Totally agree with you Fran (why am I contributing to this thread on a footie forum I don't know). Even with films like Slumdog Millionaire which got rave reviews, the book was much better.
Very true. My son is seven and I am pleased to say he loves reading, as do I. Stephen King is my favourite author and Under The Dome my favourite book of his. I love biographies and enjoy reading children's stories too having read plenty over the past few years. Currently working my way through Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
I enjoy TV and films, but none compare to a good book. More depth and makes you think instead of spoon feeding you.
I have all of Connolly's. The Lincoln Lawyer series is good too. He is related to his detective character, Bosch and they both appear in some books. The Lincoln Lawyer is one of the few films that I actually think did a good version of the book.
Ahh, a Hesse fan. I also read a lot of Hesse when younger, and likewise, it was a tool for youthful development. Loved the smaller novels like The Prodigy and Peter Camizand. I'm saving the Glass Bead Game! I'm guessing some of you may of read the excellent one flew over the cuckoos nest by Ken Casey, well do try Sometimes a Great Notion by the same author, excellent, but don't give up on the first 70 pages, thats all I'll say on that. Cormac McCarthy is dark, but rewarding. A recent novel by him was the Sunset Limited, a dialogue between a man with faith and an atheist, reads like a play, and can be devoured in one sitting! Also, I recommend the border trilogy by McCarthy (there is a smattering of spanish here and there) quite epic, sometimes hard going. And last but not least, Blood Meridian, about the scalp hunters on (again) the Mexico/US border. Be warned, this is dark. Others...... Life Of Pi I really enjoyed, Birdsong, lots basically. Looking forward to reading to my son, there, I've said it, I've just become a proud dad!
I read what is essentially the Chinese equivalent of War and Peace: Romance of the Three Kingdoms (set during a period of civil war around 200 AD). It's about the same length I think but quite confusing at times and there's literally hundreds of characters, but it was quite good.
The Road was fantastic, but yes dark. My friend like you found it very poignant, as his son was about the same age as yours. Don't think Cormac does cheery!
My favourite book is Pride & Prejudice. War & Peace is also excellent. Not sure if it counts as a book, but I have also always loved the Merchant of Venice. Also not sure whether they count but Hobbes' Leviathan and Locke's Second Treatise both have some interesting ideas and some wonderful bits of writing. For lighter relief I enjoy Wilbur Smith (non-PC I know, but what do you expect from an 80 year old white African). Some of his books are incredibly formulaic, most of his characters are clones of each other and he cannot write a sex scene to save his life, but they all rattle along at 100 mph, describe locations pretty well and are availiable for a penny off Amazon. I think his best are 'Shout at The Devil', 'The Sunbird' and 'River God'.
I used to read Wilbur Smith. Not good for self esteem as his heroes and heroines are always magnificent specimens (bit of a clue that I'm not).
Not true, in The Sunbird the main protagonist is a hunchback. Although I agree that physical attractiveness is usually the best way of telling whether a character is good guy or a bad guy in Smith's books (the other brilliant thing is that every character seems to very neatly fit into being good or bad).
As are a fair few of the books from that era. The reader might have to overcome the accepted manners and practices of the period, but there's no doubt that, along with H Rider Haggard novels, one could include, for examples, Erskine Childers - The Riddle of the Sands, and the Richard Hannay books [The Thirty-Nine Steps/Greenmantle/Mr. Standfast/The Three Hostages/The Island of Sheep] by John Buchan. Not my particular favourite reads, but all absolute page turners. I'm currently reading The Colditz Story by Patrick Reid. Of course, that one definitely isn't fiction.
Of course. It kind of goes without saying. I loved it when I first read it in the late 1970's. It's too short..!
Controversial view here, but I think that the films have made LOTR a better book than it originally was.
Only because it had the most strung out ending ever. I actually think it's the best apart from that. The second film is the worst because it's basically people walking.
