Category
Books
-
08.07.02Recent Media RoundupReading McCarthy's Bar - Pete McCarthyI bought this under the curious impression that it was actually written by John McCarthy - seemed a bit of a departure for him, but it transpired that it was in fact by travel writer and radio presenter Pete McCarthy instead. PM decided to visit all the pubs in Ireland which bear his name (following the first rule of travel: "Never pass a bar which has your name on it" - if I ever find a bar called Meg's, I'll be sure to pop in for a pint). An easy read, which makes me want to ...
-
03.21.02HelpTrying to identify a book from childhood. I must have read it three or four times before I hit ten - there may even have been a sequel, I'm not sure - but the title escapes me entirely. Help me, interwebnet, you're my only hope. Things I remember about the book: It was set in Sheffield (maybe) The heroine was a girl, bit of a tomboy Set during or just before, or maybe just after but probably during WWII She may well have been called Rose. Of course, she may not. The girl got into loads of tomboyish scrapes involving rusty bikes, sneaking into cinema, etc et She ...
-
01.28.02Interwebnet to the rescue #2Does anyone have a copy of the Black Swan paperback edition of Armistead Maupin's The Night Listener?If you do, I need to ask a favour.The version of the book I bought recently, while appearing perfectly fine and normal, is, in fact, missing something. No, really. I don't mean that in a pseud sort of "the narrative lacks expression" sort of way. I mean, quite liderally, there are whole lines missing from the book, for some reason. The print run must have been wonky, or something.So here's what I need:If someone has the same edition of this book, do you have ...
-
11.07.01Sky BurialBrian Blessed recently appeared on the Channel 5 show It's Your Funeral (and you'll die if you want to), in which B-Grade celebrities talk to an earnest, horsey woman about how they'd like to be seen off. According to Taj's mention in Luke's comments (which have barfed, and this is why I'm writing here instead), he stated that he'd like a Tibetan Sky Burial, please. (Further investigation reveals that Brian Blessed actually requested a Viking funeral. Much more fitting, wouldn't you say?) (Found in the process of looking for a suitable link: Viking Burial: where pop culture is set on ...
-
08.04.01WizardI'm still charging through the second Harry Potter book (it's for work, honestly), but a number of people have asked me my take on the first.... so here goes.It's going to make a great movie.It's written in the formulaic movie style that so much fiction relies on these days - we live an increasingly visual age, and it's no surprise that written words start to echo screen logic. Basically, narrative disappears almost entirely, relying instead on dialogue and action sequences (meticulously, almost scriptically described) to carry the story along. There is one piece of minor action per chapter and the ...
-
03.23.01BookishRemember Freaky Friday, that weird seventies Jodie Foster movie based on a (very odd) (and quite contraversial) book by Mary Rodgers? Similar thing being shown on CITV these days, apparently - Big Meg, Little Meg. How very strange. For some reason, this makes me think of the childhood curse of being called Meg. There are three figures popular in children's literature who share my name: Meg, the mimsy one from Little Women, Meg the Witch (who was kind of cool, I always thought, though she looked better in stripey tights, as my disasterous teenage goth phase demonstrated) from the unsurpassable Meg ...
-
03.14.01Dear Diary. I SUCK.You may think this is an over-reaction, but I assure you, it's not.Bridget Jones is a whiny cow and if I ever actually met her, I would kick her in the shins. Hard.See, I've been thinking about that quirkyalone thing from yesterday. What's that about? I mean what's the deal with needing to be branded "single-and-happy"? Isn't that just as irritating as being branded "single-and-looking," like the infernal Bridget Jones and her infamous singletons?I am a work in progress, and I refuse to be defined by my emotional attachments.I tried reading Bridget Jones when it first came out. I really ...
-
03.01.01I love the InternetLove it love it love it. Wandering around Books etc this evening, picking up a few titles I'd been meaning to read for ages, I spotted the cover of this book, and was surprised when the title made me stop and think. As meat loves salt. Why does that sound so familiar? I stood and wracked my brains for ten minutes, trying to remember where I knew that phrase from. It wasn't the title of a book, or line from a song. It seemed as familiar as my teeth, as close to my memory as the smell of home.All the ...
-
08.17.00Wizard & ChipsLast night, someone arrived at this page via this Dave Barry column about Harry Potter. I have no idea how. But I'm glad, because reading the column made me giggle. I have a confession to make. I haven't read any Harry Potter. I know, I must be just about the only person left in the western hemisphere who hasn't, but I've got my reasons - and they're mostly to do with being contrary - yes, me, contrary. Difficult to believe, I know. But it's my natural state when millions of people start telling me I should read it...Have you read it? ...
-
07.20.00Reading mattersThese are the books currently piled high on my desk: e-topia by William Mitchell In the beginning...was the command line by Neal Stephenson No News at Throat Lake by Lawrence Donegan Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson The Lighthouse Stevensons by Bella Bathurst Atomised by Michel Houellebecq Chindogu: 101 Un-Useless Japanese Inventions by Kenji Kawakami net.people by Bleier and Steinert No Logo by Naomi Klein an OS 1:50,000 landranger map of Kendal-Morecambe Designing Web Usability by Jacob Nielsen Last Places by Lawrence Millman and O'Reilly's Javascript: the definitive guide. Now what does that little lot say about me, I wonder?
