Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2020 3:12:17 GMT
Started Lamentation but took a break from for i felt for something a bit lighter for a moment. So i started Death On The Nile, one of Dame Agatha Christies classics. Noone has really mastered the cozy crime novel in the way she did. Her books may not be realistic, and never really meant to be, but as for plot, twists, mystery and all the fixings she is unsurpassed. I always enjoy reading a book by her and todays authors could learn from her. Very few crime novels plots really have material for a 600 page book and christie never wrote a book longer than 250 pages (she wrote over 80) and often just under 200 pages which in my view means that she knew one thing which very few crime authors nowadays know. How to tell a story without floating away all over the place and then end it.
|
|
|
Post by wireman on Dec 17, 2020 12:39:34 GMT
the 20th anniversary edition of On Writing is $2.99 today as a kindle daily deal
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2020 9:29:18 GMT
I'm reading up on a lot of books about the roman empire at the moment in preparation for an article. Including Gibbons decline and fall of the Roman Empire but also Adrian Goldsworthy excellent biography on Augustus and also his book on the later decline of the empire from Constantine onwards. And some others. For relaxation i am reading Appointment with death by Christie. And 1632 by Eric Flint, a good alternative history book. It developed into a series that went on too long as series often do but the first book is really good.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Dec 30, 2020 17:48:35 GMT
I am reading the third part in Jan Guillou's Crusades Trilogy, The Birth of a Kingdom, translated by Steven T. Murray. This will be of particular interest to our good friend, @kurben . With this book Arn returns from the Holy Land to essentially turn his home of Western Gotaland into what we know as modern day Sweden. I remember liking this section of the movie the most, so hopefully it will be the same with the book, the previous books were excellent though. Epic cover as well.
|
|
|
Post by wireman on Jan 4, 2021 17:35:59 GMT
Killing Quarry - Max Allan Collins
The latest installment in the Quarry series. This book has a bit of a twist on the series as my favorite hit man (Quarry) is the target of a hit instead of the one doing the hitting.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2021 1:16:59 GMT
Right now i'm Deep in First World War by Martin Gilbert. Obviously a history of WW1. What differs is the approach. I've read histories of WW1 before, military, political or more aimed at depicting the suffering and the experiences of the ordinary man. In the trenches, or the many kinds of sufferings that the civil population endured. But this one actually tries to do it all. So far he's succeeded. John Keegan, another author of WW1 has written good military history but the ordinary people is seldom seen and the politics is just the bare bones of whats needed to understand the military actions. If Gilberts attempt is succesful straight through it is a great achievement. Very difficult to cover so many aspects of such a widespread and complex war n one book even if its 600 pages long.
When i'm not reading history i've two other books to entertain me. One is a mystery, The House Of Silk by Anthony Horywitz, it is a good Sherlock Holmes novel that really captures the feel of the original stories. The other is The Clerkenwell Tales, a historic novel set in the time of Richard II of England (last quarter of the 14,th century. He was the last Plantagenet King. Even if the Lancaster and York kings were related and had Plantagenet blood it was a coup that unseated Richard and put Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king in his place, a new dynasty. At the moment i'm more in a mystery mood so i'm reading The House Of Silk but that changes with the mood i'm in at a particular day.
|
|
|
Post by Dizzy on Jan 8, 2021 1:22:38 GMT
Still Reading The stand By Stephen King...I Think After I done With this one I'm Going to Read skeleton Crew I Never Read that one before.
|
|
|
Post by Tanith on Jan 8, 2021 16:00:15 GMT
Long days, pleasant nights, fellow bookslingers! To start the year off I'm re-reading Lord of the Flies. I'm quite sure I already have read it though it's been...well, decades. And, of course, it's highly recommended by sai King so I knew it would be just the thing for a weekend read.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 2:41:15 GMT
I am reading the third part in Jan Guillou's Crusades Trilogy, The Birth of a Kingdom, translated by Steven T. Murray. This will be of particular interest to our good friend, @kurben . With this book Arn returns from the Holy Land to essentially turn his home of Western Gotaland into what we know as modern day Sweden. I remember liking this section of the movie the most, so hopefully it will be the same with the book, the previous books were excellent though. Epic cover as well.
Finished Guillou's Birth of a Kingdom, not as great as the previous books but still excellent. I will be checking out the sequel book to the series that Guillou wrote which follows Arn's son.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 14:57:00 GMT
I am reading the third part in Jan Guillou's Crusades Trilogy, The Birth of a Kingdom, translated by Steven T. Murray. This will be of particular interest to our good friend, @kurben . With this book Arn returns from the Holy Land to essentially turn his home of Western Gotaland into what we know as modern day Sweden. I remember liking this section of the movie the most, so hopefully it will be the same with the book, the previous books were excellent though. Epic cover as well.
Finished Guillou's Birth of a Kingdom, not as great as the previous books but still excellent. I will be checking out the sequel book to the series that Guillou wrote which follows Arn's son. Do that, but dont expect it to be as good. The trilogy is real good (even if i think that Arn is a bit too good to be really believable). Sequel will take you to Birjer Jarl (That is a title and the origin of the english word Earl) aka Birger Magnusson who probably must be seen as the founder of true swedish kings. Earlier it had been similar to England in Saxon times. Kings of different parts of sweden competed through alliances of who should be overking.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 15:04:41 GMT
Finished The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. A real good and lovingly executed homage to Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. Good mystery, we see a lot of familiar faces and he is respectful towards the Holmes character. The main difference i discovered, and i dont mean this in a negative way, is that there are more descriptions of poor people and the way they lived than in a usual Holmes story. But if you feel like reading a Holmes novel this can be recommended.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 16:56:20 GMT
Finished Guillou's Birth of a Kingdom, not as great as the previous books but still excellent. I will be checking out the sequel book to the series that Guillou wrote which follows Arn's son. Do that, but dont expect it to be as good. The trilogy is real good (even if i think that Arn is a bit too good to be really believable). Sequel will take you to Birjer Jarl (That is a title and the origin of the english word Earl) aka Birger Magnusson who probably must be seen as the founder of true swedish kings. Earlier it had been similar to England in Saxon times. Kings of different parts of sweden competed through alliances of who should be overking. I thought that Birth of a Kingdom was a bit slow if I'm being honest, it dealt more with Arn's personal matters than with the conflicts with the Swedes and the Danes, the final part of the book with the Danish crowned Swedish king and the battle and all. Did you like this book as much as the others, Kurben? And did you like the film adaption?
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 16:58:42 GMT
Finished The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. A real good and lovingly executed homage to Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. Good mystery, we see a lot of familiar faces and he is respectful towards the Holmes character. The main difference i discovered, and i dont mean this in a negative way, is that there are more descriptions of poor people and the way they lived than in a usual Holmes story. But if you feel like reading a Holmes novel this can be recommended. Have you ever checked out Conan Doyle's weird fiction?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 17:54:58 GMT
Do that, but dont expect it to be as good. The trilogy is real good (even if i think that Arn is a bit too good to be really believable). Sequel will take you to Birjer Jarl (That is a title and the origin of the english word Earl) aka Birger Magnusson who probably must be seen as the founder of true swedish kings. Earlier it had been similar to England in Saxon times. Kings of different parts of sweden competed through alliances of who should be overking. I thought that Birth of a Kingdom was a bit slow if I'm being honest, it dealt more with Arn's personal matters than with the conflicts with the Swedes and the Danes, the final part of the book with the Danish crowned Swedish king and the battle and all. Did you like this book as much as the others, Kurben? And did you like the film adaption? I admit is not quite up to the first when it comes to action but here guillou is constructing an ending of his drama and then it is kind of natural that Arn and his love interest take a bigger part than earlier. The Battle of Gestilren 1210 is historical even if historians havent figured out which name it has today.The sources from this time are very vague in swedish history. But many of the kings and nobles are real persons even if we, thanks to the vagueness of the sources, know not so much of them which Guillou used to his advantage very skillfully by weawing this tale without violating any historical fact. Arn is an invention of course but otherwise many are real. Erik Knutsson won the battle over Sverker the younger. Sverker was not a dane even if he was supported by danish interests. But the the majority of his men, at least at Gestilren, were swedish. Sverker died in the battle and the long battle between these two swedish dynasties, the Erik dynasty and the Sverker dynasty, for the throne was over. At the end of the book Arn gives his sword to his grandson Birger, son to Magnus who is the son to Arn. Birger will then be the founder of the new swedish kingdom. That is obvious for any swedish reader but i guess not in scotland. The Movie, oh dear, where to start?? The actor playing Arn was a disaster for me. He could fight but he couldn't act. He had one facial expression through the whole thing and destroyed the movie for me. The one who played Cecilia was better if not good and several of the supporting roles were good. So, no, i did not like the film adaption.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 18:05:37 GMT
I thought that Birth of a Kingdom was a bit slow if I'm being honest, it dealt more with Arn's personal matters than with the conflicts with the Swedes and the Danes, the final part of the book with the Danish crowned Swedish king and the battle and all. Did you like this book as much as the others, Kurben? And did you like the film adaption? I admit is not quite up to the first when it comes to action but here guillou is constructing an ending of his drama and then it is kind of natural that Arn and his love interest take a bigger part than earlier. The Battle of Gestilren 1210 is historical even if historians havent figured out which name it has today.The sources from this time are very vague in swedish history. But many of the kings and nobles are real persons even if we, thanks to the vagueness of the sources, know not so much of them which Guillou used to his advantage very skillfully by weawing this tale without violating any historical fact. Arn is an invention of course but otherwise many are real. Erik Knutsson won the battle over Sverker the younger. Sverker was not a dane even if he was supported by danish interests. But the the majority of his men, at least at Gestilren, were swedish. Sverker died in the battle and the long battle between these two swedish dynasties, the Erik dynasty and the Sverker dynasty, for the throne was over. At the end of the book Arn gives his sword to his grandson Birger, son to Magnus who is the son to Arn. Birger will then be the founder of the new swedish kingdom. That is obvious for any swedish reader but i guess not in scotland. The Movie, oh dear, where to start?? The actor playing Arn was a disaster for me. He could fight but he couldn't act. He had one facial expression through the whole thing and destroyed the movie for me. The one who played Cecilia was better if not good and several of the supporting roles were good. So, no, i did not like the film adaption. I don't know why but I laughed my a*s off at your description of the actor who plays Arn, yes he was a bit clunky. It seems like Guillou kind of brushed past the whole war aspect of the book, its all towards the end and relatively vague at times. It seemed to focus quite a bit on Arn's home and what he was having the Saracens from the Holy Land do for him at Arnas and other places and the like, not exactly action packed stuff and the like. I missed Oynstein, the Norwegian archer he befriends in the Holy Land, he's present at several scenes in this book but he seems to randomly disappear, like a lot of the other characters. Take Eskil for example, Arn's brother, he's a main character at the beginnings of the book then fades away. Same with Arn having a Thrall brother, that came out of left field and I feel like the whole thing about the Thralls treatment at Arnas was Guillou, like you said, making Arn seem almost too good to be true for a Medievil world man. Do you remember the scene when the spy Arn had in Sverker's court, when he returns to Arnas to warn Arn that Sverker's sent out guards to murder Knutsson's brothers? Arn seems pretty nochalant about the whole thing and delays riding out to save him until the spy has had a bath! WTF! I did like the whole sub plot about Arn's spy and Helena, the daughter of Sverker, but its kind of brushed past. I feel like Guillou put far too much random history about the period in this book, its all interesting but it doesn't really progress the book. No doubt he did a lot of research and wanted people to know that he knew a lot about the period. But I will still probably check out the sequel book. Do you know if Guillou has written anything else in this style? Or anything you consider of interest.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 18:10:06 GMT
Finished The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. A real good and lovingly executed homage to Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. Good mystery, we see a lot of familiar faces and he is respectful towards the Holmes character. The main difference i discovered, and i dont mean this in a negative way, is that there are more descriptions of poor people and the way they lived than in a usual Holmes story. But if you feel like reading a Holmes novel this can be recommended. Have you ever checked out Conan Doyle's weird fiction? I have read The Lost World but thats all i'm afraid. Then i have read two of his historical novels, The White Company and Sir Nigel.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 18:49:04 GMT
I admit is not quite up to the first when it comes to action but here guillou is constructing an ending of his drama and then it is kind of natural that Arn and his love interest take a bigger part than earlier. The Battle of Gestilren 1210 is historical even if historians havent figured out which name it has today.The sources from this time are very vague in swedish history. But many of the kings and nobles are real persons even if we, thanks to the vagueness of the sources, know not so much of them which Guillou used to his advantage very skillfully by weawing this tale without violating any historical fact. Arn is an invention of course but otherwise many are real. Erik Knutsson won the battle over Sverker the younger. Sverker was not a dane even if he was supported by danish interests. But the the majority of his men, at least at Gestilren, were swedish. Sverker died in the battle and the long battle between these two swedish dynasties, the Erik dynasty and the Sverker dynasty, for the throne was over. At the end of the book Arn gives his sword to his grandson Birger, son to Magnus who is the son to Arn. Birger will then be the founder of the new swedish kingdom. That is obvious for any swedish reader but i guess not in scotland. The Movie, oh dear, where to start?? The actor playing Arn was a disaster for me. He could fight but he couldn't act. He had one facial expression through the whole thing and destroyed the movie for me. The one who played Cecilia was better if not good and several of the supporting roles were good. So, no, i did not like the film adaption. I don't know why but I laughed my a§§ off at your description of the actor who plays Arn, yes he was a bit clunky. It seems like Guillou kind of brushed past the whole war aspect of the book, its all towards the end and relatively vague at times. It seemed to focus quite a bit on Arn's home and what he was having the Saracens from the Holy Land do for him at Arnas and other places and the like, not exactly action packed stuff and the like. I missed Oynstein, the Norwegian archer he befriends in the Holy Land, he's present at several scenes in this book but he seems to randomly disappear, like a lot of the other characters. Take Eskil for example, Arn's brother, he's a main character at the beginnings of the book then fades away. Same with Arn having a Thrall brother, that came out of left field and I feel like the whole thing about the Thralls treatment at Arnas was Guillou, like you said, making Arn seem almost too good to be true for a Medievil world man. Do you remember the scene when the spy Arn had in Sverker's court, when he returns to Arnas to warn Arn that Sverker's sent out guards to murder Knutsson's brothers? Arn seems pretty nochalant about the whole thing and delays riding out to save him until the spy has had a bath! WTF! I did like the whole sub plot about Arn's spy and Helena, the daughter of Sverker, but its kind of brushed past. I feel like Guillou put far too much random history about the period in this book, its all interesting but it doesn't really progress the book. No doubt he did a lot of research and wanted people to know that he knew a lot about the period. But I will still probably check out the sequel book. Do you know if Guillou has written anything else in this style? Or anything you consider of interest. Well.... The Crusader trilogy is his first attempt to write historical fiction. Before that he had mainly written spy novels (Hamilton or Coq Rouge) but after he has just finished a big project called The Great Century about the 20,th century starting 1900 and ending 2001. One book for each decade. It follows three brothers Lauritzen and their descendants from poor circumstances in Norway through all the things that has happened in this century. It is good, at least until the 50,s. When he gets to the 60,s and onwards i think it stalls a little perhaps because that are decades where he played an important role in swedish journalism. The style isn't exactly the same since it is the 20,th century he tries to capture and it has no specific hero but as describtion of the times, including two world wars, i like it. It is seen from a scandinavian viewpoint since the main persons come from there even if they spend time in both germany and england.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 19:13:51 GMT
I don't know why but I laughed my a§§ off at your description of the actor who plays Arn, yes he was a bit clunky. It seems like Guillou kind of brushed past the whole war aspect of the book, its all towards the end and relatively vague at times. It seemed to focus quite a bit on Arn's home and what he was having the Saracens from the Holy Land do for him at Arnas and other places and the like, not exactly action packed stuff and the like. I missed Oynstein, the Norwegian archer he befriends in the Holy Land, he's present at several scenes in this book but he seems to randomly disappear, like a lot of the other characters. Take Eskil for example, Arn's brother, he's a main character at the beginnings of the book then fades away. Same with Arn having a Thrall brother, that came out of left field and I feel like the whole thing about the Thralls treatment at Arnas was Guillou, like you said, making Arn seem almost too good to be true for a Medievil world man. Do you remember the scene when the spy Arn had in Sverker's court, when he returns to Arnas to warn Arn that Sverker's sent out guards to murder Knutsson's brothers? Arn seems pretty nochalant about the whole thing and delays riding out to save him until the spy has had a bath! WTF! I did like the whole sub plot about Arn's spy and Helena, the daughter of Sverker, but its kind of brushed past. I feel like Guillou put far too much random history about the period in this book, its all interesting but it doesn't really progress the book. No doubt he did a lot of research and wanted people to know that he knew a lot about the period. But I will still probably check out the sequel book. Do you know if Guillou has written anything else in this style? Or anything you consider of interest. Well.... The Crusader trilogy is his first attempt to write historical fiction. Before that he had mainly written spy novels (Hamilton or Coq Rouge) but after he has just finished a big project called The Great Century about the 20,th century starting 1900 and ending 2001. One book for each decade. It follows three brothers Lauritzen and their descendants from poor circumstances in Norway through all the things that has happened in this century. It is good, at least until the 50,s. When he gets to the 60,s and onwards i think it stalls a little perhaps because that are decades where he played an important role in swedish journalism. The style isn't exactly the same since it is the 20,th century he tries to capture and it has no specific hero but as describtion of the times, including two world wars, i like it. It is seen from a scandinavian viewpoint since the main persons come from there even if they spend time in both germany and england. That actually sounds really cool, the Sweden through the decades book I mean. I'll probably check those out. I believe Mr Guillou still writes for a Swedish tabloid I believe? Commenting on current affairs and the like. He seems like a very intelligent man.
|
|
|
Post by edwardjohn on Jan 10, 2021 19:14:54 GMT
Have you ever checked out Conan Doyle's weird fiction? I have read The Lost World but thats all i'm afraid. Then i have read two of his historical novels, The White Company and Sir Nigel. I believe he was a friend of Blackwood's and loved his kind of fiction, that's actually where he got his start I believe.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2021 20:53:40 GMT
Reading Venus Envy by Rita Mae Brown. Its a about a woman told by doctors that she will soon pass away in cancer. She decides not to die a stranger so she writes letters to friends and family telling them exactly what she thinks of them and a few secrets of her own including that she is gay which is a big no-no in the high class virginia society she lives (early 90,s) in. But she is misdiagnosed. it wasn't cancer and she lives. The major part of the book deals with adjusting to how many see her as a completely different person. Some relations actually get better because she isn't hiding anymore while some are totally ruined including the one with her mother. So this book basically has a serious subject but what makes it worth reading is the humor that permeates it from bottom to top. It often makes me smile.
|
|