven't read The Three Musketeers yet, but I daresay if you liked this, you'll love TCoMC! It's absolutely brilliant, and despite it's massive size, it zips along pretty quickly. Great review! I really need to bump this up my TBR pile. I don't think I've read a bad thing about it. "Monte Cristo" is on the Kindle, just waiting for me, so I will be reading it this year at some point. As for The Cuckoo's Calling, it's now passed the Mother-in-law test, so it must be good! She's got the second book too, so I'll be being very nice to her for a while, so I can borrow it after she's finished it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Oh wow! Hope you like it! Loving it so far It is a re-read, but it's so long since I first read it (25 years or more) and I can't honestly remember how far I got first time around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 Loving it so far It is a re-read, but it's so long since I first read it (25 years or more) and I can't honestly remember how far I got first time around Have you read the sort of prequel books based in the Galactic Mileau? Not quite as good as that series, but it was good to follow some of the earlier story lines - and there is a great twist at the end of the last book (Magnificat)! I have still yet to get hold of a copy of Intervention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) Have you read the sort of prequel books based in the Galactic Mileau? Not quite as good as that series, but it was good to follow some of the earlier story lines - and there is a great twist at the end of the last book (Magnificat)! I have still yet to get hold of a copy of Intervention. By choice, or because you couldn't find it? I know they were out of print for a long time, but they've all been re-issued now, so it should be easy to get it Edited June 12, 2015 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 A bit of both - I first read "Many-coloured" to "Adversary" in about 1987. I actually didn't find out about the existance of the Galatic Mileau series until about 2006 or so. I got hold on them at the library and read them all, but they didn't have a copy of Intervention. Money was very tight in those days, so spending on new books was a no-no. Now, not so much and two clicks of a mouse now, and a copy could be on its way or on my Kindle, so I have nothing to blame but my own apathy and TBR pile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens Little Dorrit is a classic tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, while Dickens' working title for the novel, Nobody's Fault, highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life. Dickens' childhood experiences inform the vivid scenes in Marshalsea debtor's prison, while his adult perceptions of governmental failures shape his satirical picture of the Circumlocution Office. The novel's range of characters - the honest, the crooked, the selfish and the self-denying - offers a portrait of society about whose values Dickens had profound doubts. Little Dorrit is indisputably one of Dickens' finest works, written at the height of his powers. George Bernard Shaw called it ‘a masterpiece among masterpices’, a vedict shared by the novel's many admirers. My Thoughts. I like all the Dickens I've read up to now, but I will admit sometimes I find him to be a bit long-winded. I found The Pickwick Papers to be that, and, dare I say, A Tale of Two Cities. When I saw how long the book was (I read this on the Kindle, so it wasn't immediately obvious), I did wonder if I would be tempted to skip passages. As It was I didn't need to. I found the story rivetting from start to finish. I hadn't seen any of the adaptations on the TV, so I wasn't aware how it ended. To be fair, it's pretty easy to see how most of Dickens books will end, although there was a pretty big twist I didn't see coming. Some of his depictions of the government, here represented by a department called the circumlocution office, reminds me that nearly 200 years later and nothing has changed! You could argue that Little Dorrit herself is too passive and I could see that annoying some readers after a while. She isn't anywhere as annoying as Nell The Old Curiosity Shop. In the end, I loved it 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I'm a beginner Dickens reader, having only read a couple of the short stories and Nicholas Nickleby. My other half has read all of them, and Little Dorrit is his favourite. I'm sure I'll read it at some point, and good to see such a great review of it. Glad you enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 I've not read Nickolas Nickleby yet. Must put that one on the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him. And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . . My Thoughts. I really enjoyed this book. It's always a good sign with me when I conciously try to slow down my reading, the better to take it all in. There were times when I stopped reading, thinking I'd been about ten minutes, only to find I had been going for an hour. Good, believable plot lines and characters. I did guess the killer, but that's thanks to starting out my working life as a chemist, so having a bit of an inside track. The motive completely escaped me till it was revealed at the end. 5/5 As an aside, I can't help but think - if J K Rowling hadn't been revealed as the writer before I read these, would I have guessed it was a woman writing? I find Cormoron's inner monologues to be convincingly male. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 For my next book, I have finally employed the reading jar method (actually a small tin - I didn't have a jar to hand. So my next book is Barnaby Rudge - Charles Dickens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I'm glad you enjoyed The Silkworm, it sounds like a great read. I'll read the first one, at some point.. (since I own it, and I don't own the second one). I am curious how your chemist work is related to the solution of the killer . (but.. no spoilers!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 How did you find The Silkworm compared to The Cuckoo's Calling? I just finished the latter a while ago, and felt a bit lukewarm about it. Was it disturbing in parts - someone mentioned it as one of the most disturbing books they've read? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 I'm glad you enjoyed The Silkworm, it sounds like a great read. I'll read the first one, at some point.. (since I own it, and I don't own the second one). I am curious how your chemist work is related to the solution of the killer . (but.. no spoilers!) I don't think I can say any more without giving the game away - sorry! How did you find The Silkworm compared to The Cuckoo's Calling? I just finished the latter a while ago, and felt a bit lukewarm about it. Was it disturbing in parts - someone mentioned it as one of the most disturbing books they've read? I didn't find it particularly disturbing. Yes, the method used to kill the victim is revolting,but we only see this when the body is discovered, there isn't any blood-splattered preface like some crime novels seem to revel in. Again, the novel within the book is pretty disturbing, but we only really see the character's reaction to it rather than "read" it ourselves. It's certainly dark in nature, and only suitable for adults, but for me, no more than the last two Harry Potter books. I saw your comment on the Cuckoo's Calling thread - This follows a similar format - Cormoron works it out, but we don't get the reveal to the very end. Actually a question for both of you (once you have read the first book anyway Gaia). I was reading some of the comments on Goodreads for this and one woman had critisised the fact that J.K.Rowling had forgone using a more interesting female lead character (Robin) over a boring (her words) male lead. Was she trying to "pretend" she was a male writer? (Given she is writing under a male psudonym & her gender was disguised by J.K, I would have thought the answer obvious). I think (as a man) she writes male characters extremely well to the point where if she hadn't been revealed, I wouldn't have guessed, but are her female characters as convincing? They are to me, but I would be interested to here a woman's viewpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I don't think I can say any more without giving the game away - sorry! I didn't expect you to be able to, so no worries . I will think about your question and answer it when I've read the first book . It is an interesting thing to think about. I think good authors can write well from both perspectives (what are in my eyes good authors), I don't know about J. K. Rowling though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I will need to give your question some thought as it's not one I've considered before. I mean, Harry Potter was male so maybe she just prefers to tell stories through male characters? I didn't consider Cormoran to be particularly boring, nor did I consider Robin to be very interesting. I mean, what did Robin have going on - her constant search for a job, and an annoying fiance. Cormoran had a more interesting background, not that it was all revealed. I dunno, will have to give it more thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 I will need to give your question some thought as it's not one I've considered before. I mean, Harry Potter was male so maybe she just prefers to tell stories through male characters? I didn't consider Cormoran to be particularly boring, nor did I consider Robin to be very interesting. I mean, what did Robin have going on - her constant search for a job, and an annoying fiance. Cormoran had a more interesting background, not that it was all revealed. I dunno, will have to give it more thought. Some things are hinted at in the second book that made Robin more interesting, in my opinion. Not that I thought either her or Cormoran boring. I also thought that the interaction between Cormoran and Robin's fiance were very well written, and came across as authentically male - i.e very ego-driven & antagonistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 In the meantime, I'm currently reading Barnaby Rudge, and I am really struggling. I not finding it interesting at all. I'm not sure at this point if it's me or the book, but I suspect it's me. I think perhaps I need to swap onto something a bit lighter in tone and a little easier. But I hate giving up on books, so for now I'm struggling on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) In the meantime, I'm currently reading Barnaby Rudge, and I am really struggling. I'm not finding it interesting at all. I'm not sure at this point if it's me or the book, but I suspect it's me. I think perhaps I need to swap onto something a bit lighter in tone and a little easier. But I hate giving up on books, so for now I'm struggling on. Have you read any other Dickens? How did you find them if you have? I'm particularly interested as I'm making my way, fairly steadily, through his novels in chronological order, and will come to Barnaby Rudge in the not too distant future. Edited July 16, 2015 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 I've not read them all, and not in order either. The ones I found easy to read were; Oliver Twist Little Dorrit The Old Curiosity Shop A Christmas Carol and the one's I found more difficult were; A Tale of Two Cities Hard Times The Pickwick Papers (I'm sure there are others I've read, but those are the ones that came straight to mind) Of those, I found The Pickwick Papers very heavy going for about the first third of the book. After that the style seemed to change, and I found it better, so I'm hoping that eventually it will pick up. I say all that, but I am still convinced that this is me, not the book! I'm just in a position were I need something light and easy-going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I have heard that Barnaby Rudge is one of the harder ones, and your list suggests that it might well be partly because of that, not least because you've obviously found Dickens very readable in the past. I'd agree that all those are so - I found most of them a real pleasure to read. I did with Pickwick too, but Hard Times is a bit of grind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I'd really like to read more Dickens in the near future, as I've loved everything I've read by him so far. (Bleak House, Our Mutual Friend, Sketches by Boz). On my TBR I have A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist; which would you guys recommend trying first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Barnaby Rudge - Charles Dickens I struggled with this, especially the first third of the book. There didn't seem, at least in those first chapters to be the humour that I associate with other Dickens books. It's difficult for me to say, as I think it's more me than the book; I don't think I was in the right frame of mind to read this. It either picked up or I got more into it towards the end, but I would still have to say: not my favourite Dickens. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Esio Trot - Roald Dahl I recently decided to start using a book jar to help me pick my next read. My daughter has a box set of Roald Dahl books, so all the ones I hadn't read went in. Esio Trot took me about half an hour to read, and it was absolutely delightful. The story is about a shy man who lives in the flat above a woman he's in love with, but is too shy to say. The woman has a pet tortoise.....and anymore would be giving it away! As I say, I was delighted by it, it's a very uplifting and funny story - none of the usual Dahl darkness. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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