Right, I'm back to paper and pen posts from 35,000 feet then. If only to try and make this feel a little more than a blank in my life :).
Actually, it's more than that. It's not like I've been reading particularly voraciously these last few months, but I have been reading. Just finished Nick Hornby's How to be Good. And that should be it, I think I've now read all his fiction. I do, however, disagree strongly with the comment on the back of my (originally borrowed :)) copy. This is so not 'Hornby at his best'!!
Or maybe I'm confusing 'best' with 'what I like most'. It's a terrible book to read at any point in your life when you are anything short of absolutely solidly comfortable with the current state of affairs. If you are the kind that's driven to think about their lives by a bit of fiction, that is.
I didn't find it nearly as funny as the some of the others. I didn't even find it comforting to the least degree, in any way! I'll be honest here, I don't see the point of an utterly depressing read! Some sort of redemption has to be on offer somewhere, I think.
The first real shocker I remember in that vein would have to be Alistair MacLean's HMS Ulysses. Now most of the rest of his books were totally awesome weekend reads! (Mostly borrowed from the school library on Fridays.) The usual hero saves world sort of stuff. Then I heard of his 'most acclaimed' work, the aforementioned shocker, and by the end of it I was devastated! There is not even the slightest hint of a sliver of hope anywhere in the entire story! Not even the slightest let up from the non-stop misery!
Okay, so this was definitely not that bad :). But the continuous harping on how, essentially, all our (well, I guess at least the regular, mostly self-involved populace qualifies here) lives are meaningless, didn't do my present state of mind any good at all :-<.
I should really have read this some other time, shouldn't I? :) Oh well, for the foreseeable future I'm planning to stick faithfully with the remaining volumes of GRRM fantasy.
Currently: have a headache :(
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - Several ways to die trying
ps: I now have the body too!! :D More later :P.
Actually, it's more than that. It's not like I've been reading particularly voraciously these last few months, but I have been reading. Just finished Nick Hornby's How to be Good. And that should be it, I think I've now read all his fiction. I do, however, disagree strongly with the comment on the back of my (originally borrowed :)) copy. This is so not 'Hornby at his best'!!
Or maybe I'm confusing 'best' with 'what I like most'. It's a terrible book to read at any point in your life when you are anything short of absolutely solidly comfortable with the current state of affairs. If you are the kind that's driven to think about their lives by a bit of fiction, that is.
I didn't find it nearly as funny as the some of the others. I didn't even find it comforting to the least degree, in any way! I'll be honest here, I don't see the point of an utterly depressing read! Some sort of redemption has to be on offer somewhere, I think.
The first real shocker I remember in that vein would have to be Alistair MacLean's HMS Ulysses. Now most of the rest of his books were totally awesome weekend reads! (Mostly borrowed from the school library on Fridays.) The usual hero saves world sort of stuff. Then I heard of his 'most acclaimed' work, the aforementioned shocker, and by the end of it I was devastated! There is not even the slightest hint of a sliver of hope anywhere in the entire story! Not even the slightest let up from the non-stop misery!
Okay, so this was definitely not that bad :). But the continuous harping on how, essentially, all our (well, I guess at least the regular, mostly self-involved populace qualifies here) lives are meaningless, didn't do my present state of mind any good at all :-<.
I should really have read this some other time, shouldn't I? :) Oh well, for the foreseeable future I'm planning to stick faithfully with the remaining volumes of GRRM fantasy.
Currently: have a headache :(
Listening to: Dashboard Confessional - Several ways to die trying
ps: I now have the body too!! :D More later :P.
Utterly depressing? :|
ReplyDeleteHmmm.
But,but, the book itself in its entirety was the justification of the self involvement of the populace, no? Maybe according to the way i looked at it :) Oh, and i also found it funny mainly because i thought it was far removed from the reality of my life :P Oh well.
:D heh, okay, not utterly depressing... but somehow, for me, the rest of the books after A Long Way Down kinda went down hill :)
ReplyDeletehow did u like Hi-Fi tho? u never said...
Oh, Hi-Fi was a second time read..not my fav either..
ReplyDeleteHornby has just published a new book, it's called 'Slam'.
ReplyDeleteIt's typically Hornby, that's all I can say. Don't want to spoil it for you in case you're gonna pick it up someday.
@ hema: I think my absolute fav NH to date is still A Long Way Down :)
ReplyDelete@ yana: thank you, I'm definitely going to pick it up, sometime..