World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

Naturally, I refer to non-David Lynch related books, (which can be talked about in the other forums). Anyone want to kick off a general topic about a specific book or books, keep it to their own topic. For this, list a book you might have recently read, a bit of a review, perhaps some kind of rating or recommendation. Such as this:

JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey. I've never read anything more then Catcher, and I've always intended to. Again, I'm finding Salinger's prose so beautifully done - comes right off the page and his use of dialogue and character has some wonderful flourishes - that come to an ending that is genuinely moving.

Okay, ya got me. I read a LOT and accidentally found Robert Ludlum, a very different writer than I usually read. I am absolutely in love with The Bourne Trilogy, and that has nothing to do with the fact that there are corresponding movies for each. The books are so far superior; there's a great deal of suspense and character development that I've heard is not in the movies (which I've chosen not to watch.) I've been completely mesmerized by the novels. You come to really love the poor man that is Jason Bourne. And that's not his real name...

The catch with Ludlum books is they have become a money-making scheme for his publisher, so if you want to stay true to the author, you need to go to Wikipedia to see which books were published before he died! There are two follow-up Bourne books written by other people as well as a host of not-so-good ghost writers that do continuations of his other novels.

i just read less than zero.

wow. it was pretty amazing. i saw the movie years ago and had no interest in ever reading the book or seeing the movie again. then i found a copy laying around my apartment and read the first part and couldn't stop.

I just finished the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I don't want to spoil the ending . But it is a good ending one of those Sixth Sense, Donnie Darko endings where it completely changes your view of the rest of the story.

hello!

the last 2 books i read were "atonement" by ian mcewan but found that there were so many strange behaviors by certain characters in it that it disappointed me because it was going against my expectations, and "the shell seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher which i LOVED, and thought that the characters were so well rounded and written. i am trying right now to get through a really long heavy novel called "house of leaves" which is just so strange but kind of interesting, but i can only read like 20 pages at a time and then i have to close it because it is so heavy.

I just finished reading the swarm by Frank Schätzing and I have to admit that I surprisingly liked the book more than I first thought. It'll be interesting to see if some day this book might get adapted for the big screen.

Bill Drummond's 17. Supposedly about a conceptual choir he's established, it's more akin to 400 pages of onanism in relation to his disenchantment with the music industry (ie. managing Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes, making pop music as The KLF, etc). Still very entertaining though, notably the bit about being terrified by Little Richard.

As you may know from my DUNE thread, I am now reading "Paul of Dune." It's not bad, but very slow reading; I alternate between studying-type reading and that. As a staunch DUNE supporter, I must read everything written by those guys, even if I don't like it. So far, this book is pretty good. If you read "Dune Messiah" and wondered what happened during all of that time before Paul walked off into the desert, you won't have to use your imagination any more. And you even get to revisit some of the old favorite characters. Better than the supposed DUNE 7 that came out as the final sequels. I can't believe they made gholas (clones) out of all the main characters. Some have suggested it would be more interesting to just publish Frank Herbert's notes.

And, although this doesn't really fit into the reading thing, I have been reading the DUNE message board, and it's really funny what and who people are suggesting play the characters in the 2010 movie. A lot of people have surprisingly come out and said they like David's version and why redo it? So I think that's cool. Just indulge me. It's my obsession.

Well, I actually finished "Paul of Dune" last night. It has never taken me so long to read a book...The only thing that was kind of interesting was that it kept taking you back to Caladan when Paul was a boy. Then it would switch back to the future and back to Emporer Muad'Dib and his slow downfall.

Can anybody suggest some good literature?

Annie wrote:Okay, ya got me. I read a LOT and accidentally found Robert Ludlum, a very different writer than I usually read. I am absolutely in love with The Bourne Trilogy, and that has nothing to do with the fact that there are corresponding movies for each. The books are so far superior; there's a great deal of suspense and character development that I've heard is not in the movies (which I've chosen not to watch.) I've been completely mesmerized by the novels. You come to really love the poor man that is Jason Bourne. And that's not his real name...

The catch with Ludlum books is they have become a money-making scheme for his publisher, so if you want to stay true to the author, you need to go to Wikipedia to see which books were published before he died! There are two follow-up Bourne books written by other people as well as a host of not-so-good ghost writers that do continuations of his other novels.

I just read the Bourne Idenity not too long ago and I love it. It was SO much better than all three movies put together. I just have to get the other two.


I have read Stanger in a Stange Land recently and I have got a lot of response from people seeing me read and want to talk to me about it. Very interesting and great book. It is also on of the hardest books to describe to people who have not read it too like the concept of the "Old Ones".

Yay! One more Bourne book fan! So far, I've refused to see the movies.

Kinda in the same vein of detective novels, I discovered Dan Brown. Haven't seen his movies, either. I can't tell you how many times I read the Da Vinci Code. And Angels and Demons. If you haven't yet, try Digital Fortress--it's all the suspense but focusing on computers--no religious stuff at all. It will probably be the next movie.

I'm three-quarters through Stephen King's new collection of short stories, Just After Sunset, and this is not a collection dedicated to horror. Not at all. While most of the stories thus far have supernatural elements and a few horror, they are the visions of a seasoned writer who thinks much more deeply about human relationships (see: Duma Key).

Last week, I read two of them on the bus; one longish one about the after-effects of 9/11 and a much shorter one on its heels, that while not about 9/11, is its much more ominous bookend. When I realized the longer short-story was on that subject, I thought perhaps I might be removed enough I wouldn't fall apart, but I was still upset (I got through the film United 93 but it broke me for awhile - totally recommend it). There is a truth expressed out loud in this story, and while I believe men have free will, I applaud it in my heart.

So, thus far, it has more than justified the money I spent on it.

I just finished reading "Wicked" and "Son of a Witch" for the second time. They are strange books, but interesting to read, especially if you're listening to the soundtrack of the musical. (I'm gearing up to go see it in the spring.) Surprisingly, there's a lot of sex in those books, which really shocked me when comparing them to the original Oz books.

But now I'm more of a fan of the Wicked Witch of the West; before these, I was always a big Glinda fan. Well, I guess DL and I have that fascination with Oz in common!

Hey, nobody reads anymore?? I mentioned in the David Lynch thread that I finally was able to buy "Beautiful Dark;" it's very interesting but a slow read. So I'm alternating reading it with "The Bourne Legacy" (written after Ludlum died, so I borrowed it just to see how it is.) So far, it's more like the movies, I think; not much stuff on Bourne's true identity like the thread that ran all through the original three books.

Annie wrote:Hey, nobody reads anymore??

As the sun has been out today, I've spent a very enjoyable afternoon reading in the garden. Currently reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road, having just finished No Country For Old Men, as well as dipping into F Scott Fitzgerald's short stories and re-reading George Berger's The Story Of Crass, which has been a big help in motivating myself.

Should any forum members be looking for a book to get stuck into, I'd recommend all of the above and also (self-promotion alert!) a book I wrote called Evil Women, more details of which can be found at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evil-Women-Grae ... 614&sr=8-1 or clicking the link in my signature