Bentrovato 1,089 Posted March 21, 2020 1. Camus. The Plague. 2. Nicolas Diat. A Time To Die 3. Emily St.John Mandel. Station Eleven. There is a Playlist. So I thought some fogeys out there might like a reading list. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 16,155 Posted March 21, 2020 I read your no. 3 book recently. I wouldn't recommend it. I did finish it in the hope that there might be a point to all the flashbacks (there isn't) and that it all might come together into something interesting (it doesn't). Nothing much happens, and it just sort of tails off. Are you just looking for tongue-in cheek ironic suggestions, or genuine recommendations? Or both? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TQR 14,408 Posted March 21, 2020 This could do with being in Extra-Curricular... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,483 Posted March 21, 2020 The great Dino Buzzati's short story Seven Floors comes to mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clorox Bleachman 2,455 Posted March 21, 2020 7 minutes ago, Toast said: Are you just looking for tongue-in cheek ironic suggestions, or genuine recommendations? Or both? Presumably corona-themed books, since we already have a thread for the latter: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,979 Posted March 21, 2020 Obvious answer: Giovanni Boccaccio - Decamerone 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Bearer 6,116 Posted March 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, The Quim Reaper said: This could do with being in Extra-Curricular... Agreed and moved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladyfiona 2,606 Posted March 21, 2020 Support fandom writers and join https://archiveofourown.org/. I know so many amazing writers who write Harry Potter size novels just based on characters they love. There are also original stories there not based on fan works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,220 Posted March 21, 2020 32 minutes ago, The Quim Reaper said: This could do with being in Extra-Curricular... This could do with being binned. I cannot be the only one getting royally fucked off with Corona Virus this and Corona Virus that. Three fucking years of Brexit bollocks and now we are going to have a year of Corona Virus bollocks. Lets have some threads that are NOT about it. Please. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theoldlady 2,313 Posted March 21, 2020 The full set of The Walking Dead Comic book series should cheer every one up. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway, is a cool title. The Stand by Stephen King (this hits close to home in what we are going through right now.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torva Messor 280 Posted March 22, 2020 The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted, but is unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge. Online text here 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bentrovato 1,089 Posted March 24, 2020 On 22/03/2020 at 16:10, Torva Messor said: The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted, but is unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge. Online text here Read this a few weeks ago. Just after reading Dorian Lynskey's The Ministry of Truth: A biography of George Orwell's 1984. Both well worth it. Especially as we are now moving into being a full on totalitarian state. For a while anyway. Maybe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bentrovato 1,089 Posted March 24, 2020 On 21/03/2020 at 14:03, Toast said: I read your no. 3 book recently. I wouldn't recommend it. I did finish it in the hope that there might be a point to all the flashbacks (there isn't) and that it all might come together into something interesting (it doesn't). Nothing much happens, and it just sort of tails off. Are you just looking for tongue-in cheek ironic suggestions, or genuine recommendations? Or both? Fair enough. I will give it a go anyway. Both in answer to your question. To be honest there seem to be a lot of lists knocking around on other websites/social media sites. A lot of them seem to be French authors who I have heard of but never read. Seems to be a lot of end of world feeling from across the channel. Amongst readers at any rate. A lots of books about suicide as well. Alvarez: The Savage God: a study of suicide, seems to be a popular one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 16,155 Posted March 24, 2020 I'm currently reading Revelation by C.J. Sansom, one of a series of novels set in the time of Henry VIII. It's the fourth in the series - they are very long so take me ages to get through. What with that, and watching The Tudors, I'm still glad I'm alive now and not liable to be tortured and executed at the whim of a tyrant. Probably better off catching the plague or the "sweating sickness". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DevonDeathTrip 2,358 Posted March 28, 2020 On 21/03/2020 at 13:32, Bentrovato said: 3. Emily St.John Mandel. Station Eleven. On 21/03/2020 at 14:03, Toast said: I read your no. 3 book recently. I wouldn't recommend it. I did finish it in the hope that there might be a point to all the flashbacks (there isn't) and that it all might come together into something interesting (it doesn't). Nothing much happens, and it just sort of tails off. Well, I couldn't resist the temptation and invested 99p in the Kindle version. I'm quite liking it so far, but will report back when I've finished. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bentrovato 1,089 Posted April 2, 2020 A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller. For when it is all over and the world starts to try to rebuild. Post-apocalyptic science fiction to cheer the soul. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bentrovato 1,089 Posted April 10, 2020 The Masque of the Red Death. Edgar Allan Poe. Damnation to you all...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
