Off Topic What Books Are You Reading?

Slaughterhouse 5?

It's about the fire bombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut witnessed as a POW in Germany. But it's also a sci-fi comedy, with a central character who gets kidnapped by aliens.

If that sounds a bit weird, it ****ing is

 

Anyone read Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace? Found it a hard read and left it about half way through.

 

The first bit sounds interesting, the second sounds utter ****.

 

It’s ****ing weird. I assume he was on LSD when he wrote it.

 

He's not Andy McNab, that's for sure. He had one hell of an imagination - which quite possibly was inspired by acid.

In interviews he said that the only way he could write about his wartime experiences, was by coming at it from an off-field angle. He was 19 years old, a POW, and forced to spend weeks digging the charred bodies of civilians out of cellars and bomb shelters beneath the rubble of a completely flattened city.

When he got back from the war, no one wanted to hear **** like that, thank you very much. So he carried it all around inside his head for decades.

In the end he had to get it out somehow. He's a story teller, but how the hell do you make a story out of something like that? Hence the sci-fi angle. And it's funny too. How do you find the humour in that situation, and still do justice to the horror of it? He found a way.

It's one of the strangest, and one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read.

 

Cheers Archers, I've not read it but based on this post I'll pick up a copy.

 

I read the last executioner story about geezer who killed the Thai's, it was interesting.

I'd still like to read Pierrpoints view, the the last english executioner.

 

You seen the movie "Pierrepoint", with Timothy Spall? Very good, I thought

 

No. i've never heard off it.

Didn't his son take take over?


I'm just a northern monkey remember.

 

I think he was the last hangman? Not sure though.

 

I knew that, i'm not as dense as i make out. I could read his book.

 

One for Les

 

I've more or less finished Form Kieren Fallon's autobiography. Very good read - he's a lot more open than I thought he would be

 

Might give that a go. I usually find sports autobiographies pretty boring, but Fallon is an interesting character (for a jockey anyway).

 

Yeah sports books are usually pretty hit and miss. I liked Graham Taylor's (obviously) and some of the old cricket ones are good because they really were characters. The Fallon one is definitely worth a read.

 

Frank Worthington's was pretty entertaining

And Mick Channon's - yeah, I'm biased, but loved reading about the "ale-house brawlers".

Mick Channon Jr wrote a book too - "Hows Your Dad?" - which genuinely was an excellent read.

 

I like a good Sports Bio

Best one I've read is Roy Keane's...enjoyed Joey Bartons too. My Car/work read is currently Poch's new book.

 

Poch has a book? I won't be reading that

Might try Joey Barton's though.

 

Called 'How I've won **** all'.

 

You read whilst driving the car ?