Book Recommendations

[anna]

Hi all,

I am reading "MY DIRTY LITTLE BOOK OF STOLEN TIME" by Liz Jensen.

It's about a prostitute from 1897,catapulted into 21st century London.

Quite good,and funny.........described as "gothic farce".

ANNA.

[Mike Covell]

Finished Andy McNab's "Seven Troop" and the last few chapters were real eye openers. It was a really touching book and covered everything from religion, to terrorism, love, death, and PTSD.

I thoroughly recommend for anyone with an interest in miltary history.

[Mike Covell]

"Seven Troop" by Andy McNab!! Awsome stuff

"Book of the damned" by Charles Fort, which is an anthology featuring several of his books in one fat volumne!

[dougie]

Howza bout the "tony benn diaries"......humorous,warm and interesting....the diaries of his political life,and personal, spanning 50 or so years....of course politically he was a dead loss really ,his beliefs were/are genuine and heartfelt,but naive maybe,and certainly of no relevance ,oe r meaningful relevance for today,but nonetheless for that an interesting insight into the political characters that have haunted the british scene for over half a century......riveting stuff.

[Celesta]

Hi Celesta,
THE complete title was "A moments liberty-the shorter diary".it covers the period 1915-1941...For me ,it was very very good..maybe not everyones cup of tea,and it takes a while to get into it ,owing to the plethora of different characters,which sometimes confuses a little...heres an extract (short )
"mon dec 1917".......One of the coldest and finest of christmases.rather to our relief we spent it alone..the trees,spare and lifeless,the brown of the plough,and yesterday the downs mountainous through a mist.Solitary sportsmen beat up duck and snipe on the marshes.windows almost frozen in the morning,each blade of grass rough with frost.Partridges would come and sit in the field,lifeless little lumps they looked,half stiff with cold perhaps"....

To me that kind of writing conjures up images,I enjoyed it ,others might not.I think you might.
regards

Thank you. This isn't the book I saw then. I like to read things about this time period. I'll look for this. Yes, I like writing that conjures up images. This shouldn't be hard to find. Thanks, Dougie.

[dougie]

Hi Celesta,
THE complete title was "A moments liberty-the shorter diary".it covers the period 1915-1941...For me ,it was very very good..maybe not everyones cup of tea,and it takes a while to get into it ,owing to the plethora of different characters,which sometimes confuses a little...heres an extract (short )
"mon dec 1917".......One of the coldest and finest of christmases.rather to our relief we spent it alone..the trees,spare and lifeless,the brown of the plough,and yesterday the downs mountainous through a mist.Solitary sportsmen beat up duck and snipe on the marshes.windows almost frozen in the morning,each blade of grass rough with frost.Partridges would come and sit in the field,lifeless little lumps they looked,half stiff with cold perhaps"....

To me that kind of writing conjures up images,I enjoyed it ,others might not.I think you might.
regards

[Celesta]

Just finished reading the diaries of virginia woolf (the shorter version),only 504 pages unfortunately, but an intriguing insight into the "bloomsbury set" and their characters....marvelous writing...a book to sink yourself into.
regards

I came across something like this a few days ago on a sale table and was tempted. I had never read anything by her. What's the specific title of what youi're reading? Just diary of VW? The book I say may still be on the table! It had an unusual title.

[dougie]

Robert,
No I jest you not,her writing flowed marvelously,I was pleasantly surprised....never read anything quite like it...never read her novels though I might try one now
regards

[Robert]

Was that a sick joke, Dougie?

[dougie]

Just finished reading the diaries of virginia woolf (the shorter version),only 504 pages unfortunately, but an intriguing insight into the "bloomsbury set" and their characters....marvelous writing...a book to sink yourself into.
regards

[dougie]

Plang,
your remarks were uncalled for, but ill do my best to be polite to you....I have seen the film ,many years ago, googling doesnt come into it..even if its spelt correctly
"Is it wrong for you to be young after all youve been through?" you ask...well I dunno, maybe if you relate what you have "been through" it might be easier to answer that question......... I presume the tequila is beginning to take effect,so ill leave you to sober up.
regards

[plang]

Respect your opinion Robert.
On the other hand, seems you have no idea really.
dougie, Henry Fonda has nothing to do with it other than he played the part of one of the jurors.
Can you look past who played the part and take it for what is is?
Probably not, because you have not bothered.
Maybe you should actually see the film before you offer an opinion instead of just googleing your 'knowledge' all the time.
And there is no 'young' in the title.
But is it wrong to be young at heart after all we have been through?
Or have you led a protected life? Don't know any better?
That is the UK's biggest challenge. How to adjust.
Why do you Brits not recycle. You have turned my country into a dump.
Ever heard of paying a deposit on beer cans/bottles ,juice/beverage bottles?
Oh no! Pay a few pennies on top of what you purchase. The horror!
But you see, if you can't be bothered to return them, at least some poor old sods will return them.
Clean up your act and stop trashing the place .

Did I just go off on a rant? (who cares)

[Robert]

I found "Twelve Angry Men" - though brilliantly written - just a tad too preachy. What saved the film was the character of the city engineer, who maintained the defendant's guilt (till quite near the end) for rational reasons.

Note the reassuring scene at the end of the film on the court house steps, where Henry Fonda and the old man exchange pleasantries and say goodbye, i.e. "these men had never met before and are not part of a Communist conspiracy."

I also liked Tony Hancock's version : "What about Magna Carta? Did she die in vain?"

[dougie]

Good luck finding the original 1957 film.
You will need to go to a specialty store maybe.
Dougie, did not know Henry Fonda was one of the jurors. It does not matter who the Star names are.
It is better to just absorb the dialogue and never mind who the actor is.
Unlike the remake, where big name actors overact their parts and over dramatize everything, that just ruins it.
Regards,
plang

Point taken Plang, and I agree,but Henry fonda (in my opinion) was a great actor, and maybe a story like "12 angry young men" needed an actor like that to get the message across......imagine a ham actor like sylvester stallone playing the part ..it would have killed the film stone dead.
On a different note ,Ive just found out there was a sequel to "road to nab end",been out a few years ,but I guess ill be buying that too now...I been spending a few bob on books recently ,partly due to some excellent reccomendations from members here....still id rather spend a few evenings with my nose in a book than watching tv.
regards

[plang]

Good luck finding the original 1957 film.
You will need to go to a specialty store maybe.
Dougie, did not know Henry Fonda was one of the jurors. It does not matter who the Star names are.
It is better to just absorb the dialogue and never mind who the actor is.
Unlike the remake, where big name actors overact their parts and over dramatize everything, that just ruins it.
Regards,
plang