Gracii Guns Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Disaster Was My God by Bruce Duffy.This guy is a very skilled, but I was reading a paragraph yesterday and only realised it was describing an incestuous rape scene at the end of the paragraph, because he takes so long building the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyTron Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Disaster Was My God by Bruce Duffy.This guy is a very skilled, but I was reading a paragraph yesterday and only realised it was describing an incestuous rape scene at the end of the paragraph, because he takes so long building the picture.Literary foreplay, Gracii; you don't just dive in, dear! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just started Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent. Jesus, small town America sounds fuckin' shite. Bryson sounds completely bored and disgusted with the place. No wonder he moved to England. Just started that one myself.Have I ever told you how much you remind me of Bryson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Just started Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent. Jesus, small town America sounds fuckin' shite. Bryson sounds completely bored and disgusted with the place. No wonder he moved to England. Just started that one myself.Have I ever told you how much you remind me of Bryson?I agree with him a lot on modern architecture and the modern shopping experience which has seen supermarkets and shopping centres replace ''the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker'' - what Americans call ''mom and pop' stores. This has happened on both sides of the Atlantic, and Americans are losing their diners just as the British are losing their traditional pubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Finally started Perfidia by Ellroy. Bringing back the LA guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerage5 Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Reading Scott Weiland's autobiography right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyTron Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I am reading Watchfiends And Rack Screams by Antonin Artaud.It contains the most Lenny like quote imaginable "All writing is pigshit". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicrawker Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Led Zeppelin When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth by Mick Wall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Just started Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent. Jesus, small town America sounds fuckin' shite. Bryson sounds completely bored and disgusted with the place. No wonder he moved to England. Just started that one myself.Finished it. It was the least funny Bill Bryson book I have read. The reading experience was similar to what Bryson experienced on his trip through USA: long stretches of semi-boredom broken up by occasional excitement. At times it was very funny, but those times wre just too rare, at least much rarer than what I would expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 (edited) Just started Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent. Jesus, small town America sounds fuckin' shite. Bryson sounds completely bored and disgusted with the place. No wonder he moved to England. Just started that one myself.Finished it. It was the least funny Bill Bryson book I have read. The reading experience was similar to what Bryson experienced on his trip through USA: long stretches of semi-boredom broken up by occasional excitement. At times it was very funny, but those times wre just too rare, at least much rarer than what I would expect.It is probably my least favourite also, however it is all a reflection of Bill's opinion on modern (as it was then) America. There is a monotony there because America is (now) monotonous. The diners, mom n' pop stores and two-lane highways, the things one wants from America, are all now fossils. Whenever he enters a new place it is this same thing. It seems Americans have abandoned their small towns in favour of (using the American vernacular) shopping malls and these precinct type areas which consist of the obligatory Macdonaldses, Taco Bells and gas stations arranged around thoroughly de-pedestrianized parking lots. How can one gather up the enthusiasm for another area like this? Bryson must have entered hundreds of them. Can you recall the passage in which he describes entering an American town (cannot remember the name) and all it consisted of was a Macdonalds, Taco Bell, gas station, and shopping mall. You enter the burbs, arriving at those aforementioned buildings only to reenter the burbs, and drive out again. There is no discernible main st, no civic edifices, parks or areas of historic and natural interest!Have you read Notes from A Big Country (US title, I'm a Stranger Here Myself). It is a series of letters for a Sunday Mail column which he wrote when he moved back to America with his family. He struggles - really struggles - to say anything good about the place. He describes the American antipathy for walking: one man drives up to a store; gets out and does his shopping; gets back into his car; drives to the store next door - repeat. His neighbours used to look at Bryson as if he was crazy when he was walking into town: ''hey Bill, want a lift''; ''no thanks, I'm getting some air and exercise''. This is apparently a common sight in America!He also writes the best analyse on the differences between American and British sense of humour.Bryson hates Vegas, doesn't he haha? Probably for the exact same reasons why I have never fancied visiting the place. Edited January 28, 2016 by DieselDaisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Have you read Notes from A Big Country (US title, I'm a Stranger Here Myself).Not yet, just started A Walk in the Woods (or whatever it's called). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Have you read Notes from A Big Country (US title, I'm a Stranger Here Myself).Not yet, just started A Walk in the Woods (or whatever it's called).Yes, his journey through the Appalachians. That has been turned into a feature film, which I have not seen yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Have you read Notes from A Big Country (US title, I'm a Stranger Here Myself).Not yet, just started A Walk in the Woods (or whatever it's called).Yes, his journey through the Appalachians. That has been turned into a feature film, which I have not seen yet. I was tempted to watch it while crossing the Atlantic the last time, but opted for Fargo season 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I've heard iffy reviews of it. He did the Appalachians walk with his old chum he travelled through Europe with in the '70s, much of which is related in Neither Here Nor There. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Reading Scott Weiland's autobiography right now.He dies at the end. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandallFlagg Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Reading The Spire by Golding again, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde, some world war 2 poetry collections, King's new short story collection and The Damnation Game by Clive Barker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMonster Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Finished Bryson's A Walk in the Woods which was decent. Better than The Lost Continent, or whatever the last one was called. They finally got Little Dribbling at the bookstore at Schiphol and I read a few chapters on the last flight. Very funny! Again! Looking forward to a relaxing evening with beer and Bryson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Finished Bryson's A Walk in the Woods which was decent. Better than The Lost Continent, or whatever the last one was called. They finally got Little Dribbling at the bookstore at Schiphol and I read a few chapters on the last flight. Very funny! Again! Looking forward to a relaxing evening with beer and Bryson.The main difference between then and now: the British are obsessed with coffee shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Reading a great deal of Pinter and Beckett recently, both of whom i adore greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyTron Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Reading a great deal of Pinter and Beckett recently, both of whom i adore greatly.I bet you read them whilst in the smallest room in the house, Len. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Reading a great deal of Pinter and Beckett recently, both of whom i adore greatly. I bet you read them whilst in the smallest room in the house, Len.After a massive skunk paranoia flex, going 'who is, whoose there?' every time i hear something move outside Len: Whats it like out Pappy?Pappy: Taut...firm...milkmans come and gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Just read a book about the Great White concert fire. Fascinating account about what led up to and causes the fire, what happened during the fire, and what the aftermath and during the lawsuit . The long and short of it was oneam who was a neighbor to the nightclub calling the new owners and complaining about the noise from live bands. The scumbag brother owners then chose a cheap noise reduction product to line the walls with.....failing to notice the product was extremely combustible. Everybody involved was basically a bit corrupt. From the owners to the city inspectors to jack Russell. To the security guard who wouldn't let fans leave out the 'band door' which causes numerous people to die. Right after the fire the owners moved all their assets out of the nightclub group and into their other companies, so when the lawsuit happened they could show they were broke and couldn't pay the victims. Sick sick people. The other fascinating part was to read how lawsuits work. You think of the obvious people to sue - the band and the night club. But also the company that made the noise reducing material, Budwiser for sponsoring the show, the radio station that supplied a DJ for the event, the city inspector, the list is about 50 companies deep. Basically anybody affiliated at all with the club - because they chose to do business with an unsafe company, so they are responsible for damage that happened within the club. It was also interesting to see how to divide up the lawsuit money. They had to come up with a point system that every victim and their family agreed with. Who should get more? A 22-year old girl killed in the fire who had her entire life ahead of her or a 35-year old father who had two kids to support or a 40-year old who lost an eye, one hand, spent a year in recovery at the hospital and is physically deformed for life with half her face burned off. How do you decide who gets what amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDeeds Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 On 1/28/2016 at 9:04 AM, SoulMonster said: Just started Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent. Jesus, small town America sounds fuckin' shite. Bryson sounds completely bored and disgusted with the place. No wonder he moved to England. Just started that one myself. Finished it. It was the least funny Bill Bryson book I have read. The reading experience was similar to what Bryson experienced on his trip through USA: long stretches of semi-boredom broken up by occasional excitement. At times it was very funny, but those times wre just too rare, at least much rarer than what I would expect. Hmm, that's the book that got me into Bryson, and save for "A Walk in the Woods," every Bryson book I've read since has left me slightly disappointed I didn't laugh more. I do highly recommend "At Home," though. Extremely fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDeeds Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 16 minutes ago, Apollo said: To the security guard who wouldn't let fans leave out the 'band door' which causes numerous people to die. Out of all the very twisted and sick things you described, this is the one that I find most disgusting. What a stupid and heartless individual. Did he manage to survive by going out the "band door?" I suspect he did. It also makes me wonder how the crowd even let him get away with that. You would think the numbers of people trying to escape would overpower him or someone would just go and kick this Huell in the nuts or whatever. It's scary to think that even when facing death, that your average person will yield to an "authority" so low as a security guard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDeeds Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 And anyway, I'm reading "Falling to Earth," by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden. My girlfriend and I met him the other day and got the book signed. Haven't gotten too far into it yet, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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