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Original poster

Lit Fic for ME please

232 replies

Hullygully · 28/06/2013 08:38

Any recommendations? Need lots of books for hols. I want lit fiction eg I do not want Khaled Hossein, Harold Fry, JoJo Moyes etc etc (nothing wrong with them, but I don't want them).

I want Mantel/Mitchell/Houllebecq type stuff please and thank you.

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FreeButtonBee · 28/06/2013 13:55

That they may face the rising sun by John mcgahern - amazing (and not too long Fellatio). Set in west of Ireland and so poetic, languid and everyday. Loved it.

Catmint · 28/06/2013 13:50

One hand clapping by Lise Leroux is slightly Attwoodesque, I really love it.

J Lanchester the Debt to Pleasure is my favourite.

My dd is pestering me to add a smiley, so here is one: Grin

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:46

Ooh I think I have Red Dog somewhere in my huge pile of unread stuff.

Will look. Louis de Berniere always puts me off because everyone says what a pile of tedious crap Captain Corelli was though. Confused

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:42

Right I've just ordered:

Blood Meridian
Troubles by JG Farrell
The Woman Upstairs

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:36

And probably recommending the blindingly obvious now, but:

A hundred years of Solitude?
Graeme Greene?
Three men in a boat, Jerome K Jerome, one of the funniest things I have ever read.

Um...um.. Memoirs of a Geisha? Beautiful book.

Alan Bennett?

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:17

I think my DH would like Blood Meridian so I'll order it and if it makes me too queasy/exhausted I'll tell him to read it instead.

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:16

Oh, and I know it's not fiction but if you haven't read any David Sedaris YOU HAVE NOT LIVED.

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 13:13

I have had A Fine Balance on my bookshelf for about ten years and I can't quite bring myself so start it. I feel overwhelmed at the prospect. I loved Wolf Hall, or at least I loved what I read of it, but I put it down unfinished at the end of a holiday 2 years ago and never picked it up again. Confused I should give it another bash but I know it requires dedication and I feel intimidated by it now. [lightweight]

mignonette · 28/06/2013 13:11

Hully you install a pin it icon onto your toolbar and then when you are on Amazon or any other site for that matter you just click on the icon and it does all the naming for you. No memory required!

mignonette · 28/06/2013 13:09

Red Dog by Louis de Berniere is a great short book or try short story collections TheRealFellatio.

Here is a good shorter book - 'In Cuba I Was A German Shepherd' and a brief description-
Maximo, a Cuban immigrant, passes his days in Miami's Domino Park refining his elaborate jokes - like the one about a mongrel who comes to the States looking for love and luck. His sleepless nights he spends struggling to recall the precise shade of his dead wife's eyes, and reliving the hardships he and she faced together on their arrival in America. In these interlinked short stories, Ana Menendez introduces us to a cast of characters young and old, and to the island with its fragrant streets, passionate music and fields of cane that compels their imaginations. Richly sensual, full of observations that catch at the heart, this is writing of rare distinction and storytelling power, and marks the arrival of a major international voice.

I forgot to mention one of my absolute favourite Southern authors- Michael Lee West. 'Consuming Passions' a non fivtion food memoir about her mad relatives and Southern life is my favourite but here are the others. The 'Mad Girls' novels are a series and really do need reading in order.

Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 13:01

It's not one I would recommend apart from the Hawaiian angle, mind. Altho I did quite like it.

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Hullygully · 28/06/2013 13:00

Ooo I might do, mig.

But it would just say, Thingy by Wotsit.

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Hullygully · 28/06/2013 13:00

oh yes, I had wanted to read the dinner, have kindled it.

Look, new verb!

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mignonette · 28/06/2013 13:00

have ordered Molok'ai. I enjoy reading recommended books so thanks for that Hully

You should join Pinterest and set up a recommendations book board. I always look at those.

Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:58

Yes, I should give Amis a bit more of a go, he just irritates me.

I'll look at the dinner, tho I do like longer books so it's not all over too quickly (oo er missus)

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Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:57

Fell, make yourself read Blood Meridian

really really

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Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:56

But shouldn't one read the first two first?

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TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 12:56

Ok I've just googled (well Amazoned actually) Blood Meridian.

It says 'It is a barbarously poetic odyssey through a hell without purpose.'

Confused I'm not sure it and I are cut out for one another.

TheRealFellatio · 28/06/2013 12:54

Ooh this is the thread I need as well. Although of a some of Hully's highbrow choices might be beyond me, as I am the slowest reader in the world and I have the attention span of a gnat.

If you like someone who hates everywhere and everyone what about Martin Amis? A bit of a tosspot I know, but I LOVE his books. He's just so contemptuous of everything. Perfect.

Have you read The Dinner by Herman Koch? Nice and short. Perfect for me. Hmm

mignonette · 28/06/2013 12:53

Susanna Moores 'Sleeping Beauties' is set in Hawaii and is as lush descriptively as the islands.

here is link.

Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:41

Molokai is good, about the leper colony. Odd, but interesting.

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mignonette · 28/06/2013 12:37

Yes I probably have Gully because it is one of my all time favourites. I'll order 'Hell at the Breech' too. What the hell....Money spent on books is never a waste....

I'm really into food memoir too especially American. I'm trying to read more Hawaiian fiction/non fiction also. If anybody can recommend i'd appreciate that.

Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:31

Did you recommend the Glass Castle on another thread, mig??

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Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:31

You know who else is brillian?

Paul Theroux

He hates everyone and everywhere. I love him.

Travel and fiction all marvellous.

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Original poster
Hullygully · 28/06/2013 12:11

Hell at the Breech is better than Twilight.

Quick, cancel - or get both!

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