plantfit 7,097 Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 If it was updated and the dodgy stuff taken out it would no longer be a book more like a leaflet Rog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
letsavagoo 795 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Like Phil I don’t read a great deal of fiction with my current main interest being WW1 but I am currently having a rest from that and working my way through D H Lawrence ‘The Rainbow’. I’m finding it hard going but it is, in my opinion, his best work. I wish I could write like him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 9,571 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I have been a fan of D H Lawrence's poetry since I first discovered it at Berridge but I'm not keen on his novels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 5,356 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I've read the works of Lawrence in the past and enjoyed them. I've not read any fiction for many years. We have a library at home, it sounds pretentious but it is a room with books. My wife was a teacher so she arrived complete with many tomes. Pride of place goes to the complete works of Dickens which I found in an antique shop. I find Dickens tedious so they've never been read by me but they look impressive! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
siddha 796 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Currently reading "The Gift of Rain" Tan Twan Eng On shelf for next read "the Colony" Audrey McGee Dickens I like most of them and have found them to be a fascinating window into the 19th Century and how people lived and sorted out problems (or not). In my opinion Lawrence is one of the greatest poets and a fine novelist up there with Joyce and Woolf. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 9,949 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I've recently read a couple of books by P.G.Wodehouse. One was a collection of short stories, which were all really good; funny, clever, and interesting. The other was a full-length novel, which went on a bit, became slightly boring, and seemed really just a long version of the short stories. So the jury's out at the moment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 9,571 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Dickens has pride of place on my bookshelves, along with Thomas Hardy. I also enjoy Anthony Trollope, the eastern philosophers and metaphysical poets. Jane Austen is nowhere to be seen! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 278 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 34 minutes ago, philmayfield said: I've read the works of Lawrence in the past and enjoyed them. I've not read any fiction for many years. We have a library at home, it sounds pretentious but it is a room with books. My wife was a teacher so she arrived complete with many tomes. Pride of place goes to the complete works of Dickens which I found in an antique shop. I find Dickens tedious so they've never been read by me but they look impressive! Phil, did you get the book I recommended ? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,027 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Currently re-reading Wellington's Redjackets - The 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment on Campaign in South America and the Peninsula, by Steve Brown. A very detailed history of the regiment’s involvement in the war in Portugal and Spain against Napoleon. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 9,949 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 14 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said: Dickens has pride of place on my bookshelves, along with Thomas Hardy. I also enjoy Anthony Trollope, the eastern philosophers and metaphysical poets. Jane Austen is nowhere to be seen! I'm a big fan of Dickens but I can't get on with Hardy at all. And I also don't get the appeal of Austen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,097 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Some I've got on the go at the moment among others Rog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alpha 162 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I'm reading Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. I find the tales and characterisations somewhat akin to Alice in Wonderland and simply randomly compiled. I cannot understand the the huge appeal of these stories or Shakespeare in general. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 9,571 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Can't agree with you there, Alpha. Shakespeare is about life and I find it full of wisdom but cannot understand why it was and perhaps still is, required study in schools. Anyone under 25 who can identify with much of what Shakespeare has to impart must have had a damned hard life. I'm convinced that forced study of the Bard at too early an age alienates many. I was given Dickens to read when I was five and it turned me against him for a long time. I was too young to comprehend it, if not to read the words. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 9,949 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 I've also never understood why Shakespeare is so highly rated. Mainly because I don't understand what's being said or happening - either reading it in a book or seeing it acted in films. It's like something in a foreign language; I recognise the words but they've been assembled in a random manner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 15,493 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 We did a bit of ''Shakespeare at school and ive no strong feelings about his work either way..........However whenever the subject comes up i always think about our drama teacher Mr Price......he was a fanatic on him...and used to love standing and reading it to us.......and one day in the school Hall he was reading it from the stage with all the actions.......well he lost his footing on the edge of the stage...fell onto the school 'Piano'' broke wind and rolled off onto the floor'''''''''''' so so funny........... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 5,356 Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Dickens, Shakespeare et al are all much better when their works are made into a film or a musical. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
siddha 796 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I like most of Thomas Hardy's works and find his poems some of the best; his novels are interesting and reflect his rather pessimistic understanding of the world. Hardy played a violin and saved many tunes for posterity, his father played for a church quire as I do here. Hardy's accounts of quires and their antics are most amusing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MelissaJKelly 2,080 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I'm currently reading the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkein. Tried to read them in my teens and struggled but really enjoying them this time around! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 9,949 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I've never read any Tolkien - just never got round to it. I first heard of the Lord of the Rings books at school in the early 70s and I assumed they had been written in Victorian times or early 20th century (at that stage I didn't know when Tolkien had lived). I was surprised to discover that although The Hobbit was written in the 1930s, most of the others were only written in the mid-1950s, making them - at that time - only around 20 years old. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 9,571 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, siddha said: Hardy played a violin and saved many tunes for posterity, his father played for a church quire as I do here. Hardy's accounts of quires and their antics are most amusing. Hence the scene in The Mayor of Casterbridge where Henchard has completed his pledge of 21 years of sobriety, goes to the inn just as the church choir is turning up after choir practice, and forces them to sing the 109th Psalm! Alan Bates played Henchard in a portrayal which might have leapt straight off the page of the novel and he's particularly brilliant and comical in that scene. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 278 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 I fell in love with Tolkien in my teens and passed my books on to my daughter who was also captivated. They can be a bit heavy going as they switch about a bit in different chapters as there are so many characters especially in the Lord of the Rings. If you want to read smaller fables of his try The Adventures of Tom Bombadil or the Farmer of Ham to get you into Tolkien. Love the films. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 5,356 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Films! I’ve not been to a cinema in 50 years. I hear they’ve got ‘talkies’ now but I don’t believe it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 4,272 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Yes Phil, and they no longer use 'Magic Lanterns'. Not only that but they move too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 5,356 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 This I must see. Do they offer reduced prices for OAP’s? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 4,272 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Only Mon, weds and Thurs, matinées only and if there's an R in the month. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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