What are you reading

[GrumpyGregry]

The Romanovs - Simon Sebag Montfiore; just finished it this weekend.

To Hell and Back: Ian Kershaw, carries on from where the above narrative ends albeit with a broader perspective.

 

[John the Monkey]

@John the Monkey be warned, much as I love Rivers of London, they get very repetitive and formulaic very fast. Almost like they were being written with TV or film in mind.

I can see how that would happen - hopefully, I'll leave long enough gaps between them for them to still work for me

I forgot to mention "Leviathan Wakes", which I finally got around to having enjoyed its Netflix adaptation. Enjoyed the book.

 

[Hyslop]

Cycling related I'm afraid, The Man And His Bike by Wilfried De Jong.And very enjoyable it is too. I'd certainly recommend it to you,writes an excellent short story does Wilfried,a volume for dipping in and out of.Funnyin part's, poignant on others, written by a cyclist with a soul!

 

[Bollo]

Currently reading "The Gulag Archipelago" by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, after I heard about it during a Joe Rogan podcast.

Initial thoughts after the first few chapters:

Jesus Christ!

When you people say that things were so bad in the Soviet Union that you literally cannot imagine it, they're not wrong. So far, I've been left jaw-dropped by a few things: The man who stopped clapping first, that was a lovely bit of "REALLY?!". And then when Churchill double-crossed 90,000 Cossack POWs.. That was last night's "Holy fark" moment.

Aaaaand just about everything else in the book is horrifying and haunting and--. It's a fascinating read about something that I knew very little about. How they do not teach more about the Soviet Union and Communism in secondary school history classes, is beyond me.

Solzhenitsyn also offers some profundity like: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains ... an unuprooted small corner of evil.

Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person.” which left me with a sense of, "YES. THIS."

It's amazing.
If you haven't already, Cancer Ward and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (both also by Solzhenitsyn) and Man is Wolf to Man (Janusz Bardach) are worth adding to your reading list. Anne Applebaum's "Gulag" is an accessible history of the entire system.

I've always found Russia to be a fascinating country and have a real fondness for its literature. Another recommendation in the same vein would be "The House of the Dead" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It describes conditions in the Russian penal system in Tsarist times from the point of view of a disgraced nobleman and is based on Dostoevsky's own experiences in prison. It's interesting to contrast the tsarist and communist regimes.

Solzhenitsyn has a difficult legacy with accusations Russian ultra-nationalism and anti-semitism. You can pick up some hints in his earlier books, where he certainly views the Russian peasantry and Orthodox church through rose tinted specs.

I'm currently reading Chenobyl's Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich. You get the same sense of destiny, reckless heroism and fatalism that seems to permeate the Russian psyche.

 

[Hyslop]

Its a very bookish day for me today,to the Library....checked out...An Encyclopaedia Of Myself-Jonathan Meades,a collection of verse by John Clare,and Travels With An Archaeologist-Richard Hodges.

 

[Reynard]

A combination of things at the moment...

Am about to finish James Clavell's "Shogun". It's an old, old favourite. Somehow never really took to his other books. Have just started revisiting John Campbell's "The Lost Fleet" series after reading it for the first time last year.

Also have a guilty pleasure which is skimming through my favourite fandoms on fanfiction.net.

 

[swee'pea99]

Recently finished The Son by Philipp Meyer. I think it might be the Great American Novel everyone goes on about. American Rust was great, but The Son is majestic.

 

[Roadhump]

Struggling through Ken Follett's Edge of Eternity atm, I enjoyed the first 2, but the idea of the continuing saga of the descendants of the characters in the first 2 seems to be getting a bit stale, even though the story is okay. Don't know if I'll finish it before my holidays in a couple of weeks time. I will have to leave it until we return if not.

 

[flatflr]

I've always found Russia to be a fascinating country and have a real fondness for its literature. Another recommendation in the same vein would be "The House of the Dead" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It describes conditions in the Russian penal system in Tsarist times from the point of view of a disgraced nobleman and is based on Dostoevsky's own experiences in prison. It's interesting to contrast the tsarist and communist regimes.

Solzhenitsyn has a difficult legacy with accusations Russian ultra-nationalism and anti-semitism. You can pick up some hints in his earlier books, where he certainly views the Russian peasantry and Orthodox church through rose tinted specs.

I'm currently reading Chenobyl's Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich. You get the same sense of destiny, reckless heroism and fatalism that seems to permeate the Russian psyche.

I had to re-read that posting to make sure it wasn’t one of mine..

Some years ago I was lucky enough to be able to visit Russia quite a few times (both social and for work) and even living there every other weekend for several months. While I was there I tried reading The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. About half way through I realised that I didn’t understand enough about Russian society to be able to understand the book so went off and read a whole pile of Russian literature from the likes of Solzhenitsyn, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy, after a couple of years of reading this sort of thing I went back to re-read The Master and Margarita, I finally finished it but still didn’t have a clue!!

I found First Circle by Solzhenitsyn particularly interesting with the view that the Zeks were the most free they had ever been as they had nothing left to be taken away from them.

As a very brief summary:
Solzhenitsyn – fantastic (was lucky enough to be able to visit his grave)
Dostoyevsky - bloody depressing
Tolstoy - bangs on a bit too much


Kolyma Tales gives a view of how things were in the far far north East Russia, probably the worst area for the Gulag.

There are a couple of escape stories Long Way Back and As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, which show what people were willing to go through to get away from the Gulag, both supposed to be based on true stories and made into films.

Just finished Chernobyl Prayer, a really interesting read showing the level of innocence in the society.

 

[John the Monkey]

Virtual Light, William Gibson
I thought this was patchy - at times it's great, at other times, it's as though he's got a little too carried away with how cool he thinks the stuff in the novel is. Good, rather than great, for me at least.

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Re-reading this after reading, and really enjoying some of Stevenson's short stories. Enjoyable, if pretty old fashioned.

The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell
Not very far into this, and I'm having trouble tuning in to Uhtred's voice at the moment.

 

[Hyslop]

Just begun"The Making of the British Landscape" by Nicholas Crane.At over 500 pages.this may well qualify as a tome! However,so far,very enjoyable,very readable and it's provided me with a pleasurable few hours this afternoon.

 

[gbb]

Gulag..A History by Anne Applebaum.

Similar in content to Solzenhytyns book, this describes the system, the peoples, the so called logic of their arrests and deportations, the war years etc etc.

Picked it up at a charity shop for 25p I think...a good read.

 

[Reynard]

Gulag..A History by Anne Applebaum.

Similar in content to Solzenhytyns book, this describes the system, the peoples, the so called logic of their arrests and deportations, the war years etc etc.

Picked it up at a charity shop for 25p I think...a good read.

My paternal grandfather spent time in a Gulag in Czarist Russia. Because he was an aristocrat albeit a minor one, his word was his bond that he wouldn't do a runner, plus he was given a small stipend to live off.

Me, I'm on to Fearless, book 2 of "The Lost Fleet" saga. Too hot to do much of anything today, so curled up in a deckchair under a tree for a good read.

 

[cyberknight]

Virtual Light, William Gibson
I thought this was patchy - at times it's great, at other times, it's as though he's got a little too carried away with how cool he thinks the stuff in the novel is. Good, rather than great, for me at least.

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Re-reading this after reading, and really enjoying some of Stevenson's short stories. Enjoyable, if pretty old fashioned.

The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell
Not very far into this, and I'm having trouble tuning in to Uhtred's voice at the moment.

I have the whole of his cyberpunk novels , and a couple of his real world stuff too , i do re read occasionally and i agree he kinda went downhill.In fact i used to run a pen and paper rpg game set in a very similar universe

Trying to decide what to read atm as i dont have a book i havent read at least twice if not more times.

 

[flatflr]

Gulag..A History by Anne Applebaum.

Similar in content to Solzenhytyns book, this describes the system, the peoples, the so called logic of their arrests and deportations, the war years etc etc.

Picked it up at a charity shop for 25p I think...a good read.

Have a copy of that banging around, started reading it but couldn't get on with the way it's written. Would be interested in your opinion and might give it another go.