Author Topic: Rate the last book you read.  (Read 194267 times)

edgar00

  • 00 Agent
  • Objectively Awesome
  • *
  • Posts: 12131
  • corndogs are better than Die Another Day
    • Between The Seats
Rate the last book you read.
« on: October 27, 2008, 03:47:41 PM »
Well, no need to 'rate' it really. Just share some brief thoughts. What you enjoyed (story, characters, writing style, etc) and what you didn't.

I figured since we have a 'currently reading' thread, why not a thread in which filmspotters could share their impressions and even make some reading suggestions.

I leave the floor open to everyone...
-Le Chiffre: You changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.

-James Bond: A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood.

https://twitter.com/Betweentheseats
http://crabkeyheadquarters.wordpress.com/

worm@work

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 7445
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2008, 04:02:10 PM »
Sadly, I have nothing to rate / review right now. I just wanted to say that I'm so glad you started this thread. I ended up putting a bunch of books on my library queue based on people's Top 20 lists and this is a great way to get even more reading recos.


edgar00

  • 00 Agent
  • Objectively Awesome
  • *
  • Posts: 12131
  • corndogs are better than Die Another Day
    • Between The Seats
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2008, 04:29:15 PM »
The Mission Song, John Le Carré, 2006

Bruno Salvador, or Bruno as his close friends and wife call him, is a half white, half black Congolese/British interpreter. On the night a party honoring his wife's work as a journalist, Bruno is called upon by his superior to work for a special case that will last the weekend. On a unnamed island north of the UK, Bruno becomes the interpreter in a contract negotiation setting between three rival Congolese leaders and an entity known only as 'the syndicate.' The goal? A peace deal for Congo. Or is there an ulterior motive working behind the scenes?...

Le Carré is known as the master of the spy novel. Arguably his best works are his earlier novels which take place during the Cold War. This is his second post 9/11 effort and the enemy this time is greed in the shape of Western capitalism and shady corporations. It's nice to see Le Carré dive into the topic, but I sense that his comfort zone is really within spy organizations and the taught, tense and psychological affairs that take place within them. Here he delivers a good story, but one that has a certain predictability to it. The moment I read that the entity organizing the negotiations was only known as 'the syndicate', I had a pretty good idea to where the tale would take me. And most of my guesses were spot on too.

Not very original, but Le Carré writes terribly well and creates sympathetic characters for the story. Give it a try if you're a fan, but don't expect fireworks.
-Le Chiffre: You changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.

-James Bond: A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood.

https://twitter.com/Betweentheseats
http://crabkeyheadquarters.wordpress.com/

Basil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9513
  • Entrepreneur, spiritualist, healer.
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2008, 04:34:14 PM »
Paradise Lost, John Milton
Pretty interesting when it became material for a debate in which Milton either succeeds or fails in justifying the ways of God to man. The language isn't particularly compelling, though, especially when it promises "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme". Wouldn't have enjoyed this one on my own, but it was fun to discuss.
A$AP Fables

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2008, 04:34:52 PM »
A brief school write-up:

Various D. H. Lawrence shorts.

Ok. Well written but I don't know if I would seek out more by him. Perhaps I should read a novel of his.

C.

A Passage to India - E. M. Forster.

Not a fan. I liked the older woman, but that's about it.

D.

The End of the Affair - Graham Greene.

Good, but too angry and hateful. I get it, you hate everybody. At least be clever about it like House.

B.

The Girls of Slender Means - Muriel Spark.

A fun one, for the most part. I really liked her style and the crazy-omniscient narrator was fun.

A-.

Orlando - Virginia Woolf.

A lot of fun and time travel (kinda)?!? Sign me up. Immediately vaulted into my top 20.

A.

Macbeth - Billy S.

Effective and entertaining. Decapitations galore!

A.

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad.

Watch Apocalypse Now instead. Not worth reading the first time, definitely not worth reading the second.

D-.

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James.

Scary, but overly wordy. Whether the ghosts were real or not is an interesting question to ponder.

C+.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

Basil

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9513
  • Entrepreneur, spiritualist, healer.
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2008, 04:37:11 PM »
The Turn of the Screw - Henry James.

Scary, but overly wordy. Whether the ghosts were real or not is an interesting question to ponder.

C+.


Wrong. Greatness.
A$AP Fables

Sam the Cinema Snob

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26795
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2008, 04:52:50 PM »
I was thinking about making such a thread but I haven't read through a book in a while...

Tequila

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 11143
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2008, 05:10:20 PM »
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Sillitoe)
The first two chapters are very strong, after that it wanders off into entertaining so-so-land. There's obviously not much of a plot and the ending feels forced (so wait, this whole thing goes on for three years?) but as episodic working class stories come, this one is pretty good. It's kinda mysoginistic though
'What am I doing? I'm quietly judging you'
http://letterboxd.com/Tagave/

jbissell

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10915
  • What's up, hot dog?
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2008, 07:14:29 PM »
The Road Cormac McCarthy 5/5

I guess Oprah knows what she's talking about sometimes.  Won't get too much into plot but it's a simple story about a father and son that really hits you in the gut by the end.  I imagine this book will hit home for parents; I don't have kids but I certainly developed an emotional attachment to the characters.  I'm really interested to see how the movie turns out.

FLYmeatwad

  • An Acronym
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28785
  • I am trying to impress myself. I have yet to do it
    • Processed Grass
Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2008, 04:14:08 PM »
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad.

Watch Apocalypse Now instead. Not worth reading the first time, definitely not worth reading the second.

D-.

Damn straight. I can't stand that novel.

The Road Cormac McCarthy 5/5

I guess Oprah knows what she's talking about sometimes.  Won't get too much into plot but it's a simple story about a father and son that really hits you in the gut by the end.  I imagine this book will hit home for parents; I don't have kids but I certainly developed an emotional attachment to the characters.  I'm really interested to see how the movie turns out.

I don't know whether to wait for before or after the film to read this. I haven't gotten to No Country yet, so I'll probably see the film first.

 

love