h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've now finished Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke, it's really good! As long as you've read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by the same author, otherwise most of the references in this book don't make any sense whatsoever! And the language takes a bit of getting used to, a cross between Victoria English and modern American, quite quite strange!!

Very imaginative though, and full of strange , so it's good!

Now going to read Donnie Brasco, a true story of an FBI agent, I think, or Jeremy Clarkson's I know you got soul, or Crusoe's Daughter by Jane Gardam......Decisions, decisions!! Whichever one is closer to the bed probably

Anyone got any advice?!

L x

Read the first sentance from each book, whichever one grabs your interest the most, read that one
It's a technique I've employed in the past. It also explains why I've read the Kama Sutra 1,500 times consecutively

Ed,
Chewing gum flavour wine? Ugh! I'd rather have a Zweigelt.
If there's one bookshelf I'm curious about it's yours!

By the way they have a great free library at our local Irish pub. I'm taking a bag of books there tonight when I go go watch Blackburn Rovers take on Leverkusen in the UEFA Cup.

Not *quite* chewing gum flavour wine...but you know how when you get 'grape flavoured' sweeties and they have a curious medicinal flavour that's nothing like grapes? That's Concord grapes. Or scuppernongs.

By Louis Paul Boon "Het Geuzenboek" about the the Spanish domination of the Low Countries in the 16th century.
Everybody who doesn't know Boon, he was one (the) most important Flemish writers of the 20th century, almost none of his works is translated in English, but if you find "De Kapellekensbaan" (1953) (in English: Chapel Road), buy it, steal it, lend it but read it. It is a very good book.

Just finished reading Nine Suitcases, an incredible survival story and a document of mircales in a time of darkness. One young German soldier's question, in retreat on the Russian front, sticks in my mind. The quote, as I remember it and paraphrase it, was something like: "And do they have literature in America? I suppose it's understandable that we have none, living in experimental times."

Now reading Franz Kafka's 'America' which is described as 'the most purely delightful' of Kafka's books. It's a jumble-sale Penguin and small enough to carry around in the jacket pocket. Emil Zola is seething. But 'Germinal' is simply too thick to transport around.

For bedtime reading I've discovered another thick book, a 40 year old 'book of the month', Night Falls on the City. It starts promisingly with some panic in the theatre and art world. The Germans are on their way to take over Vienna.

"I babysit so get access to loads of peoples houses. i fnd it really fascinating seeing whats on their bookshelves. They really do tell you a lot about a person"

Indeed. Half Price Books sells books by the yard, including:

"Law Books. These books give any room a distinctive, scholarly and upscale look."

That tells me a lot about lawyers ...

I'm not making this up:

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/bby.html

White Line Fever - Lemmy Kilminsters Biography.

I've just finished "The Seville Communion" by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. It's a sort-of whodunnit. It's well-written (OK, well-translated, at any rate), but I'm not quite sure what it's all about. Lots of stuff happens, and there's a murder, but no-one really seems to care too much about any of the outcomes.

So, whta next? Any reecommendations for what I can take on holiday?

RF

I dunno about holiday recommendations but I've just bought John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath for my next holiday!
Alongside the aforementioned Kafka novel I'm now reading John Briley's South African novel Cry Freedom, the story of Steve Biko and Donald Woods. I'm a glutton for books about underdogs as anybody who looks at 'my space' must have deduced by now.

I defy you to read the last page of 'Grapes...' with a dry eye.

Donald Woods' own book about Biko was excellent. I remember reading it years back, before Nelson Mandela had even had a song written about him. At the end there was a chilling list of numbers of people who had been killed in detention in various ways. 'Slipped in shower'. 'Fell down stairs'. 'Jumped out of window.'

Q. What was the BBC's lead news item on the day Biko was murdered?

Anyone?

Holidays...

Have you read 'I Capture The Castle'?

No...but I've seen the (appalling) film.

I'm looking for something a bit cheerier?

RF

Oh, the book's lovely! And a hoot from start to finish.

Or for cheery...since L-Ll's mentioned Steinbeck, 'Cannery Row'. (Although the best bit's in the sequel, 'Sweet Thursday', when Doc travels down the coast to study cephalopods and has to order a beer milkshake)

Leading news item at the time of Biko#s death? I give up. That would be really interesting to know, Edward. And that's even before 'spin'!

Is there much on the US news about Prodi's resignation these days? The expansion of the US Military base at Vicenza caused the public outcry in Italy, that being the final straw. I think they'll put a different spin on it in some places.

<>
Anna Nicole Smith is much more important
according to the websites of some American newspapers and tv-stations

The death of Victor the giraffe.

(Youngsters - he'd done the splits and they spent a Bank Holiday weekend trying to hoist him upright. All very sad. He was not, however, a potential future leader of South Africa.)