My home in Bookwyrm. Not my home on the fediverse. That's @james@bne.social
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I wasn't old enough to really remember the siege itself; so I had the benefit of not really knowing how it would end. That certainly added to the excitement of the book, which is written very well and is clearly researched in a very focused way. An impressive read, and very enjoyable.
The Plague (French: La Peste) is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that …
Just finished this. Quite hard work, and obviously now we've all lived through COVID, it's less "amazing thing that will never happen" and more "a bit like 2020". I'm glad I ploughed through it, but I didn't really gel with any of the characters, and the storytelling device was a bit strange.
Hunt's first tunnel trips inspired a lifelong fascination with exploring underground worlds, from the derelict …
This was rather a good read: not particularly a "history" (and that would be too dry, anyway) but instead a number of stories of discovering caves, subway tunnels, catacombs and more: all with an underlying spiritual message like a rather insistent, repetitive drum, about our relationship to the great unseen underground.
It's compared with a Bill Bryson academic book on the cover; that's as wide of the mark as the subtitle of being a history book. But the Bill Bryson comparison would perhaps work better if it's compared with one of his travel books where he visits new and unknown places; except in this book, all the places are underground.
It certainly makes you think - and as a relatively recent immigrant to Australia, it's fascinating to read a whole chapter on the relationships that our traditional owners have with caves and underground areas.
A fascinating read - I grew up during the Blair government, and these diaries show that it wasn't quite as well organised as it seemed. Particularly, the part of the media to destabilise a government appears to be quite well displayed here. As the world moves on, I'm quite impressed with Campbell - self-validating though this might be, there are some fascinating parts of this for anyone seeking to understand the world as it was back then.
A remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens …
I've read a fair amount of books about North Korea, but this one is by far the most powerful and detailed book about normal life in the country. It's a very detailed and impressive book, following a number of ordinary North Koreans, and doesn't hold back on the positivity of the regime there as well as its faults and concerns. Most certainly the most interesting book I've read, and done in such a matter-of-fact, non-exaggerated way, it's hard to accuse it of being propaganda: indeed, the fact checking appears to be very well done. A difficult book in places, but worthwhile reading.
A good and enlightening read. I've had the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, and this book explains much of the press coverage, and even allays some fears about speed. It's very much worth a read: I managed to get through it in a day or so, though I'll freely admit a little of it was a little over my head.
Worth a read for the vaccine-hesitant, or at the minimum, those who want to learn more about what they've put in their arm.
In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in …
There's a reason you've probably heard of this book even if you haven't read it, and the fact that it has, at the time of writing, 580,000 ratings on GoodReads probably underlines it - it's a classic, apparently. But, like a classic car, there are some bits that don't work too well - with some overly florid language, particularly at the beginning of the book, almost signalling that Capote is trying too hard.
Occasionally, you get the feeling that he's being paid by the word. Perhaps he was: long excerpts from letters and documents pop up every so often that do little to aid the story or to develop character.
The pacing of the story is a little odd, too, with some parts whisking by, and other parts dwelled on with glacial slowness. But then, I'm not a literature teacher, and if I were, I'd probably point out why he's …
There's a reason you've probably heard of this book even if you haven't read it, and the fact that it has, at the time of writing, 580,000 ratings on GoodReads probably underlines it - it's a classic, apparently. But, like a classic car, there are some bits that don't work too well - with some overly florid language, particularly at the beginning of the book, almost signalling that Capote is trying too hard.
Occasionally, you get the feeling that he's being paid by the word. Perhaps he was: long excerpts from letters and documents pop up every so often that do little to aid the story or to develop character.
The pacing of the story is a little odd, too, with some parts whisking by, and other parts dwelled on with glacial slowness. But then, I'm not a literature teacher, and if I were, I'd probably point out why he's doing it. But I'm not, so I don't know why.
I later discover, after reading, that it first appeared in the New Yorker as a serial, published over four editions. That might explain some of the above - a requirement to reach a natural break-point for publication, perhaps.
In any case - it's fine, it's a good read, it's told well and with flair, if slightly too much flair in some cases. It's a good true crime thriller, in the same way as others which have followed. But personally I don't think it's worth full marks here - enjoyable though it was.
I do wonder, with books like these, how the main subject ever gets anything done, given that he appears blind drunk all the time. Sometimes light and funny, sometimes rather more dark, I gather this is early Hunter S Thompson, and therefore before he discovers acid. It was OK; the plot line mostly as-to-be-expected from the first few chapters, and the characters varied and interesting. Not sure I'd put it in a list of favourites, though.
Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision …
Everyone's supposed to have read this book already, but I hadn't. I knew very little about it, other than I'd written it down on a list to read after someone mentioned it in a throwaway comment - "you know, like Brave New World".
The obvious comparison is to George Orwell's 1984, though Huxley is much darker. Orwell brings lots of interesting detail in terms of his vision of the future; Huxley's future is less focused: we learn about recreation, but very little about living quarters, or food, or much else. A television is mentioned at one point; but at one moment of action, someone scrabbles to look up a telephone number, an action that seems quaint and old-fashioned.
Like Orwell, Huxley makes you think. His vision is just as sinister, but both more joyous and more controlling. It's an interesting thought: and I wonder whether all our politicians have read …
Everyone's supposed to have read this book already, but I hadn't. I knew very little about it, other than I'd written it down on a list to read after someone mentioned it in a throwaway comment - "you know, like Brave New World".
The obvious comparison is to George Orwell's 1984, though Huxley is much darker. Orwell brings lots of interesting detail in terms of his vision of the future; Huxley's future is less focused: we learn about recreation, but very little about living quarters, or food, or much else. A television is mentioned at one point; but at one moment of action, someone scrabbles to look up a telephone number, an action that seems quaint and old-fashioned.
Like Orwell, Huxley makes you think. His vision is just as sinister, but both more joyous and more controlling. It's an interesting thought: and I wonder whether all our politicians have read this book and have honed policies around it. Stranger things have happened...
I read the first of this trilogy, and found it quite depressing. This, with the benefit of knowing that Trump isn't in office any more, is a much easier read, and is actually quite funny in places. We learn that Rudy Giuliani is an often-drunk guy with a very farty bottom. The story of Election Night is fascinating, as is the refusal of Trump to believe he's lost. At the end of the book, Trump appears like a sad old nutter - living in Mar-A-Lago like it's some kind of old folks home, talking to literally anyone who'll listen to him. I doubt it would be anywhere near as funny if he were still in office, but he isn't, and so it's a good read. And Rudy Giuliani's farts are an excellent recurring feature, as they appear to be in real life.
A very excellent book. I didn't know who Ronan Farrow was, and read the first quarter of the book thinking that she was a woman. It turns out he isn't. Spoiler.
Anyway, this is a fascinating book. I was expecting it to be a difficult read, but it was much less about the crimes of Weinstein and much more about the reporting of them, and the attempts to silence him.
This is a great piece of journalism, and deservedly won accolades. You wonder how much of the story was able to be reported because if who Farrow was, rather than his journalistic skills - but he seems quite open about that, as well as the difficulties he had in getting the story out there.
A very good read, and recommended.
This was a good read: a little easier than Absurdistan, and a little more kind of normal. You get the feeling that this is a job for him, and it's not that odd a job to go off and learn about funny little places across the world. He writes well and it's an interesting read about places that I've, by and large, only read about. Less of a "story", and more of a collection of short essays, but none the worse for that.
There is something strange about people who insist on reporting from war zones or unpleasant countries. You can't help but feel they're a little mad. Campbell seems not to dispel this notion - his whole reason for existence to live in places like Moscow or China, or to visit places that are worse. It's a very interesting look behind the scenes, and one that is written with quite a bit of humour; but also one that is written by someone who's clearly not entirely blessed with sanity - though I'm not entirely sure he realises quite how strange his work is.
Written in an engaging tone, and with many humorous asides. I discover he's written a follow-up, and will devour that one, too.
I went to the same school as James (not the same year, and not the same 'house') and found his previous book full of welcome and amusing anecdotes about his time at school, as well as other things. This book, too, has a lot about the school we shared - though I didn't grin at any of them. He's angry, and right to be. This is a very good, and honest, book from someone who has learnt to look at what he does with a new understanding of his trade. It's quite powerful, and while not as easy a read as his previous one, certainly worthwhile.
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April …
This is a strange book - partly because, as a Brit and Australian, it seems as if I am peering in on another country's holy relic. As if to underline that, while this book came out in 2006, it is written in an incredibly old-fashioned style that is almost reminiscent of the texts that I read during my Catholic education. The purported dialogue in this book is fanciful and flowery, but then, so is the rest of it. There's probably a good reason that the book cover looks as old-fashioned as it reads.
Putting the strange style aside, the story - which I was wholly ignorant of, despite visiting the Ford Theatre on a visit to DC - is a good one, and told well, with a good pace and interesting detail. It would have been helpful to have put it into context for the modern reader, and in a …
This is a strange book - partly because, as a Brit and Australian, it seems as if I am peering in on another country's holy relic. As if to underline that, while this book came out in 2006, it is written in an incredibly old-fashioned style that is almost reminiscent of the texts that I read during my Catholic education. The purported dialogue in this book is fanciful and flowery, but then, so is the rest of it. There's probably a good reason that the book cover looks as old-fashioned as it reads.
Putting the strange style aside, the story - which I was wholly ignorant of, despite visiting the Ford Theatre on a visit to DC - is a good one, and told well, with a good pace and interesting detail. It would have been helpful to have put it into context for the modern reader, and in a more accessible style.
I leave it wondering what the point of writing this book was. As Swanson says at the beginning of the bibliography section, "the literature of the Lincoln assassination is vast, and I do not pretend to catalog it here", which you could first reply with "who the hell talks like that in a book written in 2006?" and, more to the point, "if there are so many books on the subject, what does this one bring to the party?"
I feel more educated on reading - and you do get a good understanding of who John Wilkes Booth was (though really very little criticism of his racism). Perhaps this might be a set book for American schools. If you can stomach the antiquated style, it's a worthwhile read. Not sure I'm in it for the sequel, though.
