Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2014
- Messages
- 21,653
I've been to Lanark but didn't see her.
Reading Challenge 2021
- Thread starter I'm With Stupid
- Start date
discopop
Well-Known Member
Going to have a pop at that, thanks for the heads up.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
1. The Stand - Stephen King - 10/10
2. Red Snow - Will Dean - 7/10
3. The Seventh Perfection – Daniel Polansky - 6/10
4. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig - 6/10
5. Crowfall - Ed McDonald - 7/10
6. Force of Nature - Jane Harper - 8/10
7. The Wolf's Call: Book One of Raven's Blade - 7/10
8. The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman - 6/10
9. Tornado Down - John Peters and John Nichol - 9/10
10. The Black Song: Book Two of Raven's Blade - 6/10
11. Later - Stephen King - 8/10
12. Easily Distracted - Steve Coogan - 9/10
13. Accordion Crimes - Annie Proulx - 4/10
I remember pulling this book down from a shelf in Manchester in the late 90s, thinking that it seemed an interesting idea for a book. I never read it then, but its title has always stuck with me, so I decided now was the time to finally buy it. This is effectively nine short stories linked by the fact that at some point, somebody in each story owns the same little green button accordion. The first story starts with a Sicilian who makes the instrument and travels with his son to America to seek his fortune. All the stories feature a different set of immigrants – German, Polish, Mexican, Acadian – and none of them have a good time. Racism is rampant in the book and there are many horrible deaths and maimings. This woman can obviously write – she is a Pulitzer Prize winner – but this was a tough read, and not just because of its grisly nature. The idea for the story was great, but she spends so long waffling on about insignificant little incidents that a few times I actually lost track of what character she was talking about. Often there will be twenty pages of exposition only for the character in question to die or be dropped before the narrative (if that’s what you can call it) moves on to somebody completely different. I even felt cheated by the accordion in a few cases because although the “handover” was explained on most occasions, a couple of times I was left wondering how the people in this story picked it up. Whilst I can recognise some of the writing as clever, some of it felt clunky – e.g. a sentence that went on for half a page. I’m sure this was intentional, but it didn’t do the book any favours. Quite simply the most frustrating and exhausting book I’ve read for years, and it’s a relief to finish it so I can move onto something new.
2. Red Snow - Will Dean - 7/10
3. The Seventh Perfection – Daniel Polansky - 6/10
4. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig - 6/10
5. Crowfall - Ed McDonald - 7/10
6. Force of Nature - Jane Harper - 8/10
7. The Wolf's Call: Book One of Raven's Blade - 7/10
8. The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman - 6/10
9. Tornado Down - John Peters and John Nichol - 9/10
10. The Black Song: Book Two of Raven's Blade - 6/10
11. Later - Stephen King - 8/10
12. Easily Distracted - Steve Coogan - 9/10
13. Accordion Crimes - Annie Proulx - 4/10
I remember pulling this book down from a shelf in Manchester in the late 90s, thinking that it seemed an interesting idea for a book. I never read it then, but its title has always stuck with me, so I decided now was the time to finally buy it. This is effectively nine short stories linked by the fact that at some point, somebody in each story owns the same little green button accordion. The first story starts with a Sicilian who makes the instrument and travels with his son to America to seek his fortune. All the stories feature a different set of immigrants – German, Polish, Mexican, Acadian – and none of them have a good time. Racism is rampant in the book and there are many horrible deaths and maimings. This woman can obviously write – she is a Pulitzer Prize winner – but this was a tough read, and not just because of its grisly nature. The idea for the story was great, but she spends so long waffling on about insignificant little incidents that a few times I actually lost track of what character she was talking about. Often there will be twenty pages of exposition only for the character in question to die or be dropped before the narrative (if that’s what you can call it) moves on to somebody completely different. I even felt cheated by the accordion in a few cases because although the “handover” was explained on most occasions, a couple of times I was left wondering how the people in this story picked it up. Whilst I can recognise some of the writing as clever, some of it felt clunky – e.g. a sentence that went on for half a page. I’m sure this was intentional, but it didn’t do the book any favours. Quite simply the most frustrating and exhausting book I’ve read for years, and it’s a relief to finish it so I can move onto something new.
JRockBlues
Well-Known Member
As I suspected I didn't stick to my plan laid out in my last post in this thread and continued on a Dresden Files kick straight through the first 7 books in Jim Butcher's urban fantasy series about a Wizard having to deal with various supernatural entites in modern day Chicago. I then thought it was time for a break so opted for the closing instalment of a historical fantasy series with The Dragon Arcana by Pierre Pevel. Set mostly in Paris where Cardinal Richelieu has set up an elite squad to deal with the threat of dragons. And have finished off Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen which is a psychological thriller which blends two tales of people affected by betrayal. A woman finds out her husband has been having an affair with an asistant at their child's daycare and a young man who was complicit in his father's infidelities by keeping it secret from his mother. Their lives are about to intersect and it's not going to end well.
Rascal
El Presidente
Working Class hero's (the story of Rayo Vallecano) 10//10 brilliant football book about a small team from Madrid
Statesmanship - A collection of the best articles in the New Statesman - 10/10 for the Orwell article alone
The secret Barrister - 7/10 eye opening critique of the legal system
Why Orwell matters - 7/10 Hitchens pomposity , eminently readable
Currently reading
The assault on truth- Peter Oborne - coruscating look at the lying PM
The Myth of the Blitz - How the Blitz spirit was mythologised.
On the shelf
Rule Britannia - Danny Dorling
The conquest of Bread - Pytor Krotopkin
The Origins of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt
A history of Iran - Michael Axeworthy
The Beano 1993
Statesmanship - A collection of the best articles in the New Statesman - 10/10 for the Orwell article alone
The secret Barrister - 7/10 eye opening critique of the legal system
Why Orwell matters - 7/10 Hitchens pomposity , eminently readable
Currently reading
The assault on truth- Peter Oborne - coruscating look at the lying PM
The Myth of the Blitz - How the Blitz spirit was mythologised.
On the shelf
Rule Britannia - Danny Dorling
The conquest of Bread - Pytor Krotopkin
The Origins of Totalitarianism - Hannah Arendt
A history of Iran - Michael Axeworthy
The Beano 1993
Out on blue 6
Well-Known Member
BlueMoonday
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 26 Jul 2021
- Messages
- 3,572
- Team supported
- Manchester City Football Club
Currently beasting through Max Hasting's "Vietnam".
Such a colossal waste of life for the Vietnamese, French and Americans.
Such a colossal waste of life for the Vietnamese, French and Americans.