what are you reading now?

[wg-]

Been reading Ballard "Cocaine Nights" over Xmas after finding out in was set in Costa del Sol. It's interesting reading his attempt at a noir- at least that's what it seems like so far to me- though I think the distain for the region is a bit misguided

Gibraltar as the mythical world full of crooks as opposed to it actually being the Costa itself is an interesting/misguided perspective

Still on the lookout for more southern coast crime stuff, none of it quite hits though

 

[catalog]

You tried Derek Raymond?

 

[wg-]

Never heard of him but I am going to buy a couple. Good wikipedia page, thanks

 

[catalog]

Yeah might not be quite what yr after but he's bit earlier gen than ballard and similar kind of story in that he rejected his aristocratic roots.

Iain sinclair refs him a lot, as one of the great London writers.

And he put him in a film.



He has a good look. Not many can pull off beret (paging @woops)

 

[wg-]

I have just been trying to read more esoteric crime novels recently, for want of a better term. By Southern coast I mean Costa del sol really but there doesn't seem to be as much of it around as you'd think given what it's like

"Arthouse Sexy Beast"

Not necessarily enthralled by the background of Ballard as interesting as it is, but this lad seems like he had a mad life, I will give him a go

 

[Corpsey]

It's interesting reading multiple books at once, you can't help but start making connections between them all.

Also, I took up 'David Copperfield' again last night and I felt like I had a bit of an insight into how the original audience would have read it—a chapter a week, or whatever it was. Cos I couldn't really remember what I'd just read and you notice that Dickens reminds you in certain ways. I wonder if some people would have read 'DC' from chapter 32 onwards or something, like people take up soap operas at episode 456 nowadays.

Still reading: The Two Towers, David Copperfield, The Pike

 

[IdleRich]

Times have definitely changed...

 

[jenks]

I have just been trying to read more esoteric crime novels recently, for want of a better term. By Southern coast I mean Costa del sol really but there doesn't seem to be as much of it around as you'd think given what it's like

"Arthouse Sexy Beast"

Not necessarily enthralled by the background of Ballard as interesting as it is, but this lad seems like he had a mad life, I will give him a go

You might enjoy Izzo https://www.europaeditions.com/news...y-be-the-most-lyrical-hard-boiled-writing-yet

 

[jenks]

It's interesting reading multiple books at once, you can't help but start making connections between them all.

Also, I took up 'David Copperfield' again last night and I felt like I had a bit of an insight into how the original audience would have read it—a chapter a week, or whatever it was. Cos I couldn't really remember what I'd just read and you notice that Dickens reminds you in certain ways. I wonder if some people would have read 'DC' from chapter 32 onwards or something, like people take up soap operas at episode 456 nowadays.

Still reading: The Two Towers, David Copperfield, The Pike

Yep I think it’s the mark of a good writer to give you a few gentle reminders about who characters are etc - especially in a big book.

 

[Corpsey]

This should go in the dickens thread I suppose but steerforth is a great (or at least intriguing) character. All charm and buoyancy but already hints that behind it all lie a miserable self -loathing. Like with @luka 😃

Unfortunately I've seen the film so I already know what happens. (Of course, you realise very quickly how much they have to take out of any film or TV adaptation.)

 

[version]

I have just been trying to read more esoteric crime novels recently, for want of a better term.

You read any of the Manchette stuff I was on about a few months back?

 

[okzharp]

I started Perdido Street Station last night, it's pretty tasty... the interior walls of this building are described as "lachrymose", love that, all the Mervyn Peake comparisons starting to make sense

 

[shakahislop]

Times have definitely changed...

View attachment 21176

is that the farage autobiography?

 

[Clinamenic]

Just started Don Quixote, loving it so far. I suspect it could end up being my favorite novel.

By the way @vershy versh apparently Don Quixote is considered an “encyclopedic novel” and I thought you might be interested in this concept.

 

[IdleRich]

is that the farage autobiography?

Oh it was The Singapore Grip.

 

[kid charlemagne]

i recently finished homer the odyssey, it was a worthwhile read, sorta inspirational, lots of mythology nonsense, but i was very struck by how bluntly and horrifyingly violent it could be.... i am considering reading the illiad.... starting raymond chandler farewell lovely now

 

[IdleRich]

Bring Up The Bodies, sequel to Wolf Hall.

 

[kid charlemagne]

@vershy versh i read farewell my lovely this week, i loved it, better than big sleep, felt a lot meaner and bleak.....

i am going to read guy debord society of spectacle today, and then guy debord comments on it book tomorrow..... adlmittedly i read the first chapeter of spectacle last night and it was the last thing i wanted to be reading.... i dont know but i will read the whole thing today....

 

[version]

@vershy versh i read farewell my lovely this week, i loved it, better than big sleep, felt a lot meaner and bleak.....

The bit where they go to exchange the necklace in the canyon by the sea. The fog and trees and lights across the water. Chandler's great at that sort of thing, I loved all the heat, storm and palm tree descriptions in The Big Sleep. This is etched into my brain...

"At seven-twenty a single flash of hard white light shot out of Geiger's house like a wave of summer lightning. As the darkness folded back on it and ate it up a thin tinkling scream echoed out and lost itself among the rain-drenched trees. I was out of the car and on my way before the echoes died."​

 

[kid charlemagne]

"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, i needed a vacation, i needed a home in the country. what i had was a coat, a hat, and a gun. i put them on and went out the room"

"Outside the narrow street fumed, the sidewalks swarmed with fat stomachs. across the street a bingo parlor was going full blast and beside it a couple of sailors with girls were coming out of a photographer's shop where they had probably been having their photos taken riding on camels/ the voice of the hot dog merchant split the dusk like an axe. a big blue bus blared down the street to the little circle where the street used to turn on a turntable. i walked that way"

such an amazing stylist, sharp imagery, even tho the books have nothing plots to them