Hosh
hoshomccreesh.com
Crapalachia by Scott McClanahan. Good stuff.
http://www.twodollarradio.com/books-forthcoming.htm
http://www.twodollarradio.com/books-forthcoming.htm
Last CD you bought/ Book you read
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Hosh
hoshomccreesh.com
So, UPDATE: Hard Rain Falling - Don Carpenter is pretty damn good; well done characters. Same guy who did the POST OFFICE script...(which I am now super interested to read. Saw on an old thread that a few of you have read it...)
I'd be surprised if "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" wasn't influenced by the book...the prison side of things fells like something they both share. As for the rest, I kept thinking of the Burnett film "Killer of Sheep" maybe crossed with a Patrick Hamilton book. Anyhow -- worth a read.
I'd be surprised if "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" wasn't influenced by the book...the prison side of things fells like something they both share. As for the rest, I kept thinking of the Burnett film "Killer of Sheep" maybe crossed with a Patrick Hamilton book. Anyhow -- worth a read.
PhillyDave
“The essential doesn't change.” Beckett
Did you read the NYRB edition w/ the George Pelecanos introduction, and if so what did you think of what he had to say?
Just read Dan Fante's 86'd. Very strong book. intense at points, and well developed characters surprise, surprise. Not the same writer as his father but of course there are similaritites w/ his father & Buk, in a good way fortunately. Next on board is his play Don Giovanni that, just by chance, happens to be a signed copy...
Just read Dan Fante's 86'd. Very strong book. intense at points, and well developed characters surprise, surprise. Not the same writer as his father but of course there are similaritites w/ his father & Buk, in a good way fortunately. Next on board is his play Don Giovanni that, just by chance, happens to be a signed copy...
Has anyone read The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake. I've only read the first couple of short stories but I'm enjoying it so far. I have to confess that I'd never heard of the guy until a recent recommendation. You have to love his name as well.
PhillyDave
“The essential doesn't change.” Beckett
Amazon says Breece took his life at 26 with a shotgun. Ouch. Regardless, it looks to be a mighty fine collection. Read amazon's "click to look inside" portion. Gonna have to add yet another Buk forum recommendation to my list.
I'm going to order that one.
Just recently finished a book called Men and Machines by a guy named Stuart Chase. If anybody is into history/philosophy, this book is easy to recommend. Balanced critique, very readable. Really a better history book doesn't come to mind. It was written in the late 20s, so it's a work of history, but also is itself historical. Also, the book has some awesome woodcuts for people who like an occasional image with their reading material.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Got this from a colleague who said I would like it, didn't really think so when I read the title, (who needs punchy?).But I can't put it down, well that's a bit of a fib; 'cos here I am, but it's just sitting to the left of me and I will be returning to it, immediately. The humour is very dry and I love a book that makes you laugh out loud. Slightly Forest Gumpish in the way the hero stumbles through his life and some of the events of the 20th century,hope that doesn't put anyone off. Anyway, has anyone else read it already?
How about Ted Orland? His Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity is one of a very few 'art' books that I really miss since i gave it away. Subtle photography and digable stories about learning from Imogen and Ansel and being on the leading edge of a new scene.
I only get to a novel or three a year, but this one seems like it might be up my alley, adventurous, light and philosophical? Plus one of my best buddies is from Ticino, where it was written ... Are you still flowing with it? Title draws me in.
I've just ordered this so I'm holding your personally responsible if it's naff :wb:
Skygazer
And in the end...
Do think you will like it though (hopefully).
Cheers, I'll let you know what I think.
Just read this, also. Good stuff indeed.
Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall 1988 boot. Quality release.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Just finished Joseph Conrad (1899) Heart of Darkness. What a bleak masterpiece, certainly understand more how Francis Ford Coppola 's Apocalypse Now (1979) was inspired by the book and the Vietnam War being the 'ideal' setting for the theme. (Not that there aren't countless others in history, depressingly.) Would recommend it, if you haven't already read it.
Absolutely agree. Recently reread and it stands up very well. Still feels very modern and I was surprised at how many points had been directly quoted by Coppola.
Also, it is short, which helps.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Yep, I avoided it for a long time ( white, European, male supremacists in African colonial landgrab - oh joy! fully expected not finish it).Just at the start of modernism, I was amazed by the writing style. scenes from the movie crossed my mind as I read but it didn't detract. Damning of the European devaluation and disregard of African culture. For me Kurtz was the allegory for Europe; sickly, corrupt , greedy, in contrast, the African woman; Kurtz's mistress is beautifully described, as magnificent, wild, savage and superb. It's clear how much Marlow is changed on his journey to get Kurtz. You do feel utterly sickened at the end of the book at what humanity (some of??) is capable of.
And yes Joseph K amazed to read some of the film quotes in it. One very absent from the book but one of my favourite quotes from the film has got to be this: Willard (who is Marlow in the book.)
Willard: Who's in charge here?
Soldier: In charge? I don't know, man. I'm just doing what I'm told - I'm just a working girl.
And yes Joseph K amazed to read some of the film quotes in it. One very absent from the book but one of my favourite quotes from the film has got to be this: Willard (who is Marlow in the book.)
Willard: Who's in charge here?
Soldier: In charge? I don't know, man. I'm just doing what I'm told - I'm just a working girl.
And the Dennis Hopper journalist character is directly from the book - the young man who worships Kurtz. Marlow: "You talk with him." "No, you listen to him."
I had Kurtz's fiancee down as a woman who really didn't understand Kurtz at all and Marlow can't bring himself to explain his brutality and brilliance.
A very complex book. I guess the fact it is on school reading lists puts people off, but it shouldn't.
I had Kurtz's fiancee down as a woman who really didn't understand Kurtz at all and Marlow can't bring himself to explain his brutality and brilliance.
A very complex book. I guess the fact it is on school reading lists puts people off, but it shouldn't.
Skygazer
And in the end...
I agree Joseph K, they were certainly two of the most wilfully? deluded characters in the book as to Kurtz's real nature (psychotic megalomaniac, would probably cover it) Yep the Dennis Hopper character was pretty close to the Russian trader's worship of Kurtz. Trying to convince Marlow of his 'genius' and how Kurtz "expanded his mind" he was lucky it never landed up on a stick beside the rest.
I know Conrad gets the Misogynist label hung on him as the gender politics theme gets pulled out of the book but I don't agree, I think he was a typical man of his time and 'class' he and Kurtz both describe women as belonging in their own 'beautiful world', kept apart from all the ugliness and brutality of life, as Marlow talks to Kurtz's Fiance I think there's also an undercurrent of exasperation with her attitude as she describes the fantasy she has of him. He can't bring himself to enlighten her, being of the belief that women are too delicate, ( or should I say middle/upper class women - working class women were never 'protected' from this reality and were fully exploited as were their children throughout industrialisation of the 19th century).
Sorry, I've ran on too long, but your right it is such a complex book and does it matter that it is on school reading lists? so is "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I still love that. You can't always be reading Irvine Welsh and Scott McClanahan.
I know Conrad gets the Misogynist label hung on him as the gender politics theme gets pulled out of the book but I don't agree, I think he was a typical man of his time and 'class' he and Kurtz both describe women as belonging in their own 'beautiful world', kept apart from all the ugliness and brutality of life, as Marlow talks to Kurtz's Fiance I think there's also an undercurrent of exasperation with her attitude as she describes the fantasy she has of him. He can't bring himself to enlighten her, being of the belief that women are too delicate, ( or should I say middle/upper class women - working class women were never 'protected' from this reality and were fully exploited as were their children throughout industrialisation of the 19th century).
Sorry, I've ran on too long, but your right it is such a complex book and does it matter that it is on school reading lists? so is "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I still love that. You can't always be reading Irvine Welsh and Scott McClanahan.
Hosh
hoshomccreesh.com
Ben Myers The Book ofFuck was a real mosh-pit of a book -- loved the punk/rock-n-roll ethos.
The Class of '49 by Don Carpenter was fantastic too -- like the Dubliners only in Portland, or like The Last Picture Show of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, it shocks me that he's basically unknown. I would now LOVE to see the un-produced screenplay Carpenter did for Buk's Post Office -- I definitely think he could've got a lot of it right!
The Class of '49 by Don Carpenter was fantastic too -- like the Dubliners only in Portland, or like The Last Picture Show of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, it shocks me that he's basically unknown. I would now LOVE to see the un-produced screenplay Carpenter did for Buk's Post Office -- I definitely think he could've got a lot of it right!
Off the back of Skygazer's recommendation on here I read The Hundred Year Old Man.... It's a modern day crime caper alongside the protagonist's accidental involvement in some of the most significant events of the 20th Century. I enjoyed it even if it felt a bit too self-conscious at times. It's also completely daft but it's all the better for it.
Another recent one is Rosie Hogarth by the excellent (and now back in print) Alexander Baron, who I've mentioned on here before (I think). It's not as good as The Lowlife or From the City, From the Plough but not many books I've read are and it's still well worth checking out.
Someone else on here told me to read Sam Pink so I picked up a copy of Person. I loved the style of it and the way you get inside the main character's head. The recurring line "It feels like practice" conveyed the sense of detachment from events that we all get in certain situations. Or maybe that's just me. It just lacked a bit of substance though. I wanted it to keep going. Good stuff though, all the same.
Finally, I've just finished Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, which I must have been meaning to read for about 15 years. It's a nostalgic look at childhood that manages to have enough emotional depth to prevent it being just another look at school days from a bygone era.
Another recent one is Rosie Hogarth by the excellent (and now back in print) Alexander Baron, who I've mentioned on here before (I think). It's not as good as The Lowlife or From the City, From the Plough but not many books I've read are and it's still well worth checking out.
Someone else on here told me to read Sam Pink so I picked up a copy of Person. I loved the style of it and the way you get inside the main character's head. The recurring line "It feels like practice" conveyed the sense of detachment from events that we all get in certain situations. Or maybe that's just me. It just lacked a bit of substance though. I wanted it to keep going. Good stuff though, all the same.
Finally, I've just finished Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, which I must have been meaning to read for about 15 years. It's a nostalgic look at childhood that manages to have enough emotional depth to prevent it being just another look at school days from a bygone era.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Anyone else read the set of 10 Swedish crime novels with Detective Martin Beck; written in the 60's by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall? initially a right pain getting your tongue around all the Swedish name places etc, (you fall in love with the dour, grumpy Beck despite yourself) a bit heavy on the marxist stuff at times, (but it is the 60's) best read in chronological order. Also Sicilian crime novels by Andreas Camilleri starring Inspector Montalbano; totally sexist, non pc, but funny.
PhillyDave
“The essential doesn't change.” Beckett
Reading it as well. Read "Rosanna" and the 4th one. Just got the 2nd and now am dedicated to reading the rest in order. Martin Beck is a great real character. The books are full of real characters
Skygazer
And in the end...
Read the rest of them in order if you can, the characters really unfold as you go along, I think they were very influential in their realism and what came after in the crime novel genre.I was really sad to get to the end of them.
But loving the other ones posted too, set in Sicily by Andrea Camilleri, - try them afterwards, the descriptions of the place and the food alone is worth it, never mind the humour in them (which is great). I read one while away on holiday this week.
But loving the other ones posted too, set in Sicily by Andrea Camilleri, - try them afterwards, the descriptions of the place and the food alone is worth it, never mind the humour in them (which is great). I read one while away on holiday this week.
mjp
Founding member
Steppin' Razor: The Life of Peter Tosh
Tosh was an uncompromising motherfucker, which made him a polarizing figure (Jamaican police tried to beat him to death for his outspokenness, but he survived) and limited his chances of "success" in the music business.
No one used a wah pedal like Tosh! Listen to his Equal Rights album for a master class in reggae rhythm guitar and flat out, timeless rebel music.
Often overlooked and destined to forever be in the shadow of his more famous Wailers band mate, this is the first serious bio that's been written about Tosh. And it may well be the last, but it shouldn't be.
I don't want no peace
I need equal rights and justice
Tosh was an uncompromising motherfucker, which made him a polarizing figure (Jamaican police tried to beat him to death for his outspokenness, but he survived) and limited his chances of "success" in the music business.
No one used a wah pedal like Tosh! Listen to his Equal Rights album for a master class in reggae rhythm guitar and flat out, timeless rebel music.
Often overlooked and destined to forever be in the shadow of his more famous Wailers band mate, this is the first serious bio that's been written about Tosh. And it may well be the last, but it shouldn't be.
I don't want no peace
I need equal rights and justice
Wow, that's quite the culture shock: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Weber, Beethoven, Brahms, and oh yeah, Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. Rather Like a Lawrence Welk show featuring Myron Floren, Librace, and Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra.
I had a girlfriend in the late '80s who was into reggae and got me into the genre (we had a very good club in New London, CT; the El and Gee Club (or was it L&G, I dunno) which brought in some good acts). I asked her about which Marley I should listen to and she said something to the effect of - listen to any and all Marley, but if you want to really understand reggae, listen to Tosh. She wasn't wrong.
mjp
Founding member
Tosh was my entree to Jamaican roots reggae. His later records had a more commercial sound that critics constantly bashed him for, but he used to ask (paraphrasing) "Why does the shit-stem want to limit my music to a few instruments? Reggae should be played with orchestras so people in suits and ties can hear the truth."