What are you reading tonight?

[Lost Leopard Spot]

It's got a shit ending. The horse ends up slaying the leopard.

I think you'll find that Dances-with-Leopards got away from the crazy son of a hoss. It was Sitting Dan that got slaughtered.

[Verbal]

This is a lovely letter, courtesy of the also lovely Letters of Note.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/so ... emain.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TANGODANCER]

Probably just let myself in for another load of bullshxt with The Dead Sea Deception- Everything we know about the death of Christ is a lie. by Adam Blake. Dan Brown has a lot to answer for. The Da Vinci Code has spawned a hundred nonesense novels, none near as good as the original.

[Prufrock]

None near as good as the Da Vinci Code?! Christ.

[TANGODANCER]

None near as good as the Da Vinci Code?! Christ.

It's a fictional novel Pru, not a re-write of the Bible.
Thought, as such it was very good. Film was total crap, but the book was fine.

[Prufrock]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

[TANGODANCER]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

[Verbal]

Picked up The Prince. Again. Didn't bother finishing it last time so just doing so now.

[Prufrock]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

Oh there's a woman and she's really pretty and she falls in love with somebody she isn't supposed to but also a massive shit who is dead posh pursues her and she should marry him according to social convention but she doesn't want to coz love is dead powerful and she loves the gardener/yardboy/whatever.

There, that's every single Austen and Bronte novel in three lines

[TANGODANCER]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

Oh there's a woman and she's really pretty and she falls in love with somebody she isn't supposed to but also a massive shit who is dead posh pursues her and she should marry him according to social convention but she doesn't want to coz love is dead powerful and she loves the gardener/yardboy/whatever.

There, that's every single Austen and Bronte novel in three lines

You actually concentrate on the plots? Peasant.

[Beefheart]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

Oh there's a woman and she's really pretty and she falls in love with somebody she isn't supposed to but also a massive shit who is dead posh pursues her and she should marry him according to social convention but she doesn't want to coz love is dead powerful and she loves the gardener/yardboy/whatever.

There, that's every single Austen and Bronte novel in three lines

You actually concentrate on the plots? Peasant.

Have to say, I though Pride & Prejudice was terrible.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

Oh there's a woman and she's really pretty and she falls in love with somebody she isn't supposed to but also a massive shit who is dead posh pursues her and she should marry him according to social convention but she doesn't want to coz love is dead powerful and she loves the gardener/yardboy/whatever.

There, that's every single Austen and Bronte novel in three lines

Hang about. Isn't that the Mills & Boon formula?

[TANGODANCER]

It's a bit shit, but very readable. But if the rest are no-where near THAT 'good', then jeeeeesus

Bah, you know nothing. You don't even like Pride and Prejudice Away with you....

Oh there's a woman and she's really pretty and she falls in love with somebody she isn't supposed to but also a massive shit who is dead posh pursues her and she should marry him according to social convention but she doesn't want to coz love is dead powerful and she loves the gardener/yardboy/whatever.

There, that's every single Austen and Bronte novel in three lines

Hang about. Isn't that the Mills & Boon formula?

No, Mills and Knight.

[thebish]

Have to say, I though Pride & Prejudice was terrible.

it was better with added zombies...

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Have any of you ever read 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed? I'm borderline evangelical about it at the moment.

I can't think of another book with such a simple premise having such a big impact on my thinking.

A lot of people would happily repeat the hackneyed idea that hard work is the most important thing in life.

It is only now after reading this book and its surgical dismantling of the talent myth, all on the foundation of his humbling analysis of how he became our number one table tennis, that I really truly believe it.

For me, it has some key insights on the futility and danger of putting 'talent' on a pedestal that apply to business (the Enron section is fascinating), governance, sport and parenting.

After that wholly inadequate book review, I'm interesting to find out if any of you have read 'Chavs'? I started a brief discussion recently on why it the British working class has fallen so completely out of fashion to the extent that it's almost unthinkable to young working class Brits in many service industries, and it seems to me that Owen Jones' book might be an interesting contribution to that discussion, albeit from a polemical Thatcher-hating perspective.

[bobo the clown]

Have to say, I though Pride & Prejudice was terrible.

It was .... along with the other shite she got away with putting out.

[William the White]

Have any of you ever read 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed? I'm borderline evangelical about it at the moment.

I can't think of another book with such a simple premise having such a big impact on my thinking.

A lot of people would happily repeat the hackneyed idea that hard work is the most important thing in life.

It is only now after reading this book and its surgical dismantling of the talent myth, all on the foundation of his humbling analysis of how he became our number one table tennis, that I really truly believe it.

For me, it has some key insights on the futility and danger of putting 'talent' on a pedestal that apply to business (the Enron section is fascinating), governance, sport and parenting.

After that wholly inadequate book review, I'm interesting to find out if any of you have read 'Chavs'? I started a brief discussion recently on why it the British working class has fallen so completely out of fashion to the extent that it's almost unthinkable to young working class Brits in many service industries, and it seems to me that Owen Jones' book might be an interesting contribution to that discussion, albeit from a polemical Thatcher-hating perspective.

You will not be surprised to find I've read 'Chavs'... And, indeed, posted on it many pages ago... I really liked its defence of the working class, and its justifiable assault on Thatcherism (which, it is now clear, damaged British capitalism as well as the working class, by making it so vulnerable to finance capital's craziness, as opposed to Germany and France where they continued to make things people want to buy)... I was less convinced by its lukewarm pages on 'the way forward'...

Though I do have my own view on that...

[Always hopeful]

I’ve just read a book about Stockholm syndrome. It started off badly, but by the end I really liked it.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I’ve just read a book about Stockholm syndrome. It started off badly, but by the end I really liked it.

That should be in the joke thread on second thoughts...

[John Doe]

A few recent recommendations.

Stephen King - 11.22.63. A bloke travels back in time and has to work out if Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK on his own and stop him. More thriller than horror and a bit far fetched! but i really enjoyed it.

Jon Krakauer - Into Thin Air. First hand account of the Everest Disaster of 1996 when 9 people died. Harrowing stuff but a brilliant read. Really gets into the mindset of the 'Because its there' fraternity.

And for a bit of light relief...

Karl Pilkington - Happyslapped by a Jellyfish. Random (un)intentionally? hilarious musings. One of which I agree with - that the idea of a chippy tea is always nicer than actually having it cos you always regret having it! Made me smile anyway.