What are you reading at the moment?

Fascinating quote - pretty bleak - reminded me of Chandler - from "The Long Goodbye' - I think -

'When I got home I mixed a stiff one and stood by the open window in the living room and sipped it and listened to the groundswell of traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and looked at the glare of the big angry city hanging over the shoulder of the hills through which the boulevard had been cut. Far off the banshee wail of police or fire sirens rose and fell, never for very long completely silent. Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying to catch him. Out there in the night of a thousand crimes, people were dying, being maimed, cut by flying glass, crushed against steering wheels or under heavy tires. People were being beaten, robbed, strangled, raped, and murdered. People were hungry, sick; bored, desperate with loneliness or remorse or fear, angry, cruel, feverish, shaken by sobs. A city no worse than others, a city rich and vigorous and full of pride, a city lost and beaten and full of emptiness. It all depends on where you sit and what your own private score is. I didn't have one. I didn't care. I finished the drink and went to bed.'

Yours - I. @Scotshave @Missoni

Excellent...still a thread of hope and potential weaved through which is probably more akin to actuality...
 
@Scotshave - your second book - coulrophibia - writ large - clowns are evil? Not that I subscribe to the judeo-christian idea of evil - but you know what I mean?

@Missoni -

'Her hot black eyes looked mad. "I don't see what there is to be cagey about," she snapped. "And I don't like your manners."
"I'm not crazy about yours," I said. "I didn't ask to see you. You sent for me. I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle. I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don't waste your time trying to cross-examine me.'


I like my Chandler - I.
 
@Scotshave - your second book - coulrophibia - writ large - clowns are evil? Not that I subscribe to the judeo-christian idea of evil - but you know what I mean?

@Missoni -

'Her hot black eyes looked mad. "I don't see what there is to be cagey about," she snapped. "And I don't like your manners."
"I'm not crazy about yours," I said. "I didn't ask to see you. You sent for me. I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle. I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don't waste your time trying to cross-examine me.'


I like my Chandler - I.

...what would be the book to start with?' I have never read Chandler...
 
...what would be the book to start with?' I have never read Chandler...
Probably 'The Big Sleep' or maybe - ''Fare Well My Lovely' - actually, the latter first - Chandler is - in my opinion incorrectly regarded as 'pulp fiction' - it is - densely plotted - extremely complex - his use of English is exquisite in places -

'She had a lot of face and chin. She had pewter-colored hair set in a ruthless permanent, a hard beak, and large moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones.' - I.
 
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Seven days - seven books - day 6.

'Lighthouse' - Tony Parker.

Beautiful - the testimony of - and to - a doomed breed - lighthouse keepers - rock, tower and land lights in the UK are now all automated. Social history at its best. The corespondents - speak for themselves - the author is never apparent in the narrative - written from recorded interviews - exquisite - hard to find in print - but worth the effort. A strange job - for strange people. Compelling. I.

@Scotshave @Missoni @patw @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

@Scotshave @Missoni @patw @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

Iain, I can recommend the Signal tower museum in Arbroath - this was the shore station for the Bell Rock lighthouse - there is also the Fraserburgh lighthouse museum.

All the best,

Chris
 
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@Scotshave - your second book - coulrophibia - writ large - clowns are evil? Not that I subscribe to the judeo-christian idea of evil - but you know what I mean?

@Missoni -

'Her hot black eyes looked mad. "I don't see what there is to be cagey about," she snapped. "And I don't like your manners."
"I'm not crazy about yours," I said. "I didn't ask to see you. You sent for me. I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle. I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don't waste your time trying to cross-examine me.'


I like my Chandler - I.
@Digimonkey

Coulrophobia...it's defined as irrational but I think the increase of characters like Pennywise (or Ronald McDonald, if you're anti capitalist) has caused an effect.

More seriously, it strikes nearer when you have individuals like John Wayne Gacy. His charitable work was carried out under the guise of ‘Pogo the Clown' or ‘Patches the Clown'. Out of costume, he was a prolific serial killer and torturer of over thirty young men and boys in the USA, during the early to mid 1970s...
 
Review 4

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Published over 40 years ago - Rendevouz with Rama won the SF triple crown - Hugo, Nebula and Jupiter awards amongst many other awards. And is classic pulp science fiction.

The story concerns the discovery of a an alien spacecraft and its journey back to its home planet. There is no-first contact in the first book with the species who created the craft rather the craft is akin to an ark which collects different life forms from the systems it visits. The story is told from the perspective of a group of humans who enter, explore and will never leave the craft.

Clarke was famed for being prothetic in his writing and grounding his writing in science; indeed in the followi-up books in the series (co written with NASA scientist Gentry Lee) he signalled the profound change on earth's atmosphere that the burning of fossil fuels would have. He also instils a sense of awe, wonder and unknowingness regarding the universe. Much like the Kubrick's adaptation of his "2001" novel.

@Scotshave @Missoni @patw @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @RussellR5555
 
Penultimate one (I think?)

I was seventeen when I was given a copy of this by a very erudite work colleague. I'd never seen narrative like this; no quotation marks, and staggering use of vernacular. Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Selby jnr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn is a novel that rips the core out of the ‘American Dream' and throws it straight in your face.

Where you have characters on the periphery of society depicted as accepting, content even (Steinbeck's Cannery Row, for instance), Exit has pent up rage. Tralala the prostitute and Georgie the transvestite are painted amazingly; as is Harry, the Union man; who is more than he seems.

Visceral stuff. I can see why this novel (and Selby's Requiem for a Dream) inspired artists like The Velvet Underground and David Bowie.
BD51585D-3730-4251-95AA-AA6603EF5591.jpeg
 
Penultimate one (I think?)

I was seventeen when I was given a copy of this by a very erudite work colleague. I'd never seen narrative like this; no quotation marks, and staggering use of vernacular. Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Selby jnr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn is a novel that rips the core out of the ‘American Dream' and throws it straight in your face.

Where you have characters on the periphery of society depicted as accepting, content even (Steinbeck's Cannery Row, for instance), Exit has pent up rage. Tralala the prostitute and Georgie the transvestite are painted amazingly; as is Harry, the Union man; who is more than he seems.

Visceral stuff. I can see why this novel (and Selby's Requiem for a Dream) inspired artists like The Velvet Underground and David Bowie.
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Ultimate - I think? Having just counted the cover pictures taken this last seven days for the thread - one yet to post tonight. As an aside - one of my favourite phrases in Spanish - you never ask for a last drink - it is considered very bad luck - instead - 'una penultima - por favor' - doesn't need any translation. I've been aware of this book - based on your review - just ordered it - fantastic cover picture - mildly concerned about the punctuation aspect - deeply scarred by the 'scroll' version of 'On the Road' - even e e cummings would have said - 'Jack - straighten up - cat - lay off the speed - punctuation was invented for a reason' - cheers -I.
 
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Seven days - actually eight - seven books.

I didn't know what to choose as my last book - hence the delay - ended up with a choice that is personal for me - in more ways than one way. John Pilger - multi-award winning Australian journalist and documentary maker - old-school - impassioned - engaged and deeply humanitarian. I actually wanted to recommend 'Heroes' by him - but I couldn't find my copy in the sedimentary piles of books next door - it literally - changed my life - I hate when people misuse - literally - but I do mean it. Reading it - at the age of 20 - and at the same time - discovering the photojournalism of Don McCullin - amongst others - put me on the path I am still on - as a newspaper photographer. 'Hidden Agendas' mostly sets about the military industrial complex and the connection to governments - the myth of 'smart' bombs - no - they kill just as many women, children and non-combatants as 'dumb' bombs. Precision targeting - drone strikes - rhetoric that has become predominant from the first Gulf war onwards - bullshit. How many mutilated Afghan wedding parties are needed to prove this? Barrel bombs - 'daisy cutters' - indiscriminately lethal - and very, very expensive. So - personal thing number two - I photographed him in Glasgow on the promotional tour for 'Hidden Agendas' in 1998 - and about a week later - he called me - his wife had seen the portrait I took of him that was used in the Scotsman - she loved it - could they have a copy? It hangs in their dining room - of this I am extremely proud. I didn't charge him - you are not going to invoice one of your heroes - are you?. Ha ha.

So job done - seven books - in - well - eight days - I have enjoyed doing this again. Thank you if you have taken the time to read this thread - more so - if you have contributed - we must do it again sometime. Yours - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555 @Missoni
 
View attachment 48314

Seven days - actually eight - seven books.

I didn't know what to choose as my last book - hence the delay - ended up with a choice that is personal for me - in more ways than one way. John Pilger - multi-award winning Australian journalist and documentary maker - old-school - impassioned - engaged and deeply humanitarian. I actually wanted to recommend 'Heroes' by him - but I couldn't find my copy in the sedimentary piles of books next door - it literally - changed my life - I hate when people misuse - literally - but I do mean it. Reading it - at the age of 20 - and at the same time - discovering the photojournalism of Don McCullin - amongst others - put me on the path I am still on - as a newspaper photographer. 'Hidden Agendas' mostly sets about the military industrial complex and the connection to governments - the myth of 'smart' bombs - no - they kill just as many women, children and non-combatants as 'dumb' bombs. Precision targeting - drone strikes - rhetoric that has become predominant from the first Gulf war onwards - bullshit. How many mutilated Afghan wedding parties are needed to prove this? Barrel bombs - 'daisy cutters' - indiscriminately lethal - and very, very expensive. So - personal thing number two - I photographed him in Glasgow on the promotional tour for 'Hidden Agendas' in 1998 - and about a week later - he called me - his wife had seen the portrait I took of him that was used in the Scotsman - she loved it - could they have a copy? It hangs in their dining room - of this I am extremely proud. I didn't charge him - you are not going to invoice one of your heroes - are you?. Ha ha.

So job done - seven books - in - well - eight days - I have enjoyed doing this again. Thank you if you have taken the time to read this thread - more so - if you have contributed - we must do it again sometime. Yours - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555 @Missoni

Excellent and also a fan of John Pilger. Indeed just recently watched his short documentary "The Coming War With China". He is authentic, real and with insightful, razor sharp analysis - great recommendation. If you like John Pilger maybe worth checking out Chris Hedges, another Pulitzer winning journalist. Previously NYT War Reporter. His talks on YouTube are very good.

 
View attachment 48314

Seven days - actually eight - seven books.

I didn't know what to choose as my last book - hence the delay - ended up with a choice that is personal for me - in more ways than one way. John Pilger - multi-award winning Australian journalist and documentary maker - old-school - impassioned - engaged and deeply humanitarian. I actually wanted to recommend 'Heroes' by him - but I couldn't find my copy in the sedimentary piles of books next door - it literally - changed my life - I hate when people misuse - literally - but I do mean it. Reading it - at the age of 20 - and at the same time - discovering the photojournalism of Don McCullin - amongst others - put me on the path I am still on - as a newspaper photographer. 'Hidden Agendas' mostly sets about the military industrial complex and the connection to governments - the myth of 'smart' bombs - no - they kill just as many women, children and non-combatants as 'dumb' bombs. Precision targeting - drone strikes - rhetoric that has become predominant from the first Gulf war onwards - bullshit. How many mutilated Afghan wedding parties are needed to prove this? Barrel bombs - 'daisy cutters' - indiscriminately lethal - and very, very expensive. So - personal thing number two - I photographed him in Glasgow on the promotional tour for 'Hidden Agendas' in 1998 - and about a week later - he called me - his wife had seen the portrait I took of him that was used in the Scotsman - she loved it - could they have a copy? It hangs in their dining room - of this I am extremely proud. I didn't charge him - you are not going to invoice one of your heroes - are you?. Ha ha.

So job done - seven books - in - well - eight days - I have enjoyed doing this again. Thank you if you have taken the time to read this thread - more so - if you have contributed - we must do it again sometime. Yours - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555 @Missoni
It's been excellent. Like the last time; plenty of inspirational enablings...
 
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