Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

17) Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. People I respect have been recommending this book to me for years and I've only just got to it. Really funny and the hateful, ridiculous main character is someone I take as piercing self caricature from the author. Not a perfect novel, with some attitudes about minorities of its time, and it does something which always annoys me which is to write accents out. Whether that's to a Londoner, Irishman, or black guy in New Orleans, I always think it ends up putting a wall between that character and the reader and makes em seem thick. But these are quibbles for a great piece of literature which is also a brilliant comedy.
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:08pm
17) Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. People I respect have been recommending this book to me for years and I've only just got to it. Really funny and the hateful, ridiculous main character is someone I take as piercing self caricature from the author. Not a perfect novel, with some attitudes about minorities of its time, and it does something which always annoys me which is to write accents out. Whether that's to a Londoner, Irishman, or black guy in New Orleans, I always think it ends up putting a wall between that character and the reader and makes em seem thick. But these are quibbles for a great piece of literature which is also a brilliant comedy.
Read that a couple decades ago and remember nothing of it, but I know that I enjoyed it immensely.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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18) How The Irish Saved Civilisation - Thomas Cahill. Audiobook.

Here's what I wrote about this when I tried it for the first time in 2014.


Winner of the prestigious "Book James Picks Up, Looks at, then eventually Puts Down Whenever he's in a bookshop" Award 2010-2014. So far, a snotty entry level run through the fall of Rome and then the philosophers of the middle ages. Come on, I know that shit. I wanted to read about Irish scribes and Arabic texts.

I knew after the introduction that it was written by a shithead Irish-American with an overly romanticised yet simultaneously patronsing view of a country. Something along the lines of "Even a Greek mechanic might name his business the Parthenon, suggesting his ties to the ancient world, or an Italian prove himself a Renaissance man by naming his pizza parlour after Michalengelo, but the Irish tend to name their workplaces Kelly's Bar or the Donegal Sanitation." One of those moments where you want an open fire to chuck your book at. I'm immediately distrustful of anything that deals in national stereotypes straight off the bat."

Five years later, after rightly sacking the book off, I came back looking for some light relief. I've finished it now I was right; it sucked. And now I've got the faculties to constantly add "that we know of, a different text might not have survived" every time he emphasises that St Patrick was the first real Christian missionary or something like that.
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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:16pm
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:08pm
17) Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. People I respect have been recommending this book to me for years and I've only just got to it. Really funny and the hateful, ridiculous main character is someone I take as piercing self caricature from the author. Not a perfect novel, with some attitudes about minorities of its time, and it does something which always annoys me which is to write accents out. Whether that's to a Londoner, Irishman, or black guy in New Orleans, I always think it ends up putting a wall between that character and the reader and makes em seem thick. But these are quibbles for a great piece of literature which is also a brilliant comedy.
Read that a couple decades ago and remember nothing of it, but I know that I enjoyed it immensely.
I'd say it's worth a revisit.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:31pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:16pm
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:08pm
17) Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. People I respect have been recommending this book to me for years and I've only just got to it. Really funny and the hateful, ridiculous main character is someone I take as piercing self caricature from the author. Not a perfect novel, with some attitudes about minorities of its time, and it does something which always annoys me which is to write accents out. Whether that's to a Londoner, Irishman, or black guy in New Orleans, I always think it ends up putting a wall between that character and the reader and makes em seem thick. But these are quibbles for a great piece of literature which is also a brilliant comedy.
Read that a couple decades ago and remember nothing of it, but I know that I enjoyed it immensely.
I'd say it's worth a revisit.
Yeah, I'm thinking an audio version makes sense.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Whatcha reading?

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19) Attempting Normal - Marc Maron. Audiobook. Read by the author. I think I may have given Kory some stick over Maron once. Found myself in the mood for this book which is basically a five hour version of his introductions to his podcasts. He reads his pretty decent material like a Beat poet assured of his own profundity. I like that. I suspect he's more on a grift than his persona suggests and that is absolutely fine for showbiz. I like the guy and there are some genuine laughs here.
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Wolter »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:16pm
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Apr 2019, 4:08pm
17) Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. People I respect have been recommending this book to me for years and I've only just got to it. Really funny and the hateful, ridiculous main character is someone I take as piercing self caricature from the author. Not a perfect novel, with some attitudes about minorities of its time, and it does something which always annoys me which is to write accents out. Whether that's to a Londoner, Irishman, or black guy in New Orleans, I always think it ends up putting a wall between that character and the reader and makes em seem thick. But these are quibbles for a great piece of literature which is also a brilliant comedy.
Read that a couple decades ago and remember nothing of it, but I know that I enjoyed it immensely.
I’ve tried it like 4 times and it never clicks.
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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20) 18th Century British Premiers: From Walpole to Pitt - Dick Leonard. 14 shortish essays on the first 14 men to hold the office. Fine, just fine.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Silent Majority wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 1:25pm
20) 18th Century British Premiers: From Walpole to Pitt - Dick Leonard. 14 shortish essays on the first 14 men to hold the office. Fine, just fine.
Your devotion to reading about political leaders continues to impress and baffle me. It seems like the kind of reading assignment generated by a cruel grad supervisor.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Flex »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 4:23pm
Silent Majority wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 1:25pm
20) 18th Century British Premiers: From Walpole to Pitt - Dick Leonard. 14 shortish essays on the first 14 men to hold the office. Fine, just fine.
Your devotion to reading about political leaders continues to impress and baffle me. It seems like the kind of reading assignment generated by a cruel grad supervisor.
Easy to see how James, with this diet of thrillers, could find The Hobbit a bit dull.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Flex wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 7:41pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 4:23pm
Silent Majority wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 1:25pm
20) 18th Century British Premiers: From Walpole to Pitt - Dick Leonard. 14 shortish essays on the first 14 men to hold the office. Fine, just fine.
Your devotion to reading about political leaders continues to impress and baffle me. It seems like the kind of reading assignment generated by a cruel grad supervisor.
Easy to see how James, with this diet of thrillers, could find The Hobbit a bit dull.
We historians pay a price for our devotion. In this case, a loss of tolerance for stories where a hobgoblin playing a magic French horn might send the narrative in a new direction.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by 101Walterton »

Flex wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 7:41pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 4:23pm
Silent Majority wrote:
21 Apr 2019, 1:25pm
20) 18th Century British Premiers: From Walpole to Pitt - Dick Leonard. 14 shortish essays on the first 14 men to hold the office. Fine, just fine.
Your devotion to reading about political leaders continues to impress and baffle me. It seems like the kind of reading assignment generated by a cruel grad supervisor.
Easy to see how James, with this diet of thrillers, could find The Hobbit a bit dull.
I couldn’t even get to the end of SM’s post.

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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Who'll be laughing when my very slight knowledge of the Earl of Bute's relationship with the young George III somehow comes in very handy?

Blame Corbyn for this. It was him that made me feel the need to catch up on the Labour Party (I wasn't going to have some shithead University educated journalists on twitter know more than me. I learnt they were instant comprisers) and then mainstream Brit politics in general. I had it reinforced, like the Kanye song, nobody should have all that power. On the plus side, this could never be comprehensive like the Prez Project. There's too many obscure Premiers that even dusty old Tories haven't written biographies on them. My plan is to read the greatest hits and then all the guys after Thatcher. Who I've already got lined up.
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by 101Walterton »

Silent Majority wrote:
22 Apr 2019, 2:51am
Who'll be laughing when my very slight knowledge of the Earl of Bute's relationship with the young George III somehow comes in very handy?

Blame Corbyn for this. It was him that made me feel the need to catch up on the Labour Party (I wasn't going to have some shithead University educated journalists on twitter know more than me. I learnt they were instant comprisers) and then mainstream Brit politics in general. I had it reinforced, like the Kanye song, nobody should have all that power. On the plus side, this could never be comprehensive like the Prez Project. There's too many obscure Premiers that even dusty old Tories haven't written biographies on them. My plan is to read the greatest hits and then all the guys after Thatcher. Who I've already got lined up.
Are you seriously going to read that book about John Major.
I hope there are a lot of pictures because I don’t know what else could fill up all those pages 😳

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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

101Walterton wrote:
22 Apr 2019, 4:04am
Silent Majority wrote:
22 Apr 2019, 2:51am
Who'll be laughing when my very slight knowledge of the Earl of Bute's relationship with the young George III somehow comes in very handy?

Blame Corbyn for this. It was him that made me feel the need to catch up on the Labour Party (I wasn't going to have some shithead University educated journalists on twitter know more than me. I learnt they were instant comprisers) and then mainstream Brit politics in general. I had it reinforced, like the Kanye song, nobody should have all that power. On the plus side, this could never be comprehensive like the Prez Project. There's too many obscure Premiers that even dusty old Tories haven't written biographies on them. My plan is to read the greatest hits and then all the guys after Thatcher. Who I've already got lined up.
Are you seriously going to read that book about John Major.
I hope there are a lot of pictures because I don’t know what else could fill up all those pages 😳
You better believe it.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


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