kennethw

The film of Children of Men is on Netflix just now. Clive Owen, in his leading man period. My sister saw them filming it. I might give it a whirl to see if it had been different from the book.

Hi there everyone, I've had the votes in and as times ticking on thought I should announce that the winner in the end was The Children of Men See you all on the 11th

Got one vote so far, is anyone else wanting to choose? Please PM me. Kenneth

Hello Everyone, here's the list as promised, the theme is New Year's Eve. If you can PM me your choice, I'll post the winner next week. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 208 PP At Camelot one New Year's Day the feasting knights are interrupted by a gigantic green knight who arrives for a trial of blows. Sir Gawain decapitates him, but he picks up his head and leaves, challenging Gawain to meet him next New Year's Day, when he will have to bare his neck for a return blow. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen 74 PP At Christmas, Nora and her husband talk about how everything will be better in the New Year: he will have a new job and all their money worries will be over. Nora tells the threatening Krogstad: "As soon as the new year comes, I shall in a very short time be free of the whole thing." So she is, but not as she imagined ? slamming the door on her family as the new year dawns. White Teeth by Zadie Smith 608 PP Smith's novel begins on New Year's Day 1975, with Archie Jones trying to kill himself. He fails and ends up at a New Year's Eve party that is still going from the night before. There he meets Clara, a vision of eccentric perfection, and before long he has another wife. The Children of Men by PD James 292 PP Is this the glummest new year in recent fiction? On New Year's Day, 2021, "the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl". He was 25, a significant age because, in James's dystopian tale, it has been 25 years since a pandemic made all human beings infertile. On the same day Theodore Faron begins his journal of humanity's last days.

Hi there, just seen this, I won't make tonight unfortunately. Have a good time everyone.

Sorry folks, but won't be able to make it tonight. Hope to see you all next time. K

Hi, just saw this, I've not been well this last week so I won't manage tomorrow unfortunately,will send my votes in. K

Hi, the votes are all in and the winner is Call Me By Your Name. See you all on the 13th

Hi, I've had 2 votes so far, if you'd like to help us choose the title for March, please PM me by Tuesday.thanks, Kenneth

Hi everyone, on the theme of LGBT fiction, here's the list for next month. Please PM me your choice over the next week. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - 304pp "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is Oscar Wilde's classic tale of the moral decline of its title character, Dorian Gray. When Dorian has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward and wishes that he would stay young while his picture changes, his wish comes true. Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters - 477pp A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'. Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin - 386pp San Francisco, 1976. A na?ve young secretary, fresh out of Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts dance contests. Call my by your Name - Andre Aciman - 256pp Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction.

Hello Raj Thanks for the message, it'd be great to see you. We usually sit in the front, I'll be there for 745

And the winner is Rivers of London. See you all at 8pm on 21 November in Tippler.

Hi there, are there no more votes in the House? I'll count them tomorrow and announce the winner tomorrow.

Hi, I was going to leave it till Saturday and count the votes then. Is that OK with everyone?

Best to get the choices out there while I still remember.

I hadn't read Another Country but from the comments tonight, I might have another bash at it. I offered to do a list of books set in London for the next meeting, we'll be in Tippler from 8pm on 21 November. Andrew Taylor - The Ashes of London 497 pp London, 1666. As the Great Fire consumes everything in its path, the body of a man is found in the ruins of St Paul?s Cathedral ? stabbed in the neck, thumbs tied behind his back. The son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city?s devastated streets. There he encounters a determined young woman, who will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. When a second murder victim is discovered in the Fleet Ditch, Marwood is drawn into the political and religious intrigue of Westminster ? and across the path of a killer with nothing to lose? Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London 396 pp Until January, Peter Grant was just a probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). His only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night he tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Julian Fellowes - Belgravia 417pp In the 1840s, when the upper echelons of society began to rub shoulders with the emerging industrial nouveau riche, Belgravia is peopled by a rich cast of characters. The story begins on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. At the Duchess of Richmond's now legendary ball, one family's life will change for ever. Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway 204pp Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a Conservative member of parliament, is preparing to give an evening party, while the shell-shocked Septimus Warren Smith hears the birds in Regent's Park chattering in Greek. There seems to be nothing, except perhaps London, to link Clarissa and Septimus. She is middle-aged and prosperous, with a sheltered happy life behind her; Smith is young, poor, and driven to hatred of himself and the whole human race. Yet both share a terror of existence, and sense the pull of death.

Hi everyone, I'll be a bit late tonight, so please start without me. Kenneth

Hello everyone, I'm here, and up at the back, someone else is at the front. Kenneth

Am on my way.

Hi, I'm coming along but I'll be there about 815.

Hi everyone, Thanks for all your votes. The secret ballot only needed 1 round and the winner was A Very British Coup. See you all on the 11th. Kenneth

Thanks for all the votes so far, Shall we say another 3 days, then I'll announce the winner?

Poor Lady Chatterley. Nobody seemed to think she caught fire, or was racey enough to merit a ban. I must get you to read some Anais Nin......... I volunteered to do a list of political fiction for next meeting, which will be 11 July. Meet at 8 at House of Tippler. Here's the list. A very British Coup - Chris Mullin (226pp) Former steel worker Harry Perkins, has, against all the odds, led the Labour Party to a stunning victory at the general election. His manifesto includes the removal of American bases, public control of finance, and the dismantling of the newspaper monopolies. The Establishment is appalled by the prospect, and secretly decides that something must be done. As M15 conspires with the city and the press barons, Perkins the PM finds himself in a no-holds-barred battle for survival. House of Cards - Michael Dobbs (412pp) Chief Whip Francis Urquhart has his hand on every secret in politics - and is willing to betray them all to become prime minister. Mattie Storin is a tenacious young political correspondent. She faces the biggest challenge of her life when she stumbles upon a scandalous web of intrigue and financial corruption at the very highest levels. She is determined to reveal the truth, but she must risk everything to do so? Head of State - Andrew Marr (385pp) Two corpses. A country on the edge of a political precipice. A conspiracy so bold it would make Machiavelli wince. Andrew Marr?s debut novel imagines what really might be going on behind the door of 10 Downing Street. When a young investigative reporter is found dead on the streets of London few people notice. But when another body ? minus its head and hands ? is washed up on the banks of the Thames, its grisly condition arouses a little more interest. 1984 - George Orwell (294 pp) 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmare vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. "1984" is still the great modern classic "negative Utopia" - a startling original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny this novel's power, its hold on the imagination of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions - a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time. Yevgeny Zamyatin - We (224pp) Yevgeny Zamyatin's We is set in an urban glass city called OneState, regulated by spies and secret police. Citizens of the tyrannical OneState wear identical clothing and are distinguished only by the number assigned to them at birth. The story follows a man called D-503, who dangerously begins to veer from the 'norms' of society after meeting I-330, a woman who defies the rules. D-503 soon finds himself caught up in a secret plan to destroy OneState and liberate the city.

Hi everyone, we decided on 13 June for our next meeting, and Lady Chatterley's Lover for our next book. Netflix currently have the version with Richard Madden (Rob Stark off Game of Thrones) as Mellors. #justsaying Until then Kenneth

I'm just leaving now. Will be about 15minutes.