Books

[Giles]

@gbougard:

Fucked up, violent, sci-fi, war, despair,some philosophy on top…

Try this dude for fucked up and violent:  Andrew Vachss

[hectic]

Actually if people on this thread can recommend drugged up fuck ups stories, preferably violent, in the middle on nowhere in America in the middle of the 22d century… I'm all ears.

Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling fits the brief quite well.

[hectic]

Also Richard Morgan (esp. Black Man)

[hectic]

Giles, whats Andrew Vachss all about? Seems very prolific.

[Giles]

I have loads here.  All sent to me by a mate in Kentucky.  The first one was so dark, I haven't plucked up the courage to open any of the others.  Pussy - I know…..G

[hectic]

Ha LOL, pls loan me one

[Giles]

Next shipment, I'll pop one in….

[hectic]

Cool, thanks.

[sergedenimes]

Bill Bryson, namely A short history of nearly everything.

[riffblaster general]

i always recommend these two…

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

[stever]

@gbougard:

Actually if people on this thread can recommend fuck ups stories, preferably violent, in the middle on nowhere in America in the middle of the 19th century… I'm all ears.

[riffblaster general]

@stever:

@gbougard:

Actually if people on this thread can recommend fuck ups stories, preferably violent, in the middle on nowhere in America in the middle of the 19th century… I'm all ears.

great book.

anything by Jim Thomson also.

[that_was_easy]

@riffblaster:

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

Hell. Yes. This is possibly the most epic story I've ever read.  Totally a book worth marathoning.  Don't stop reading until it's finished, which isn't all that difficult.  Just…wow.  I was reading "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn at the same time...fucked up in a pretty viceral way.  Great tandem read.

[riffblaster general]

the gulag archipelago is great.    not quite as much of an easy read as the long walk but i loved it.  have you read Kolmya Stories?  another great one about the gulag.

[baracuta61]

hi, i just got a kindle and i downloaded a load of free books so i'd have something to  read when it arrived. at the moment i'm reading 3 at once:
the mysterious island by jules verne. love it! the engineer is like a 19th century magyver.
the communist manifesto which is heavy going, but i've learned that i'm a prole and giles is a member of the bourgeoisie!
the king james bible, never read it before but it's very interesting, those guys used to live for about 900 years! imagine the fades they could have got on a pair of IH jeans!

[Seul]

[a.khan12390]

Just about to start reading this
USA Cover

Found this rally funny, pakistan cover, i think this was deemed a little to scary for the US

[riffblaster general]

just finished the fall by guillermo del toro.  2nd in his trilogy about vampires.  totally dumb but totally enthralling.

[Guest]

Jeez G, I haven't read a Vachss  book in years…dark indeed, need to re-visit !

[michaeljcr]

For all those book fans out there, especially genre fiction, I can send some books out if you like - I work as a fiction buyer for UK retail chain, and have an office full of samples.

Re: Vachss, he's great, but bleak indeed!  In real life he's run children's correctional facilities and been an advocate for children in need.  All the Burke books I've read are about, or touch upon, child abuse or some kind of sexual crime, so they are pretty hard going.

If you like him, I'd recommend reading something by Joe R. Lansdale, a good friend of Vachss and a wonderful storyteller.  Mucho Mojo is a good place to start, or one of his one-offs like The Bottoms.

M.