A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away
An essentially silly and massively enjoyable thriller.
It tells the story of Ray, a new father and a new teacher, and what happens when he sees an old university friend at an airport when the friend is meant to be very dead.
Littering the story with all sorts of references to pop culture makes this a very enjoyable read if rather unbelievable.
If you like big dumb action packed thrillers with a very Scottish voice, you’ll like this creation.
Night Watch
This is among the very best Discworld novels, along with the likes of
Small Gods.
A bit darker than normal, and with much less emphasis on the humour, this is an Ankh-Morpork Watch story.
Sam Vimes (who has grown to become perhaps my favourite Discworld character) is thrown into the past to hunt down a psychotic killer and finds he has to relive one of the formative experiences of his youth and take on the mantle of his mentor in order to heal time and get back to his present and his newborn child.
The plot is a device allowing Pratchett to really get under the skin of a character.
It’s a beautiful piece of writing.
24 Hour Party People
This is the novelization of the script of one my favourite films of
recent years.
It’s a very entertaining fictional acccount of the true story of Factory
Records.
The book is by Anthony Wilson who ran Factory Records and who fills the
book with asides that point out the bits of the film that are utterly
untrue, kind of true or just plain true. It’s an enjoyable read
Welcome to the page where I do all my prattling on about the things in life.
One important function of this page is to allow me to keep a book log – as it both reminds me what I’ve read and prompts me to keep on reading.
I also intend to talk about music in this space whenever I’m provoked to do so.
Thirdly, I’ll use this space to howl at the moon. Vent my pent up frustration at the stupidity of the world or to indulge in a little self-pity.
Essentially this is the corner of the site that is definitively me.
“all the lonely people”
The story of a lonely woman in her thirties who discovers the son she gave up for adoption at sixteen, only for him to die four months later from aggressive ms.
Six years later Vienna police contact her and she discovers the father of her child is a dentist with ocd living there. The book ends with them a couple, her pregnant and possibly with radiation sickness.
Very slight, very readable. It’s a pity that Coupland can’t ever get under the surface of things as he’s got a really enjoyable writing style.
Rating: B
A very interesting selection of essays and articles.
The articles about celebrities and his part in the Fight Club movie are a bit disappointing. However the profiles of ordinary people are fascinating and well worth reading. I particularly liked the articles about men who build castles and submariners.
Good stuff.
Rating: A-
Bizarrely flawed attempt a horror novel by one of my favourite authors.
Rating: B-
Both Doubleday anthologies of Pekar’s comic about his life as a working man in Cleveland.
Sometimes very good, sometimes a bit obvious and trite.
Rating: B
This latest Discworld novel focuses on the efforts of the expert conman Moist Von Lipwig to re-establish the Ankh-Morpork post office after being manipulated into the role of Postmaster by the Patrician Vetinari.
Probably his most overtly political book yet, this is not quite prime Pratchett. It’s still very good, just not as outstanding as Pratchett can be.
If you’re reading Discworld books, you’ll want to read this already.
If you’re not reading Discworld – why the hell not?
Though I don’t think this is the best book to start reading Discworld with.
Rating: B+
A classic work of modern fantasy. Set in the Italy-like peninsula of city states known as the Palm, this is a revenge story in essence. The Palm is split in two. The western states controlled by Brandin, the sorceror King of Ygrath. The eastern states controlled by the minor sorceror lord from Barbadior, who is seeking the imperial crown.
The invasion was begun by the Ygrathan’s as the King’s second son Stevan sought to carve out his own Kingdom. However, met by fierce resistance in Tigana, Stevan is killed. This drives Brandin mad with grief and his forces and sorcery make renewed war on Tigana, crushing it in the process. Brandin’s revenge is to wipe the name of Tigana from the mind of anyone not born in Tigana.
This book follows those who seek to overthrow the invaders and restore Tigana’s name.
An excellent book.
Rating: A