I'm Not Really Here by Tim Allen. Easy read and more about Quantum Physics, Tim is a lot smarter and deep than people may think.
I'm Not Really Here by Tim Allen. Easy read and more about Quantum Physics, Tim is a lot smarter and deep than people may think.
The "Home Improvement" guy? Quantum Physics???Originally Posted by Shadowfax
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I'm a Dickens fan and every so often read him. I heard in college that Bleak House is considered one of his very best and Stephen King has said it is one of his top ten novels as it is supposedly like The Twlight Zone so now getting around to reading it. It was written and sent out in parts over an 18 month period, but I'm trying to beat that.
I'm about half way through Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 by Ryan Walsh. Very interesting and well researched. It's primarily about 1968 in Boston. The year Van Morrison lived in Cambridge (just across the Charles River) and recorded Astral Weeks with some local musicians, the blossoming of the Mel Lyman family (in which Mel was revered as the self-proclaimed "God"), the Boss Town Sound and the accompanying rise of music venues like the Boston Tea Party (where the Velvet Underground played 43 times) and the Unicorn Coffee House, and sort-of locally made or influenced movies like The Boston Strangler and Zabriskie Point.
The information about Mel is fascinating. He was a banjo and harmonica player in the Jim Kweskin Jug Band who put together a commune of hippies and free-thinkers in Roxbury, MA, a poor community in the south end of Boston. They published an underground paper called Avatar, and they were at constant odds with the police and up-tight politicians. Many equated them with the Manson Family, although Mel started his at least a year earlier (and may have been involved in only one murder). Amazingly, the commune still exists in Roxbury as the Fort Hill Community and the Fort Hill Construction Company in Los Angeles. Mel unofficially died in 1978; there is no record of his death or location anywhere. Rolling Stone and the local RS-wannabe Fusion published extensively on the Lyman family in the late 60s.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
To my surprise also. The book is funny, entertaining, and deep at the same time
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
This one did not live up to the hype. Interesting premise, but was quite bloated at over 600 pages. Found it boring and plodding
more often than not. Was a struggle to finish this.
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
I loved it.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace
Exactly! Most people do. Not sure what I am missing, but know I didn't find it enjoyable.
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
Rather damning indictment of my reading habits, never finished this and restarted it, no idea why I stopped as I'm really enjoying it. Sword & Sorcery with a lead role going to a gay dysfunctional Warrior/Mage trying to repel an invasion from an alien race with the assistance of a barbarian warrior and an ancient half human half alien. Really very good.
The same author who did the Altered Carbon series.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Fascism by Madeleine Albright, whom I have tickets to see next week. Tells a brief history of how the worldwide depression from 1929-1935 (or so) led to the emergence of dictators (Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin) with strong nationalist tendencies, xenophobia, protectionist tendencies and blatant disregard for facts and the truth. The next ten years were dark times indeed for the world.
When the world economy hiccuped again, almost eighty years later in 2008 (due to some unscrupulous bankers), worldwide markets again took a severe righthand turn into protectionism, tariffs, nationalist sentiment, and it led to the election of several strongmen who promised to return their countries to "greatness."
A cautionary tale.
My wife has that Fascism book on order, and I want to read it, too, when she gets it. What do you mean you have tickets to see Albright next week? Is she on a speaking tour?
I don't believe it is a coincidence that the recent upsurge in fascist dictators is happening at the time when anyone who fought against fascism in World War II is in their 90s or dead. It may not all be economic; part of it may be opportunism, or worse, conspired. If saner minds manage to prevail this time, will it all come around again?
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Just started reading Stephen King's The Shining for the third time. This time in a limited edition version, made to celebrate King's 70's birthday, which included the original pre-face.
They say 750 were made and this is how that works:
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Ha! I've read that classic three times two. Your edition is a lot better than my paperback. Nice!
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
This is quite possibly the funniest novel I have ever read. Levi (who is also known as Biff) is resurrected after 2000 years so he can write his Gospel.
Biff was Jesus' (Joshua) best friend, and it was his task to provide the missing information from the Bible as to what Joshua was like up until age 30,
where his ministry begins. Biff claims to have invented sarcasm, so you might be able to see where this is headed! No novel has ever made me laugh out loud
as long or often as this one. Moore has certainly done his research. His blend of fact and whimsy is often poignant, but always hilarious. From Joshua's early
failed attempts at resurrections, to their road trip east to find the Magi (where they encounter Zen,Buddhism, and Hinduism) to their scripting of the Sermon on the Mount,
this will have you rolling. Highest possible recommendation!
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
Just finishing up My Book Of Genesis by Richard Macphail.
About half-way through Joe Lansdale's latest Hap & Leonard Jackrabbit Smile. The usual mayhem and humorous verbal expressions one would expect, though this one so far is much better than the last couple of Hap and Leonards, which I found rather bland. Joe has said he intends to give H and L a rest for a while. No argument outta me.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
One of my favorite books. The prose........a silken sledgehammer, that book is.
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
I was a huge fan of the novels of Alistair MacLean in the 60's & 70's and now, through the magic of Kindle and my local public library, I am re-discovering them as an adult. A lot of his work seems dated and formulaic 40-50 years later, but there's no denying "The Guns of Navarone", "Where Eagles Dare" and "Ice Station Zebra" are stone classics.
I read a lot of his books back in the day and found him to be rather inconsistent. The 3 books you mention were all great with "Ice Station Zebra" probably being my all time favorite from him. On the other hand he wrote books like "The Way To A Dusty Death" a story centered around Formula One auto racing, and he seemed to have very little knowledge of the subject he was talking about.
My dad was a Huge fan. I got to read them all. Along with the Travis McGee books.
I always thought Alistair peaked with his first novel. HMS Ulysses. Still, You picked the best of the Rest. ��
regards
KGH
Just finished "Tony & Susan", a book written by Austin Wright (1922-2003) in 1993.
It's in fact a book within a book: a family-drama in which a crime story is told... so it seems.
A lot to think about. Yet, I happen to read a new edition of this novel, which was printed after the book was filmed as "Nocturnal Animals" by Tom Ford.
So what I did, right after I finished the book, was watching this film on DVD.
Ford made the book his own, but also made the book better. If you know what I mean.
I am currently reading "Ray Davies - A Complicated Life" by Jonny Rogan. It gets a little bogged down in the details, but has been a really interesting book so far.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks