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Off Topic Art & Literature

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by Beddy, Nov 26, 2019.

  1. Mostlymadeofwater

    Mostlymadeofwater Well-Known Member

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    Does it have to be fiction in here? I've just finished the last of Brian Greene's books (Until the end of time) and had a lovely time geeking out.
     
    #821
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  2. San Tejón

    San Tejón Well-Known Member

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    I’ve read all of them and not only are they good books, they are hilarious.
    I hope you listen with earphones as the language can be quite ripe especially when Bob Hoon is involved.
    There’s a website which generates Bob Hoon insults, which aren’t for the faint hearted.
    https://jdkirk.com/the-bob-hoon-insult-generator/
     
    #822
  3. Beddy

    Beddy Plays the percentage

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    No, I’ve read listened to plenty of non fiction and others have reported their finds. Ok I listen…….
     
    #823
  4. Beddy

    Beddy Plays the percentage

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    yes I do listen with ear phones.
     
    #824
  5. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

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    I might give him a try if you can recommend a few titles? But my maths is non existent, so if there's loads of equations I'll be in trouble.

    I would highly recommend Carlo Rovelli's The Order of Time, and Helgoland. Also Michael Brooks' The Quantum Astronomer's Handbook.
     
    #825
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  6. Mostlymadeofwater

    Mostlymadeofwater Well-Known Member

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    The last one I will definitely try. I'm trying to learn quantum mechanics. In terms of Brian Greene, they are all good, but all have long tangents! Probably start with fabric of the cosmos and then try until the end of time. The latter is a lot about entropy, but that's no bad thing. If you like science books, human universe (Brian Cox) is wonderful.
     
    #826
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  7. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

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    Suspect it falls into the art side, not sure, but in other news, I went (reluctantly because I thought it would be...okay) to Cabaret last night at the KitKat Club/Playhouse Theatre near Embankment. It was utterly stunning. Just brilliant, and so powerful (and a LOT darker than I thought - I've never seen the film).
     
    #827
  8. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

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    Reading Seutonious' "The Twelve Caesars" which is quite fascinating.
     
    #828
  9. StJabbo1

    StJabbo1 Well-Known Member

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    It's worth watching as is the book Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood is worth reading.
     
    #829
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  10. saintrichie123

    saintrichie123 Well-Known Member

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  11. ChilcoSaint

    ChilcoSaint What a disgrace
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    A great thread about an artistic giant
     
    #831
  12. It's Only A Game

    It's Only A Game Well-Known Member

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    I'm no art critic but the painting of those two by the hayrick (bottom right) looks like it may have to be exhibited in the adult section.
     
    #832
  13. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

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    Having visited Manila back in February, I was keen to read "Rampage" by James M Scott.. This book chronicles the "liberation " of Manila by the Amerians in 1945 but it largely told from the perspective of the residents of Manila, both Filipino and foriegn. I do not usually read WWII history books as they are too modern for my tastes but this book answered the questions I had about why there were so few older buildings in Manila and helps explain why it is such a vaste, urban mess.

    I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone questioning why two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. The barbarity of the Japanese was far in excess of Islamic State. They torched the city and planted mines across Manila to hold up the Americans and then wehn out systematically murdering the ihabitants in Manila for fun. Loads of people were beheaded, women had their breasts sliced off by bayonets and the men had their penises chopped off and put in their mouths. Babies were bayoneted and whole families were exterminated so that the civilians could not assist the resistance. In the end, the 17k Japanese force was wiped out with American fatalities being a little over a thousand. By comparison, around 100,000 Filipinos were killed by either the Japanese or by American shelling. It was a truly shocking battle and the author suggests it should be considered with Stalingrad.

    The book is written by an American and it is very difficult not to compare his assessment of American military operations in the light of their subsequent performance in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Manila, the Americans destroyed a city that they could have by-passed. The Japanese, by contrast, behaved like animals and it is really surprising that they have been reinhabited back in to civilised society. Given the reaction to Nazi Germany, I think Japan's legacy has never been taken that seriously but this book has made me aware that the extent of their war crimes was probably even more savage given their total disregard for all other forms of society who they held to be inferior. General MacArthur was always seen as a great general yet this book portrays him as ignorant of what was happening on the ground and very much a narcisstist. He was a complete idiot and his actions cost the lives of many Filpinos. Basically, the Americans cleared the Japanese out nomatter the cost to the people of Manila - a city flattened by the behaviour of two imperialist powers.
     
    #833
  14. The Ides of March

    The Ides of March Well-Known Member

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    The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

    If there is anyone on this board who is having any personal difficulties, then I would recommend reading this book as it deals with a couple who decided to walk the 630 miles South West Coastal Path after losing everything – house, their business and money due to a business deal going wrong. Added to that, the author’s husband was then diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration just days after losing everything they had. Rather than sit down, they decided to walk this route. It was tough as they had little money, the husband’s health issues and faced all the elements that the weather gods could throw at them.

    Over the course of their journey, a future unfolded for them. I imagine that doing this walk enabled them to come to terms with their loss as well as shaping their personalities to face future situations.

    For those who know this walk or parts of it, her knowledge of places such as Chesil Beach, Lulworh, and Weymouth is quite comprehensive. She paints a vivid and kaleidoscopic lpicture of the changeable weather, landscapes, flora and fauna in this part of the world.

    And if anyone is doing this walk this summer, read this book first.
     
    #834
  15. ChilcoSaint

    ChilcoSaint What a disgrace
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    Any fans of police procedural thrillers looking for a holiday read needn’t look any further than the Max Craigie series by Neil Lancaster. No less a critic than Ian Rankin described the first book Dead Man’s Grave as “..Jack Reacher fronting Line of Duty”.

    I hoovered up the first two in no time at all and I’m just about to start the third. Absolute page-turners, brilliantly written and plotted, and highly recommended.
     
    #835
  16. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

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    Sounds right up my street, though as you know, I’ve kind of had my fill of police procedures right now!
     
    #836
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  17. ChilcoSaint

    ChilcoSaint What a disgrace
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    <laugh> Gangsters, bent cops, and a backdrop of Scottish scenery, just the thing to make you forget your own personal relationship with the Plod!
     
    #837
  18. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

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    Wondered if anyone else had enjoyed Kate Atkinson's "Shrines of gaiety?" I am a massive fan of her books but the latest is really enjoyable and is about the criminal underworld in London in the 1920s. For my money, she is probably the UK's sharpest writer. The books are pretty witty yet the subject matter is often dark. (In this case the exploitation of young girls by both men and women.)
     
    #838
  19. Le Tissier's Laces

    Le Tissier's Laces Well-Known Member

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    I’ve not read her books before but will definitely give one a go. Thanks.
     
    #839
  20. Ian Thumwood

    Ian Thumwood Well-Known Member

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    kate Aktinson writes crime novels featuring a detective called Jackson Brodie but I think her stand alone books are much better. "Life after life", "A god in ruins" and "Scenes from the museum" are all brilliant. They are excellent stories that I would be describe as being like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle tha are not necessarily written in chronological order bit when you get to the end, the picture on the box is totally different from what you anticipated. "A god in ruins" is about an old man who is exploited by her daughter but you discover midway through that he was a war hero and ha flown Halifax bombers during the war. The latest book is essentially about two girls who hae gone missing in London after travelling down to London to work as actresses. Her books maintain an odd balance of sharp dialogue, dark humour and well constructed plots. I am about 80% through this book at the moment and it has become impossible to put down. A
     
    #840

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