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Vital Book Club

M
da fuq said:
I would say read in this order

The things they carried
Then
Down and out in Paris and London
Then
Nineteen Eighty Four
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My favourite George Orwell novel is coming up for air. A tale of understated humour and impending doom set within the middle class suburbs. written between "Blair's' fight for democracy in Spain and the outbreak of WW 2. He was not just a great writer of 'on the nose' political analysis as fiction, he was also a very subtle self analyst through his humourous writings ( read this one and ' Keep the aspadistras flying')

I am using my 14 days of imposed isolation to re-read a couple of my alltime favourites:

The third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (an absolute masterpiece of modernist fiction which is as frighteningly chilling as it is outrageously funny)

A Confederation of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (the story of a fat man and his self proclaimed genius that is so hilarious and distinctly different from any other novel I have ever read)

Both master works from forgotten geniuses with obsessions over (not so) great philosophers. (One real and one imaginary) but both absolutely excellent reads!
 
InvincibleBrianMan said:
M

My favourite George Orwell novel is coming up for air. A tale of understated humour and impending doom set within the middle class suburbs. written between "Blair's' fight for democracy in Spain and the outbreak of WW 2. He was not just a great writer of 'on the nose' political analysis as fiction, he was also a very subtle self analyst through his humourous writings ( read this one and ' Keep the aspadistras flying')

I am using my 14 days of imposed isolation to re-read a couple of my alltime favourites:

The third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (an absolute masterpiece of modernist fiction which is as frighteningly chilling as it is outrageously funny)

A Confederation of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (the story of a fat man and his self proclaimed genius that is so hilarious and distinctly different from any other novel I have ever read)

Both master works from forgotten geniuses with obsessions over (not so) great philosophers. (One real and one imaginary) but both absolutely excellent reads!
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Coming up for air is an unusual choice. I really liked it from an historical point of view; it was written pre war, but made clear just how certain everyone was in the late 30's that another war was coming.

My personal favourite, aside from 1984 (a book that I would still read through to the end non stop if ever I picked it up) was Keep the Aspidistra Flying. George Comstock's battle against money and continually failure really spoke to the early 20's me
 
Pope John XXIII said:
Coming up for air is an unusual choice. I really liked it from an historical point of view; it was written pre war, but made clear just how certain everyone was in the late 30's that another war was coming.

My personal favourite, aside from 1984 (a book that I would still read through to the end non stop if ever I picked it up) was Keep the Aspidistra Flying. George Comstock's battle against money and continually failure really spoke to the early 20's me
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Spoke to the 1980s me too - could easily have been written as an indictment of post-post-punk sellout hypocrisy and the loss of self certainty.
 
Apollyon said:
Anything by Graham Greene you pseud fucks
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I think I have probably read and enjoyed everything he wrote ( well the novels anyway) the exception being Monsignor Quixsote ( I believe it's called?)
I particularly love Brighton Rock and The Heart of the matter. Absolute brilliant writer and one time Nottingham resident.
 
InvincibleBrianMan said:
I think I have probably read and enjoyed everything he wrote ( well the novels anyway) the exception being Monsignor Quixsote ( I believe it's called?)
I particularly love Brighton Rock and The Heart of the matter. Absolute brilliant writer and one time Nottingham resident.
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“There’s absolutely nothing worth doing in this beastly place. No excitement, no interest, nothing worth a halfpenny curse.”

Sometimes I feel similar
 
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