[Misc] What Book are you Currently Reading?

[dolphins]

My current one is Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars by David Hepworth.

Superb read if you have any interest in music - a different approach to most music books; looks at a different artist each chapter, which runs from 1955 to 1995, one chapter per artist, and it will principally be a key year in their story. Plenty of myth busting, revelations about the artists, and it puts it all into perspective, too.

 

[Gwylan]

I am looking to explore 2nd hand book stores in and around Sussex. I live in Worthing and don't mind a reasonable travel time to surrounding areas that have hidden gems like Badger books in Worthing

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I assume you know the ones in Brighton (in Trafalgar St and Duke St) but there's also a very good one in Chichester, in South St

 

[BBassic]

I've almost finished 'Barkskins' by Annie Proulx.

Excellent book which follows the lives of two French servants from when they arrive in 'New France' (North America) in 1693 and all of their descendants.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I took three books on holiday last week. One of them was called BRING ME BACK by BA PARIS.

It is a long time since I gave up on a book without finishing it, but after struggling to half way I simply couldn't stand it anymore. The story was frustrating. The characters were unbelievable and you just simply don't care about them. So I gave up. Left my bookmark in it and donated it to the Air B&B bookshelf. I felt a bit guilty in case leaving it spoils someone else's week. But then I did also leave THE BLACK BOOK by JAMES PATTERSON which was as brilliant as the other one was awful.

 

[Bold Seagull]

All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr. Pretty darn peachy so far, great writing.

Finally got round to getting stuck into this one, lovely book. I particularly liked the description of peaches after a period without food as 'wedges of wet sunshine'.

 

[Easy 10]

Leading, by Alex Ferguson. Decent, a lot of interesting anecdotes in there.

Got the new Peter Crouch book waiting in the wings, looking forward to getting stuck into that.

 

[Surf's Up]

Sweet Tooth - Ian Mckewan's take on the spy genre - so far so good, predictably different in a McKewanesque way and none the worse for that!

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

Javier Cercas - 'The Imposter'


This is 1 of the 13 longlisted novels on the 2018 Man Booker Int'l list and without doubt one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in years.


It's the true story of Enric Marco who was president of the Spanish victims of the Nazi slave labour camps organisation until he was exposed as a fraud in 2005. It's written from the perspective of the author Javier Cercas who had a long-time fascination with this subject but an extreme reluctance to write about it.


There are many philosophical hooks to this book. For starters, there's the parallels with the greatest character in Spanish literature Don Quixote. It's not just the coincidence of geography or the story of a man inventing a heroic history for himself but also how Enric Marco defended his actions after he was exposed. He claimed that it was all part of a noble lie employed to make public a greater truth and this partly resonated with Javier Cercas as a novelist who also regards himself in part as an imposter.


The logic goes as follows: all art is fiction but a lot of art can be used to reveal or explain a truth. A novelist goes even further and invents a world far removed from their own existence as a form of narcissism. Marco self-justified his actions as being no different from an artist or author.


Under Marco's shambolic leadership, the Nazi camp survivors' group gained huge influence that it had never experienced before. This was partly due to the Spanish reluctance to discuss sending their own countrymen to Nazi death camps and partly that the survivors' group was full of weary and old men and women that didn't crave publicity and couldn't tell the story of what happened as creatively as Marco. The real story of day to day life in the camps was one of terror and hunger but also boredom, routine and a grey mundane existence. Marco gave thousands of talks to schools, colleges et al and although clearly motivated by self-interest, a by-product was that he did a lot of good in getting the subject debated with his flamboyant story-telling.


The author also discusses the moral dilemma of the historian who discovered proof that Marco was a fraud. He was left with the decision of whether to go public with this knowledge just days before the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen camp at which Marco was to share a platfrom with the Spanish PM. Should he go public with the news or not? And if yes then when? The survivors' group's reputation was mortally wounded when the news did break and Marco's exposure ruined them. It's also given fuel to holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists. In hindsight, would it have been better to have kept quiet?


There are further things to consider - Many people knew and for a long time that Marco's stories couldn't all be true. Marco re-invented himself time and again. He simply walked away from 2 marriages. Everyone went along with it though because Marco was charming and people wanted to listen to him and they all allowed him to play the role of Republican war hero/camp survivor. They were all complicit in the lie.


All through the book, the author reveals his angst at continuing to interview Marco, about not knowing for sure what really did happen and the knowledge that Marco doesn't really care that he is a pariah. All he wants is a big fat book written about him and the author is giving him this wish.


Even as a work of pure fiction, the premise would have been extremely thought-provoking. The fact that it's a true story takes it to somewhere else completely. The only criticism I have is that Cercas doesn't really know how to end the book. The epilogue has about 8 chapters in it and each one would have been a fitting end.


tl;dr - read this book. It will blow your mind.

Reading this off the back of this review. Buzzer is right. An excellent read. One that makes you think.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Revisiting 'Look Who's Back' by Timur Vermes (excellent English translation - from the original German - by Jamie Bulloch). Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well... OK, it's a ludicrous premise but the book is a comic masterpiece. Absolutely hilarious. Can't recommend it highly enough.

 

[Gwylan]

Reading Decline & Fall - not Evelyn Waugh's but ex-minister Chris Mullin's account of the dog-end of the last Labour government. He's incredibly rude about several of his colleagues - particularly Prescott.

It's also interesting to read about the financial problems of the Labour Party and the declining membership; it does go some way to explaining why Corbyn is seen as such an asset, the organisation was on its last legs. It's also sobering to see how many of the politicians have died (Cook, Mowlam and Banks in the first 70 pages.

I'm only about 20% of the way through it at the moment, but it's a fascinating read

 

[pearl]

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

 

[Beach Hut]

Just read Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd, he really does write excellent books.

Next up Waiting For Sunrise

 

[BrightonCottager]

Just finished Viv Albertine 's Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music etc. Great read especially if you're into early punk.

 

[maltaseagull]

Just finished
How we invented freedom & why it matters by Daniel Hannan.

Bit ott at times but very interesting.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Deus Ex Machina: The Best Game You Never Played in Your Life

Probably helps if you are into 80s computer games but Mel Croucher is an interesting guy. He designed a game for the C64, Spectrum etc which was played whilst listening to a soundtrack. The soundtrack featured Jon Pertwee, Frankie Howerd and Ian Dury and would have featured Patrick Moore but Moore's mum didn't approve.

 

[BrightonCottager]

Currently reading A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss. She's the ex Times sports journo and author of Eats Shoots and Leaves. She used to live in Clifton Hill, now Ovingdean. It's a comic crime novel set in Brighton in the 1950s. It's very evocative of Brighton and contains characters like Sergeant Brunswick & Constable Twitten. Ridiculous and funny.

 

[Deano's Right Foot]

Just reading The Dry by Jane Harper and thoroughly enjoying it - Aussie crime caper

 

[Gwylan]

Reading the last Shardlake book, Tombland. It's a monster book, could do serious damage if dropped on my foot.

Historical fiction is not normally my thing, but I love these books. There's always a good storyline and plenty of factual detail crammed in. I believe that they're being adapted for television soon.

The author, CJ Sansom, lives in Sussex too so there's a bit of a connection there.

 

[Deano's Right Foot]

Ah. and that , Max, highlights our respective intellectual levels See you at the quiz Friday

 

[portlock seagull]

Currently reading A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss. She's the ex Times sports journo and author of Eats Shoots and Leaves. She used to live in Clifton Hill, now Ovingdean. It's a comic crime novel set in Brighton in the 1950s. It's very evocative of Brighton and contains characters like Sergeant Brunswick & Constable Twitten. Ridiculous and funny.

I’d never buy anything of hers if I were a Brighton fan. Called us all hooligans v York and got the complete wrong end of the stick when we took action against Archer. Damned us all.