"Don't choose sides"

If I told you what it's about, it would spoil a novel that gradually unfolds. It is a superbly constructed novel on a grand scale. It is certainly a novel ahead of its time and, to respond to our Lord Tisdale's comment, I don't think there is anything of its ilk before or perhaps since. It wiped me out when I read it.

I try to mix fiction and non-fiction. I'm in the middle of reading "The Wandering Who" by Gilad Atzmon which he describes as being an investigation of Jewish identity politics. I have just joined a book-group - my first choice is Hoban's "Kleinzeit". Someone else has chosen Dickens' "Hard Times". I haven't read any Dickens for many years - I'll be interested how I manage it.

Book groups are great. My mum wanted to go to one, so I said I'd go with her (not happy about her walking that far on her own, not at her age and with all her ailments) and I'm really glad I did.

First book I didn't finish as I couldn't handle the subject matter (middle aged woman having an affair with an underage boy - no thanks), but the discussion about it was interesting and we ended up going off in all directions. Now we're reading a non-fiction book about a family who moved to Spain. Haven't started it yet, so can't do a report.

If you're a reader, and maybe a bit set in your ways, it's great to 'have to' read something you might not have chosen.

Crossing my fingers and assuming/hoping none of them read this, my first night was a bit errr underwhelming. They were a nice enough bunch but hardly a hot-bed of cultured or stimulating discussion. I'll see how it goes. The book for next month is "Slow Boats to China" by Gavin Young.

If it keeps on like that, you could come and join ours, Knecht. Not all cultured and stimulating, but certainly interesting, and we hadn't run out of things to talk about at the end of the hour.

I have a question

If I buy a book and then when I have read said book I can just give it to someone else to read.

If I buy the same book for my kindle can I legally pass it on to someone or would that contravene some digital rights law?

How would you transfer it?

Its easy just copy from your kindle using the supplied usb lead onto your computer from there on you have a number of ways to pass it on like cd or usb stick

I downloaded a book written by Stephen Fry a couple of weeks ago, I think there was something somewhere saying how many times you could pass it on and I think that after that some sort of protection scrambles it. I'll take a look later.

I've downloaded loads of free books from various sites that are out of copyright, so obviously they would be okay and legal to do. I know in the States there are websites where you can exchange Kindle books and borrow like in a library, it might even be on Amazon's US site.

I would doubt it's illegal to give someone a book you have read, whether ebook or real book.

I love my Kindle.

Over here, there are various places where you can take a used book and then choose another that someone else has left there.

The places are always open and non-policed. No vandalism or wanton destruction.

The system works very well.

Moist_Von_Lipwig wrote:

Over here, there are various places where you can take a used book and then choose another that someone else has left there.

The places are always open and non-policed. No vandalism or wanton destruction.

The system works very well.

Found one of them in a coffee shop in a small town in Louisiana once. It was a real life-saver - nothing worse than being on holiday and not enjoying the book you're reading.

knecht wrote:

Try Russell Hoban's "Ridley Walker".

No offence, but, you know - I'm pretty smart (Wellington); my capacity for knowledge is probably fairly high compared to most. I have ordered this from my book vendor and I fully expect to judge you on reading it; it'll be the first text I've read which isn't in Latin or Classical Greek since I last attended the local church to Kingsbridge Castles and realised the fine old Priest Urquhart had been moved on and replaced with some Bristol oik (by the name of Smythe), who insisted that the classic scripture penned at the Vatican itself were replaced by copied English text. When I enquired as to where the previous encumbant had gone, Smythe mumbled something in his broken yokel English about a crackdown on 'buggery' within the Church...'Buggery!' I cried - 'Well you shall need to find another way to build the characters of these choirboys if you are expecting your Viscount to return. They were running amok during the service today'.



That, as they say, was that. I haven't been back since. I'll leave the villagers to it. Gone are the noble echoes of Latin verse, gone is the serenity produced by Urquhart, gone are the note-perfect renditions of holistic hymn; replaced with the shrill cacophony of 'local chatter', the droning Bristolian voice trying to do justice to the plot to arrest Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 26:4), and the choirboys playing 'soggy biscuit' behind the pew!



Anyway, where was I, ah yes - the book! I'll let you know.

You will have to learn another language to understand "Ridley Walker".

Not a classic but in my humble ( ) opinion a book of a genre that is not to be found in pre-modern literature.

I recently read his "Pilgerman" and that wasn't as good but nevertheless told of another interesting journey.

knecht wrote:

You will have to learn another language to understand "Ridley Walker".

The old 'Nadsat' trick...

I'm not very good with languages.

Tell you what was a good, and unusual, book - Cold Mountain (Charles Fraser). Forget the film version, which was just lovey-dovey tosh: the book was really atmospheric, and I kept on having to stop and think about what I'd just read.

Lent it to somebody. Never got it back.

Have started Riddley Walker. Initial impressions are that it is a bit of a chore to get to the end of each sentence. I imagine this will become easier once I've read more than 3 pages. Also just finished reading 1984 for the second time, having previously read it in school. I found it interesting enough and thought provoking (again), but a shame the story dies a bit during Goldstein's book.

Stick with it and you learn the language.

It might be a book for young people, though . It is about 30 years since I read it.

knecht wrote:

Stick with it and you learn the language.

It might be a book for young people, though . It is about 30 years since I read it.

Yeah I'm sure I will. I only had ten minutes and the other half was distracting me. I'll try again when I get some lone-time on my lunch I expect.