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Post by broadsword on May 14, 2008 23:19:38 GMT
The book that had the biggest effect on me is called "Johnny Got His Gun" by the American author Dalton Trumbo. It is the perfect anti-war book and should be made compulsory reading in schools everywhere and also politicians the world over should be made to read it every 6 months. It takes a bit of an effort to read because of the lack of punctuation and the detail Trumbo goes into.
I bought a copy of it at a marvelous paperback book shop in Louisville, Kentucky near where I used to live. It took a good while to read but yikes, it changed me.
Very simply, it's about a soldier who gets very badly injured on the last day of world war one. He loses his arms, legs, hearing and sight.
If you never read another book, read this one.
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Post by admin on May 16, 2008 9:30:02 GMT
Good thread! I have always kinda stuck with Sci Fi books but I'm getting a bit been there- done that with them. I'm not too clued up on other authors and styles so I don't really know where to start outside that genre and tend to stick with non fiction. Just reserved Johnny Got His Gun from the library, I'll let you know what I think when I get it. Cheers. My tip for a good book if anyone likes fantasy type stuff would be Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. Part of the reason I'm moving away from this stuff is IMO fantasy novels seem to be getting all a bit samey nowadys, the good elves battling the dark lord to save the land.....again....yawn! But mythago wood is excellent, in fact rather than try to describe it and do it no justice at all it's pretty well summed up by Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythago_Wood
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jioffe
Journeyman
... and the days of my youth!
Posts: 162
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Post by jioffe on May 16, 2008 20:54:10 GMT
Good thread! I have always kinda stuck with Sci Fi books but I'm getting a bit been there- done that with them. I'm not too clued up on other authors and styles so I don't really know where to start outside that genre and tend to stick with non fiction. Hi Col et al, As someone who's normal reading matter is also something in the SF&F vein, albeit with a large dollop of humour - Pratchett, of course and especially, Robert Rankin - a set of strange coincidences lead to me pursuing a very different genre, crime/detective fiction. And it all started with IA! Asked about books he would recommend, in an interview - and also here: www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/39QPXEL6ZPHZHa name that came up was that of Mark Billingham. Not being someone who would have automatically gone out and hunted something down, just because IA recommended it, the name did seem to ring a bell and after a bit of Wiki-ing and IMDB-ing I discovered why. Dave was a very good mate, and flatmate, of mine at college. He eventually became an actor and TV screenwriter and got his big break, late 80s, as one of the regulars in a cult kids' TV series called Maid Marian and her Merry Men, a comedy take on the Robin Hood story, which ran for 4 series and won several awards. He played Graeme, one of the Sheriff of Nottingham's (played by Tony Robinson of Blackadder fame) two henchmen - and Mark Billingham played Gary, the other! Both Dave and Mark got their first writing credits on the show: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maid_Marian_and_her_Merry_MenSo with IA's and Dave's help, I just had to read (and enjoyed and can also recommend) Mark Billingham's rather sick and depraved creations! Cheers, Jioffe. Now where did I put Dave's e-mail address...
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Post by admin on May 19, 2008 8:30:06 GMT
Good story jioffe, small world eh? mark Billingham duly added to my list of 'to reads!' I might just look up A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian from IA list too, that looks quite good.
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Post by admin on Jul 15, 2008 9:24:51 GMT
The book that had the biggest effect on me is called "Johnny Got His Gun" by the American author Dalton Trumbo. It is the perfect anti-war book and should be made compulsory reading in schools everywhere and also politicians the world over should be made to read it every 6 months. It takes a bit of an effort to read because of the lack of punctuation and the detail Trumbo goes into. I bought a copy of it at a marvelous paperback book shop in Louisville, Kentucky near where I used to live. It took a good while to read but yikes, it changed me. Very simply, it's about a soldier who gets very badly injured on the last day of world war one. He loses his arms, legs, hearing and sight. If you never read another book, read this one. just finished it and yes, great book. The subject matter made it a bit heavy going but it was excellent. wasn't this the story that metallica based the 'One' song on? I've just picked up Explorers Of The New Century by Magnus Mills on a whim.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jul 15, 2008 9:36:23 GMT
I can recommend the Patrick Humphries book on Nick Drake which I've just re-read. It's just called NICK DRAKE - THE BIOGRAPHY and published by Bloomsbury in 1997.
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Post by electrocutas on Jul 23, 2008 10:45:10 GMT
All these are a great read Touching the void - Joe Simpson This Game Of Ghosts - Joe Simpson (in fact any of Joe Simpson's books)
Fred (Fred Dibnah Biog) - David Hall The Kindness of Strangers - Kate Adie Lois On The Loose - Lois Pryce Red Tape & White Knuckles - Lois Pryce The Kon Tiki Expedition - Thor Heyerdahl Jupiters Travel's - Ted Simon
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rebecca
Master Craftsman
Posts: 458
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Post by rebecca on Dec 8, 2008 1:44:09 GMT
The book that had the biggest effect on me is called "Johnny Got His Gun" by the American author Dalton Trumbo. It is the perfect anti-war book and should be made compulsory reading in schools everywhere and also politicians the world over should be made to read it every 6 months. It takes a bit of an effort to read because of the lack of punctuation and the detail Trumbo goes into. I bought a copy of it at a marvelous paperback book shop in Louisville, Kentucky near where I used to live. It took a good while to read but yikes, it changed me. Very simply, it's about a soldier who gets very badly injured on the last day of world war one. He loses his arms, legs, hearing and sight. If you never read another book, read this one. just finished it and yes, great book. The subject matter made it a bit heavy going but it was excellent. wasn't this the story that metallica based the 'One' song on? Yes, Col, you're right about the Metallica song. I have this book but have never got around to reading it. I've seen the movie a few times - Donald Sutherland as Jesus! I'm sure the book must be even better. I recently saw an excellent documentary about the author, Dalton Trumbo: www.imdb.com/title/tt0889671/
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Post by steelmonkey on Dec 10, 2008 22:50:37 GMT
What is the What....by Dave Eggers....hard to put down ( either meaning).
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rebecca
Master Craftsman
Posts: 458
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Post by rebecca on Dec 11, 2008 1:31:41 GMT
I'm kind of in awe of his accomplishments, but I haven't actually read any of his books yet. I've got one around here somewhere...
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coolraven
Journeyman
Money Speaks Soft Hearts Lose Truth Only Whispers
Posts: 91
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Post by coolraven on Dec 15, 2008 20:02:42 GMT
My tip for a good book if anyone likes fantasy type stuff would be Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock.
Like you I was (not any more) a huge sf fan from an early age, started with the American pulps.. 'Astounding', 'Fantasy &Science Fiction', 'If' 'New Worlds' etc Beginning to find now at my age that re-reading is by far the better option, books bought in the 60s and 70s, left to age on the shelf (only exceptional stuff of course) now can be savoured and am finding much more pleasure in a good read. Every five years or so I will re-read LOTR, Frank Herbert's sextert of Dune books, Stephen Donaldson's remarkable fantasies, any of J G Ballard's strange fiction, or maybe the fantasy works of Harlan Ellison. But it is hard to beat Stephen King for storytelling and damn good writing, him I will re-read regularly. There is something about sf in the last decade or so that has put me off, I think it must be my age, or the poor quality of the works to hand. I will certainly try Holdstock, I think I met him in the 70s and might have a letter from him somewhere. Harry Harrison was very popular here in Dublin, he lived in Wicklow and Dalkey, we helped him organise the SF Writers Conventions, and he has written an introduction to my own local history, shortly to be launched. From sf to history, from future to past , eh ?
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Post by falstaff on Feb 8, 2009 2:00:45 GMT
I read a little bit of everything - fiction, biographies, non-fiction, poetry, plays, literary criticism, etc. My preference is for literary fiction and poetry, but I love a great horror, fantasy, or mystery anytime. Not much of a sci-fi fan, at least not the real wonky kind. Some of my favorite poets are Anne Sexton, Keats, William Blake, John Berryman, and Yeats. My favorite novelists are Philip Roth, Tolstoy, and Hemingway, among many others. My taste in horror and fantasy leans heavily to the classic side. Harlan Ellison's collection Deathbird Stories is a fond favorite. Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of the finest 20th century American novels. Lovecraft's short stories are another essential collection. Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness and Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man. Man, I could go on all day.
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rebecca
Master Craftsman
Posts: 458
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Post by rebecca on Feb 8, 2009 20:39:32 GMT
Ray Bradbury: one of my literary idols. Whatever he's writing about, there's always that humanity in there, love of life at its center.
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Post by falstaff on Feb 10, 2009 6:37:08 GMT
Some of Bradbury's early chillers are among his best work in the short story - the best among them can be found in his collection The October Country. "The Small Assassin" is a particular favorite. Bradbury can stand alongside the giants of the short story - Chekhov, John Cheever, Poe, Raymond Carver, Hemingway, etc - as far as I am concerned. Other writers in the horror/fantasy vein that I admire greatly are Ramsey Campbell, Manly Wade Wellman, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, and T.E.D. Klein. Yes, Stephen King too - Pet Semetary is my favorite King novel. Nice to find some people here who love books as much as I... I was about to post a thread about the reading habits of Tull fans when I discovered this thread.
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Post by maddogfagin on Feb 10, 2009 8:42:07 GMT
I can recommend Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg published in 1968. Always a favourite SF book of mine. Wikipedia has a very good synopsis of the story and one that I would buy again if I could find it.
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rebecca
Master Craftsman
Posts: 458
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Post by rebecca on Mar 6, 2009 2:41:33 GMT
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Post by electrocutas on Mar 16, 2009 21:49:56 GMT
3 Books to read (just finishing the third) Jupiters Travels - Ted Simon's epic 4 year round the world on a triumph motorcycle 1973 - 77
Riding High - this expands on some parts of the above then follows on "what happens after"
Dreaming of Jupiter - 24 years later He goes and does the trip again in 2001 on a BMW to see how the world has changed.
All extremely interesting and very well written.
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Post by maddogfagin on Jan 25, 2010 13:04:25 GMT
Been re-reading "Thw Woodworm Era" by Fred Redwood & Martin Woodward. Basically a history of Fairport from 1979 to 1995 when it was published. Some great facts about the band from that time including the genesis of Cropredy, set lists of the Cropredy Festivals and some good pics including at couple of IA performing at the festival. Don't know how easy it is to get hold of, but worthy of a purchase if the price is right.
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Post by falstaff on Jan 25, 2010 22:31:26 GMT
3 Books to read (just finishing the third) Jupiters Travels - Ted Simon's epic 4 year round the world on a triumph motorcycle 1973 - 77 Riding High - this expands on some parts of the above then follows on "what happens after" Dreaming of Jupiter - 24 years later He goes and does the trip again in 2001 on a BMW to see how the world has changed. All extremely interesting and very well written. Yes, those sound like very interesting books, especially if he adopts the approach of a novelist when dealing with his material. I'll have to look into these. Many thanks.
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Post by falstaff on Jan 25, 2010 22:46:51 GMT
Been re-reading "Thw Woodworm Era" by Fred Redwood & Martin Woodward. Basically a history of Fairport from 1979 to 1995 when it was published. Some great facts about the band from that time including the genesis of Cropredy, set lists of the Cropredy Festivals and some good pics including at couple of IA performing at the festival. Don't know how easy it is to get hold of, but worthy of a purchase if the price is right. This work looks like it is probably a real labor of love.
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jason
Prentice Jack
Posts: 35
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Post by jason on Mar 20, 2010 19:08:42 GMT
Good stuff and it is always fun to know what others are reading. At the moment I am reading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative and am enjoying the historical fiction of Dorothy Dunnett: www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/If you ever wanted to visit !5th cent. Europe, she is a winning ticket. Cheers, Jason
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Post by tulloholic on Mar 28, 2010 18:18:44 GMT
I liked anything by Guy De Maupassant. Apart from him, I like stuff by Nabakov and Somerset Maugham. I am a sucker for classics.
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Post by nonrabbit on Jun 25, 2010 11:31:32 GMT
The collectors amongst you might want to cough up btw £1500-2500 for the original 1773 copy of Jethro Tulls book "The Horse- Hoeing Husbandry" i46.images obliterated by tinypic/opzf2o.jpg[/IMG] "417 ppg, there are 6 pull out illustrations in back, part of one illustration is missing, leather bound with raised bands, part of spine loose, pages intact." The second edition at £650 has a more attractive look peterkennedy.com/books/55
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Post by steelmonkey on Jul 24, 2010 20:38:50 GMT
This guy Orhan Pamuk...man, he can write...like, Dostoyevsky, Hamsun, Zola, he can write.
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Post by nonrabbit on Feb 24, 2012 22:25:17 GMT
I've finally got round to reading The Old Curiousity Shop and not just because it's the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens birth this year. It's one of the classics I missed the first time around and what an absolute delight!! There truly is some Dickensian images in Tullogy too.
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Post by nonrabbit on Feb 25, 2012 13:46:16 GMT
I'm sorry I'm going to have to add to this- my current obsession The trek that Nell and her grandfather take through the mid Victorian English countryside and woods is so SFTW/Whistler. The journey when it pulls them through the horrific slums and grind of the factory town and Dickens criticism of the Industrial revolution is so like the lyrics in Jump Start; "And through the bruised machinery, the smoking haze of industry. Another day with ball and chain. I do my time, then home again." Strange parody too is that Jethro Tull, the inventor, as we know was responsible for the Industrial Revolution.
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Post by witkacy on Apr 1, 2012 20:17:42 GMT
The book that had the biggest effect on me is called "Johnny Got His Gun" by the American author Dalton Trumbo. It is the perfect anti-war book and should be made compulsory reading in schools everywhere and also politicians the world over should be made to read it every 6 months. It takes a bit of an effort to read because of the lack of punctuation and the detail Trumbo goes into. I bought a copy of it at a marvelous paperback book shop in Louisville, Kentucky near where I used to live. It took a good while to read but yikes, it changed me. Very simply, it's about a soldier who gets very badly injured on the last day of world war one. He loses his arms, legs, hearing and sight. If you never read another book, read this one. broadsword Thanks for the tip - speaking of anti-war books... Just reminding myself 08/15 by Hans Hellmut Kirst... He wrote quite a few books, but this one seems his best for me...
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Post by maddogfagin on May 15, 2012 9:37:00 GMT
Just beginning to re-aquaint myself with "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran which I first read in my last year at school when it was recommended by an enlightened school master. I in turn pointed him in the direction of Paul Simon who was at that time just starting out as a jobbing folksinger and had just released his first "commercial" solo recording "I Am a Rock". It seemed a fair swop.
However, I re-read it again in the late 90's when I was lent the book by a Lebanese student at Kingston University where I was working at the time.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
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Post by Tull50 on Jun 22, 2014 20:50:28 GMT
Paul Stanley (Kiss) in his book "Face the music: A life exposed" says: "Wicked Lester" band before Kiss, we wanted to sound like Jethro Tull. When we realized that the guy who sang and played the flute kept falling fainted to do this, then we realized that what Ian Anderson makes was not so easy.
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Post by nonrabbit on Oct 2, 2014 12:05:08 GMT
Under The Ivy : The Life And Music Of Kate Bush by Graeme Thompson. i57.images obliterated by tinypic/afha3a.jpg[/IMG] What a cracker of an in depth book. Over seventy interviews with her friends and colleagues from school to now. Graeme Thompson is the man if Ian's looking for someone to write his biography.
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