Here be the twelve [very brief and disconnected] book reviews I’ve done on the Facebook bookshelf application. (It’s only the second application I’ve ever added on Facebook, I addition.)
I’ll be doing more ‘reviews’ when I get a chance, I hope.
On The Body Artist (Don DeLillo): Impossible to wade through.
On Cock and Bull (Will Self): Hilarious. I don’t care if Will Self’s far too pretentious for his own good; his ability to make me laugh is second to [almost] none.
On A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess): Possibly the best book ever written (1).
On Dead Babies (Marin Amis): Dead Babies was my first Amis read, and it got me hooked on him. Amis can turn his hand to dark comedy like few others can. Just don’t expect to like any of his characters that much.
On The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen): I can’t remember a thing about it, although I know I’ve read it. Something to do with a big family?
On Girlfriend in a Coma (Douglas Coupland): Overrated. I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, frankly.
On The Girl and the Lion D’Or (Sebastian Faulks): So dull. I think I fell asleep in between each page.
On On the Road (Jack Kerouac): I wonder if anyone else agrees that this book is too long, too dull and too overrated.
On This Other Eden (Ben Elton): Elton’s satire is very clever, but his writing style lets him down every time. It turns a great idea into something very tedious and predictable.
On Brave New World (Aldous Huxley): Possibly the best book ever written (2).
On The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho): I couldn’t understand what any of the attraction was to this book. I hated all of it.
On The Trial (Franz Kafka): Kafka scares the bejaysus out of me. I’ll bet he does the same to everyone. He’s in good company with Huxley and Orwell when he describes a world we should be very afraid off.
Of all these which one should I read.
Based on what I know about you, Froggy, I would say that Brave New World would be right up your street. That said, I wouldn’t recommend half of them to anyone.
Also, I should probably have recommended The Trial, Froggy. It’s difficult to understand in places but it’s worth the read.
I’d agree with you on A Clockwork Orange and On The Road, but my other best book ever written would be Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Also it is the only film adaptation that I think is exactly like the book.
You know, A, I’ve never read that or seen the film. I’ve been meaning to for a while now but I’ve never got around to it.
I see from your reviews that we also agree about Catcher in the Rye!
Catcher In The Rye!!!! I HATE IT!!!
I have two copies of it though. One I had from when I read it at school and one my psycho ex gave me as he loved the book so much. I can’t chuck them though, no matter how much I hate it as they are books and I just can’t do horrible things to books.
You can’t chuck them? Hilarious! I NEVER throw books out no matter what, A, but Catcher in the Shite went straight in the bin as soon as I closed the cover. I HATED it!
The only other book I have two copies of is The World According To Clarkson as I had to get the Penguin Classic cover
Oh my! Is it a good read? I dare say it is or you wouldn’t have two.
If you like Jeremy then you’ll like this book. We all know he’s totally un-PC, chauvinistic and old, but that is what makes it funny for me.
I like Jeremy most of the time, A, and he does make me laugh. He sometimes goes too far though, I feel, and I can’t help but be annoyed with him.