What are you reading tonight?

[General Mannerheim]

OK - finished reading "Schopenhauer's Telescope" by Gerard Donovan - well worth a look - very nicely written - nicely paced and full of interesting alleyways - a thebish recommendation!

also finished off "A Partisan's Daughter" by Louis de Bernières... a delight!! the Guardian reviewer (being a professional - puts it better than I could - and is spot on!)

I have to say - yeah!

no, its 'I Partridge'

[thebish]

OK - finished reading "Schopenhauer's Telescope" by Gerard Donovan - well worth a look - very nicely written - nicely paced and full of interesting alleyways - a thebish recommendation!

also finished off "A Partisan's Daughter" by Louis de Bernières... a delight!! the Guardian reviewer (being a professional - puts it better than I could - and is spot on!)

I have to say - yeah!

no, its 'I Partridge'

what is?

[General Mannerheim]

nevermind

[thebish]

nevermind

ok!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

No Such Thing as Society by Andy McSmith. So far its a very interesting appraisal of the Tories political and economic record in the eighties. Its interesting how he also destroys a few pre conceived notions, both whether you were for or agin em.

Does he start by challenging that phrase's place in the public consciousness?

[Lord Kangana]

He actually proves that she said it.

Edit, no thats wrong. He proves where she said The Enemy Within (meaning Liverpool, Local Government and The Miners - reproduced from the minutes of a cabinet meeting as I recall.).

He does reproduce the paragraph that contains no such thing as society. It doesn't make nice reading, and it says something that the then editor of The Telegraph, that famous leftie Max Hastings, thoroughly disagreed with her.

Anyway, I've finally got round to buying Andrew Marr's Making Of Modern Britain. So I'm on to that now.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

He does reproduce the paragraph that contains no such thing as society. It doesn't make nice reading,

I always think that passage, taken as a whole, produces a very different impression to that commonly quoted snippet. But ok!

[Lord Kangana]

I suppose its the emotive language. You can either take that two ways, that she was a determined, driven individual, she of The Lady's not for turning, who wanted to drag the country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Or you see her as a humourless old bag without an ounce of comapssion or altruism who set about destroying people's lives and communities with a religious zeal. Its a common theme of the book, there really is no middle ground on Thatcher. You're generally one or the other.

[P.O.S.]

Half way through "Freshers" by Kevin Sampson, and loving it. It follows a lad just starting out at Sheffield Uni and his attitude, reactions to events and ways of thinking are almost so identical to my own that its tough to read at times! Really enjoyable, and not often you find a book about that kind of subject too

[William the White]

I suppose its the emotive language. You can either take that two ways, that she was a determined, driven individual, she of The Lady's not for turning, who wanted to drag the country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Or you see her as a humourless old bag without an ounce of comapssion or altruism who set about destroying people's lives and communities with a religious zeal. Its a common theme of the book, there really is no middle ground on Thatcher. You're generally one or the other.

I'm one. and not the other.

[Bruce Rioja]

No, William would still have men working deep underground, just like the Welsh blokes that got killed the week before last, manually hacking at coal in barbaric conditions in an industry that was being propped up by the private sector (fiduciary responsibility not being high on his list of understanding).
Perhaps we're also denying young boys the right to a living too by not sending them up chimneys. Yeeeah, which evil forebearer of Thatcher put paid to that?

[William the White]

No, William would still have men working deep underground, just like the Welsh blokes that got killed the week before last, manually hacking at coal in barbaric conditions in an industry that was being propped up by the private sector (fiduciary responsibility not being high on his list of understanding).
Perhaps we're also denying young boys the right to a living too by not sending them up chimneys. Yeeeah, which evil forebearer of Thatcher put paid to that?

I reckon his lordship gets closer to historical accuracy than you manage on this occasion...

[Bruce Rioja]

No, William would still have men working deep underground, just like the Welsh blokes that got killed the week before last, manually hacking at coal in barbaric conditions in an industry that was being propped up by the private sector (fiduciary responsibility not being high on his list of understanding).
Perhaps we're also denying young boys the right to a living too by not sending them up chimneys. Yeeeah, which evil forebearer of Thatcher put paid to that?

I reckon his lordship gets closer to historical accuracy than you manage on this occasion...

But I get closer than you!

[Annoyed Grunt]

Lee Evans Autobiography - The Life of Lee.

Only just started. One of my absolute favourite comedians.

[Prufrock]

Never got him.

[Lord Kangana]

Just read A Walk In The Woods, another Bryson vignette, whilst awaiting Amazon's delivery of A History of Modern Britain. (I've already read The Making of).

Usual quality from the Bill the boy.

[Il Pirate]

I suppose its the emotive language. You can either take that two ways, that she was a determined, driven individual, she of The Lady's not for turning, who wanted to drag the country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Or you see her as a humourless old bag without an ounce of comapssion or altruism who set about destroying people's lives and communities with a religious zeal. Its a common theme of the book, there really is no middle ground on Thatcher. You're generally one or the other.

I'm one. and not the other.

If there's one thing in life I hold dear, (apart from wife/kids/Bolton etc); it's the promise I made to myself almost 30 years ago. That no matter where in the world, no matter what I'm doing, the moment I hear of her death, I will walk into the nearest purveyor of alcohol and drink with joyfull abandon..................................The feckin evil bitch

[William the White]

I suppose its the emotive language. You can either take that two ways, that she was a determined, driven individual, she of The Lady's not for turning, who wanted to drag the country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Or you see her as a humourless old bag without an ounce of comapssion or altruism who set about destroying people's lives and communities with a religious zeal. Its a common theme of the book, there really is no middle ground on Thatcher. You're generally one or the other.

I'm one. and not the other.

If there's one thing in life I hold dear, (apart from wife/kids/Bolton etc); it's the promise I made to myself almost 30 years ago. That no matter where in the world, no matter what I'm doing, the moment I hear of her death, I will walk into the nearest purveyor of alcohol and drink with joyfull abandon..................................The feckin evil bitch

I just hope it's not a long, slow, lingering demise. No old lady deserves that. And then you'd find it difficult to time the party and the joy might have gone by the time it happened... That happened with Franco's much-mourned departure... we had the party ok, but lacking in spontaneity and joy because of its predictability...

[TANGODANCER]

Reading Daniel Silva's The Defector. Israeli spycatcher and assassin novel.

[Raven]

I suppose its the emotive language. You can either take that two ways, that she was a determined, driven individual, she of The Lady's not for turning, who wanted to drag the country kicking and screaming into the 20th century. Or you see her as a humourless old bag without an ounce of comapssion or altruism who set about destroying people's lives and communities with a religious zeal. Its a common theme of the book, there really is no middle ground on Thatcher. You're generally one or the other.

I'm one. and not the other.

If there's one thing in life I hold dear, (apart from wife/kids/Bolton etc); it's the promise I made to myself almost 30 years ago. That no matter where in the world, no matter what I'm doing, the moment I hear of her death, I will walk into the nearest purveyor of alcohol and drink with joyfull abandon..................................The feckin evil bitch

I will join you