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Hilton Als - White Girls

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald - Tender is the Night

 

Fitzgerald is among my favorite novelists, ever.

 

(Short stories too, for that matter).

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41FldhuGAxL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

In honor of the new Deep Purple album. I hope _Whoosh_ is a better album than this is a book. This is the kind of writing in which every third sentence ends with an exclamation point. And I get that it's his biography, not a Deep Purple bio, but the first 90 pages (of a 280 page book) are his life up until Purple, the next 30 are Deep Purple Mk II, and then it wanders around, often out of chronological order so that it's hard to know from one page to the next when we are. I did learn that the man recorded a metric ton of albums, most of which sank without a trace. The biography will often sort of stop so Gillan can tell a several pages-long tedious story, like a time he, Paice, and Blackmore rented boats and messed about on a river. Do we also get insights into the writing and recording of his best-know music? No, but we do get more stories about getting puked on in some Soviet backwater and having to meet the local dignitaries in that state. There are also lists of tour dates scattered throughout to . . . show how busy he was? It's not clear. The whole is both too specific (about the trivial) and too general (for the stuff that's actually made him famous, it's like a wikipedia article).

 

Two stars out of five.

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41FldhuGAxL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

In honor of the new Deep Purple album. I hope _Whoosh_ is a better album than this is a book. This is the kind of writing in which every third sentence ends with an exclamation point. And I get that it's his biography, not a Deep Purple bio, but the first 90 pages (of a 280 page book) are his life up until Purple, the next 30 are Deep Purple Mk II, and then it wanders around, often out of chronological order so that it's hard to know from one page to the next when we are. I did learn that the man recorded a metric ton of albums, most of which sank without a trace. The biography will often sort of stop so Gillan can tell a several pages-long tedious story, like a time he, Paice, and Blackmore rented boats and messed about on a river. Do we also get insights into the writing and recording of his best-know music? No, but we do get more stories about getting puked on in some Soviet backwater and having to meet the local dignitaries in that state. There are also lists of tour dates scattered throughout to . . . show how busy he was? It's not clear. The whole is both too specific (about the trivial) and too general (for the stuff that's actually made him famous, it's like a wikipedia article).

 

Two stars out of five.

 

His '93 autobiography "Child in Time" isn't too bad, although there isn't a lot of discussion about the nuts and bolts of music making. Instead, there are some good DP stories (mostly starring Ritchie Blackmore), a couple of good Sabbath stories (mostly starring cocaine), and tales of general debauchery.

I got the impression that Gillan is pretty grounded, weirdly enough, and that he obviously took a long hard look at himself and sobered up. Worth it for the pic of Gillan and George Harrison. :P

 

I wonder if "Highway Star" is just a tarted up version of "Child in Time", or if it's totally re-written? :huh:

 

51k63dbWU0L._SX308_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Edited by vaportrailer
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I wonder if "Highway Star" is just a tarted up version of "Child in Time", or if it's totally re-written? :huh:

 

51k63dbWU0L._SX308_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

Highway Star takes the story to about 2003 or so despite a 2016 publication date, although the stuff after Morse joined is mostly just name-checked rather than discussed. Both Purpendicular and Abandon are mentioned in passing, and nothing after that (even Lord's passing is just a parenthetical). If it's an update on the '93 version, it's woefully incomplete, and if it's a rewrite, he should get a refund from his ghostwriter.

 

Oh, and the "foreword" by Lars Ulrich is just his speech at the RRHOF introducing Deep Purple.

Edited by Nova Carmina
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

 

I read 100 Years of Solitude, en español, a few years back It was pretty tough sledding, and I don't think it would have been any easier in English. I am curious how this book is.

 

Currently I am reading Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin.

 

Also, I love your LDR avatar.

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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

 

I read 100 Years of Solitude, en español, a few years back It was pretty tough sledding, and I don't think it would have been any easier in English. I am curious how this book is.

 

Currently I am reading Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin.

 

Also, I love your LDR avatar.

Thanks. I also read 100 Years of Solitude. I really enjoyed it.
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History of England by David Hume. The only negative aspect of the book is the lack of producing dates, or at least the years of the events. While reading, I find myself wondering, was this 1087 or 1088 and so on.
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Needed some fantasy to escape. Re-reading The Book of Dust La Belle Sauvage (pt 1) by Philip Pullman. It is going to be a trilogy and the second one just came out so I am enjoying this one again before I pickup the second. It is a prequel to His Dark Materials, I think the Golden Compass is one of my favorite fantasy stories and this is great to see Lyra when she was a baby. Put on the headphones and before I knew it, 4 hours had passed! Going to finish the 2nd part tonight, especially since I don't have any hockey to watch :|
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Took a brief break from the stack of John D MacDonald to read this:

28694622._UY400_SS400_.jpg

 

I'm not a real fan of "the Wine"; I don't have any of their records, but grew up with them as they were all over Canadian radio in the late 70s-early 80s, and thought this might be a fun read. The book was on sale for 8$ and I had a stack of giftcards. :P

 

It's not the greatest read, although I enjoyed the background chapters on Nova Scotia (where I grew up), and the book made me want to revisit a few of their songs (they have a pretty decent catalogue). Unfortunately, there isn't much meat in the book, none of the things you'd expect from a "rock" memoir. There is a near song-by-song breakdown of most of their albums, but for what this band was able to accomplish, the info is strangely thin. Myles Goodwyn sadly comes off as a bitter man, although he owns up to many of his issues; and is a pretty good name-dropper. He also awkwardly offers a little too much personal info about a couple of his bandmates. Not that it's a terribly bad thing, but would be more in line with a "tell-all" book, as opposed to this "tell very little, except some sh*t about the drummer" kinda thing. He also likes quoting his own lyrics. A good editor could've steered this in a more interesting direction.

 

Oh, there were a couple of Rush references. Blink and you'll miss them.

(Alex wrote a blurb on the book jacket, Terry Brown is mentioned a couple of times, ditto LeStudio. Geddy appears in a shared cab ride.)

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I have been on a history kick lately. Both are very good books, the royal cousins one becoming a bit of a slog near the end. Poor Tsar Nicholas; he never saw it coming until the end.



The other is about the London Blitz in WWII. Everyone had to band together to fight against circumstances never known before. (Imagine . . . )

 

3fKUNPYm.jpg j4cIanGm.jpg

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I mean I may not come off as much of an intellect here but old Gamepro magazines from 98-2003. The ads in these magazines would be considered as "offensive" today. While I find it humorous and read it for entertainment as a professional in the tech industry I could technically say it's doing my homework.
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

 

I read 100 Years of Solitude, en español, a few years back It was pretty tough sledding, and I don't think it would have been any easier in English. I am curious how this book is.

 

Currently I am reading Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin.

 

Also, I love your LDR avatar.

 

James Baldwin is outstanding. My favorite is No Name in the Street.

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I have been on a history kick lately. Both are very good books, the royal cousins one becoming a bit of a slog near the end. Poor Tsar Nicholas; he never saw it coming until the end.



The other is about the London Blitz in WWII. Everyone had to band together to fight against circumstances never known before. (Imagine . . . )

 

3fKUNPYm.jpg j4cIanGm.jpg

 

 

I read Larson's "The Devil in the White City" and really enjoyed it. It's about the Chicago World's Fair and the appearance of the "first modern serial killer" HH Holmes. It's heavily influenced by Capote's "In Cold Blood", and is a page-turner. I'll have to check this new one out. Thanks, blueschica! :cheers:

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Trying to alternate 2 MacDonald books (Travis McGee series/stand-alone novels) with other things. Just finished this greasy bit of speculative fiction:

 

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I've read a few of Ballard's books, and am still not sure if I am a fan. His writing is generally excellent, although I find his weird little quasi/queasy-poetic similes off-putting at times (kind of like Michael Ondaatje with an acid hangover). Luckily there's not too much of that on display here. Although his subjects are often grim and humourless, I found this to be a reasonably entertaining read, despite a very '70s ending (to me at least), and general cruelty to dogs and cats.

Opening sentence: "Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months."

 

I can't rate stuff. 3/5? 7/10? I dunno...I'll probably re-read it at some point, or parts of it at least.

 

Next up:

200px-The_Girl_in_the_Plain_Brown_Wrapper.jpg

:o

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Reading The Communist Manifesto doesn't make you a communist any more than reading Mein Kampf would make you a Nazi or reading the Bible would make you a Jew or Christian . . . or the Koran . . . or The Wealth of Nations, etc., etc. Surely no one would be so quick to associate!

 

It's an important book, historically. Quite thin for the all the weight it bears.

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