What Are You Reading Now?

[happyone]

It's been awhile since I've updated this, so here goes

I've recently read a couple of Robert Harris historical fiction novels

V2
This one is about the British search for the launching sites of the V2s in Holland in the late fall of 1944. The British side is told through the eyes of a lady photo intrepreter who is almost blown up by a V2 in the opening scene of the novel. The German side is told through the eyes of an engineer who is in charge of the technical aspects of the launches and who is one of Von Brauns associates in developing the rocket.

Very good read.

The second novel is Act of Oblivion

This on is the story of the manhunt for the men who signed Charles I death warrant in 1650. On the restoration of the British Monarchary in 1660, Charles II pardoned everyone who are fought against the crown, except thos 59 men who signed the Death Warrant. This kicked off the greatest manhunt of the 17th Century. 2 of the signers fled to New England, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe.

In his authors note, Mr. Harris says both Whalley and Goffe were real people, all the dates and places they hid are actual. He also states that the only fictional character in the novel is that of Richard Naylor, the man in charge of the hunt for the Regicides. The man who led the search for regicides is unknown to history, but as Mr. Harris says, with that kind of manhunt there must have been a man hunter.

Again, an excellent read.

Mr.Harris is one of my favorite HF authors. He doesn't specialize in any particular era. His books span from Ancient Rome to WWII.

[Pelado]

Audio books:

- Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio
- Directed by James Burrows by James Burrows

[SteelBlue]

Finished A Canticle for Leibowitz. I think it would resonate with many if not all of you. Its author converted to Catholicism after WWII and seems to have used this novel, published in the early 60s, to work through his experiences. He had published several short stories, but never published another novel and ended up committing suicide at age 73. A Canticle for Leibowitz won the Hugo Award for best Sci Fi novel in 1961. It is a highly philosophical novel that uses Sci Fi to study the cycles of humanity.

It's broken into 3 main sections. The first begins at the fall of humanity, post nuclear war in the deserts of Utah. Some form of humanity has survived and so has some form of the Catholic church with monks working to preserve the history of their much more enlightened but ultimately doomed forebears. Something as simple as a blueprint for an electric circuit becomes a mystery and relic cherished as the current church cherishes its relics.

A time jump shows humanity on the cusp of scientific re-discovery and new enlightenment and a final time jump shows society more advanced than ours but about to repeat its cycle. Throughout it all, the monks work to preserve history and morality and the novel is a great device for philosophical debates. Because so many of you have spent significant amounts of time in your lives thinking about and debating these same topics, I feel confident that the novel would be at least interesting to you. The author tilts toward the Christian side of each argument but he does so in a manner that is fair, using very human characters, and never presents the debate as closed.

[happyone]

I just finished Nelson Demille's latest John Corey novel

The Maze


This is loosely based on several unsolved murders of young women on Long Island

I found it a fairly easy quick read - somewhere in the middle of the John Corey novels

I have several books out from the library - not sure what I will read next

[falafel]

I just finished Nelson Demille's latest John Corey novel

The Maze


This is loosely based on several unsolved murders of young women on Long Island

I found it a fairly easy quick read - somewhere in the middle of the John Corey novels

I have several books out from the library - not sure what I will read next

I love some of the John Corey novels. Plum Island was excellent. I will give this a shot, since its been a while since I've read a Demille.

Edit: Ugh, Scott Brick reads the audio book. That dude is too prolific. He's the same voice for every character, regardless of the book.

[Northwestcoug]

Finished A Canticle for Leibowitz. I think it would resonate with many if not all of you. Its author converted to Catholicism after WWII and seems to have used this novel, published in the early 60s, to work through his experiences. He had published several short stories, but never published another novel and ended up committing suicide at age 73. A Canticle for Leibowitz won the Hugo Award for best Sci Fi novel in 1961. It is a highly philosophical novel that uses Sci Fi to study the cycles of humanity.

It's broken into 3 main sections. The first begins at the fall of humanity, post nuclear war in the deserts of Utah. Some form of humanity has survived and so has some form of the Catholic church with monks working to preserve the history of their much more enlightened but ultimately doomed forebears. Something as simple as a blueprint for an electric circuit becomes a mystery and relic cherished as the current church cherishes its relics.

A time jump shows humanity on the cusp of scientific re-discovery and new enlightenment and a final time jump shows society more advanced than ours but about to repeat its cycle. Throughout it all, the monks work to preserve history and morality and the novel is a great device for philosophical debates. Because so many of you have spent significant amounts of time in your lives thinking about and debating these same topics, I feel confident that the novel would be at least interesting to you. The author tilts toward the Christian side of each argument but he does so in a manner that is fair, using very human characters, and never presents the debate as closed.

Gonna order this today. Sucks that I just bought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but at least it's on the list

[Pelado]

Still reading About Grace. I'm glad that I was no longer reading it to my daughters when I started reading a part including some marital infidelity.

Finally finished About Grace. I thought the opening third was really good. The final third wasn't bad. I felt like the middle was a bit of a slog, though. There were a few quotes that I really liked, though. The one that stands out to me right now:

Lots of times you think things are healed but they've only healed partway or they've healed wrong and you've got to rehurt 'em to get 'em right.

[SteelBlue]

No Country for Old Men. Still haven't even seen the movie so it's all new to me. So damned good. Chigurh has to be one of the most frightening characters I've read.

[Paperback Writer]

No Country for Old Men. Still haven't even seen the movie so it's all new to me. So damned good. Chigurh has to be one of the most frightening characters I've read.

I recommend that you see the film version of No Country for Old Men at some point - it is a faithful adaptation of the book. The Coen brother's script is more concise and some of the characters backstory are omitted but that is typical of film adaptations. In fact, I think I liked the film script at least as much as the book and in some ways more because the film is more direct. Kind of like Game of Thrones on HBO having to omit some plotlines from the novels but often those plotlines were somewhat pointless but nevertheless made good reading.

Javier Bardem deserved his Oscar for portraying Anton Chigurh. I read that Bardem almost had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and the Coen brothers had Mark Strong ready to stand in. I'm also a big fan of Strong and his portrayal of Chigurh would have been equally compelling in my opinion.

[Pelado]

I recommend that you see the film version of No Country for Old Men at some point - it is a faithful adaptation of the book. The Coen brother's script is more concise and some of the characters backstory are omitted but that is typical of film adaptations. In fact, I think I liked the film script at least as much as the book and in some ways more because the film is more direct. Kind of like Game of Thrones on HBO having to omit some plotlines from the novels but often those plotlines were somewhat pointless but nevertheless made good reading.

Javier Bardem deserved his Oscar for portraying Anton Chigurh. I read that Bardem almost had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and the Coen brothers had Mark Strong ready to stand in. I'm also a big fan of Strong and his portrayal of Chigurh would have been equally compelling in my opinion.

In that case, Bardem probably didn't deserve the Oscar for his portrayal.

[Paperback Writer]

In that case, Bardem probably didn't deserve the Oscar for his portrayal.

No, the Oscar would have gone to Mark Strong, Javier Bardem would not be any less deserving. On second thought...."What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss? Call it"

[SteelBlue]

I recommend that you see the film version of No Country for Old Men at some point - it is a faithful adaptation of the book. The Coen brother's script is more concise and some of the characters backstory are omitted but that is typical of film adaptations. In fact, I think I liked the film script at least as much as the book and in some ways more because the film is more direct. Kind of like Game of Thrones on HBO having to omit some plotlines from the novels but often those plotlines were somewhat pointless but nevertheless made good reading.

Javier Bardem deserved his Oscar for portraying Anton Chigurh. I read that Bardem almost had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and the Coen brothers had Mark Strong ready to stand in. I'm also a big fan of Strong and his portrayal of Chigurh would have been equally compelling in my opinion.

I watched it last night. Cued it up about 20 minutes after finishing the book. Among the most faithful adaptations I've seen, a testament to McCarthy's dialogue. I'm always a bigger fan of the book than the film, but even I have to admit that if you've seen the film, you've felt the book's essence. Bardem's performance was terrifying. I know, I know, "welcome to 2007, SB."

[Jeff Lebowski]

I watched it last night. Cued it up about 20 minutes after finishing the book. Among the most faithful adaptations I've seen, a testament to McCarthy's dialogue. I'm always a bigger fan of the book than the film, but even I have to admit that if you've seen the film, you've felt the book's essence. Bardem's performance was terrifying. I know, I know, "welcome to 2007, SB."

Better late than never!

I need to watch it again.

[Clark Addison]

I watched it last night. Cued it up about 20 minutes after finishing the book. Among the most faithful adaptations I've seen, a testament to McCarthy's dialogue. I'm always a bigger fan of the book than the film, but even I have to admit that if you've seen the film, you've felt the book's essence. Bardem's performance was terrifying. I know, I know, "welcome to 2007, SB."

I've never seen it if it makes you feel better. I also loved the book.

[SteelBlue]

Has anyone else read The Passenger yet? I have a question but would keep it to boardmail to avoid spoilers.