It’s an absolute dinger
I bought this in Porto in the self styled most beautiful book shop in the world (it is) Livraria Lello. You have to buy a timed ticket to get in and pay a tenner which you get back against a purchase of a book. So I was determined to buy a book to recoup my tenner.
I had been interested in this book since the early 80s. Belfast punk band, the Outcasts had sung about it, possibly inspired by the Volker Schlondorff scandalous film version rather than the book itself. But I never got around to it. But because the English section in Livearia Lello was limited it became an obvious purchase.
According to many critics it is the greatest novel of the 20th century. Up there with Ulysses. It is not an easy read. The central premise is that the unreliable narrator decides to stop growing at the age of 3 and observes pre Ww2 Danzig as a dwarf. There are numerous other magical realist elements for which you just have to suspend disbelief (a couple of times early on, I thought this is a load of shite, but not having another book immediately at hand I persevered).
There are some amazing scenes, most notably the longshoreman catching eels with a horses head and the defence of the Polish Post Office.
Ultimately I’m glad I got through it. It’s a great read and will give me food for thought in the days ahead.
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Finished Conclave last night. Decent read. I find the plots of the Harris books fairly thin, and some scenes seem a bit of place but they move a long at a nice pace so you wouldn’t get bored of them.
Star of the sea is currently free on audible
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I finished intermezzo by Sally rooney just there. It’s grand. First book of hers I’ve read. Any of her other books particularly worth reading?
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My daughter set me up, it’s a bit of a process but a piece of piss for tech wizards like yourselves so there you are. I’m smoothly moving into my 2nd book of the week having enjoyed A Ton of Malice by Barry McKinley as he documents a year of his life being permanently stoned….
Now so……
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Good book here on Italy before during an after the last war. You might enjoy it @flattythehurdler
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Read Pompeii by Robert Harris. A grand holiday read, esp in a heat-soaked Italy. Like many of his books, the plot is a bit far fetched but the insight to the time is great.
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Not really. The first one is awful. Normal people is fine. Didn’t read the rest
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The 3rd one is also shite. Has 1 good sex scene, it’s only redeeming feature. You should just read that and be done with it in 5 minutes.
Normal People is pretty good and, even if you dont like it, it will be over quickly.
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That’s what you told the Brazilian
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Not sure about this one.
Pompeii is one of the most amazing places I have been.
If only for the erect penis and testicles moulded into the pavement to ‘point’ to where the brothel was.
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A mixed review like a lot of his recent efforts. . Irvine has never managed to recapture his hay days of the 90s but what a hay day it was.
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I enjoyed a lot of the pre/sequels and some of his other efforts. The most recent one was a letdown I thought. This one seems to be going back to between trainspotting and porno, which seems a bit pointless since we know where they ended up. Even his weaker books are worth reading for some fantastic passages in them.
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I’d agree with all that. I think he could do with a fresh start. Great and all as the Trainspotting and Glue characters were they have been flogged to death at this stage.
heyday
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I’ll make it there some day
You’re like my grammatical conscience. Full disclosure i slways thought ‘hayday’ was some sort of farming referen’ce.