|
Post by jpm64 on Apr 1, 2017 8:08:29 GMT
Just read the first chapter of Go set a watchman. Been putting it off because you just know it's not going to live up to the previous offering. I read it and you are right to be worried it was a bit of a disappointment but then again to kill a mocking bird is my all time favourite read so had a lot to live up to
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 8:49:33 GMT
Just finished The Iliad and The Odyssey and am just starting on Paradise Lost. Oh, yes - FABULOUS. They're on the bookshelves on the landing, next to War and Peace and Candide. Time for a re-visit, I think. Thanks for the reminder! Also on there is 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. Had it so long the Empire had only just fallen when I bought it. Haven't even opened it yet and probably never will…..
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 8:53:33 GMT
Just finished The Iliad and The Odyssey and am just starting on Paradise Lost. Oh, yes - FABULOUS. They're on the bookshelves on the landing, next to War and Peace and Candide. Time for a re-visit, I think. Thanks for the reminder! Also on there is 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. Had it so long the Empire had only just fallen when I bought it. Haven't even opened it yet and probably never will….. Yes murph I have those weighty tomes on my list of books to read before I die , mean while I'm just 3/4 of the way through a john Grisham
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 9:11:31 GMT
Oh, yes - FABULOUS. They're on the bookshelves on the landing, next to War and Peace and Candide. Time for a re-visit, I think. Thanks for the reminder! Also on there is 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. Had it so long the Empire had only just fallen when I bought it. Haven't even opened it yet and probably never will….. Yes murph I have those weighty tomes on my list of books to read before I die , mean while I'm just 3/4 of the way through a john Grisham Mornin', 'Arry! Which Grisham?????
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 9:25:47 GMT
Yes murph I have those weighty tomes on my list of books to read before I die , mean while I'm just 3/4 of the way through a john Grisham Mornin', 'Arry! Which Grisham????? Rogue lawyer
|
|
|
Post by Billybigbollox on Apr 1, 2017 9:34:51 GMT
What the fuck are O levels Coops? It was CSE's in the 70's O-levels and CSE for me in 1984. You had to stay on at my school to do o' levels. The fascist regime at the time didn't want me to do that. I think it was something to do with my friend and I buying a load of stink bombs and letting them off in assembly. We had to stand outside the Headmasters office for a week after he'd caned us. I knew the bastard carried a grudge.
|
|
|
Post by Billybigbollox on Apr 1, 2017 9:36:42 GMT
I must read some more of Bryson. My old man has quite a lot of his books, I'll see if he has this one. Try "At Home" (I think that's the title) by Bill Bryson as it goes through the history behind the rooms of a house - sounds boring but as usual Bryson makes it interesting and informative. I have to say that I was very disappointed with his "Road to Little Dribbling" which is his follow-up to Notes from a Small Island, and wasn't aanywhere near as good. Thanks, I'll give it a go.
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 9:46:44 GMT
O-levels and CSE for me in 1984. You had to stay on at my school to do o' levels. The fascist regime at the time didn't want me to do that. I think it was something to do with my friend and I buying a load of stink bombs and letting them off in assembly. We had to stand outside the Headmasters office for a week after he'd caned us. I knew the bastard carried a grudge. Sounds quite my catholic school , masochistic bastards
|
|
|
Post by Billybigbollox on Apr 1, 2017 9:55:58 GMT
You had to stay on at my school to do o' levels. The fascist regime at the time didn't want me to do that. I think it was something to do with my friend and I buying a load of stink bombs and letting them off in assembly. We had to stand outside the Headmasters office for a week after he'd caned us. I knew the bastard carried a grudge. Sounds quite my catholic school , masochistic bastards I think the aim of schools in the 60's and 70's was more custodial than it is today Harry. Nowadays they actually want you to learn. Back then it was more a case of baby sitting you and if you picked up an education along the way it was a bonus. There were 600 boys in my school and I would guess that about 5 or 6 from each year actually went on to University. I'm not saying it was better back then, far from it, but you can go to university nowadays if you know how to tie your shoelaces.
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 10:02:26 GMT
Sounds quite my catholic school , masochistic bastards I think the aim of schools in the 60's and 70's was more custodial than it is today Harry. Nowadays they actually want you to learn. Back then it was more a case of baby sitting you and if you picked up an education along the way it was a bonus. There were 600 boys in my school and I would guess that about 5 or 6 from each year actually went on to University. I'm not saying it was better back then, far from it, but you can go to university nowadays if you know how to tie your shoelaces. Very true , I seemed to get caned on regular basis. The headmaster had an umbrella stand in his study full of canes . He used to ask me to choose the cane I wanted to get beaten with
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 10:03:05 GMT
Mornin', 'Arry! Which Grisham????? Rogue lawyer Oh, right, ta. Mr MTS has got a few Grishams but I've never read any. Is his best known book The Pelican Brief? Saw the film of it. ('Scuse me a min - Denzel Washington - phwoar…….) Just getting into the wossisname books - oh yeah - Alan Banks - by wossisname - oh yeah - Peter Robinson - and just finished his book 'Bad Boy' yesterday. The wossisname reference applies because I keep mixing him up with Peter James (Roy Grace series, which I'm working my way through) and James Patterson (Alex Cross books, 99% of which I've read). I'm just glad Val McDermid's name is noticeably different or I wouldn't know what the 'ell I was reading.
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 10:08:24 GMT
Oh, right, ta. Mr MTS has got a few Grishams but I've never read any. Is his best known book The Pelican Brief? Saw the film of it. ('Scuse me a min - Denzel Washington - phwoar…….) Just getting into the wossisname books - oh yeah - Alan Banks - by wossisname - oh yeah - Peter Robinson - and just finished his book 'Bad Boy' yesterday. The wossisname reference applies because I keep mixing him up with Peter James (Roy Grace series, which I'm working my way through) and James Patterson (Alex Cross books, 99% of which I've read). I'm just glad Val McDermid's name is noticeably different or I wouldn't know what the 'ell I was reading. I think I've read most of the Roy grace stories , Patterson is always a bit of a let down for me so I no longer bother . I do love Michael Connollys books and cj Sansom
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 10:11:00 GMT
I think the aim of schools in the 60's and 70's was more custodial than it is today Harry. Nowadays they actually want you to learn. Back then it was more a case of baby sitting you and if you picked up an education along the way it was a bonus. There were 600 boys in my school and I would guess that about 5 or 6 from each year actually went on to University. I'm not saying it was better back then, far from it, but you can go to university nowadays if you know how to tie your shoelaces. Very true , I seemed to get caned on regular basis. The headmaster had an umbrella stand in his study full of canes . He used to ask me to choose the cane I wanted to get beaten with Ooooo, that's AWFUL. 'Arry! Did you have a favourite one, or just give him that cheeky smile of yours and say 'surprise me'.....???
|
|
|
Post by harryburrows on Apr 1, 2017 10:15:54 GMT
Very true , I seemed to get caned on regular basis. The headmaster had an umbrella stand in his study full of canes . He used to ask me to choose the cane I wanted to get beaten with Ooooo, that's AWFUL. 'Arry! Did you have a favourite one, or just give him that cheeky smile of yours and say 'surprise me'.....??? They all hurt murph , 😫
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 10:35:03 GMT
Ooooo, that's AWFUL. 'Arry! Did you have a favourite one, or just give him that cheeky smile of yours and say 'surprise me'.....??? They all hurt murph , 😫 Sorry to hear that, H. Well if it was a Catlik school, was he wearing a sort of.....y'know...... FROCK???
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 10:35:23 GMT
I've read all the Alan Banks books, most of them long before they were adapted for TV - do you find that the characters on screen bear little resemblance to those described in the books ? I much prefer the Banks series to the Roy Grace ones, I find the Grace ones are a bit "lacking" in comparison.
If you haven't tried them before give the Wallander series by Henning Mankell a try. Just a shame the author died a few years ago so there won't be any more.
Still on a Scandinavian them have you read the "Girl with the dragon tattoo" series ? 3 written by the late Steig Larsson and a most recent fourth book by an author whose name I can't remember.
It's also worth giving the Rebus books a try if you fancy a bit of dour, gritty Scottish detective books. Also there is the "Shetland" series, written by the same author that writes the "Vera'Stanhope" detective novels.
|
|
|
Post by raythesailor on Apr 1, 2017 10:54:30 GMT
Not posted on this thread before but I do read a lot.
I have just finished and very much enjoyed a novel by Jodi Picoult called " Small Great Things"
As well as a good court room drama read it is also quite thought provoking.
Hope this recommendation may be of value.
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 11:10:32 GMT
Oh, right, ta. Mr MTS has got a few Grishams but I've never read any. Is his best known book The Pelican Brief? Saw the film of it. ('Scuse me a min - Denzel Washington - phwoar…….) Just getting into the wossisname books - oh yeah - Alan Banks - by wossisname - oh yeah - Peter Robinson - and just finished his book 'Bad Boy' yesterday. The wossisname reference applies because I keep mixing him up with Peter James (Roy Grace series, which I'm working my way through) and James Patterson (Alex Cross books, 99% of which I've read). I'm just glad Val McDermid's name is noticeably different or I wouldn't know what the 'ell I was reading. I think I've read most of the Roy grace stories , Patterson is always a bit of a let down for me so I no longer bother . I do love Michael Connollys books and cj Sansom Michael Connolly and CJ Sansom are new ones on me, 'Arry...... I'll check 'em out, though. Thanks for the rec!
|
|
|
Post by raythesailor on Apr 1, 2017 11:25:46 GMT
I think I've read most of the Roy grace stories , Patterson is always a bit of a let down for me so I no longer bother . I do love Michael Connollys books and cj Sansom Michael Connolly and CJ Sansom are new ones on me, 'Arry...... I'll check 'em out, though. Thanks for the rec! Have read all M Connolly books (many twice) well worth reading. Not neccesary to read in order but not a bad idea.
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 12:05:52 GMT
Michael Connolly and CJ Sansom are new ones on me, 'Arry...... I'll check 'em out, though. Thanks for the rec! Have read all M Connolly books (many twice) well worth reading. Not neccesary to read in order but not a bad idea. Oh, right, thanks very much for that, raymondo, and I'll definitely try him out. Just had a quick look on Amazon (and now realise that I had heard of 'the detective Harry Bosch'). They say: A former police reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Connelly is the author of Harry Bosch thriller series as well as several stand-alone bestsellers, including the highly acclaimed legal thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer. Michael Connelly has been President of the Mystery Writers of America. His books have been translated into 31 languages and have won awards all over the world, including the Edgar and Anthony Awards. BOSCH, the TV series based on Michael's novels, is the most watched original series on Amazon Prime Instant Video and has just been commissioned for a second series. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his family. They add: The Harry Bosch novels in series order are: The Black Echo / The Black Ice / The Concrete Blonde / The Last Coyote / Trunk Music / Angels Flight / A Darkness More Than Night / City of Bones / Lost Light / The Narrows / The Closers / Echo Park / The Overlook / The Brass Verdict / Nine Dragons / The Reversal / The Drop / The Black Box / The Burning Room. That's 19 - they need to update their blurb as they also show his book 'The Crossing' which they note as 'Harry Bosch Book 20'. I've just ordered the first five books of the series and am really looking forward to getting cracking on them. Thanks, chaps!
|
|
|
Post by rogerjonesisgod on Apr 1, 2017 12:30:08 GMT
If detective/crime/murder is your thing. Read David Simon. He used to be a reporter on the Baltimore Sun. Two books; A year with a Baltimore Homicide Detective, and A Year on the Corner (with drug dealers). It's not fiction it's what they based The Wire TV series on. It reads like a Grisham not a documentary. Some of the characters 'acting' in the TV series are the real people from the books.
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 12:48:51 GMT
I've read all the Alan Banks books, most of them long before they were adapted for TV - do you find that the characters on screen bear little resemblance to those described in the books ? I much prefer the Banks series to the Roy Grace ones, I find the Grace ones are a bit "lacking" in comparison. If you haven't tried them before give the Wallander series by Henning Mankell a try. Just a shame the author died a few years ago so there won't be any more. Still on a Scandinavian them have you read the "Girl with the dragon tattoo" series ? 3 written by the late Steig Larsson and a most recent fourth book by an author whose name I can't remember. It's also worth giving the Rebus books a try if you fancy a bit of dour, gritty Scottish detective books. Also there is the "Shetland" series, written by the same author that writes the "Vera'Stanhope" detective novels. I really like the Roy Grace series! I've only just finished my first Alan Banks book ('Bad Boy') yesterday, and enjoyed it, but I do recall the TV adaptations - I think they starred Stephen Tompkinson (?sp?) playing Banks but I could never really get into the TV shows as they just didn't tempt me to persevere with watching - and although I've only read one of the books I'd agree with you about the characters on screen bearing little resemblance to those in the books - IMO it was an unfortunate combination of wrong casting (Tompkinson was TOTALLY wrong) and sloppy directing. Mr MTS has all the Rebus books but I've never ventured into them as I saw a few of the (again!) TV adaptations and they were a bit too bleak and gory for me (delicate little flower that I am ). I just asked him about 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and he says he's got all the 4 books and has offered them to me in the past but I wasn't interested! Neither of us has tried any of the 'Wallander' or 'Vera Stanhope' books. I tried to watch 'Shetland' when it was on TV and absolutely detested it as I nearly died of boredom - I kept wanting to scream 'will somebody just DO something'!!!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 12:56:06 GMT
Arminius - The Limits of Empire , by the excellent Robert Fabbri.
|
|
|
Post by Billybigbollox on Apr 1, 2017 12:57:31 GMT
I think the aim of schools in the 60's and 70's was more custodial than it is today Harry. Nowadays they actually want you to learn. Back then it was more a case of baby sitting you and if you picked up an education along the way it was a bonus. There were 600 boys in my school and I would guess that about 5 or 6 from each year actually went on to University. I'm not saying it was better back then, far from it, but you can go to university nowadays if you know how to tie your shoelaces. Very true , I seemed to get caned on regular basis. The headmaster had an umbrella stand in his study full of canes . He used to ask me to choose the cane I wanted to get beaten with Democracy at its finest Harry. Ahhh those were the days.
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 13:07:23 GMT
Arminius - The Limits of Empire , by the excellent Robert Fabbri. Ooooooo, 'ello Bisp....... Thought you were sunning yourself on Lanzers - when did you get back???
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 13:09:26 GMT
Arminius - The Limits of Empire , by the excellent Robert Fabbri. Ooooooo, 'ello Bisp....... Thought you were sunning yourself on Lanzers - when did you get back??? Earlier this week
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 13:09:34 GMT
Very true , I seemed to get caned on regular basis. The headmaster had an umbrella stand in his study full of canes . He used to ask me to choose the cane I wanted to get beaten with Democracy at its finest Harry. Ahhh those were the days. I'm still waiting for an answer from 'Arry to my question from this morning, Wilhelm..... suppose he's swanned off for 'is lunch.....
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 13:11:15 GMT
Sorry to hear that, H. Well if it was a Catlik school, was he wearing a sort of.....y'know...... FROCK??? We're waiting, 'Arry......... we're WAITING..........
|
|
|
Post by murphthesurf on Apr 1, 2017 13:12:47 GMT
Ooooooo, 'ello Bisp....... Thought you were sunning yourself on Lanzers - when did you get back??? Earlier this week DID YOU BRING ME SOME ROCK ??????????
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 13:20:13 GMT
Earlier this week DID YOU BRING ME SOME ROCK ?????????? A nice bit of lava or pumice stone do you ?
|
|