The Student Room Group

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i've just been recommended this book (10 seconds from the sun by russell celyn jones) : http://http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article299156.ece
has anyone else read it? x
Reply 41
Jonathan Safran Foer's 'Everything Is Illuminated' is worth a look ... not everyone's cup of tea, but strangely appealing.
Reply 42
It's almost very good, but I think a bit sentimental. I suppose everyone's tolerance for schmaltz varies though, and it is pretty good.
Reply 43
I'm so bad i havent even got half way through the time travellers wife. My holiday turned into one of those where your not awake for very many daylight hours!! Still i'm really enjoying it and wouldnt have known about it if it werent for your reccomendations! Hope to finish this by end of the weekend then move onto cloud atlas!
kelamia
I'm so bad i havent even got half way through the time travellers wife. My holiday turned into one of those where your not awake for very many daylight hours!! Still i'm really enjoying it and wouldnt have known about it if it werent for your reccomendations! Hope to finish this by end of the weekend then move onto cloud atlas!


What do you think of 'The Time Traveler's Wife' so far?

I felt at some moments I had to read it laboriously and it was tediously drawn out but on the whole it was good.

Yeah, I'm just starting 'Cloud Atlas' too.
Reply 45
I admit its quite drawn out and some time with the way its written in chunks of henry, claire i find it hard to feel the real emotions of the characters but that might just be me. otherwise i think its amazing and a really interesting read and i know as i approach the end its just going to make me cry!
Not really 'recent' (a year ago) but i well enjoyed last year's booker prize 'Vernon God Little' ... pretty twisted and a little contrived (but then what fiction isnt - eg. Life of Pi isnt very believable but it's well good) but the narration and characterisation is really strong. For me it made 'Catcher in the Rye' make a lot more sense, they're quite similar angsty 1st-person stuff.

Ben Elton woohoo! i thought Dead famous was his best - the plot and characters are meant to be ridiculous, it's FOR people who hate big brother - whoever dissed it! if you hate big brother and occaisionally wish your mates were a little more intelligent and not entrenched in yoof culture then its genius satire.

My fav book - His dark materials. well written, great plot, good characters, fantastical, deep, imaginative, with a clear central philosophy/message too..

Harry Potter - good characters but isnt it all a bit empty????

Dan Brown - filthy holiday trash and i love it. Angels and Demons is so similar to TDVC they're practically the same book. What he does do well though is to present both sides of pretty deep arguments clearly and equally convincingly in his character's speeches (science & religion and their roles in the world, capitalism v communism, the role of NASA, the best focus of government spending...). It might be quite cool to just fish these passages out and actually try to work out which side you agree with; like do a evaluation of argument that Brown doesnt bother with.
or maybe just me...
Has anyone read Ben Elton's 'Past Mortem'? Normally, these detective type novels always leave me baffled but I managed to work it out halfway through and then I became totally bored because it seemed to take the characters so looooooong to figure it out.
Hmm... I've read most of the books people have listed. My main problem is once I haven't read the book in a while I completely forget the name /author.

*slaps forehead*Stupid Richard!