Subject: What are you reading now?
Posted by: briansqueen
Date: Apr 26 04
Ok, whats everyone reading now, and how are you liking it, would you recommend it?
I am re-reading Stephen Kings' "The Stand", I read it years ago as a young teen, and it went over my head, so I thought I'd give it another shot, now that Im older and wiser(?). Wish Me Luck! S.
Posted by: briansqueen
Date: Apr 26 04
Ok, whats everyone reading now, and how are you liking it, would you recommend it?
I am re-reading Stephen Kings' "The Stand", I read it years ago as a young teen, and it went over my head, so I thought I'd give it another shot, now that Im older and wiser(?). Wish Me Luck! S.
1537 replies. 1 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 77
Caseena
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I just re-read the first Mistborn trilogy. Really great magic system, and I love that all actions have consequences. I'm going to listen to the next trilogy. I'm reading Gardens of the Moon, the first of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Reply #1241. Jan 11 17, 2:14 PM |
mask100
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Good to know that there are a few Mistborn lovers out here on FunTrivia. I will make make one more quiz on the Mistborn. I remember you did well on my quiz Caseena. Hopefully that quiz should be a little less niche than my 1st one on it. I think many people were caught out by the subject matter and it's now cursed to be unloved. Reply #1242. Jan 11 17, 2:26 PM |
daver852 
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"My Fight For Irish Freedom," by Dan Breen. One of the few heroes of the Tan War who never softened his views. Reply #1243. Jan 11 17, 6:18 PM |
Mixamatosis
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Daver, Dan Breen was in the Third Tipperary Brigade I believe. I used to have a book called Sean Treacy and The Third Tipperary Brigade which my husaband found in a charity bookshop. I never got round to reading it and now can't find it. I think we must have given it back to a charity bookshop. Now I am interested in reading it, having learned that one of my ancestors was caught up in events there. I've looked it up and second hand copies seem to cost upwards of £43. I found one copy much cheaper and have ordered it. It's probably falling apart but as long as it has all its pages, that's all that I care about. I find this sort of history dismal to read now but I want to know a bit more about the life and times of my ancestor. Reply #1244. Jan 12 17, 12:42 PM |
WryBred
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The Stand is one of my favorites. When I first read it I was just interested in an engaging plot, but got so much more out of it years later. So many symbols and imagery.i Have you read 11-22-63? That one is excellent too. He really researched for that one Reply #1245. Jan 12 17, 4:11 PM |
| mask100
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Decided to abandon the 2nd quiz on the Mist born for now as I didn't detect much enthusiasm for it on the site. Maybe when the quiz I do have on it manages to finally get ranked, then I will consider it again. Reply #1246. Jan 14 17, 5:01 AM |
rockinsteve
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I recently read "Adios, America! The Left's Plan To Turn Our Country Into A Third World Hellhole" by Ann Coulter. This is a GREAT book. It's very well-written and well-researched. It's, at times, funny, scary and very informative. If you want to get the REAL story of the immigration policies of the United States for the last fifty years, read this book. Reply #1247. Jan 15 17, 2:23 AM |
MiraJane
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After years of telling my older brother to read it, he has finally obtained a copy of "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis. He asked me to read it again so we could discuss it together. I wish he had read it a year ago when it was easier to consider the book a work of fiction. Reply #1248. Jan 15 17, 7:13 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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Daver, there's a spoiler below if you've not finished your book. My book, mentioned at #1248 arrived and I've finished it now apart from the appendices. Sean Treacy was killed in 1920 when there was still a year or two of the insurgency to go. The book ends at the point where his close colleague and friend, Dan Breen, has a number of bullets in him but seems to have survived and is being moved round to safe places. In fact that's not the first time Breen has been shot. I don't know yet whether the appendices will cover what happened to him, but I know now I'd be interested to read the book that Daver has mentioned at #1247 in to complete the story/history. Reply #1249. Jan 19 17, 2:22 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I have now ordered the book. Reply #1250. Jan 19 17, 2:34 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I've finished Dan Breen's book. Clearly Ireland would not have gained its independence without men like him but it's a terrible period of history. We are lucky we don't have to live through times like that. There are no stats in the book but looking them up - up to 4000 people died in the war of independence and up to another 4000 in the Civil War including in the North of Ireland but the awfulness of the times would have been felt nationwide in Ireland. Sadly the Free State government which eventually gained power did little or nothing to alleviate the poverty and high child mortality rates in Ireland and it was very oppressive to women but that's in a period of history not covered by the book. What is amazing is the number of times Dan Breen escaped from situations of danger including shoot outs when he was wounded many times. Their determination was incredible but war brutalises everyone and creates a legacy of bitterness. Reply #1251. Jan 28 17, 3:33 PM |
| daver852
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There are many good books about the Irish War of Independence which were written by the men who fought in it. A couple are "Guerilla Days In Ireland" by Tom Barry, and "On Another Man's Wound" by Ernie O'Malley. Reply #1252. Jan 28 17, 8:21 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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I've heard of "On Another Man's Wound". I've heard it recommended. I have to admit my grandfather was a sergeant in the RIC and was stationed in Tipperary around 1920-22. He was about 58 by 1922 and retired when the RIC was disbanded then, but he also left Ireland in 1922 because he was warned by the IRA, while attending church, to leave or he'd be killed.(I'm not sure whether the "leaving" or the "retirement" happened first). He lived through that period when RIC men were targeted by the IRA and over 300 were killed, most inone single year. The IRA tried to recruit his eldest son but he declined saying "Do you expect me to shoot my own father?" I never knew my grandfather who died 20 years before I was born. He was born in 1871 and he joined the RIC for better pay. When he joined the "crimes" he had to deal with were matters like public drunkeness, people letting their animals stray onto the highway, unmarked vehicles etc. He must have thought life in the RIC would be relatively peaceful. It must have been horrendous to get caught up in what happened later. I heard that he did not like the order the RIC was given to "shoot" fellow countrymen. He must have been relieved to be out of it. All his children are now deceased so I can't ask them but they were wary of talking about it anyway. They were told as children never to say anything to anyone about their family, in case it led to their father being shot and that attitude persisted throughout their lives even after he moved to England. Reply #1253. Jan 29 17, 3:15 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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P.S. It was interesting to read that an RIC constable who escaped from the Knockalong ambush, through the train window, was called "Ring". My grandmother's sister was married to a "Ring" but I've no idea whether there was any RIC connection within that branch of the Rings. The family name "Ring" is mostly found it Cork so finding it outside of Cork is more unusual. RIC men were usually not posted in their own areas. Their names are not to be found on the normal censuses and there seem to be relatively few images of them around. Reply #1254. Jan 29 17, 3:30 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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P.S At #1257 I meant "carts" not "cars". There were no cars when he started out but there was some requirement that ownership be marked on them. Reply #1255. Jan 29 17, 3:44 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I'm reading my fortnightly copy of "Private Eye" the satirical magazine where you find out the news in the U.K. that other newspapers and magazines don't dare print. /it does tend to reduce my time for reading books though. Reply #1256. Jan 31 17, 12:29 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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As a result of reading the books referred to at #1247 and #1248, I did some more research on records related to my grandfather. It seems Tipperary was divided administratively into the south region and the north region. My grandfather was stationed in the north region but exactly where I don't know. The 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the IRA operated in the South Region. The first and second operated in the north region. The second operated down the east side from the north as far as the south. There were a few main IRA incidents recorded in the north region in the war of independence. I think my grandfather was just lucky not to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I found a list of the RIC barracks in Tipperary and the names of the ones up the east side resonate with me because as a child on holiday in Ireland I remember my Dad driving us through some of those towns, Thurles, Templemore, Roscrea, Birr, which follow the line of the Road. He spoke as if they were familiar areas to him so I think those are probably the areas my grandad knew best from being stationed in that area.I wish I'd known more or asked more at the time but I was only 8 or 9 years old then. My Dad was 13 when my grandad left Ireland with his family. My grandad was formally retired on disbandment of the RIC (It was disbanded on 2 April 1922 and my grandad was granted a pension on 12 April 1922) but I read on Wikipedia that ex RIC members were still being killed by the IRA after disbandment and many who were threatened with violence emigrated to GB or other parts of the Empire. It's amazing what reading a few books can prompt one to find out by digging further into the history. The photographs of my Grandad that I have are not like other RIC photos I've seen. They are both family photos though in one he is wearing his uniform. His expression is not one of a rough or brutal man. It's not in any way arrogant or sneering, bombastic,or full of phoney bravado . He just looks like a normal family man, dignified quite smart and handsome in his uniform or best clothes but content to let his family take the limelight. The pose he is standing in in one photo - I've seen my brother stand in that very pose - one leg straight and the other bent in front of it with his hand on his hip. (My brother never knew him) In the other photo in his uniform he is sitting down next to his wife and behind his children. I know so little but I've read a very good novel called "The Barracks" by John McGahern to try and get an insight into the life. It's set rather later and focuses on the wife of a policeman and his children as well as the policeman and his colleagues. It's a well written sensitive book. Reply #1257. Feb 01 17, 6:47 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I'm about to start reading Robert Harris's book "Selling Hitler" which my husband eventually found in our bookshelves. He's been recommending it to me for some time. It made him laugh out loud on the tube prompting some strange looks from the other passengers. It shows how easily the gullible (including some of the press) can be fooled. Very apt in these times of "post truth" and "truthiness". Reply #1258. Feb 01 17, 1:36 PM |
brm50diboll
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Time for a little lightheartedness. I just reread Ogden Nash's "The Purist", one of my favorite poems (by one of my favorite poets.) www.westegg.com/nash/purist.html My feeling is, had he set his poetry to music and then screeched it almost unintelligibly, he would not merely have been a humorous poet, or even a "writer", or even an "artist". He would have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Reply #1259. Feb 03 17, 11:13 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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What a laugh. I can see why my husband laughed out loud in places while reading "Selling Hitler". It's just unbelievable the extent to which people who should have known better were duped or allowed themselves to be duped. I'm only half way through the book, but the calamity is building surely and steadily. Reply #1260. Feb 05 17, 6:17 PM |
1537 replies. 1 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 77
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