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What Book Are You Reading Now? Mk II

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Original post by laut_biru
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell


How are you finding it so far? I bought this a few weeks ago after reading good reviews, and my friend saw it on my bookshelf and said it was the biggest load of rubbish he had ever read. He generally has quite good taste in books, but I had previously heard it was supposed to be pretty good so was a bit disappointed to hear that. I'm planning to give it a go when I eventually finish War and Peace (which is still a way off!). I hope you enjoy it!
Reply 121
Original post by mrs_bellamy
How are you finding it so far? I bought this a few weeks ago after reading good reviews, and my friend saw it on my bookshelf and said it was the biggest load of rubbish he had ever read. He generally has quite good taste in books, but I had previously heard it was supposed to be pretty good so was a bit disappointed to hear that. I'm planning to give it a go when I eventually finish War and Peace (which is still a way off!). I hope you enjoy it!


I'm only like 30 pages in right now, so it's hard to say. It does seem to be one of those books where the author was being 'clever', rather than just telling a good story.. but, so far that doesn't seem to be at the expense of writing something enjoyable.

I have been told that people often seem to either love it or hate it though.
Reply 122
Original post by laut_biru
I'm only like 30 pages in right now, so it's hard to say. It does seem to be one of those books where the author was being 'clever', rather than just telling a good story.. but, so far that doesn't seem to be at the expense of writing something enjoyable.

I have been told that people often seem to either love it or hate it though.


I read that over Christmas after picking it up during the summer and getting bored! It was the wierdest experience cos I'd just been to New Zealand to learn all about my Maori heritage and my tribe Te Ata Awa and it was mentioned in the first chapter!

Keep with it, its a pretty interesting book but perhaps not as good as everyone lets on...
Reply 123
Original post by fatal
I read that over Christmas after picking it up during the summer and getting bored! It was the weirdest experience cos I'd just been to New Zealand to learn all about my Maori heritage and my tribe Te Ata Awa and it was mentioned in the first chapter!

Keep with it, its a pretty interesting book but perhaps not as good as everyone lets on...


Have you read The Colour by Rose Tremain? It's set entirely in NZ, and features a few Maori characters.
The Red Queen - Phillipa Gregory
Mercy - Jussi Adler-Olsen
To the Moon and Back - Jill Mansen.

I can never read one book at a time. xD
Reply 125
Original post by laut_biru
Have you read The Colour by Rose Tremain? It's set entirely in NZ, and features a few Maori characters.


No actually I haven't, I'll look it out :smile:
Reply 126
Just. Left. School. Don't. Read. Now.

JK.. 'The Wasp Factory' by Iain Banks..
Reply 127
Original post by mrs_bellamy
How are you finding it so far? I bought this a few weeks ago after reading good reviews, and my friend saw it on my bookshelf and said it was the biggest load of rubbish he had ever read. He generally has quite good taste in books, but I had previously heard it was supposed to be pretty good so was a bit disappointed to hear that. I'm planning to give it a go when I eventually finish War and Peace (which is still a way off!). I hope you enjoy it!

I LOVED it. I thought it was the best book I'd read the whole year, if not the best book in longer. In fact I am now reading Ghostwritten because I found Cloud Atlas so good.
Reply 128
Original post by Stricof
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy.

It's going to take ****ing ages. And the names and places to remember in relatively short periods of time! Frustrating but nonetheless it is a lovely novel so far.


Just ordered War and Peace :smile: Looking forward to reading it.
I plan to one day read War and Peace but i do often find the size of it rather intimidating :tongue:
"A Song of Ice and Fire: Complete Edition" by George R. R. Martin

It's not really "complete" but an eBook of the first 4 in the series (book 5 isn't out yet).

Just finished "Game of Thrones" which was amazing, but I'm no where near finishing the whole thing.

I love it, 4 long books in one which should keep me occupied for a while, then the last book to look forward to next month. The formatting etc was just plain awful though, a really lazy effort from Harper Collins :\

I might still buy the actual books to keep on my shelf.
Reply 131
Currently reading Wuthering Heights York Notes.

So very dull, so very helpful.
The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway

It's an interesting read :smile:
I've got War and Peace and Water for Elephants to tackle this summer! I miss reading for pleasure during term time :frown:
Reply 133
Original post by Phalanges
Now that the last thread has been filled, it's time for a new one! Previous thread can be found here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=100193

I am currently reading Scorsese by Ebert. Pretty damn good read.


face-book, by Mark Zuckerberg. :colondollar:
Reply 134
Original post by Stricof
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy.

It's going to take ****ing ages. And the names and places to remember in relatively short periods of time! Frustrating but nonetheless it is a lovely novel so far.


It took me about a year to read it, on and off. After a while, it wasn't like reading a book. It was like going to Russia and and living in those houses. It was because the book was so long, and because it had been on my table for so long that it became almost real. That's one of the book's strengths.
Original post by Planar
It took me about a year to read it, on and off. After a while, it wasn't like reading a book. It was like going to Russia and and living in those houses. It was because the book was so long, and because it had been on my table for so long that it became almost real. That's one of the book's strengths.
I think the main problem I'm having with it is having to re-read certain parts of the chapter in order to remember the sheer number of characters compacted into the page. And the names are long or unique/weird too so it takes a little while for them to all sink in as well! Yes, I suppose you're right. It is a bit like living within' this History of the book. It's brilliant.
Reply 136
Original post by Stricof
I think the main problem I'm having with it is having to re-read certain parts of the chapter in order to remember the sheer number of characters compacted into the page. And the names are long or unique/weird too so it takes a little while for them to all sink in as well! Yes, I suppose you're right. It is a bit like living within' this History of the book. It's brilliant.


When I didn't know who someone was, I looked at the characters section, which was with the notes at the back. Your copy might have one
Original post by Planar
When I didn't know who someone was, I looked at the characters section, which was with the notes at the back. Your copy might have one
I never thought about this. Thanks! :colondollar:
I'm currently reading Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol - really good so far :smile:
Original post by Planar
It took me about a year to read it, on and off. After a while, it wasn't like reading a book. It was like going to Russia and and living in those houses. It was because the book was so long, and because it had been on my table for so long that it became almost real. That's one of the book's strengths.


I'm about 700 pages in to War and Peace. I completely agree with you! I have always preferred reasonably long books over short ones, as it gives me more time to get to know the characters and increases the chance that I will actually remember anything about the book afterwards. War and Peace is a step up from anything I had previously considered long. Because the story spans over several years, but still moves quite slowly, when they talk about an event that happened a few years ago at the beginning of the book, I remember it as if it were years ago because it really was quite a while back that I read about it.

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