Books -- what are we reading lately?

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

Just started James Clavell's 'King Rat' again, first read it about thirty years ago, thought it was about time to revisit it.

 

 

Regards

 

A great book!

[MM 6,562]

I recently finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. This is one of the most unusual books I've ever read. It's totally unique. It's a fictional autobiography about a motorcycle road trip that the first person narrator makes with his young son. The story is punctuated with numerous philosophical discussions. If you're a fan of philosophy then you'll enjoy this book. The actual story isn't particularly interesting at all but the discussions on philosophy are absolutely fascinating and it holds the book together. If you want something completely different then give it a go - its success speaks for itself because it's sold over 5 million copies.

Glad it's still being read. I read it when it came out in the 70's and was captivated by the book. But then I was a young idealist with nothing but philosophy (Persig, Sartre, Camus), oddball religions (Sufism), and psychotropic drugs (Carlos Castenada) on my mind...assisted by the burgeoning sexual revolution and the communal background of UC Berkeley for a thoughtful guy to get laid.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

Glad it's still being read. I read it when it came out in the 70's and was captivated by the book. But then I was a young idealist with nothing but philosophy (Persig, Sartre, Camus), oddball religions (Sufism), and psychotropic drugs (Carlos Castenada) on my mind...assisted by the burgeoning sexual revolution and the communal background of UC Berkeley for a thoughtful guy to get laid.

 

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

 

Never read Pirsig. Sartre and existentialism. Camus was always classified as an existentialist but denied it.

 

As to sex, I was not an intellectual. I wasn't a nihilist so I expect Camus might have accepted my hedonistic nature.

[Siam Sam 964]

Glad it's still being read. I read it when it came out in the 70's and was captivated by the book. But then I was a young idealist with nothing but philosophy (Persig, Sartre, Camus), oddball religions (Sufism), and psychotropic drugs (Carlos Castenada) on my mind...assisted by the burgeoning sexual revolution and the communal background of UC Berkeley for a thoughtful guy to get laid.

 

It sounds like that must have a been a great time in your life. I often think that the sixties and seventies were the two best decades of the 20th century and I wish I'd have lived through them as a young man. If you haven't already read them then I'd recommend reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. It sounds like you'd enjoy them. I've read The Age of Reason by Sartre and I enjoyed it. I've got a copy of Nausea too but I haven't read it yet.

[Siam Sam 964]

I've recently read The Wolf of Wall Street, the autobiography by Jordan Belfort. It was disappointing and one of those rare occasions where the film is better than the book. In the book Belfort just comes across as arrogant and it isn't funny, whereas I found the film hilarious. Most of the funny bits in the film didn't actually happen either. In the film Leonardo DiCaprio did a good job of making Belfort endearing and likable because he was funny but in the book you don't get that at all and I can't say I enjoyed the book very much.

[MM 6,562]

 

It sounds like that must have a been a great time in your life. I often think that the sixties and seventies were the two best decades of the 20th century and I wish I'd have lived through them as a young man. If you haven't already read them then I'd recommend reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. It sounds like you'd enjoy them. I've read The Age of Reason by Sartre and I enjoyed it. I've got a copy of Nausea too but I haven't read it yet.

Just recalling some of the books and authors that were popular with the "counter-culture" during that time...

 

 

---

John Barth

The Sotweed Factor, a hilarious adventure described as

 

 

"A feast. Dense, funny, endlessly inventive (and, OK, yes, long-winded) this satire of the 18th-century picaresque novel-think Fielding's Tom Jones or Sterne's Tristram Shandy -is also an earnest picture of the pitfalls awaiting innocence as it makes its unsteady way in the world. It's the late 17th century and Ebenezer Cooke is a poet, dutiful son and determined virgin who travels from England to Maryland to take possession of his father's tobacco (or "sot weed") plantation. He is also eventually given to believe that he has been commissioned by the third Lord Baltimore to write an epic poem, The Marylandiad. But things are not always what they seem. Actually, things are almost never what they seem. Not since Candide has a steadfast soul witnessed so many strange scenes or faced so many perils. Pirates, Indians, shrewd prostitutes, armed insurrectionists - Cooke endures them all, plus assaults on his virginity from both women and men. Barth's language is impossibly rich, a wickedly funny take on old English rhetoric and American self-appraisals. For good measure he throws in stories within stories, including the funniest retelling of the Pocahontas tale -revealed to us in the "secret" journals of Capt. John Smith - that anyone has ever dared to tell." ―TimeMagazine

I read all of his books during that time...The End of the Road, The Floating Opera, and the huge Giles Goat Boy

 

---

Tom Robbins

 

Robbins started publishing in the early 70's with subculture characters who lived outside of what was then normal society. His characters were zany, iconoclastic and unrealistic, but for a younger audience, they resonated with the rejection of the society at large. He's written a dozen books at least, and I've read most of them, but these early ones, from the Zen and the Art of time are my favorites.

 

Another Roadside Attraction

 

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

 

Jitterbug Perfume

 

Skinny Legs and All

 

---

[Yujin 18]

I just finished reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan and I highly recommend it if you’re a history buff (especially about WWII).

Beneath a Scarlet Sky is a historical fiction based on the memoir of an Italian teenager Pino Lella during WWII (who I just read is still alive and living in Lesa, Italy). It’s “historical” because all the events, characters, and places are true. It’s “fiction” because the dialogue needed to be created.

I’ve read lots of books about WWII, but this novel gave me an insight into something that I knew very little about - the war in Italy, the Italian partisan resistance against Nazism and Fascism; the smuggling of Jews out of Italy; the hardship and fears of Italian civilians under Nazi and Fascist rule; the brutality that Italians inflicted on each other; the involvement of the Catholic church; etc. I also didn’t know that Brazilian combat infantry men fought on the front line along side other Allies.

The research Mark Sullivan did on this novel is extraordinary. Sullivan’s recounting of what happened to the major characters who survived long after the war really helped bring closure to the novel for me.

[Taltos 7]

MM, as you liked Flashman and audiobooks get those read by Timothty West. Absolutly brilliant and such a shame he only did 7.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

I just ordered the Donna Brazile book Hacks:........

 

Released on the 7th and awaiting Amazon to ship and deliver.

[Irish boy 67]

Just got 'A prayer before dawn'.

 

About the UK guy doing Muay Thai fights through his Thai prison sentence.

[atlas2 4,329]

 

MM, as you liked Flashman and audiobooks get those read by Timothty West. Absolutly brilliant and such a shame he only did 7.

 

 

 

I'll see if I can get hold of these here?

[MM 6,562]

 

MM, as you liked Flashman and audiobooks get those read by Timothty West. Absolutly brilliant and such a shame he only did 7.

 

Is this Timothy West, the actor and long time husband of Prunella Scales (Sybil )?

 

This Timothy West?

 

The Flashman audiobooks with Timothy West were recorded in the early 60's and have been replaced by a later version with another narrator. Unfortunately, the earlier versions have been taken offline and are not available on Audible or any download sites I could find.

[Taltos 7]

Yes, that is him. I have them somewhere. Is it not possible to send them through Dropbox or something?

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

I did a Google search of

 

 

Timothy West narrations for sale.

 

 

The following are the top two hits:

 

https://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio-books-narrator/Timothy+West/nrt/2071/

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_all_2?ie=UTF8&text=Timothy+West&search-alias=books&field-author=Timothy+West&sort=relevancerank

 

Not sure if it helps.

[MM 6,562]

I did a Google search of

 

 

Timothy West narrations for sale.

 

 

The following are the top two hits:

 

https://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio-books-narrator/Timothy+West/nrt/2071/

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_all_2?ie=UTF8&text=Timothy+West&search-alias=books&field-author=Timothy+West&sort=relevancerank

 

Not sure if it helps.

I didn't see any narration of Flashman books, so I'd say it doesn't help.

[MM 6,562]

Yes, that is him. I have them somewhere. Is it not possible to send them through Dropbox or something?

If you and the receiver both have Dropbox, it's just a matter of uploading them to your dropbox and sharing them with the receiver.

 

Or, you could do what I have done with movies, and that is to

0) Optionally, ZIP the book into one file

1) Upload the file to Dropbox

2) SHARE the file by link (you get a read-only link that you can publish)

3) Post the link here, so anyone who wants can download the book

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

I didn't see any narration of Flashman books, so I'd say it doesn't help.

 

I have never listened to audio books so perhaps I am off track here but I just saw these for Flashman audio with Mr West

 

https://www.amazon.com/Flashmans-Lady/dp/B0054QE60U

 

https://www.amazon.com/Flashman-in-the-Great-Game/dp/B0054QE5B0

 

not much help, if at all

[MM 6,562]

 

I have never listened to audio books so perhaps I am off track here but I just saw these for Flashman audio with Mr West

 

https://www.amazon.com/Flashmans-Lady/dp/B0054QE60U

 

https://www.amazon.com/Flashman-in-the-Great-Game/dp/B0054QE5B0

 

not much help, if at all

There's a box at the bottom of the first link that says "This title is not available for you.

 

Sorry, this title is no longer available. Please try using the search feature as another version of this work may be available. If you think we've made a mistake, please contact Audible Customer Care at 1-888-283-5051." which is why I said that they probably have removed all of the Timothy West books.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Odense 492]

There's a box at the bottom of the first link that says "This title is not available for you.

 

Sorry, this title is no longer available. Please try using the search feature as another version of this work may be available. If you think we've made a mistake, please contact Audible Customer Care at 1-888-283-5051." which is why I said that they probably have removed all of the Timothy West books.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Did you check if they are on the torrent sites - a lot harder to "take them down" there :-)

 

Sendt fra min WAS-LX1 med Tapatalk

[MM 6,562]

Did you check if they are on the torrent sites - a lot harder to "take them down" there :-)

 

Sendt fra min WAS-LX1 med Tapatalk

I did a fairly serious torrent search with nothing found. I only spent a few minutes on it though.

 

I like the idea of Taltos uploading them to his dropbox and giving us the link.

[Odense 492]

I did a fairly serious torrent search with nothing found. I only spent a few minutes on it though.

 

I like the idea of Taltos uploading them to his dropbox and giving us the link.

Yes - that is naturally the easiest way :-).

 

I know the link you posted about the Italian mafia is somewhere in a thread about movies but I can't find it - any hints ? :-D

 

Sendt fra min WAS-LX1 med Tapatalk

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

Yes - that is naturally the easiest way :-).

 

I know the link you posted about the Italian mafia is somewhere in a thread about movies but I can't find it - any hints ? :-D

 

Sendt fra min WAS-LX1 med Tapatalk

Gomorrrah

 

based on a book by Roberto Saviano

[MM 6,562]

Yes - that is naturally the easiest way :-).

 

I know the link you posted about the Italian mafia is somewhere in a thread about movies but I can't find it - any hints ? :-D

 

Sendt fra min WAS-LX1 med Tapatalk

It's in the movies/TV thread. The first post discussing it is http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/67200-good-movies-tv-shows/?p=1200034

[Siam Sam 964]

Just recalling some of the books and authors that were popular with the "counter-culture" during that time...

 

 

---

John Barth

The Sotweed Factor, a hilarious adventure described as

I read all of his books during that time...The End of the Road, The Floating Opera, and the huge Giles Goat Boy

 

---

Tom Robbins

 

Robbins started publishing in the early 70's with subculture characters who lived outside of what was then normal society. His characters were zany, iconoclastic and unrealistic, but for a younger audience, they resonated with the rejection of the society at large. He's written a dozen books at least, and I've read most of them, but these early ones, from the Zen and the Art of time are my favorites.

 

Another Roadside Attraction

 

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

 

Jitterbug Perfume

 

Skinny Legs and All

 

---

 

Cheers Martin I may well add a few of those to my reading list.

[Taltos 7]

I like the idea of Taltos uploading them to his dropbox and giving us the link.

 

Finally found them on a spare HD and am working on it.