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| Roscommon Mick |
 Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:42 am |
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Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Posts: 81
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Well there was plenty of fantastic Russian/Soviet literature after 1917 that makes a mockery of the carefully constructed sterotype of the brute Russian automaton. That caricature of stoopid Boris is still the most common one in the English speaking world.
An example of Russian cosmopolitanism that not many would know was the popularity of Irish culture, music and sean nos dancing that Seamus Martin revealed in a few articles in the Irish Time years ago. |
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| Miotal Trom |
| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:50 pm |
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Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 2740
Location: Massacre on the Frontline
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Dark Stranger wrote: Anybody else read 'Kill Your Friends' by John Niven? Great book, read it in two evenings solid, flew through it. Pure bastard of a main character, and the behind the scenes of the 90s music industry was great.
Just finished 'The Second Coming' there this morning and I have to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I'll definitely look out for 'Kill Your Friends' next. Niven has a really easy-to-read writing style, and a wicked sense of humour, particularly when it comes to portraying the moral weaknesses of humans. |
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| Dark Stranger |
| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:30 pm |
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 14907
Location: Holding a fiery stride
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| Want a trade then? I can send down KYF with the lads for the Day Of Death. |
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| Miotal Trom |
| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:03 pm |
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Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 2740
Location: Massacre on the Frontline
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| I'd love to Dónal but no can do. I borrowed it from Ellie, who in turn has it on loan from a work colleague of hers! |
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| Black Shepherd Carnage |
| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:18 pm |
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Joined: 18 Sep 2011
Posts: 997
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Roscommon Mick wrote: Well there was plenty of fantastic Russian/Soviet literature after 1917 that makes a mockery of the carefully constructed sterotype of the brute Russian automaton. That caricature of stoopid Boris is still the most common one in the English speaking world.
An example of Russian cosmopolitanism that not many would know was the popularity of Irish culture, music and sean nos dancing that Seamus Martin revealed in a few articles in the Irish Time years ago.
You'll be glad to know I didn't rest in the prejudices of my childhood then!
That post about Hunger Games and Java Programming... haha, way to stereotype yourself!  |
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| spoderman01 |
| Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:49 pm |
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Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 1898
Location: Limerick
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Black Shepherd Carnage wrote:
That post about Hunger Games and Java Programming... haha, way to stereotype yourself!
I embraced my inner nerd a long time ago  |
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| Encyclopedist |
| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:07 pm |
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Joined: 31 Mar 2012
Posts: 8
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I really enjoyed some of China Mieville's stuff. I've only read Perdido Street Station and Kraken and I was mighty impressed by the former. The Scar and Iron Council landed on my doorstep last week so that should keep me going for a while.
Anyone else into this gear? |
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| Shunyata |
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:07 am |
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Joined: 23 Jul 2009
Posts: 1436
Location: Let's get fucked up
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Perdido St. Station is a great book - much more about world building than characterisation in my view, and in some ways more aligned with works like Gormenghast and Dune in that regard. In fact, Mieville owes a lot to Peake.
It's a bit rough comparing anything to Gormenghast though, as great as Perdido is, it doesn't hold a candle to to Titus Groan nevermind the titular novel. I'd definitely recommend the trilogy if you've not read it.
[edit]I'm personally rereading the Prague Cemetary by Eco. It's quite the endeavour and I'm still having to look up things, despite spending an inordinate amount of time doing so the first read through. But I enjoy learning. |
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| Encyclopedist |
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Mar 2012
Posts: 8
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| It sounds like I should give Gormenghast a rattle too then. |
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| TemplarOfSteel |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 10:18 am |
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Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Posts: 7236
Location: High Above The Rolling Waves, In Labyrinths Of Coral Caves...
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| Does anyone have any recomendations for books on witchcraft/black magic in Ireland? I know there are plenty of people interested in local/national history on here so hopefully they can help me, a Spanish friend is interested in it. Something slightly more accesible than a thesis/academic text would be preferred as well. |
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| Padre Pio |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:46 am |
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Joined: 25 May 2007
Posts: 6858
Location: The great omnipotent goat sits on the pentagram
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Recently read:
"Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick - a fascinating, and of course also very bleak, account of life inside North Korea during the reign of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. Based on extensive interviews with ordinary people who managed to get out.
"The Breast" by Philip Roth - an interesting novella, obviously (and admittedly) taking inspiration from "Metamorphosis" by Kafka and "The Nose" by Gogol. I'm not entirely sure I grasped the full meaning, as apparently in some ways the book was an answer to the critics who had attacked Roth's earlier writings, but 40 years on these controversies are harder to follow.
"Pedalare! Pedalare!" by John Foot - a history of cycling (as a sport) in Italy. Although I am not particularly interested in cycling, I had read the same author's book "Calcio" on Italian football and liked it enough to get this one too. I actually enjoyed it a lot too, because the cycling tales are told in the context of Italian 20th century history (which interests me a lot) and I learned some things I didn't know. I'd say actual fans of cycling would love the book.
Now reading:
"The Ginger Man" by J.P. Donleavy. I'm just getting into it so far. His style is hard at times, but the insight into Dublin life in the 1940s is very interesting. |
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| Shunyata |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:15 pm |
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Joined: 23 Jul 2009
Posts: 1436
Location: Let's get fucked up
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I quickly reread two quite similarly named, but completely differently thematic short books last night.
All I can say is the world would be a much better place if more people read The Little Prince, and less people acted as if they had read The Prince. |
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| Taranis |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:41 am |
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Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 1899
Location: Inis, An Clár/Cambridge, UK/Heidelberg, Germany
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TemplarOfSteel wrote: Does anyone have any recomendations for books on witchcraft/black magic in Ireland? I know there are plenty of people interested in local/national history on here so hopefully they can help me, a Spanish friend is interested in it. Something slightly more accesible than a thesis/academic text would be preferred as well.
So by accessible you mean not based on any evidence? I say that in jest, but there is a huuuuuuge difference between fact and what goes into the more popular books on this sort of thing. I have some stuff in a folder in my filing cabinet, I'll try and fish it out for you over the next few days. It is on early modern witches in Ireland, did it in my popular culture in pre-industrial Europe course when I was an undergrad. Just be careful though, as most of the rest of the stuff out there is based on someone's overactive imagination or is cynically put together by someone making a fast buck by putting as many buzzwords between two covers as possible. Same goes most popular stuff on Irish or "Celtic" mythology. |
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| TemplarOfSteel |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:07 am |
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Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Posts: 7236
Location: High Above The Rolling Waves, In Labyrinths Of Coral Caves...
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Taranis wrote: So by accessible you mean not based on any evidence? I say that in jest, but there is a huuuuuuge difference between fact and what goes into the more popular books on this sort of thing.
Well English is this person's third language, so a thesis/dissertation is going to be very complex. I know what you mean about diluting science for the masses. WHat is your opinion on 'Guns, Germs and Steel' in this respect? If you have read it of course.
Would really appreciate anything you can dig out, thanks! |
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| Black Shepherd Carnage |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:44 pm |
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Joined: 18 Sep 2011
Posts: 997
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Shunyata wrote: All I can say is the world would be a much better place if more people read The Little Prince, and less people acted as if they had read The Prince.
Rarely a truer word spoken. Was in Germany there a while back and walked past a hotel named and themed after "Der Kleine Prinz" in Baden-baden. Although he wasn't so kleine painted 30ft tall on the side of a building. |
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