Off Topic Chazz's Book Club

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First up, I am not a book reader, I give up if I am not drawn in quickly.

Second up, we have a wonderful Bedlington Terrier who is absolutely terrified of Fireworks and becomes uncontrollable when they are going off anywhere within a three mile radius. (No reaction at to gun shot though)

Third up, as a result we have booked a VERY ISOLATED holiday cottage in the Lake District, 10 miles up a single track road miles from anywhere. This is for two weeks so we are away for Halloween, Bonfire Night, and the weekends either side.

Fourth up, we need to make our own entertainment for two weeks so I am thinking a book may come in handy.

Fith up, I get frustrated with most books I've tried. I cannot get away from " this is just a story and it couldn't possibly happen like that"

Sixth up, The last book I read and really enjoyed was Shantaram, I think because it was based on fact and actual experiences.

Based on all of that, any recommendations for a good read combining fact and fiction that would draw me in quite quickly would be appreciated.

My wife will be eternally grateful.
Maybe try an autobiography?

It’ll help the believeability presumably.

Depends who/what you’re interested in though
 
Maybe try an autobiography?

It’ll help the believeability presumably.

Depends who/what you’re interested in though

A couple of mostly highly amusing books worth reading imo...

Not an autobiography, but Melvyn Bragg did wonders with Richard Burton's notebooks...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444789163/?tag=not606-21

plus...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0712657681/?tag=not606-21


Also, a few bad boys in the following...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1848090188/?tag=not606-21
 
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Chickenhawk - Robert Mason. Helicopter pilot during Vietnam war. Nothing gung ho, ace of the base stuff. A story of how it was for him.

I'd second Chicken hawk and also recommend Apache by Ed Macy. It's about the use of Apache helicopters in Afghanistan from the perspective of the pilots and it recounts the story of the famous Apache rescue mission of a wounded infantryman that has recently been covered on a TV show
 
Best autobiography I've read for a while was O Brother by John Niven.
If I was holed up in a country cottage in autumn I'd recommend a Kevin Barry novel, The Heart in Winter or Night Boat to Tangiers.
 
While I haven't read a book in a number of years due to lack of spare time/different priorities with available time, I've taken to listening to audiobooks while out of the house. Walking the dogs, exercise, that sort of thing.

Recently, following enjoying 3 seasons of Foundation on tv, I downloaded the audiobooks for the Asimov Foundation trilogy with the ongoing plan to read the whole related series in published order.

Very much enjoying book one, but it is totally unrecognisable to the tv series. I knew they'd used a little artistic license, but its a complete re-write.

This isn't a bad thing, reading the books second though as it's all new with just enough recognisable to make the concepts easier to latch onto quickly.
 
Cheers for this, hadn’t heard about these short stories but will check them out now.
Read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ about 50 years or more ago and it’s still one of my favourite books, so much so that our black lab girl is called Scout.
Also read ‘Go Set a Watchman’ when it came out, which I did enjoy but not to the same degree.
"black lab girl" is that ok in the work place these days? :emoticon-0145-shake
 
Just finished a biography about a famous artist (painting and etching) who was embarrassed when his mother bought a second class ticket from Hull to Preston (Lancs). Can anyone guess the artist?
 
Currently reading Ernest Hemmingways first and much acclaimed ( by some) novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
'One of the greatest novels our troubled age will produce'- The Observer.
'The best book Hemmingway has written'-New York Times.
Briefly, its about an American, Robert Johnson, who joins the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War to fight the Facists. He has been sent to blow up an important bridge which could tilt the war the Republicans way. I'm onto page 370 and he still hasn't blown the ****er up.
I must be missing something but I'm finding it hard work. The Spanish guerrilla band he has joined all speak as though they come from Sheffield with 'thee that and thar the other' in every sentence. Surely an oversight on Hemmingways part? I've heard he liked a drink? I'm beginning to think he'd had a few when he wrote parts of this.
Not impressed so not recommended.
I rarely look at this thread so apologies for not responding sooner. Like French, Spanish has two words for 'you', one for formal and one for informal use. The closest I can think of in English would be the excessively formal 'Would Sir like to see the wine list?' 'May I take Madam's coat?' I believe that Hemingway was fluent in Spanish and is attempting to reproduce in English the Spanish informal 'tu' rather than the formal 'usted'. I doubt that he thought that all Spanish republicans came from Sheffield. More Barcelona than Barnsley, I think.
I hope this helps, that you were able to finish the book and that you enjoyed one of the finest war novels ever written. I can also recommend the film which is faithful to the novel, except that the Swedish Ingrid Bergman is hopelessly miscast as Johnson's (Gary Cooper's?) Spanish love interest.