Author |
Message |
|
pedersencr |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 4:23 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 921
Location: New Orleans
|
Lissa,
Yup, maybe we also need a Book Buyers Anonymous chapter in here
Another great idea from you.
Charles, LOL |
|
|
Back to top |
|
marantzo |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 4:46 pm |
|
|
Guest
|
I read The Little Drummer Girl by Le Carre. That was it for me. What a plodding, overwritten clunker it was. There wasn't a character in it that I cared about. And for being about a spy/counter-spy, terrorist huntdown, it was boooring. The little mannerisms that he gives his characters ( to make them endearing in some way, I suppose) are just annoying.
Vengeance, a book about the hunting down of the people behind the Munich massacre, by George Jonas was more sharply written, less pretentious and far more enjoyable. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
yambu |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 4:50 pm |
|
|
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
|
Charles, I wish you well in this worthy project. My wife has a two-volumn geneology, from 1609 in England, when her family were Quakers, to No. Ireland, where they became Presbyterian, to Ohio (their Methodist period), to Arkansas and Texas, where they split into several denominations.
When I read about them in the 1860's, suddenly there are pages and pages that just list the dead, from both sides of that conflict, and the enormity of that horriffic time becomes immediate. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
lissa |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 4:54 pm |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
|
Quote: When I read about them in the 1860's,
You were reading back then? Wow, yambu, didn't realize you were that old!!
Sorry - I just couldn't resist. It must be Friday. |
_________________ Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
|
Back to top |
|
pedersencr |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 4:55 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 921
Location: New Orleans
|
|
Back to top |
|
tirebiter |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 5:17 pm |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
|
LeCarrés I recommend without reservation:
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Smiley's People
A Perfect Spy |
|
|
Back to top |
|
marantzo |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 6:30 pm |
|
|
Guest
|
Well I gave up on Hemingway after a two year odyssey through For Whom the Bell Tolls so I'm not going to give a little kahker like Le Carre another chance. I didn't realise till I finished FWtBT that I should have read the last 20 pages or so and skipped the first 320.
I know this attitude may sound ridiculous to some, if not all, but I'm not a big reader of fiction and I don't want to waste my time on someone whose work not only didn't impress me but actually annoyed me.
Oh, wait a minute, I did read The Old Man and the Sea. It was short. And not annoying, but sort of silly. Good for a writing thesis but really inconsequential for a great writer. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
yambu |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:03 pm |
|
|
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
|
|
Back to top |
|
pedersencr |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:08 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 921
Location: New Orleans
|
Marantzo,
Actually I like big, long, slow, boring novels, although Cryptonomicon and Quicksilver may be beyond even my pain threshold.
However, that ain't gonna stop me from finding George Jonas's Vengeance that you recommend and probably enjoying it as much as you suggest I will.
Thanks for the recommendation,
Charles |
|
|
Back to top |
|
Marc |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:12 pm |
|
|
Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
|
its nice and calm here in the reading room. Just coming in for a little peace of mind. Thank you. Bye. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
marantzo |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:23 pm |
|
|
Guest
|
yambu it's a yiddish word that means literally 'shitter'. It refers to a baby, but is used as sort of an affectionate reference to a small person. I used it as a way of comparing Le Carre to Hemingway. There was an hilarious Johnny Carson show where Jack E Leonard was a guest on the same show with Charles Aznevour and Jack kept calling Aznevour by that epithet. Aznevour was completely non-plussed. It was priceless to see these two, who were from different universes.
Charles I don't neccessarily favour short books. I hope you enjoy Vengeance. They made a movie of it called Sword of Gideon I believe. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
yambu |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:27 pm |
|
|
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
|
Peace of mind, my ass. You wanna talk books, then talk books. Otherwise, quit taking up space, you New Mexican roadkill.
Shhhh....this is the reading forum.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! |
|
|
Back to top |
|
lissa |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 7:31 pm |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
|
Boys, boys, boys, must I come in here, and peer at you over my little half-glasses and shush you incessantly till you respect the sanctity of this space? |
_________________ Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
|
Back to top |
|
yambu |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 8:05 pm |
|
|
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
|
|
Back to top |
|
lshap |
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 8:15 pm |
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4246
Location: Montreal
|
Hey Yambu, just checked my kids' bookshelf and there's a recent series of books by Byron Barton that my kids loved. They're small with thick cardboard pages in bright primary colors and they're called, "Trucks", "Trains", "Planes", "Machines At Work", and there are probably more. Each is illustrated with big theme-appropriate pictures. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
|