Read Any Good Books Lately?

[Tuber Mirum 125]

Thank you, Lady Die!

I am thrilled to be here.

While I'm writing, I might just add that I have just finished reading The Gruffalo and was very pleased with the pace and the clever ending.

Just read The Gruffalo on your recommendation and found it quite splendid.

 

May I suggest "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers" by Harry Harrison. Or anything by Robert Rankin. (Mr Phantom gains some rare plus points) My favourite is "Snuff Fiction" probably.

[Brinsworth House Baiter 12]

Just finished John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'... mindblowing.

 

I read it with the harrowing thought that this could well happen one day echoing through my mind. Indeed, Wyndham himself called it 'logical fantasy.' Wish I'd read it years ago (used to love the BBC adaptation when I was a kid), as it it's the kind of novel that stays with you for life....and I'd much rather it had stayed with me for the greater part of it than the short decline, lol.

[Tempus Fugit 214]

Just finished John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'... mindblowing.

 

I read it with the harrowing thought that this could well happen one day echoing through my mind. Indeed, Wyndham himself called it 'logical fantasy.' Wish I'd read it years ago (used to love the BBC adaptation when I was a kid), as it it's the kind of novel that stays with you for life....and I'd much rather it had stayed with me for the greater part of it than the short decline, lol.

 

'Day of the Triffids' is one of my favourite books, I've read it several times over the years and it just gets better with each re-reading.

 

Makes you realise how fragile 'civilization' really is, isn't it said that society is only 3 missed meals away from anarchy.

 

Try Wyndham's novel 'The Chrysalids' it's pretty good as well.

[Dr Hackenslash 25]

The only problem I've got with The Chrysalids is that surely Labrador is close enough to the USA to be caught by the after-effects of nuclear war.

 

Neville Shute had a better idea in On The Beach, when he used Australia (one of the) final outposts.

 

That's another book worth reading - and better than the film with Gregory Peck in it.

[Lady Grendel 139]

I've recently re read 'Quartered Safe Out Here' by George MacDonald Fraser, a memoir of his time as a soldier in Burma, a very funny and moving book, a lot of it is written in the Cumbrian dialect, which makes it more real, well worth reading. It got me to wondering about his health, he is 80/81 years old, would he be famous enough to make the DL one day? Apart from the Flashman and MacAuslan books he wrote some film scripts including Octopussy.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Just finished John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'... mindblowing.

 

I read it with the harrowing thought that this could well happen one day echoing through my mind. Indeed, Wyndham himself called it 'logical fantasy.' Wish I'd read it years ago (used to love the BBC adaptation when I was a kid), as it it's the kind of novel that stays with you for life....and I'd much rather it had stayed with me for the greater part of it than the short decline, lol.

 

 

It's a very good book. Talking of post apocalyptic societies, does anyone know any good websites concerned with contingency plans for nuclear disasters? I am trying to find out what actions a submarine captain would be expected to take if he found out that Britain had been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust whilst he was

underwater. Once I have obtained this information I might do some work.

[Lady Die 63]

Haven't got this one yet but, from the reviews, it looks as though it may be amusing for deathlisters:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0393050939...925#reader-link

It's got great reviews. If anyone reads it let us know what you think. I am tempted to order it myself but I'm worried about what Amazon might recommend to me in the future.

 

There are lots of death-related books there, including several about careers in the funeral business.

[Brinsworth House Baiter 12]

Just finished John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'... mindblowing.

 

I read it with the harrowing thought that this could well happen one day echoing through my mind. Indeed, Wyndham himself called it 'logical fantasy.' Wish I'd read it years ago (used to love the BBC adaptation when I was a kid), as it it's the kind of novel that stays with you for life....and I'd much rather it had stayed with me for the greater part of it than the short decline, lol.

 

 

It's a very good book, talking of post apocalyptic societies, does anyone know any good websites concerned with contingency plans for nuclear disasters. I am trying to find out what actions a submarine captain would be expected to take if he found out that Britain had been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust whilst he was

underwater. Once I have obtained this information I might do some work.

 

Im no expert, but I should imagine stock taking the tinned foodstuff supplies would be pretty high on his agenda, followed by some quick calculations & shitting himself.

[Six 23]

Just finished John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'... mindblowing.

 

I read this about five years ago, and I told the ( edited ) story to my year 3 class over a week or so. They LOVED it. Absolutely hooked.

 

I'm re-reading all of my Douglas Adams stuff at the moment - not all at the same time though. I would recommend his work to everyone.

[beebee 1]

try "the cyberiad" by stanislaw lem. great book. it was written in polish.i don't know if lem was a great writer, but he sure had one hell of a translator.

 

"starship troopers" by heinlein is a damn good read.

 

do not think about the movie. i don't know if i will ever recover from it. the guy who wrote the movie must of only read the back cover of the book.

 

ole bob is still spinning in his...space capsule.

[Dr Hackenslash 25]

It's a very good book, talking of post apocalyptic societies, does anyone know any good websites concerned with contingency plans for nuclear disasters. I am trying to find out what actions a submarine captain would be expected to take if he found out that Britain had been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust whilst he was

underwater. Once I have obtained this information I might do some work.

 

If, by nuclear submarine you are referring to the (Trident) ballsitic missile submarines then the answer is pretty straightforward.

 

If a captain thinks that command has been destroyed by a strike, it is up to him whether to "let his birds fly," as it were.

 

Although, as the world geopolitical situation has changed since the plans were drawn up, it's hard to know what would happen now as the missles are not automatically targetted on Soviet cities.

 

The time needed to launch an attack has also been lengthened since Labour came to power in 1997 - and they also did away with the "free-fall" RAF nuclear weapons.

 

Interestingly, and this isn't widely-known but I don't thnk it is any longer a breach of the Official Secrets Act to disclose, the UK's nuclear missles are guided by American satellites.

 

If the Americans weren't happy with our choice of targets, they could simply turn the satellites off and the missles wouldn't do anything - they'd soon fall to the ground, before the nuclear warheads had been primed.

[Brinsworth House Baiter 12]

Dr. Hackenslash wrote:

 

If a captain thinks that command has been destroyed by a strike, it is up to him whether to "let his birds fly," as it were

 

I see you agree with my earlier post, that is if I'm reading 'letting his birds fly' correctly as a euphemism for shitting himself?

[Life Begins at 5 o'clock 7]

Right now I'm working through A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It is a history of science, but it's not as dry and stodgy as those histories tend to get. Some of the stories are pretty funny actually - Calculus was published due to a bet, the astronomer Hubble's body was hidden by his wife, and no one knows were it is, Newton once jammed a needle into his eye just to see what would happen. Lots of stuff that most science classes would probably do well to teach simply to keep the subject more lively.

[Entropy 5]

Mind you, by the time you get to the end of that book of Bryson's, you're wondering how anyone's ever managed to survive on account of what a dangerous place this planet is. Good book, though; I enjoyed it.

 

Have just started reading The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[Tuber Mirum 125]

Hi Entropy.

[Banshees Scream 110]

Hi Entropy how are you, care for a cup of tea?

[Captain Oates 21]

'lo Entropy.

[Life Begins at 5 o'clock 7]

Mind you, by the time you get to the end of that book of Bryson's, you're wondering how anyone's ever managed to survive on account of what a dangerous place this planet is. Good book, though; I enjoyed it.

 

Have just started reading The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

 

 

I hope you like it. I am a proud Pastafarian. In the Billy Graham thread I note that he is likely to be dragged off by the noodly appendage as punishment for a lifetime of heresy.

[Lady Die 63]

I have just started reading a book about Freaks that my husband bought me yesterday. It's all about bearded ladies, parasitic twins, etc. A great read!

[in eternum+ 22]

I have just started reading a book about Freaks that my husband bought me yesterday. It's all about bearded ladies, parasitic twins, etc. A great read!

£20 says this'll be a C4 documentary by the end of the year.

[Lady Die 63]

I have just started reading a book about Freaks that my husband bought me yesterday. It's all about bearded ladies, parasitic twins, etc. A great read!

£20 says this'll be a C4 documentary by the end of the year.

I think it's already been done on Channel 5's "Extraordinary People" !

[beebee 1]

"deviant" - it's about ed gein. apparently he inspired about every slasher movie ever made.

 

thanks a bunch, eddie.

[maryportfuncity 10,647]

Oi

 

I posted about the brilliance of 'Deviant' and its sister book 'Deranged' (looking at the career of the truly surreal bad-ass mutha that was Albert Fish) way before Eddie took up the message. If you want to check out Fish it's worth trying to get a look at the x-ray pictures of his pelvis, the man derived a perverse sexual pleasure from sticking long needles into his body, several of which lodged there permanently.

[pulphack 6]

well, as mentioned earlier in the thread, bernard spilsbury's biography is good, and even better if you read it next to sidney smith's autobiography as these eminent pathologists seemed to hate each other, and smith takes great delight in describing a case where spilsbury got it wrong and he got it right. so yah boo sucks, etc.

 

alan clayson's death discs is worth hunting out as a companion to the dave thompson.

 

derek raymond's factory books are particularly good on death and decay, particularly i was dora suarez (or was that just the name of the album? that's a great listen - raymond enunciates about death fruitily over a smoky jazz backing).

 

but i think a necessity is bs johnson - the unfortunates, see the old lady decently, and christie malry's own double entry are all about death, cancer, decay, death, etc. discovered him via jonathon coe's biography (like a fiery elephant) which is also worth a read as johnson was obsessed with death and ended up topping himself. not a jolly read, but fascinating.

 

bet they're not a patch on harry harrison, though...

[Tuber Mirum 125]

..snip..

bet they're not a patch on harry harrison, though...

Well since Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers is the best book ever written, chances are you're right.

 

I'm currently reading (or would be if I hadn't put it down somewhere) an Anthropological study of the English by a lady called Kate Fox. Watching the English or somesuch.

 

I can recommend it highly if anyone is interested in that sort of thing.