hhfarang wrote:
Migrant, you said a few pages back that you were reading Mitchener's Hawaii. I've read that twice and if you like his work, you would like Roma as, like with Mitchener, it starts at the beginning and describes how Rome grew from a single family's trading business to the center of the known world. It reminded me a lot of a few of Mitchner's works.
Thanks, I'll check it out!
One of my not miss authors is James Lee Burke. He has a couple series, one set in New Orleans with a detective, former alcoholic another in Montana. His individual reads are good as well
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
IMPERIUM and LUSTRUM by Robert Harris of Fatherland fame are also well worth a read, as is POMPEII. The first two are a dramatised biography of Cicero and are excellent reading....theres a third book in the pipe.
Interesting - The Wasp Factory - that takes me back a few years. Very disturbing and I'm not sure I really understood what the hell it was all about.
Just about to start on the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. I have tried to avoid the reviews as I want to have an open mind when I am reading it.
Just finished "The Company" by Robert Littell.
It's a 1,200 odd page history of the CIA - factual and fictional. Edit- pretty much factual without naming names
It covers the start of the company at the end of WW2. I never thought that anyone could describe those times in Berlin quite like le Carre. I was wrong.
Then on to Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, the wall coming down, Yeltsin, Gorbachev and so on.
The thing that hooked me was the fact that I approached the book initially thinking "here we go". Another gungho thing.
Not at all.
I forgot the defection of Philby. I thought the Bay of Pigs was all about the Russians putting missiles into Cuba. Wrong again - it was America's effort to topple and assassinate Castro. What a farce.
All the time the Russians were getting info as it came off the "duck's back".
No nonsense, no gung ho, real historical situations.
A good book, IMHO.
Struggling to finish Le Carre's 'Our Kind of Traitor' which for me doesn't live up to the hype.
Got to get it out of the way soon to give myself time over the Christmas break to get into Murakami's 'IQ84' - now that I am looking forward to, being a fan!
A great contemporary spy thriller called "The Afghan" by Frederick Forsyth (thanks again DM! )
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
I need help. Last year I got a Sony e-reader PRS 350. I had lots of "real" books to catch up on so didn`t use it. Now I have lost the instructions on how to download from my PC. Can anyone tell me in simple terms what to do?
Thanks for any help.
As I bought a Kindle in the UK recently, I thought I'd bring this thread up again.
Below are some of the authors that I've found "exceptional" so far and I've got another whatever number of books of theirs' to get through. So, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just like a kid in a sweetie shop with downloads:
Alan Furst - exceptional historical spy stuff - fictional, but only just
Daniel Silva - I just clicked on "Portrait of a Spy" and was hooked. "The Confessor" wasn't as good IMHO but I've got another 14 books to choose from when I get round to them.
Eric Ambler - only read "A Coffin for Dimitrios" and am looking forward to the next 18 books. I was introduced to Graham Green a few years ago and this is the same genre.
Haran Coban - again, this was just a download of 24 books and I've read "Backspin" so far. A thriller/murder/mystery but he made me laugh. A good wit so far.
Graham Green - goes without saying
Hell's Angels/Hunter S Thompson - I won't get on my pushbike but maybe I'll look at them sometime
le Carre - enough said
Joseph Conrad - just blows my mind away and I've re-read "A Secret Agent" which I studied at A level. For all of us out in this part of the world, "Lord Jim", "The Rescue" and "Victory" are - words fail me.
Jeeze, I almost read "Jude the Obscure" when I was back in the UK. I should finish it. And then there's a whole load of Thomas Hardy to come. Some day?
Iain Banks - I was a fan from many years ago and I've got some more to read
Stephen Leather - yeah, I'm wading through "A Private Dancer" again but it's just boring second time round. However......
Tom Sharpe - stupid old English farce, but the books do make me laugh. Currently re-reading "Porterhouse Blue" and I hope that Skullion manages to burst all the Durexes!! Happy times.
And there are just so many more. I try and read a light book and then something that makes me think a bit more. So, the thinkers are William Burroughs, "William Faulkener, Toni Morrison, Truman Capote, Kafka, Anthony Burgess.
Starter for 10 people. My brain is exploding.
Happy reading. EDIT
I didn'c check the post for spelling etc. They're only books.
I'm pretty sure I started a thread about reading material before but this cyber idiot can't find it. Fellow mods pleas merge into the relevant place.
I got a Kindle when back in the UK earlier this year and I've gone download crazy. There are over 750 books on it now. That should keep me happy for a while!!
Some of them I've read before and some I havn't. In no particular order, the ones that stand out so far are:
John le Carre - The Spy who came in from the Cold.
I have the book back in England so it was a re-read and again it brought me to my knees. Bastards!!
Daniel Silva - I'd never heard of him before but discovered him by searching spy fiction. His books are about Mossad and the Muslim world. I've got some 15 of his works and fell into "A Perfect Spy". It was excellent.
RD Wingfield - Jack Frost at his best/worst. I can just see David Jason playing that part. Some of the books are a bit creepy and touch on sensitive subjects.
Joseph Conrad - I studied "The Secret Agent" for A level and revisited it again. What a book. "Discuss the irony" etc etc. I could understand it a bit better this time round.
And then, there's Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Victory, The Rescue. All of them set in Indonesia and pretty much in the same vein.
Anyone living in this part of the world should give them a go, IMHO.
Colin Dexter - Morse. Dexter went to my school as I'm reminded by my parents. Anyway, good stuff.
Charles Dickens - how could I have forgotten him?
it was the best of times
it was the worst of times
it was the age of wisdom
it was the age of foolishness
it was the epoch of belief
it was the epoch of incredulity
it was the season of light
it was the season of darkness
it was the spring of hope
it was the season of despair
And - "it is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known"
As he walks to the guillotine taking the blame for someone else.
Enough of Dickens.
Alan Furst - I've only got two of his books. "Dark Star" I've read and it was excellent. A historical spy novel set around the build up to WW2. I'm saving "Night Soldiers" for an idle moment. I'm looking forward to that.
Janas Janassan - "The Hundred Year Old Man Who climbed out of the Window and Disappeared". This book made me laugh. Lighter moments.
Tom Sharpe - I've got pretty much everything and have re-read "Wilt" and "Porterhouse Blue". They're not exactly politically correct but they make me laugh.
Others:
How could I have forgotten?
Eric Ambler - I've only read "A Coffin for Demitrious". Are there any Graham Greene fans out there because he's the same style. There's another 18 books of his to tackle.
Anthony Burgess - I've only got "A Clockwork Orange" and am missing "Enderby" and "Earthly Powers". Burgess iss a pretty useful author.
Franz Kafka - I really want "The Trial". For darker moments. I've got "The Castle" and "Metamorphasis".
Hunter S Thompson - bloody hippes!!
I can't forget this man - Ian McEwen. I've for 13 of his books and have only read "Amsterdam" so far
I thought that was pretty good so I'm looking forward to the other 12 when I get round to them.
Ian Rankin -he isn't bad. Really good descriptions of Edinburgh and Fife. Detective stuff from an Internal Affairs point of view.
Oh, and Graham Greene. I'm going to read "Brighton Rock" again. And there are another 10 books, most of which I've read but they definitely need a re-look.
That's it, but not all of it. I'm tired and hot now so I'll sign out.
