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Which Book Are You Reading thread

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Just ordered this from Amazon.

Anyone read it?
 
I've read heaps of crime genre and historical fiction books recently, but I'm currently reading a different genre - history/non-fiction.

TASMANIA'S CONVICTS - HOW FELONS BUILT A FREE SOCIETY : ALISON ALEXANDER

I know AA the author. Probably the 8th or 9th author I know. This book is interesting!

Tasmania's population is circa 500 000 plus. In the early days of settlement, in the early 19th Century, 75% of the Tassie population were convicts. Of that current 500 000 plus, 75% still originate from that convict stock!

What AA advances is that the felons guilty of the most serious crimes didn't arrive in Van Dieman's Land, because they were usually executed in England. She posits that of those transported, they were usually guilty of misdemeanours.

I'm in the 25% of the Tassie population whose parents emigrated to Tas. In my case, from England before I was a teenager. My better half, like most, has originated from that convict stock. There is a manifest shame from many Tasmanians about their convict heritage.

AA has chapters on different subjects - Birth Of A Convict Colony, Convicts After Sentence, The Convict Stigma, etc. In each chapter she uses heaps of anecdotes from specific convicts about their sentences, how they adapted to life in VDL, social norms in VDL, etc. I'm finding them fascinating! One crime that earned transportation and was surprisingly common, was bestiality!

Another surprising phenomenon is that life for the average convict who worked for free settlers, usually farmers, was better than labourers in England, and, soldiers in the British Army, according to AA. Convicts in Tas had far better diet and had access to better medical care.

With the abundance of Cape Barren Geese, emu, kangaroo, wallaby, possum, etc, hunting was far better than in Europe. There was longer life expectancy for Tassie convicts than for most labourers living in England, Scotland and Ireland - the main sources of convicts. Tasmanian convicts ate far more calories in a given week than English soldiers or labourers.

Moreover, compared to mainland Aus, Tasmania had fresh water in abundance. The convicts also spent a lot of time outside, so many had a healthy lifestyle.

Haven't finished Tas's Convicts yet, but it is the most interesting book I've read for a while - with its aspects of convict life that are true.
 
Another feature of the historical book I am currently reading, Tasmania’s Convicts, written by an eminent historian, unlike the crime, thriller or historical fiction genres, there is no urgency to finish the book.

It is easy to have a break from and revisit the text. One doesn’t feel compelled to race to the conclusion of the book. Each few pages are inherently interesting. One gains considerable new insights and knowledge in short periods of time. It is a nice change!
 
Decentric said:
I've read heaps of crime genre and historical fiction books recently, but I'm currently reading a different genre - history/non-fiction.

TASMANIA'S CONVICTS - HOW FELONS BUILT A FREE SOCIETY : ALISON ALEXANDER

I know AA the author. Probably the 8th or 9th author I know. This book is interesting!

Tasmania's population is circa 500 000 plus. In the early days of settlement, in the early 19th Century, 75% of the Tassie population were convicts. Of that current 500 000 plus, 75% still originate from that convict stock!

What AA advances is that the felons guilty of the most serious crimes didn't arrive in Van Dieman's Land, because they were usually executed in England. She posits that of those transported, they were usually guilty of misdemeanours.

I'm in the 25% of the Tassie population whose parents emigrated to Tas. In my case, from England before I was a teenager. My better half, like most, has originated from that convict stock. There is a manifest shame from many Tasmanians about their convict heritage.

AA has chapters on different subjects - Birth Of A Convict Colony, Convicts After Sentence, The Convict Stigma, etc. In each chapter she uses heaps of anecdotes from specific convicts about their sentences, how they adapted to life in VDL, social norms in VDL, etc. I'm finding them fascinating! One crime that earned transportation and was surprisingly common, was bestiality!

Another surprising phenomenon is that life for the average convict who worked for free settlers, usually farmers, was better than labourers in England, and, soldiers in the British Army, according to AA. Convicts in Tas had far better diet and had access to better medical care.

With the abundance of Cape Barren Geese, emu, kangaroo, wallaby, possum, etc, hunting was far better than in Europe. There was longer life expectancy for Tassie convicts than for most labourers living in England, Scotland and Ireland - the main sources of convicts. Tasmanian convicts ate far more calories in a given week than English soldiers or labourers.

Moreover, compared to mainland Aus, Tasmania had fresh water in abundance. The convicts also spent a lot of time outside, so many had a healthy lifestyle.

Haven't finished Tas's Convicts yet, but it is the most interesting book I've read for a while - with its aspects of convict life that are true.
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If anyone hasn't actually gone to Tassie and had a tour or two of the old convict sites it is worth considering. Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour particularly - and the engineering aspect of Macquarie Harbour and the rock groins for flow control is a fascinating bonus.

I read For the Term of his Natural Life after going to Tassie and it adds something special when you have seen places.

It is the same watching Escape to the Country and any other show from the UK or even Paris and Rome (having been there relatively recently) that you see places you have now been to and the thrill it adds.

Used to be the question of read a Book or watch a Movie first - now I have to consider reading/watching first before I go to a place so I don't miss looking at the cliffs of Broadchurch or the little streets of Doc Martin town when I happen by.
 
RIMB said:
If anyone hasn't actually gone to Tassie and had a tour or two of the old convict sites it is worth considering. Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour particularly - and the engineering aspect of Macquarie Harbour and the rock groins for flow control is a fascinating bonus.

I read For the Term of his Natural Life after going to Tassie and it adds something special when you have seen places.

It is the same watching Escape to the Country and any other show from the UK or even Paris and Rome (having been there relatively recently) that you see places you have now been to and the thrill it adds.

Used to be the question of read a Book or watch a Movie first - now I have to consider reading/watching first before I go to a place so I don't miss looking at the cliffs of Broadchurch or the little streets of Doc Martin town when I happen by.
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We’ve watched some of those shows too - enticing us to visit those places.

It is also nice reading books, even fiction, set in countries one has visited.
 
Decentric said:
We’ve watched some of those shows too - enticing us to visit those places.

It is also nice reading books, even fiction, set in countries one has visited.
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Especially fiction - I still remember the thrill of reading Lord of the Rings when Frodo went to the Rye fish and chip shop :D
 
Not really on topic but nowhere else to brag about this...

My short story - Change Management - has just been longlisted for The Big Issue (Fiction Issue) which is a pretty big deal.

I find out in a few weeks whether I make the final cut. Wish me well.
 
There was a feature article in this weeks New Yorker Magazine titled 'The End of the Essay' - The impact of AI on student writing....

It was as you'd expect about how software like ChatGPT and other generative AI tools basically changing academic writing to the point where it might be affecting the development of a student's creative process...

So that’s all quite interesting in itself but I like reading books and it got me wondering if the creative process of the literary world be impacted in a similar fashion?

I know that art always evolves to meet new demands but writing and storytelling in the literary sense is the purist form of human expressiveness, intelligence and feeling.....

How would someone like our Mr Cleansheets on G & G feel about spending huge amounts of his personal time on planning, preparing and writing a novel or assignment of non fiction when a AI machine tool could knock one out in a few hours?

I think that the the speed at which AI could create artistic and literary works to compete with human-authored works poses a significant threat to both the economic and cultural value of the latter...

Mr C?

Your thoughts??
 
Interesting (and very depressing) question.

There is a massive debate in authors' circles with most being dead against the use of AI in writing for numerous reasons - not least the theft of copyright upon which AI depends. I'm also dead against it for personal reasons because I enjoy the writing process. What is the point of putting my name on something I didn't do?

At this point, AI manuscripts (so I'm told) are pretty terrible but you can bet they'll improve until they are indistinguishable from the work of the more formulaic airport style writers and those books tend to sell the best.

As less publishing slots are found for real writers there will be less and less incentive to write, so fewer and fewer people will have a crack and ultimately, human literature will die. Reading also will die because there'll be nothing truly worth reading.

So please keep the flickering candle alight by reading a lot and encouraging others to. Buy books for presents.

Especially mine.
 
Love this story from the Sunday Times....

Nick Cave and the good reads he gave Oxfam

Hugo Daniel

Old postcards, the stub of a boarding pass and illegible annotations in the margins are routine fare when rifling through books in a secondhand shops.

Shoppers at the Oxfam Bookshop in Hove, East Sussex, however, have been perusing books that shed light on the life of a rock star.

Nick Cave, who lived in Brighton for more than a decade with his wife Susie, has donated more than 2,000 books — from Salman Rushdie to Ian McEwan, a first edition of Johnny Cash’s novel Man In White to a recipe book about aphrodisiacs — which went on sale on Thursday.

The Australian singersongwriter decided to donate the books after the collection appeared in a travelling art exhibition that included a re-creation of his office, complete with his library. The books are on sale for the same prices as all the shop’s stock of between £2.99-£4.99.

Ian Falkingham from Oxfam, who helped to arrange the donation, said the star’s team had got in touch in early June to ask if he wanted the books, and Oxfam had jumped at the chance.

“It’s very similar to what happens all over the country all the time,” he said. “You’ve got to make space in your house for the next set of books.”

On Friday morning, a crowd of people were leafing through pages, finding mementos from the singer’s life spent travelling the world, from the boarding pass for seat 4A on a Lufthansa flight to Amsterdam in the name of “Cave/Nick Mr” to a map of America setting out the dates of a 2007 tour, with Madison Square Gardens circled.

Inside one is a crushed, empty packet of Camel cigarettes. A copy of the Christopher Hitchens book The Missionary Position, a critique of Mother Teresa, contains an envelope with “Lukes tooth” written in Cave’s distinctive hand. His son, Luke, is now 34.

Cave’s publicist said the singer did not want to comment on the donation, explaining: “He thinks the discoveries will remain intriguing mysteries for those who find them.”

Staff said one customer had spent £200 and left with several bags. By yesterday morning, there was a long queue inside the shop.

Many books have sentences underlined or passages marked with spidery, tiny annotations in the margins. On the inside cover of The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, by Louis de Bernières, the black handwriting details copious page number references, including “good vs evil 221” and “bad advice 147”.

An inscription by the Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, inside a copy of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, dated December 2, 2005, says: “Nick, Hope you like it. It’s kind of mental.”
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Homework part 1 completed: The Odyssey

I have read Fitzgerald's modern English translation of Homer's The Odyssey on my way to watching O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Much like reading For Whom The Bell Tolls, it took awhile to pick up the cadence of the writing and the archaic sentence structure. Once I got the hang of it I found the story enjoyable and it brought back memories of reading Ulysses as a child.

It tricked me for awhile because The Odyssey picks up halfway through the tale of his travels and the references to things like the Cyclops in past tense had me wondering where they got the detail to include in the story of Ulysses. It was well into The Odyssey that I discovered the previous encounters I remembered so well were recounted as the tale of his journey to an interested listener offering him aid.

The Odyssey is filled with, what were to me, meaningless histories and references. Bob, heroic son of Peter, who came from Michael, the benevolent and yet shrewd ruler of Valkanis... and the like. I had little interest in all the heroes and villains of the various territories and principalities whose inclusion seemed only to be on the grounds that they had existed and were therefore needed in the epic tale for completeness.

The Odyssey is an entertaining tale in its own right but the hidden gems were the revelations of life and times long gone. For an embattled stranger to appear at someone's gate was an opportunity to respect the rule of the gods and treat them to food, clothing and even gifts of cauldrons and tripods if they were deemed worthy of the extras. Transport to their destination may also have been on the cards, regardless of the expense or danger in doing so in part because of the desire to earn favour with the gods, but also on the grounds that anyone may fall foul of the gods' whims and be in that position themselves.

I am glad I have read this version of the epic tale although I doubt I will read it again.

My interest is now in how O Brother, Where Art Thou incorporates the tale. My main point of interest is whether I would recognise the film's cleverness in its references to The Odyssey or if I could only discern its cleverness after being told that it does include elements of Odysseus' journey. That answer may make it to the Movies thread when I get around to watching it again.
 
RIMB said:
Homework part 1 completed: The Odyssey

I have read Fitzgerald's modern English translation of Homer's The Odyssey on my way to watching O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Much like reading For Whom The Bell Tolls, it took awhile to pick up the cadence of the writing and the archaic sentence structure. Once I got the hang of it I found the story enjoyable and it brought back memories of reading Ulysses as a child.

It tricked me for awhile because The Odyssey picks up halfway through the tale of his travels and the references to things like the Cyclops in past tense had me wondering where they got the detail to include in the story of Ulysses. It was well into The Odyssey that I discovered the previous encounters I remembered so well were recounted as the tale of his journey to an interested listener offering him aid.

The Odyssey is filled with, what were to me, meaningless histories and references. Bob, heroic son of Peter, who came from Michael, the benevolent and yet shrewd ruler of Valkanis... and the like. I had little interest in all the heroes and villains of the various territories and principalities whose inclusion seemed only to be on the grounds that they had existed and were therefore needed in the epic tale for completeness.

The Odyssey is an entertaining tale in its own right but the hidden gems were the revelations of life and times long gone. For an embattled stranger to appear at someone's gate was an opportunity to respect the rule of the gods and treat them to food, clothing and even gifts of cauldrons and tripods if they were deemed worthy of the extras. Transport to their destination may also have been on the cards, regardless of the expense or danger in doing so in part because of the desire to earn favour with the gods, but also on the grounds that anyone may fall foul of the gods' whims and be in that position themselves.

I am glad I have read this version of the epic tale although I doubt I will read it again.

My interest is now in how O Brother, Where Art Thou incorporates the tale. My main point of interest is whether I would recognise the film's cleverness in its references to The Odyssey or if I could only discern its cleverness after being told that it does include elements of Odysseus' journey. That answer may make it to the Movies thread when I get around to watching it again.
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Excellent review, RMIB.
 
SHATTERED:GABRIELLE LORD

Genre : Crime.

Setting: Sydney and NSW.

Entertaining! Good lead female protagonists, Gemma the Private Investigator and Ange the Detective Sergeant. They are best mates, and in the book they strongly disagreed about a good mate of theirs being a suspect. Ange was adamant she was the perpetrator because of the evidence. Gemma thought she was being set up.

The characterisation was good. There were clever twists. The perpetrator was a complete shock! I was more than satisfied with the conclusion - where conversely Garry Disher nearly always disappoints after writing good crime novels that precede the conclusion!

The GL books I've read are decidedly better, when she uses female detective protagonists, not the male head Forensic Scientist she uses in some of her books.
 
Have to admit I still have not quite finished Mr Cleansheets yet. I'm worried about the direction of the conclusion I'm predicting - which looks like being melancholy.
 
Mr Cleansheets said:
Interesting (and very depressing) question.

There is a massive debate in authors' circles with most being dead against the use of AI in writing for numerous reasons - not least the theft of copyright upon which AI depends. I'm also dead against it for personal reasons because I enjoy the writing process. What is the point of putting my name on something I didn't do?

At this point, AI manuscripts (so I'm told) are pretty terrible but you can bet they'll improve until they are indistinguishable from the work of the more formulaic airport style writers and those books tend to sell the best.

As less publishing slots are found for real writers there will be less and less incentive to write, so fewer and fewer people will have a crack and ultimately, human literature will die. Reading also will die because there'll be nothing truly worth reading.
Click to expand...
This is a potentially frightening phenomenon!
 
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