A Conversation for Ask h2g2
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Sho - employed again! Posted Jan 4, 2014
have you actually read The Gurnensey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? It could not be set anywhere else because it is based on the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the second world war and how it specifically affected the people living there.
I challenge you to show me how it could be set, for sake of argument, on the Outer Hebrides.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Pastey Posted Jan 4, 2014
I read Raising Steam over Christmas, and whilst it's a good book, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to someone who wasn't a big Pratchett fan.
There's just too many references to too many other books, events and characters, for it to stand on its own as the first Discworld book you'd read. And it's not just the other Moist books either, it's almost all of them. At times it seemed he was trying to name-check everything else he's ever written, and that can take up most of the book!
But, if you're a fan, then you're likely to enjoy it.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum Posted Jan 4, 2014
Indeed, I read the first chapter and had similar thoughts.
I have set it aside - well, beside the bed actually, where
it will become my insomnia cure.
It reads sorta like a tame 'western' and has all the comfy
warm humanist qualities that make Discworld such a dreamy
place to live in imagination but it does lack the fresh and
startling revelations that mark most of the others as one
discovers the series.
"Feet of Clay" remains my recommendation as the first to read.
It also introduces Cherry Littlebottom, a much more endearing
dwarf than later examples of the breed who it seems have taken
on a very negative role in the later works.
~jwf~
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? Posted Jan 5, 2014
Sorry Sho, what I meant was that it could have been set in any location which was occupied by foreign troops.
The problem with 'Potato Peel' for me was that Guernsey had an individuality before it joined the modern world in the sixties, and the book didn't get anywhere close to that feel.
I would be interested in your opinion if you read 'Ebenezer Le Page' which really does catch the quirkiness of this society.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Sho - employed again! Posted Jan 5, 2014
if I ever get a chance to read it I'll let you know. But I still think that Potato Peel Pie couldn't have been anywhere else. It was the only part of the British Isles that was occupied by the Germans and was in a unique position at that time.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? Posted Jan 5, 2014
I agree that the specific plot line relied on being set in one or other of the Channel Islands, but the characters could be from anywhere.
If you haven't already guessed, I am a Guernseyman. I read Ebenezer and I can see people that I have known. The Potato Peel characters only live in books.
My criticism of Potato Peel is that it is a popular book about a situation which is set amongst people that the author hasn't the faintest idea about. I have no beef about the book, just wanted to point out that it doesn't have any Guernsey people in it.
It's like writing a book about growing up in a Jewish area of New York which seems to be populated by Californians.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Sho - employed again! Posted Jan 5, 2014
but as you know it's based on letters that were found after the fact, and that's all it is, a recreation of a specific place and time
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? Posted Jan 5, 2014
It is based on fictional letters written by fictional characters in a fictional country, not real letters from real people.
If you enjoyed the book, I am happy. If it ever encourages you to visit the Island that would also be nice, although the place isn't what it was.
All I wanted to say was that the fictional Island and characters created by the author isn't a patch on the world of Ebenezer Le Page.
In my opinion, which I wouldn't dream of trying to impose on anyone else.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Bagpuss Posted Jan 5, 2014
I've recently finished A Bitter Taste by Annie Hauxwell. The only thing I'm a little disappointed by is that I have to wait until July for the author's third book. Seriously, I am very impressed with this new author and I wish there was a load of previous novels to plough through.
Just started Matter by Iain M Banks. I like a bit of Culture.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Bagpuss Posted Jan 20, 2014
Game of Thrones by George R R Martin. Apparently it got made into a TV series by some obscure cable channel.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum Posted Jan 21, 2014
Not obscure enough. Some power tripping TV exec with a
dismissive regard for human values sat back and thought:
"Mmm... soft core porn and lotsa gore and violence. Luv it!
And all the Magick can be done with CGI special effects.
Whoop-dee-doo-doo."
Yeah, whoop-dee-fracking doo...
Sadism, treachery, incest, genocide, misogyny, gay-bashing,
elitism, blasphemy, false religions, teenage angst...
Yep, all the high points of First Whirled favourites.
~jwf~
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum Posted Jan 21, 2014
Oopsy...
I may have judged some good books there by their TV adaptation.
But much the same can be said of the recent multi-episode rendering
of the Holy Bible, also a confused melange of episodic over acting
and violent passion wrapped up in the Magicks of CGI.
~jwf~
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Sho - employed again! Posted Jan 21, 2014
The Game of Thrones books (well I have read only the first one so far) are excellent, and the TV series (I can only compare S1 with book 1) is very well done and not far from the original stories.
I have finished The Humans. Excellent. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
Now I'm reading some thriller with a serial killer. It's pretty good so far: An Eye for an Eye but I can't remember who it's by.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Cheerful Dragon Posted Jan 21, 2014
I'm with Sho as far as the books are concerned. I haven't seen any of the TV adaptation, so I can't comment on that, but the books are good. I'm back on to the second book (A Clash of Kings) on my Kindle.
I've made a resolution to try not to have too many books on the go at once. Right now I'm reading six, three on Kindle and three tree-books. One of the tree-books is my bedtime / bathroom book, so that doesn't matter so much. One of the e-books is The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, so I need to have something else at the same time for light relief. I'm aiming to get down to one e-book and two tree-books, but it's going to take a while.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Secretly Not Here Any More Posted Jan 21, 2014
"Sadism, treachery, incest, genocide, misogyny, gay-bashing,
elitism, blasphemy, false religions, teenage angst... "
I missed the memo that said all entertainment needs to focus only on the positives of the human condition.
Just like you missed the point in ASOIAF that none of the above are "good" things.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Tavaron da Quirm - Arts Editor Posted Jan 21, 2014
I stopped watching when they killed the only character that I liked. I'm not very forgiving when it comes to things like that. Just like I'll never forgive Rowling that she killed Sirius.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Cheerful Dragon Posted Jan 21, 2014
My favourite male character, Tyrion, is alive and well 50% of the way through Book 2. Long may this continue. (My favourite female character is Daenerys - well, she does have three dragons!)
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Bagpuss Posted Jan 22, 2014
Okay, watch the spoilers please. I'm only a little way into the first book. Although I must admit that more than half the stuff ~jwf~ refers to is already in evidence.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Cheerful Dragon Posted Jan 22, 2014
Oops, sorry! But I haven't given much away. There's an awful lot going on, and I'm not saying who does what to whom, where, why or anything else.
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
Cheerful Dragon Posted Jan 24, 2014
Finished Five Weeks in a Balloon, so I'm down to two e-books. However, I've started two more tree-books: A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris (about Edward I) and Fitzroy of the Beagle by H. E. L. Mellersh (about the captain on Darwin's voyages). So I still have six books on the go!
Key: Complain about this post
(The Return of) What book are you reading at this time?
- 8521: Sho - employed again! (Jan 4, 2014)
- 8522: Pastey (Jan 4, 2014)
- 8523: ~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum (Jan 4, 2014)
- 8524: pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8525: Sho - employed again! (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8526: pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8527: Sho - employed again! (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8528: pebblederook-The old guy wearing surfer beads- what does he think he looks like? (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8529: Bagpuss (Jan 5, 2014)
- 8530: Bagpuss (Jan 20, 2014)
- 8531: ~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8532: ~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8533: Sho - employed again! (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8534: Cheerful Dragon (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8535: Secretly Not Here Any More (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8536: Tavaron da Quirm - Arts Editor (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8537: Cheerful Dragon (Jan 21, 2014)
- 8538: Bagpuss (Jan 22, 2014)
- 8539: Cheerful Dragon (Jan 22, 2014)
- 8540: Cheerful Dragon (Jan 24, 2014)
More Conversations for Ask h2g2
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."