more about books

[howsmyenglish]

Was I kidding myself yesterday or what? Reading Terry Pratchett when I'm not allowed to laugh? Seriously? I got "Interesting Times" from the book shelf yesterday, started reading the description on the back cover and suddenly clutched my stomach in a fit of laughter. My husband took the book away without letting me finish the sentence. :D
Well, I'll have to wait. Instead of reading Pratchett, I took the first book that I saw next: it turned out to be "The Liar" by Stephen Fry. I remember that it didn't manage to grasp my attention when I tried reading it some years ago. Maybe, it will now? I just hope it's not funny. Should any of you possess the knowledge that it is, please let me know! :D

What are you reading these days? Are you enjoying your reads?

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

I did find "the Liar" funny but it's very much of its time

[howsmyenglish]

I stopped reading The Liar, when you and another commenter said it was funny. But it's a good thing you did - I'll try it later, when I want a laugh, but am not feeling like reading Pratchett :)

[havocthecat]

Your core muscles are really surprisingly useful! I know that feeling! Good luck getting everything back so you can laugh again.

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks! :D I've started the Pratchett book now. Husband was a bit worried, when I laughed a lot last evening, but it almost doesn't hurt anymore, so))

[dewline]

Yeah, I can see how Pratchett's works will be problematic for people in your post-surgical situation. I'm sorry for that. I might avoid Leslie Charteris' earlier Saint stories for similar reasons, if you're familiar with the social and historical context in which they were (re)written (to become Saint stories in some cases).

[howsmyenglish]

Leslie Charteris' earlier Saint stories for similar reasons, if you're familiar with the social and historical context in which they were (re)written (to become Saint stories in some cases)
No, not familiar with this at all. Is this something you'd recommend?

About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[dewline]

These were the stories that got adapted - with varying degrees of faithfulness - into radio plays featuring Vincent Price, black-and-white movies featuring Louis Hayward and George Sanders, TV shows with Roger Moore and Ian Ogilvy.

Provided that you understand that these stories were written and rewritten back in the 1920's through the 1950's, and therefore reflect the biases of their times, and in the earlier cases, some of those biases were egregious - despite the author himself being "visible minority" - to my mind, even when I first read them as a teenager back in the 1980's. With those caveats firmly in mind, yes, I'd recommend them.

Re: About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[howsmyenglish]

Sorry for being daft, but could we start at the beginning? Are we talking about books that got adapted into radio plays etc? Are you recommending the books or the adaptations? Why have they been rewritten? *scratches head*

Re: About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[dewline]

The first of the Saint stories were short stories, and eventually serialized novels, published in anthology magazines of the time in the UK in the 1920's and 1930's. Some of the original versions featured very different lead characters in their first publications, which Charteris was eventually persuaded to rework as Saint stories. And I am definitely recommending the books. All but the first of which were reprinted in recent years by one of Amazon's imprints, said reprints being edited by a now-friendly acquaintance of mine, Ian Dickerson. Ian is a longtime "superfan" himself of both the books and the adaptations into other media formats.

Re: About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[howsmyenglish]

Thank you! This is very interesting, I never even heard of them.

Re: About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[thewayne]

Loved the Ian Ogilvy Saint! I think I may have seen those before I saw the Roger Moore Saints. CBS Late Night was running those along with The New Avengers, which makes me wonder if someone had a deal with Jaguar.

Re: About the Saint stories of Leslie Charteris

[dewline]

You and I are very much of the same generation of Saint fandom, then. First the re-runs on CBS Late Night of Ogilvy's series, then Roger Moore's. Somewhen in between, I started picking up paperback editions of the novels such as were being published in that decade.

[thewayne]

How about some hilarious Edgar Allen Poe? ;-)

[howsmyenglish]

I quite like him, but in small doses. Anything in particular you'd recommend?

[thewayne]

Well, for our current plague situation, The Masque of the Red Death would be appropriate.  For home isolation, what is considered to be perhaps the first murder/locked room mystery, Murders in the Rue Morgue.  On a somewhat lighter note, I've always been fond of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether.  The Cask of Amontillado is fun.  I don't know your taste in music, but Alan Parsons Project did an album based on Poe called Tales of Mystery and Imagination that has some very clever stuff on it, you might find it interesting.  His poetry is quite moving, such as Annabelle Lee and To One In Paradise.

[howsmyenglish]

Thank you so much! I mainly didn't read Poe, because I didn't know where to start. But I did read the Murders in the Rue Morgue. And I'd love to read more. I will come back to this comment of yours! Looking forward to the music, too!

[thewayne]

Happy to help!  How's your surgical recovery proceeding?

[howsmyenglish]

I'm much better, thank you! i even started to read that Pratchett book last night :)
How's your dad?

[thewayne]

Spoke with my parents last Saturday, and they're doing fine.  I think he starts his last round of chemo this coming week.  My sister cancelled the bone biopsy under concerns that it would be hard to find a facility that is clear of the virus.  Blood work done a month after the chemo is done is going to be enough proof of the effectiveness of the treatment anyway.  They can wait a couple of months until the city's case load is significantly down and hospitals aren't as stressed if they want to do another biopsy.

Recently I've been thinking about re-reading the Tiffany Aching series.  I re-read the entire Discworld series two(?) years ago, loved it.  I haven't been doing much recreational reading of late, though last week I picked up and started continuing a book on Buddhism that I've had sitting around for a bit.

[howsmyenglish]

Sorry for bragging, but how cool is it that I didn't even read the complete Discworld series! I think I read about half of them and I partly don't remember them at all, because of the circumstances i read them in. Like, I'm reading Interesting Times and finding that I did read them before, but I don't remember how, when, why? I must have moved around countries at that time. I usually have memory gaps in such cases.

But on a more serious note. I hope your dad will be fine! Take care.

[thewayne]

Also, since Poe lived and died so long ago, all of his material is available for free. Aside from various web sites, in English check the American, Canadian, and Australian Gutenberg sites. They are also available in other languages.

[thanatos_kalos]

The Liar is funny, though dated; perhaps something non-fiction might be good? Nothing too taxing or related to your research, but something unlikely to make you laugh?

[howsmyenglish]

I stopped reading The Liar after two people said it was funny. I read a Reginald Hill book instead. And I'm much better now, I've started Interesting Times yesterday and laughing almost doesn't hurt anymore! :D

[thanatos_kalos]

Hooray!!! :)