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Post by steamdrivenandy on Jan 27, 2022 17:23:03 GMT
If we're still taking noms, I'll submit:
George Blackburn - The guns of war
James O'Brien - How to be right
Martin Vaughan - Signalman's Morning
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 17:29:54 GMT
Didn’t know you were an author Mercian.  I won a grand for a 50-word story. Cool, eh? Blimey, some people can't even write a post in less than 50 words |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 17:35:59 GMT
nickp @jimjam @sda doh, I've been waiting all day for nominations and now 3 come along in 10 minutes after I close the nominations! sorry guys, it's a huge faff to change - you can't edit a poll, you have to delete it and input the whole thing again :-(
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 17:39:24 GMT
nickp @jimjam @sda doh, I've been waiting all day for nominations and now 3 come along in 10 minutes after I close the nominations! sorry guys, it's a huge faff to change - you can't edit a poll, you have to delete it and input the while thing again :-( Well, I’m not playing anymore if you are prejudiced against William books. Im off to play in the woods with my chums. |
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neilj
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Book Club
Jan 27, 2022 18:20:47 GMT
via mobile
Post by neilj on Jan 27, 2022 18:20:47 GMT
The Jack Aubrey series of books by Patrick O'brian.
If I had to pick one 'Post Captain'
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Post by shevii on Jan 27, 2022 18:43:12 GMT
Would add The Trial by Kafka as I prefer to the Castle. I liked The Castle more because there was a dark humour in it so while it was superficially grim you were more likely to giggle at a certain situation. Also more freedom for decision making, that meant he could and did make choices even if fundamentally none of them would make the slightest bit of difference to anything . Probably not true but I felt The Castle was more a meaning of life book with spiritual undertones (trying to meet God maybe?), compared to The Trial which was perhaps a bit more obviously political in experience anyway, even if it had lots of other things going on. Plus the Castle is more relevant today when dealing with call centres :-) |
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Post by mercian on Jan 27, 2022 19:25:48 GMT
mercian “ Mercian. I have actually had a few articles published in various printed media, including a competition where I won a grand for a 50-word story. Cool, eh?” Can I have your autograph?  |
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Book Club
Jan 27, 2022 20:56:51 GMT
via mobile
Post by thexterminatingdalek on Jan 27, 2022 20:56:51 GMT
nickp @jimjam @sda doh, I've been waiting all day for nominations and now 3 come along in 10 minutes after I close the nominations! sorry guys, it's a huge faff to change - you can't edit a poll, you have to delete it and input the while thing again :-( Well, I’m not playing anymore if you are prejudiced against William books. Im off to play in the woods with my chums. I've spent all day thinking about which three to nominate and now I've got a moment to myself it's too late. If I hadn't been, I'd probably choose William in Trouble, which not only includes All the News, but also William to the Rescue, where the Outlaws are happily playing cannibals and then persuade Ethel's latest suitor that she is dead, and William and the Fairy Daffodil. I read very few books anymore, mainly biography when I do, and besides the ones I used to read to the children, almost never revisit a book. The only one I reread regularly is Three Men in a Boat, so that would have been in. The third would probably be something by either Dickens or Hardy, although Michael Rosen's Little Rabbit Foo Foo is more entertaining and a less challenging read. The close of nominations saved me from having to decide. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 21:16:14 GMT
mercian “ Mercian. I have actually had a few articles published in various printed media, including a competition where I won a grand for a 50-word story. Cool, eh?” Can I have your autograph? <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> I shall treasure that for ever!!!  |
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Post by mercian on Jan 27, 2022 21:27:08 GMT
nickp @jimjam @sda doh, I've been waiting all day for nominations and now 3 come along in 10 minutes after I close the nominations! sorry guys, it's a huge faff to change - you can't edit a poll, you have to delete it and input the while thing again :-( Well, I’m not playing anymore if you are prejudiced against William books. Im off to play in the woods with my chums. 'Just William' is on the list |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 22:03:16 GMT
Just William should have come first!!!!!!
I am going to thkweam and thkweam and thkweam until I’m thick.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 22:14:17 GMT
tbh, much as I love the William books, I'd rather listen to Martin Jarvis reading them. Just brilliant!
And I've recently been watching him in the original BBC Forsyte Saga from the sixties. He was good, but Eric Porter was absolutely superb. That was the golden age of TV.
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Post by mandolinist on Jan 27, 2022 22:22:54 GMT
@crofty. Get ready to block me! I didn't like the Just William books. I think I never understood the essential boyness of them, and couldn't find a character to identify with. I have quite enjoyed them being read on the radio, so maybe I am now ready for the intelectual struggles required to appreciate them.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 22:59:44 GMT
@crofty . Get ready to block me! I didn't like the Just William books. I think I never understood the essential boyness of them, and couldn't find a character to identify with. I have quite enjoyed them being read on the radio, so maybe I am now ready for the intelectual struggles required to appreciate them. Not until you can spell “intellectual “ proper you’re not. |
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Post by bardin1 on Jan 28, 2022 7:46:50 GMT
Foundation is an interesting one - it set me off on my career as I was impressed with the idea of librarians as custodians of history and future prospects. Interesting that it is popular here as of course the idea that knowledge of history makes future political control possible would be appealing to people who like politics.
A novel I think deserves more credit than the literati would give it (true to a certain extent of A suitable boy) is Sebastian Faulk's Birdsong. Novels like this and to a greater extent Follet's Pillars of the World are enormously popular amongst 'readers' but scorned for that, IMO, by the arts elite.
Maybe for another thread but here are three novels which I think deserve more recognition in their fields (and a kicker)
Robert Merle: Malevil - to my mind the best post apocalyptic novel yet written
E R Eddison: The Worm Ouroborus - a contemporary of Tolkien and the inklings, saga based fantasy with some fantastically ornate writing - I have read it five times and could easily start again
Ira Levin: A Kiss before dying - perhaps the best twist crime novl where there is something you dont spot until half way through. For weird plot crime novels I would recommend John Franklin Bardin's The Deadly Percheron - from which I derive my username here
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Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Jan 28, 2022 16:38:34 GMT
@crofty . Get ready to block me! I didn't like the Just William books. I think I never understood the essential boyness of them, and couldn't find a character to identify with. I have quite enjoyed them being read on the radio, so maybe I am now ready for the intelectual struggles required to appreciate them. |
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Post by mercian on Jan 28, 2022 19:57:07 GMT
Foundation is an interesting one - it set me off on my career as I was impressed with the idea of librarians as custodians of history and future prospects. Interesting that it is popular here as of course the idea that knowledge of history makes future political control possible would be appealing to people who like politics. I love the idea that mathematics could theoretically predict everything, if everything down to atomic level could be measured. Hari Seldon's psychohistory could be a step towards that. However we are a million miles from getting there. Seldon predicted history for hundreds if not thousands of years if I remember correctly, and our scientists can't even predict the course of a pandemic more than about a week ahead with any accuracy. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 21:38:31 GMT
Foundation is an interesting one - it set me off on my career as I was impressed with the idea of librarians as custodians of history and future prospects. Interesting that it is popular here as of course the idea that knowledge of history makes future political control possible would be appealing to people who like politics. I love the idea that mathematics could theoretically predict everything, if everything down to atomic level could be measured. Hari Seldon's psychohistory could be a step towards that. However we are a million miles from getting there. Seldon predicted history for hundreds if not thousands of years if I remember correctly, and our scientists can't even predict the course of a pandemic more than about a week ahead with any accuracy. Alec can though. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 21:39:41 GMT
@crofty . Get ready to block me! I didn't like the Just William books. I think I never understood the essential boyness of them, and couldn't find a character to identify with. I have quite enjoyed them being read on the radio, so maybe I am now ready for the intelectual struggles required to appreciate them. But that’s just because girls are soppy Lulu. Be reasonable. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 21:41:09 GMT
mercianPut your autograph on ebay and haven’t had a single offer. How well known were you in the short story literary world??
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Post by shevii on Jan 28, 2022 22:34:32 GMT
I love the idea that mathematics could theoretically predict everything, if everything down to atomic level could be measured. Hari Seldon's psychohistory could be a step towards that. However we are a million miles from getting there. Seldon predicted history for hundreds if not thousands of years if I remember correctly, and our scientists can't even predict the course of a pandemic more than about a week ahead with any accuracy. |
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Post by mercian on Jan 28, 2022 22:42:24 GMT
mercian Put your autograph on ebay and haven’t had a single offer. How well known were you in the short story literary world?? I write under a different name  |
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Post by mercian on Jan 28, 2022 22:44:54 GMT
I love the idea that mathematics could theoretically predict everything, if everything down to atomic level could be measured. Hari Seldon's psychohistory could be a step towards that. However we are a million miles from getting there. Seldon predicted history for hundreds if not thousands of years if I remember correctly, and our scientists can't even predict the course of a pandemic more than about a week ahead with any accuracy. If that's a quote thanks for reminding me. It's many years since I read it. I think I'm right in saying that Seldon was pretty accurate for a long time, and those others moved in when things went a bit off course? |
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Post by bardin1 on Jan 30, 2022 12:32:38 GMT
IIRC Seldon's holographic avatar would turn up at key moments , then one time turned up and got it all wrong. The issue was that a mutant who could not be predicted by psychohistory had emerged and changed the course of history.
A bit like Boris getting PM job just when we thought parliamentary democracy would go on for ever.....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2022 13:15:34 GMT
I think we can safely declare 'Foundation' as ukpollingreport's favourite book now, with an impressive 50% like-rate; with 'Catch 22' and 'Decline and Fall' sharing 2nd place.
I wonder how 'Animal Farm' or '1984' would have done though? - not having any Orwell was a drop-off I think.
Anyway, thanks for participating. I'll be up in the Arctic Circle in search of the Northern Lights this week, so I'll download some of your recommendations to pass the time waiting.
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 30, 2022 17:05:08 GMT
I'll be up in the Arctic Circle in search of the Northern Lights this week, so I'll download some of your recommendations to pass the time waiting. I went to Iceland in March 2013 to see them. Essentially, if the sky is clear you can always see the auroral oval at those latitudes, but it actually looks quite boring. It is when the Sun is active that you really see the good displays. It was fairly quiet when I was there, so this was about the best I got. Attachment Deleted |
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Post by bardin1 on Jan 30, 2022 18:56:12 GMT
I think we can safely declare 'Foundation' as ukpollingreport's favourite book now, with an impressive 50% like-rate; with 'Catch 22' and 'Decline and Fall' sharing 2nd place. I wonder how 'Animal Farm' or '1984' would have done though? - not having any Orwell was a drop-off I think. Anyway, thanks for participating. I'll be up in the Arctic Circle in search of the Northern Lights this week, so I'll download some of your recommendations to pass the time waiting. For fun reading in the Arctic I'd recommend downloading Ice station Zebra by Alistair Maclean (it's a decent 'whodunit' as well as a thriller on ice) and John Campbell's Seminal 'Who goes there?' the novella on which the movie 'The Thing' , which itself is a remake of The Thing from another World'. Lastly there is a terrific tale only recently given its proper place in history in the biography of the unassuming Irish farmer Thomas Crean. To quote the Irish History site "Tom Crean figured prominently in three of the four major British expeditions to the Antarctic a century ago and spent more time in the ice and snow than either of the more celebrated and instantly recognisable figures of Sir Ernest Shackleton or Captain Robert Scott. And he outlived them both. Crean first went south in 1901 with Scott’s ground-breaking Discovery expedition, on which he served his polar apprenticeship and learned the skills to survive in the most inhospitable place on earth. He returned a decade later when Scott made his ill-fated bid to reach the South Pole in 1911. Crean was a key figure on the expedition, dragging a sledge to within 150 miles of the South Pole before being ordered to return to base camp. He was among the last three men to see Scott alive within reach of his goal, and only a few months later he went back to the ice to bury Scott’s frozen body. It was during the return to base camp that Crean performed the greatest single-handed act of bravery in the history of Antarctic exploration. When one of his companions, Lt Evans, collapsed 35 miles from safety, the courageous Crean volunteered to go for help. It was a hazardous journey across treacherous terrain in sub-zero temperatures, and his only food consisted of two sticks of chocolate and three biscuits. He had no sleeping bag or tent and was already physically exhausted, having been on the march for three months and having covered around 1,500 miles. His solitary trek lasted eighteen hours and earned him the Albert Medal, then the highest award for gallantry. Soon after, Crean played a central role in the dramatic Endurance expedition with Shackleton. When the ship was crushed in the ice of the Weddell Sea, Crean helped to sail the tiny James Caird across the Southern Ocean, the wildest seas on earth. He then walked 40 miles across the forbidding mountains and glaciers of South Georgia to bring rescuers to 22 comrades left stranded on Elephant Island." www.amazon.co.uk/Unsung-Hero-Crean-Antarctic-Survivor/dp/B0979HT2VN/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2022 8:51:04 GMT
leftieliberal bardin1 Thanks for your photo and apposite suggestions. Especially as I've read Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights already
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2022 18:41:15 GMT
sheviiI read HG Wells- Ann Veronica last week. I must say I've never changed my opinion of a book so abruptly in the course of reading it. Chapters 1-14, excellent. Chapters 15-17, tripe!
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2022 21:47:26 GMT
Just finished the 8 books and 3 novellas about Slough House by Mick Herron.
You can get the first 6 as a box set for about £20 - do it!
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