What is ED reading?

[Ant]

Just finished rereading Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. Enjoyed it every bit as much as the first time I read it, and possible more.

Am about to start on Making Money by that there Pratchett.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Just finished The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies - absolutely loved it.

Am struggling with ED Book choice Scriptorium by Paul Auster - v. boring and keep finding other books to read.

Much nicer to be reading "Snakehead" by Anthony Horowitz - the latest in the Alex Rider series - only a couple of chapters to go.

[mockney piers]

I'm on the Origins of the British by Stephen Oppenheimer. I regretted not buying it when I saw it in a GRafton St book shop, so glad I spotted it a few days back.

Already very interesting reading.

It would seem we've all be sold a bit of mythology in our schools as regards who we are (it covers the whole of the british isles) all down to some iffy conclusions come to by victorian linguists, archaeologists and historians.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Barry

I hadn't thought about the era of the setting - nice one. Of course you could argue that much of the existance described in the book does actually tale place in the current day in some countries

I'm not 100% convinced the ending is redemptive - ie is it internal (I'm trying not to include spoilers) or did it actually happen.

I did feel on every page I was asking the question "What would I do?" - something which was intended I'm sure

I also find it totally convincing that so much of humanity did what it did in the book - we only have to look at how people interact over queues, social services etc to see how few people genuinely look out for all others (not just a known few)

[Brendan]

Making Money. Is that a new one Ant?

[barrymarshall]

You could be right, Sean ... in fact, the book as a whole has a dream- (or, rather, nightmare-) like quality.

ETA: Yes, I think that people might behave as they do in the book. After all, how else could they "survive"? Still, and this is why the book is redemptive, the child does not behave that way. He want to help the other boy they encounter, wants to take care of the dog (memory is hazy here ...) to loook after the old man, etc., etc.

I am glad that such a high-quality book is being so widely read. Inevitably, though, there is talk of a film. Which might not be a bad thing - if done properly.

[Ant]

Brendan: yes, it's his latest. Not been out long AFAIK. More here: http://www.harpercollins.com/features/pratchettbooks/description.aspx?isbn=9780061161643

[barrymarshall]

Also, someone mentioned that the book had overtones of Beckett's Waiting for Godot, with its themes of cruelty and aimlessness. As much about our own time, then, than some imagined future or past.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Viigo Mortensen is "in talks" for the central character's role...

[barrymarshall]

... which may not be a bad thing!

The guy who directed The Proposition (the Nick Cave-penned Aussie "Western") is said to be making the movie.

[SeanMacGabhann]

ooooh well suited that man!

[barrymarshall]

Not out till 2009 though ...

[SeanMacGabhann]

Time flies ;-)

For some reason, talking about it has brought to mind aspects of Deadwood (the simply awesome HBO show starring Lovejoy. The Essex Antiques dealer. Not the sometime-obnoxious Chelsea loving tv presenter)

Something about the brutality of relationships when much of what we take for granted simply isn't there

[barrymarshall]

Being Sky-less I never saw it - believe it was dead good tho...

Ae we on The Road still, or the Proposition?

If the Road, yes, I kind of agree. You only appreciate civilisation when its not there. Its real power is that you just don't see it.

Of course, in the book it is made pretty clear that civilisation has wiped itself out. But what brings us together and apart are two different impulses towards life and death that work together and apart at the same time. (Ha! Knew this would come in useful ... Reading Freud's Civilization and its Discontents at the mo, if you're wondering where this has been plagiarised from). And in the book the boy is clearly the life instinct, the bud that grows out of the ashes.

Throughout the book there is an interplay between the innocence and experience of the child and the father, though each has aspects of both - the boy can be very wise.

The book, like many others, is full of dualisms.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Yep - I was still on The Road...

Dualisms - for much of the book there were 2 bullets left and when one had to be sacrificed to save the boy.... isn't that what happened also to the relationship?