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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
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I must say that I really like your avatar.......indeed, it strikes me you are paying admirable homage to that simply sublime and utterly original superlative 1960s British TV series "The Prisoner" starring the late, great Patrick McGoohan....
I've been reading tons of scifi and fantasy, but I need a change of pace. If you were going to suggest a good thriller to read, what would it be?
Another vampire story? Any good? I still remember with fondness reading Salem's Lot...
Another vampire story? Any good? I still remember with fondness reading Salem's Lot...
I couldn't agree more - a thoroughly gripping and intellectually stimulating series - indeed, it was that rare thing, a superbly acted, intelligent and sometimes thought-provoking TV series. When I first saw it, in the late 1970s, as a teenager, I was utterly absorbed, nay transfixed. And Patrick McGoohan was simply sublime. Prompted by your avatar, I watched the (stunning) intro again on You Tube this evening, and am debating watching a few episodes. Will succumb shortly, I expect......
I applaud your excellent taste; it is one of my all time favourites, too.
Have you ever taken a look at Martin Cruz Smith's "Arkady Renko" series? The first three books, "Gorky Park", "Polar Star", and "Red Square" are all excellent. The fourth, "Havanna Bay" is less good, but not too bad. The fifth and sixth in the series "Wolves Eat Dogs" and "Stalin's Ghost" are a return to excellence. Avoid the seventh entirely. It just simply isn't up to the standard of the others.
The very best thrillers manage to excel by offering both a well-plotted narrative along with solid character development.
It's a YA novel, so I'm not sure if you'd be interested, but so far I like it. I think I'm about 30 pages in. Significantly better than Twilight, FWIW.
It's a YA novel, so I'm not sure if you'd be interested, but so far I like it. I think I'm about 30 pages in. Significantly better than Twilight, FWIW.
I have enjoyed other Young Adult stories, for example the Harry Potter Series, Twilight, Hungar Games. However I'm starting to be alarmed by the number of vampire zombie stories now being cranked out. They are going to kill the genre, if that is possible.
Thanks for the suggestion. Gory Park is ooold. I remember the movie. I love the Ludlim, Borne stories and Trevanian stories, Shibumi, The Eiger Sanction, both most outstanding.
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This book came out 15 years ago, I'm just reading it now because I like the author (MT Anderson). I think I got around 50ish pages read last night. So far it's interesting.
Agreed; "Gorky Park" is 1) old (published in the very early 80s, set in the late 70s), and 2) the movie, needless to say, hardly did the book justice, and so is not a reliable guide. In fact, forget the movie entirely; just read the book - it is far better.
However, for a nuanced thriller, set in Brezhnev's USSR, it is really excellent. As with the best thrillers, the location is also a character, and this particular book was a genuine first, a thriller/police procedural convincingly set in the old USSR of the Brezhnev era. And, also, as with very good thrillers, political and historical observations (and excellent asides) are also woven into the tale.
One of the pleasures of the series is how while the thriller norms of murder, disgrace, tragedy, the effects of the past on the present and personal trauma remain a constant, the books also reflect the social/cultural/economic and political changes which have occurred in that part of the world: Thus, subsequent books (to "Gorky Park") take the eponymous hero (Arkady Renko) through the many disquieting changes that the Soviet world has experienced/endured over the past thirty years by following him through the attempted reforms of the Gorbachev years, the collapse of Russia in the 1990s, and now, the most recent books are set in the Russia ruled by V. V. Putin.
Nor are all of the plots set solely in Moscow, though most of the books have some scenes there; "Polar Star" is set on a Soviet era fishing fleet, while "Wolves Eat Dogs" mostly takes place - quite chillingly - in the Chernobyl region, while "Stalin's Ghost" features some haunting scenes which take place in and around a WW2 battlefield.
I'm actually RE-reading a book from 1987 when I was in uni. The author recently passed away so I took it out again and began reading it again. The title of it is "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. RIP Mr. Hughes. You will be missed.
Okay, two others come to mind, sort of thrillers, beautifully written, extremely well researched, and with excellent complex character portrayals and arresting plots; and both apparently were based on true stories. And yes, neither are new. Both could be classed as historical, and both are excellent, in my view.
The first is "The Devil's Lieutenant" by Maria Fagyas - an absolutely gripping account of Austro-Hungarian society in the era just before the First World War - most of the book is set in the years 1909-1910. Originally, Fagyas came from that part of the world (her surname is Hungarian), but later emigrated to the USA. The book itself was originally published around 1970, and I doubt that you'll find it in a store, but I'm sure - certain - that Amazon have it. An excellent two-part TV series was made in the 1980s based on the book.
The second book that I'll recommend this evening is "The Accident" by the Dutch writer Harry Mulisch. Again, well worth reading and very thought-provoking. And again, an unusually good movie adaptation was made in the mid 1980s.
There is nothing wrong with re-reading a good thriller....
Started 'Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power' by David Sanger this afternoon.
If it's anything similar to what he wrote for The New York Times a couple of months ago then it's going to be very good.
If it's anything similar to what he wrote for The New York Times a couple of months ago then it's going to be very good.
Thanks for the suggestions, but I wonder how available these are in my parts..
There is nothing wrong with re-reading a good thriller....[/QUOTE]
I agree with you totally! When I feel the book is gonna be a really good one, I buy it. When it's a book that is OK I will just go to the local library.
I agree with you totally! When I feel the book is gonna be a really good one, I buy it. When it's a book that is OK I will just go to the local library.
I just finished reading Cloud Atlas it was a tough read, there were some parts that were great, and others that were really bad. A film version is coming out soon, I wouldn't mind seeing it. I also finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter it was really good. I will see that film sometime soon, I hope, if I ever get some time off...
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I'm currently reading through this:
I'm surprised at how under-rated it is. I, personally, like it better than LoTR, and there's only one edition being published: the gigantic, flimsy $20 collection of every single book in the series. I've already repurchased it just because it falls apart so easily.
I'm surprised at how under-rated it is. I, personally, like it better than LoTR, and there's only one edition being published: the gigantic, flimsy $20 collection of every single book in the series. I've already repurchased it just because it falls apart so easily.
I'm currently reading through this:
I'm surprised at how under-rated it is. I, personally, like it better than LoTR, and there's only one edition being published: the gigantic, flimsy $20 collection of every single book in the series. I've already repurchased it just because it falls apart so easily.
What's it about (briefly)?
What's it about (briefly)?
It's amazing. It's a bit hard to describe without spoiling the whole thing or being too long, but I'll try:
So every reality (They include our reality) is basically a 'shadow' of one world, Amber. The royal family of Amber, the 'Amberites', can travel between these worlds (There is an infinite amount). They're semi-immortal. The main character is Corwin, who is really interesting, not bad but sort of an anti-hero. The part that seems the most interesting is the way that Zelazny (The author) seems to play around with concepts in it, and the storyline has been ripped of way too many times.
I think you have to have good taste to recognize it...
Yeah, I didn't realize there are now books 4 and 5 of the trilogy
. I'll probably read them at some point.On a completely different note, I just finished Katherine Kurtz's "The Bastard Prince". Hey, it's about Deryni, how could it be bad?