New GNR book club

[Andy Rose]

Yes.

"He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world "

E.g. I like …
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

that's my second favorite.

[~*Charlie*~]

Yes.

"He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world "

That’s a nice quote too.
I haven’t read the book for years. You whet my interest for reading it again.:-)

[Andy Rose]

That’s a nice quote too.
I haven’t read the book for years. You whet my interest for reading it again.:-)

You should. I think it's a book one has to read in different times of their lives in order to find new and different meanings. I remember that I read it for the first time when I was around 10 and I found it awefully boring, by then, I hadnt understand 1/2 of what it all meant.

[~*Charlie*~]

You should. I think it's a book one has to read in different times of their lives in order to find new and different meanings. I remember that I read it for the first time when I was around 10 and I found it awefully boring, by then, I hadnt understand 1/2 of what it all meant.

I absolutely agree with you on that.
The book is more of a fairy tale for adults. Even Antoine de Saint-Exupéry himself didn't consider it as a book for kids.

[Andy Rose]

Mysterious Buenos Aires

by Manuel Mujica Lainez




it contains 42 short stories that date from the arribal of the spanish settlers till 1900. it mixes reality with fantasy and the author narrates violently, starkly detailed the events - or what he imagines were the events- that took place here. it mixes fiction with true historical events. Everyone could enjoy it, even if this is not your country 

[seely]

Tony Blair's autobiograhy...inte resting stuff

[Superstick]

Komt een vrouw bij de dokter - Kluun (English Title: Love Life).
The book has been a hype over here a couple of years ago, but I hadn't read it yet. But now I have. 
Technically he is not the best writer. He claims this book should be under 'literature', but I strongly disagree.
However, the story is very emotional and beautiful and sad. The story is based on the actual life of this writer. His wife discovers that she has cancer, and the story is about the period she finds out until she dies (this is information that is already clear, so I am not giving anything away). And it tells the story about her husband, who has a lot of problems with the situation and runs away from it by partying hard and cheating on his wife (now don't judge the bloke before you read the story, ladies). 
One of the few books ever I have read in only one day. I couldn't put it away anymore. Maybe Johan and Adriana have read it as well, but they definitely heard of it.
I thought it was an excellent read. 

[Adriana Galore]

Yes, I read 'Komt een vrouw bij de dokter' in 2003(??) and saw the film too.  What a lame translation; 'Love Life'??? 
No one cares about Dutch bestsellers except us the Dutch. I can live with it. It seems it's the best book ever sold in our small country. I assume it appeals to a lot people's own lives. The press was not that enthusiast at first, my ex bashed me I read it, like you, I couldn't stop reading. It was compared to 'Turks Fruit' (Turkish Delight -better translation) which I found that silly to compare a debut to someone like Jan Wolkers, whom I love. I once 'met' Jan Wolkers some years before he died at the opening of an exhibition of his other art-work. I tried to say something to my hero. I stumbled and must have looked very stupid. Jan said: "Oh, meisje je hebt zulk mooi rood haar en prachtige sproeten maar kindje toch je moet meer eten hoor!"   

This story -as in the book- happened to one of my best gf's. Thank god she's still alive, divorced, still going strong and happy with a new man. This summer we're gonna throw a party because of our 25 year anniversary of being friends! 

[Adriana Galore]

Re-reading 'Jericho' by Dirk Bogarde - intriguing book.

(Dirk Bogarde is -as the English know I assume- a famous actor whom played in silly films and also had amazingly great part films when he got older. He was a mega-talented man. Actor, writer (poetry and novels) and it seems he even sang.)

[Superstick]

Yes, I read 'Komt een vrouw bij de dokter' in 2003(??) and saw the film too.  What a lame translation; 'Love Life'??? 
No one cares about Dutch bestsellers except us the Dutch. I can live with it. It seems it's the best book ever sold in our small country. I assume it appeals to a lot people's own lives. The press was not that enthusiast at first, my ex bashed me I read it, like you, I couldn't stop reading. It was compared to 'Turks Fruit' (Turkish Delight -better translation) which I found that silly to compare a debut to someone like Jan Wolkers, whom I love. I once 'met' Jan Wolkers some years before he died at the opening of an exhibition of his other art-work. I tried to say something to my hero. I stumbled and must have looked very stupid. Jan said: "Oh, meisje je hebt zulk mooi rood haar en prachtige sproeten maar kindje toch je moet meer eten hoor!"   

This story -as in the book- happened to one of my best gf's. Thank god she's still alive, divorced, still going strong and happy with a new man. This summer we're gonna throw a party because of our 25 year anniversary of being friends! 

Well technically it is not written very well, but it is a very catchy novel. And I think it is indeed the best sold book ever over here, so people seem to enjoy it.
How cool that you've met a god like Jan Wolkers. I can just hear him say that! 
Wow, sounds heavy. I have no experience with this decease at all, I guess I can only be happy about that. 
But good to hear your friend survived and is doing well.
And thank you for the nice answer, miss Galore. 

[Faxl]

Finished an autobiography of Tommy Cooper by John Fisher. Excellent stuff.

[Emilia]

I´m currently reading The wonderful adventures of Nils:


 

[seely]

So, finally finished reading this brick of a book (The full, uncut edition) the other day...and gotta say, what a masterpiece. This book really has it all, an epic in every sense of the word, deep characters, gripping story throughout, and a kick ass villain to boot (Next on my SK to read list is the dark tower series, so get read more about him...been told a rough overview of the books, looking forward to reading them...not to mention all the hype of them on here). Only gripe perhaps was the ending bit in vegas seemed a bit shorter than it could have been, and I wasn't too sure about the 'hand of god' thing, even though it's essentually a tale all about good v evil and god v satan, and Mother Abigail and Randall Flag are essentially personifications of each, you never really directly see the influence of either until than ending, but for what it is, it was still decent and fitted in with the overall theme. As a whole, the book is a staggering effort, sure it's long, but there aren't many scenes wasted. The general ending theme of humanity being doomed to repeat past mistakes was pretty poignant too, i thought.
Favourite scenes have to be:
-The spreading of 'Captain Tripps' and humanity's near extinction
-Flagg saving Lloyd from his prison cell
-Trashcan Man's encounter with the Kid (This was cut from the original version - madness!) and his arrival into vegas and witnessing the drugs mule being crucified
-The ending in Vegas, as Larry and Ralph arrive and are about to be killed

Seen the TV adaption of the book, as far as adaptions go, it's a pretty fine effort. The last episode in particular is fantastic. I hear they're now making a big-screen adaption of it...gonna be interesting to say the least, not sure how they'll condense it all unless they make it into a series/trilogy of movies.


 

[jplpool]

So, finally finished reading this brick of a book (The full, uncut edition) the other day...and gotta say, what a masterpiece. This book really has it all, an epic in every sense of the word, deep characters, gripping story throughout, and a kick ass villain to boot (Next on my SK to read list is the dark tower series, so get read more about him...been told a rough overview of the books, looking forward to reading them...not to mention all the hype of them on here). Only gripe perhaps was the ending bit in vegas seemed a bit shorter than it could have been, and I wasn't too sure about the 'hand of god' thing, even though it's essentually a tale all about good v evil and god v satan, and Mother Abigail and Randall Flag are essentially personifications of each, you never really directly see the influence of either until than ending, but for what it is, it was still decent and fitted in with the overall theme. As a whole, the book is a staggering effort, sure it's long, but there aren't many scenes wasted. The general ending theme of humanity being doomed to repeat past mistakes was pretty poignant too, i thought.
Favourite scenes have to be:
-The spreading of 'Captain Tripps' and humanity's near extinction
-Flagg saving Lloyd from his prison cell
-Trashcan Man's encounter with the Kid (This was cut from the original version - madness!) and his arrival into vegas and witnessing the drugs mule being crucified
-The ending in Vegas, as Larry and Ralph arrive and are about to be killed

Seen the TV adaption of the book, as far as adaptions go, it's a pretty fine effort. The last episode in particular is fantastic. I hear they're now making a big-screen adaption of it...gonna be interesting to say the least, not sure how they'll condense it all unless they make it into a series/trilogy of movies.


 

Excellent review. 

Let's hold hands. 

[Shacklers Revenge]

This is my absolute favorite book of all time. I think people do go way overboard with the modern day parallels, BUT I do think there is some very, very good food for thought there, and you can definitely see some parallels with modern society.

That all being said, aside from the political and social aspects of the book, the story is absolutely amazing. The characters, the suspense, the concept, the complexity- it's just a complete package. It is still the only book I've ever read that truly frightened me while I was reading it- not because of any sort of social significance, but simply because the world Orwell builds is so immersive, and his writing so detailed, that I became completely lost in the story, and so emotionally involved that it really disturbed me. I could not shake it.