The Daily Roxette discussions forum has been closed. The forum is only available as a read-only archive.
What's The Last Good Book You Read?
28 replies
Oldag75 said on November 5, 2004 12:56:
What is the last good book you read? Tell us about it.
In this election season, six candidates ran for mayor of my city. At a neighborhood town hall meeting wherein they stood on a stage and accepted questions from the audience, I asked, “What is the last book you read?”
The results were comical. It was obvious these people don’t truly read. The first two stammered around about the values of literacy, and the third nearly whispered, “Count of Monte Cristo,” apparently remembering a required-reading assignment from school long ago. By the time they’d finished, the last three had enjoyed the opportunity to develop political answers... one hollered, “I am the only person on this stage who has read our city’s whole budget book, cover to cover!” Elected politicians, aren’t they just wonderful?
The last good novel I read was “Memoir from Antproof Case” by Mark Helprin, the hilarious (to a point) and beautifully written fictional reminiscences of an old man hiding from assassins in Argentina. I’m presently reading “Demon in the Freezer,” about the smallpox virus.
A rule about people who read a lot is that they never seem to have read the same books.
Mitya said on November 5, 2004 15:05:
I‘m now reading Fitzgerald‘s “The Great Gatsby “. I kinda like it!
on_a_mission said on November 5, 2004 16:32:
I’m working my way through a collection of short stories by Hjalmar Söderberg at the moment. Last one I finished was probably ’A living soul’ by PC Jersild, really well written and harrowing.
This is a great topic, lets keep it up!
ally77 said on November 5, 2004 18:32:
Ring by Koji Suzuki
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007178840/qid=1099679339/sr=2-...
I have just started to read The Ring: v. 2 by
Hiroshi Takashi
nancy_girl said on November 10, 2004 22:11:
Aside from the, like, 234 books I have to read for uni I’m currently reading Olsson’s “De ensamma pojkarna.” I bought that years ago and couldn’t read it then, now I thought I’d give it a try and it goes very well, it’s not hard to read. I’m still pretty slow though, because there are so many things going on, which might or might not be important for the storyline - does that make sense?
I wonder whether there are any translations at all - the original is fine, but it would be a pity if such an imho brilliant book was limited to readers who speak Swedish.
on_a_mission said on November 11, 2004 15:51:
hey, nancy girl, I have that book but haven;t read it, only just learning swedish. can you tell me a little more about it? tack, oam//
nancy_girl said on November 11, 2004 22:16:
I’m only halfway through it myself by now and even that took me over a week… well, what can I say without giving away too much?:)
Basically it’s about those two guys, Thomas and Richard; how they grow up in the 60s in Malmö and eventually form the band. They apparently change their style a few times and finally split up in the 70s, but neither of them gives up playing music.
Richard is the I-narrator of the whole story which stretches over 30 years, so it’s mostly about his life and views. What I like about is that you also learn a lot about Sweden and how it changes between the 60s and 90s. I’ve had Swedish for a bit over a year now and can read it almost without problems; even if you don’t know all the words it’s easy to follow the plot – and you get to learn lots of, erm, nice words you probably won’t hear in regular Swedish lessons…:)
I think I might have figured out who’s who on the album, though I’m not sure; I reckon Per = Thomas, Nisse Hellberg = Richard, MP = Roland, Micke = Kalle + a 5th person I don’t know who plays the bass.
Chaghi said on November 12, 2004 01:31:
Nice topic!
I’m re-reading the whole Clarke’s serie on Rama. Finished Rama II last night. I’m a big fan of sci-fi, and Clarke is one of my preferred writers. The way he describes the characters and the culture and the social complexity surrounding the story is wonderful.
In the non-fiction camp, I’m reading “The art of Unix programming”, by Eric S. Raymond. A must-read for every programmer out there, imho. The book is online for free in Eric’s home page.
on_a_mission said on November 12, 2004 20:57:
yea, I think its loosely based on Gyllene Tider, thanks nancy girl
Oldag75 said on November 13, 2004 02:38:
I just finished “Chronicles” (volume 1) by Bob Dylan.
Has anyone else read it ?
MiracleMan said on November 13, 2004 19:38:
Markuz—lol And I bet it’s all for pleasure *gasp*
I try to read 20 books a year (on 19 now). At the moment, I’m reading I Lucifer by Glen Duncan. Finished The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde just before that, Jack Maggs by Peter Carey a few weeks before that. This year I read: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse by Richard Rankin, The Secret History by Donna Tartt (excellent), and slew of Patricia Highsmith including rereading The Talented Mr. Ripley and the wonderful Two Faces of January.
Favorite books I’d reccommend:
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (wanted to reread it immediately) Also his short story collection Dream Stuff
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
Choke and Invisile Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Wide Open, Nicola Barker
Bible Stories for Adults, James Morrow
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christopher Moore
Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series
Atonement, Ian McEwan (heartbreaking)
Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Trilogy (all five boooks) and the Dirk Gentley books
sweet_stalker57 said on November 14, 2004 01:27:
the big drop
real surfing short stories about life and death in
heavy surf by the guys who were there. imagine paddling for 3 mins to try and
scratch over a 60 foot wave on the horizon that
blots out the sun. just making it over the top but never seeing your friend again who was just a few feet behind you.
Mari said on November 16, 2004 20:55:
moin, I’m also reading Da Vinci code, but haven’t finished yet. It’ a great book.
on_a_mission said on November 16, 2004 23:49:
i’m reading kerstin ekman ’forest of hours’, its odd, but I’m only a few pages in. It has an interesting premise. oam//
princess-leia said on November 20, 2004 20:13:
Hi people, I’m new here!
I just finished reading ’Blackbird’ and then ’Living Waters’ both by Jennifer Lauck. The two books together are her autobiography. Her writing is beautiful and her life story is so moving. It’s hard to believe a person could go through so much from such a young age and it really made me appreciate my own upbringing and my life so far.
ncurran said on November 20, 2004 20:38:
oh princess, that sounds those sound like my kind of books....i love autobiographies....not of famous people, but ordinary people who have overcome various obstacles in their lives.
on_a_mission said on November 21, 2004 01:03:
cool that this thread is still going, I’m still struggling along with various books. lonely planet Sweden being one of them!!! oam//
ally77 said on November 21, 2004 20:54:
I am reading The Da Vinchi Code, really is a good book! ;)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0552149519/qid=1101070406/ref=s...
purplemedusa said on November 21, 2004 21:12:
Hey Ally... drop me a line once your done with the book... would be nice to share some thoughts with you about it!!
Big kisses,
*me*
WorldFalls said on November 5, 2004 13:17:
I just finished, “Rescue in Denmark,” by Harold Flender.
I’m just beginning Peter Høag’s, “Borderliners.”