Reading not writing 2008 #1
When I realised I was going to be off work for a while, I fully intended to make a huge dent into Mt TBR. Sadly, while recuperating from the lurgie I got side tracked onto some old computer games. However, I have still managed to read a number of books that had been languishing in the pile for far too long.
1. PS, I scored the bridesmaids by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. Irish spoof of a south Dublin wanker. I am not familiar enough yet with the territory to get a fraction of the jokes, but it was very good, and the real author, journalist Paul Howard, clearly knows his stuff. Sort of Bridget Jones meets the Irish rugby union.
2. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Glad I read it - Dawkins is of course overly dogmatic, but then he is prosletysing.
3. Collapse by Jared Diamond. Extremely long (and with teeny-tiny print) book examining reasons why a number of previous societies such as that on Easter Island, and the Greenland vikings died out. It was a fascinating and surprisingly quick read, but I do think Diamond is a bit too optimistic about our chances.
4. Alibi by Joseph Kanon. Elegant thriller set in the aftermath of WW2 in Venice.
5. A literature of their own by Elaine Showalter. Classic study of female novelists from the 1840s-1960s. Pity it concentrated on litrachoor to the exclusion of most female authors. I would have welcomed at least some nod in the direction of popular fiction.
1. PS, I scored the bridesmaids by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. Irish spoof of a south Dublin wanker. I am not familiar enough yet with the territory to get a fraction of the jokes, but it was very good, and the real author, journalist Paul Howard, clearly knows his stuff. Sort of Bridget Jones meets the Irish rugby union.
2. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Glad I read it - Dawkins is of course overly dogmatic, but then he is prosletysing.
3. Collapse by Jared Diamond. Extremely long (and with teeny-tiny print) book examining reasons why a number of previous societies such as that on Easter Island, and the Greenland vikings died out. It was a fascinating and surprisingly quick read, but I do think Diamond is a bit too optimistic about our chances.
4. Alibi by Joseph Kanon. Elegant thriller set in the aftermath of WW2 in Venice.
5. A literature of their own by Elaine Showalter. Classic study of female novelists from the 1840s-1960s. Pity it concentrated on litrachoor to the exclusion of most female authors. I would have welcomed at least some nod in the direction of popular fiction.