Recently finished the "Chaos Walking" trilogy (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men). They're really well written and the story is told from three different perspectives (one in the first book, two in the second and all three in the third). And it's all in first person present tense. Certainly worth a read.

American Psycho. One word review: Squelchy.

I recently bought "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" after a friend told me it was really good. The person at the till in Waterstones said it was excellent too so I'm all excited to start reading it. I've got to wait until Friday though since I'm meant to be finishing a uni project and preparing a presentation for tomorrow morning.

I've read that. It is very good.

I didn't think it was good. I think it provided a very simplified version of Asperger's. The protaganist is a child, but I was still hoping for a little more insight.

Anyone read 'the complete work of George Orwell?' I'm up to one of his books called Burmese Days. It's fantastic if not slightly slow to build up. The linguistic features provide a basis of personal interest since picking them out is helping me along my English GCSE course.

I think the best thing I've read by George Orwell was his essay on why left wingers shouldn't do right wing things. It was at the end of my copy of Animal Farm.

And that's some insane praise by the way, I don't know if I've ever enjoyed reading a book more than I did Animal Farm.

My personal favourite is to kill a mockingbird but 1984 and animal farm come damn close!

Oh Animal Farm isn't my favourite book, that honour probably goes to One Hundred Years of Solitude now, seriously it's absolutely incredible and amazing and wow.

Was probably the only book I've ever seriously considered stopping more than two thirds way through because it was getting too deep and dark for me. And this is me, I read stories about rape and shit.

1984 was excellent too, but it lacked the simplicity that made Animal Farm such a masterpiece.

One Hundred Years of Solitude? I never heard of it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hun...rs_of_Solitude < is this it?

Yes. It's incredible.

I'd never heard of it until a few months ago. I finished it around the start of the winter holidays. I read about 250 pages on the train back home, I just couldn't stop reading.

Sorry to press but I don't like wikipedia interpretations of books...what is it about?

It's about one hundred years of solitude.

That's the best story synopsis I can give you, it's a book where every word is necessary to the story.

Wow! I might need to get it then.

I finally finished reading Gone With the Wind, and have started reading Cities of the Plain by Cormack McCarthy.

I also just finished reading A Wizard of Earthsea to Abbey, and we started The Tombs of Atuan. There's a cute story about that which I will probably make a blog about soon.

I read The Butter Battle Book again.

Powerful, powerful stuff. Nuclear warfare would be even more terrifing if nukes were called BITSY BIG-BOY BOOMEROOs.

I really, really should read more. I've got a few books mentioned here that I should probably read.

Started reading The Catcher in the Rye, actually a very good book.

Does anyone think that 1984 is too adult or in at least a literary perspective, to advanced for a 13 year old? In an attempt to help my brother for the new A level style entry that my school has decided to employ for me and the future years...I am trying to get him reading, is 1984 too advanced for an intelligent yet uninterested child?

i tried reading that. i really couldn't get into it. i felt like i was pissing the author off just by reading it.

Strange, it was the other way round for me.

Not sure. It could be borderline - a lot of the subtext has to do with freedom and love and responsibility and things that a 13 year old might not be able to get. Also rats... goddamn those rats.

I was 14 when I read through 1984, but it was also because of English class and we were able to discuss the symbolism and messages so I got along fine.

Maybe wait and see if his school has the book in its program?

does it start when he's in school or something? i might have the wrong book. when i Google it none of the book covers look familiar.

It's the one where the narrator is a sad misanthropic waste of skin.

And it's dead deep, apparently.

its the same book, then.

Yeah, that's the one.

Or did you just misunderstand me? I meant that the author pissed me off, in comparison to you feeling like you were pissing off the author.

oh, i did misunderstand you then. i thought you meant you felt like your were pissing the author off by not reading it.

Still, the opposite is that you were pissing the author off by reading it.

i'll burn it. see how he likes them apples.

Here's a fantastic book for everyone, I have yet to read a mass of it but excerpts I have picked up are steeped in philosophy and supposed truthfulness: The Antichrist (Der Antichrist) written by Nietzsche. I don't really believe in his teachings but it is at the very least interesting to see how a mortal and intelligent man interprets the workings of God (or the gods whichever you prefer) and various socio-political points.

I really do recommend it.

It's one of his weaker books, read Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Birth of Tragedy or Beyond Good and Evil.

Gosh I remember my Nietzsche phase.

Don't we all, darling.

http://i.imgur.com/VbGnU.jpg

dis at the moment, pretty heavy readins i do declare.

I kinda want to re-read Catch-22. I read it last winter but it was for a research paper, I liked it but I don't think I was able enjoy it that much because it felt like I was doing work instead of reading for the sake of reading.

Catch-22 is fucking brilliance on paper.

I would talk about how much I love it, but it would end up being a really long fucking post. I also want to re-read it soon.

The first time I read it, I thought it was brilliant. The second time I read it (older, maturer), I thought it was brilliant but depressing. So depressing.

I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream. i read it online. its a sci fi short story, and i thought it was fucking brilliant. yeah, Harlan Ellison is a cantankerous old bastard, but it didn't come out in his writing style. to be honest, i haven't been able to sit down and read something for quite a while due to my concentration, but i think i might have a look at some of the other stuff he's written.

i sort of stumbled across it, anyway. i was looking up shit about the Terminator universe, and came across a bunch of links to books, films and TV shows that could have helped James Cameron with the Terminator concept. I Have No Mouth was among them and i happened to look it up. i'm glad i did.

Lots of comics lately. Scud: The Disposable Assassin (the whole shebang), Chimichanga, and currently, Chew. I like Chew. Chew makes me laugh more than anything else has in a while.

I started reading American Psycho a few days ago, I haven't read much though because I'm a slow reader. I haven't much to say about it yet, but judging it by what others said, I'm expecting it to be good.

Has anyone ever read a George Orwell novel with a happy ending? I read Burmese Days last night and the poor guy, only goes and blows his bloody head off I mean that was depressing at 2 o'clock in the morning, whelp onto the Clergyman's Daughter now, should be a good read.

1984 has a good ending in the same way Pocahontas has a bad ending. As in, it's there, you just have to know where to look.