What are you reading now?

[whitestone]

Hmm, I found Anna Karenina hard work. Never even tried War and Peace. The one book that defeated me was Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, mainly because it jumps around between locations and time so much: half a page might be in Gorky in 1917 then you are in Moscow in 1912 then St Petersburg in 1916. All a bit much for a 15yr old! Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn are the only two Russian authors I've managed to get on with.

Hardy is one of my favourite authors but most of his main characters seem to have a self-destructive side to them - if they can make a wrong decision they will - so they can feel a little depressing at times. Another fave is Joseph Conrad, for someone for whom English was their third language, he ain't half bad. Most are sailing based - the main exception being Nostromo.

[RIP]

Solzhenitsyn

One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch, one of my faves. Thicker tomes such as Cancer Ward a bit heavier going.....

[godivatrailrider]

Ever tried Virginia Woolf ? To The Lighthouse ..... I found the stream of consciousness impossible to read

[AndreR]

Hope you're recovered from the Covid! Interesting to read your post, I have just picked up a copy of The Road after a year of procrastination! Really enjoyed Dervla's Full Tilt and also thought that Deep Country was one of the best "Nature writing" books ever.

Great minds! Thanks - covid still throwing some surprises my way, but I did read quite a bit of another new book last night when it kept me awake til half 2. Hope you get more out of The Road than I did.

Finished The Road over a week ago and not been able to come back to this thread due to a complete lack of any coherent thoughts/conclusions about the book. Not sure that what follows is in any way coherent! Probably one of the bleakest books I have ever read and at the same time one of the most "realistic" apocalypse narratives I have ever read. Is it a story about post apocalypse survival or is it analogous of mental struggle perhaps? There is no hope offered in the book, the destination is South/coast but no real reason given for it or any indication that it will be better. This left me questioning why or if it was the right thing or was it just because that's were everyone was going. With no reference to why or how the decision was made, or very little hope offered that things would be better or even different once they got there made it hard to be positive or supportive about the struggle to get there which I imagine was exactly how it would have been for the characters. Very stark and disturbing and the end fits I think. There aren't often hero's and we do tend to remember the stories that ended OK but prefer to gloss over the ones that just ground on until they ground you down. In most situations you can change something to change or improve the outcome, here you can't. You have no ability to change the situation, you either keep moving and hope it gets better somewhere else of you give up and die where you are. You struggle to the best of your ability but there is no guarantee of success or even survival. How long could you keep going, why would you keep going? I found it a very thought provoking book which is just what books should do. Admittedly not in a nice and positive way, especially given the current climate situation and the war in Ukraine and the possible use of nukes once again in the news.

[godivatrailrider]

Not sure "The Road" will be high on my to read list, though it's in some of the Best 100's ...

I've read "Three Men in a Boat" - genuinely one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. Same can't be said for its sequel "Three Men on The Bummel" ...a missed opportunity.

Now reading the marvellous "Hamnet"

[thenorthwind]

Hope you're recovered from the Covid! Interesting to read your post, I have just picked up a copy of The Road after a year of procrastination! Really enjoyed Dervla's Full Tilt and also thought that Deep Country was one of the best "Nature writing" books ever.

Great minds! Thanks - covid still throwing some surprises my way, but I did read quite a bit of another new book last night when it kept me awake til half 2. Hope you get more out of The Road than I did.

Finished The Road over a week ago and not been able to come back to this thread due to a complete lack of any coherent thoughts/conclusions about the book. Not sure that what follows is in any way coherent! Probably one of the bleakest books I have ever read and at the same time one of the most "realistic" apocalypse narratives I have ever read. Is it a story about post apocalypse survival or is it analogous of mental struggle perhaps? There is no hope offered in the book, the destination is South/coast but no real reason given for it or any indication that it will be better. This left me questioning why or if it was the right thing or was it just because that's were everyone was going. With no reference to why or how the decision was made, or very little hope offered that things would be better or even different once they got there made it hard to be positive or supportive about the struggle to get there which I imagine was exactly how it would have been for the characters. Very stark and disturbing and the end fits I think. There aren't often hero's and we do tend to remember the stories that ended OK but prefer to gloss over the ones that just ground on until they ground you down. In most situations you can change something to change or improve the outcome, here you can't. You have no ability to change the situation, you either keep moving and hope it gets better somewhere else of you give up and die where you are. You struggle to the best of your ability but there is no guarantee of success or even survival. How long could you keep going, why would you keep going? I found it a very thought provoking book which is just what books should do. Admittedly not in a nice and positive way, especially given the current climate situation and the war in Ukraine and the possible use of nukes once again in the news.

None of that I disagree with, and perhaps I was unfair in my judgement of it, or my expectations of it. As I said, it kept me awake at night, so I can't deny it provoked a response.

[Boab]

Just finished Cosey Fanni Tutti's most excellent memoir Art Sex Music. Wow, what a life...

[thenorthwind]

Another long overdue update, and a bit of a revival for this thread.

Signs of Life by Stephen Fabes was a book I got as part of a prize* but wasn't sure whether to bother reading... Oh, not another guy-bikes-round-the-world story. For the first half of the book (and it's a fairly long book), my guess that it would be another trip journal with all the usual cliches weren't far from the mark, but it was a nice enough read and I guess I got sucked into it, so I kept going.
The guy's a junior doctor, and the blurb promised some healthcare-related sideshows as a USP. At first, these were fairly few and far between and seemed like a fairly token effort to give the trip a novel twist. But as he progresses up through tropical Asia and then across China, his writing begins to get more philosophical, and commensurately more interesting. It seems perhaps him or his editor realises this too: the section from Hong Kong, across China, central Asia and Europe accounts for nearly half the book, page-wise. Not one I'd go to great lengths to seek out, but I'd certainly give it a read if you come across a copy.

With Their Backs to The World by Åsne Seierstad was a charity shop find I almost put back on the shelf on the basis of the cover, which is reminiscent of those tragic-childhood-memoir books that seemed to be strangely popular a few years back. But it's a series of "portraits" from Serbia under and post Milosevic, a part of the world I find quite interesting, but a history I know only the basics of, having been of an age during the conflicts of the nineties where I was vaguely aware of war somewhere fairly far away, but not of the detail. The book probably isn't the best introduction to that history, offering little to no background or explanation, but seeing it through the eyes of a range of people, both significant figures and ordinary folk, gives you a sense of events that conventional history books can't. Glad I didn't put it back on the shelf.

Next up - Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape by Patrick Laurie. Very much in the James Rebanks mould, but over the Solway Firth in Galloway. I find that sort of thing really interesting, so although at times it was slightly over overblown and self-indulgent (spoiler alert: he really loves Galloway), I enjoyed it.

I've just finished The Ash and the Beech: The Drama of Woodland Change. One of the central themes is how as humans, even progressive conservationists, we seem to assume trees need our assistance: they have to be planted, rather than seeding themselves, and be tidied away when they die. Seems rather obvious when you think about it, but looking at our attitudes to trees and woodland as a society, we clearly haven't got the picture.

In AOB, I've still got Dave's copy of Storm in a Teacup - anyone else want to read it before I send it back to him? (Sorry Dave, I leave books and magazines lying around so I can read them, but my partner thinks this is "untidiness" . I did finish it, but then it quickly got "tidied" to a shelf, where it quickly dropped out of mind.)

*A bundle from Adventurous Ink, the outdoors/travel/nature writing subscription service. Have to say, the books I got in the bundle have all been interesting, and I wouldn't necessarily have bought them otherwise, so if I had the money to spare, I'd consider subscribing.

[RIP]

Had wondered how far Dave's Book had got on its travels - know I know the answer .

Might have a look round for that ash and beech one, ta.

[fatbikephil]

Ahh the woodland management dilemma - are humans part of the landscape so careful management helps it, or should we leave it to it's own devices....

On a related note I've recently read 'Deep Country' by Neil Ansell, who spends 5 years living in a small bothy / cottage in Mid Wales with no power or plumbing. Actually more of a discourse in the bird and animal life in mid Wales with not much about the how and why he did it, but none the worse for that. Slightly disingenuous as the impression you get at first is that it's in the middle of no-where but actually the cottage is less than a k away from the A470 (inevitably I worked out where the place was - actually quite close to the BB300 route of last October!) and fairly close to Newbridge on Wye and Rhayader. As with the 'Hermit of Loch Treig' it set me thinking of going off grid, except I wouldn't know how....

[thenorthwind]

'Deep Country' by Neil Ansell

By far the best book I read last year.

inevitably I worked out where the place was

Well done - I tried, equally inevitably, but less successfully. No spoilers though please.

[faustus]

Making my way slowly, deliberately, and enjoyably through Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger, then the companion novel Stella Maris. It's a book that has been long in the making, and it's sometimes like a greatest hits of Cormac tropes - no bad thing!

Neil Ansell's Deep Country - had mixed feelings about it really. By the time I read it i'd probably overdosed on non-fiction nature writing, and this is partly that. The connection with the natural world was well expressed and good to read, but the off-grid retreat from the world I'm always a bit conflicted about (see also The Way Home by Mark Boyle). As far as I remember he lived mainly off pickled food and ended up with a thyroid condition - quite possibly unrelated - but nevertheless, i'm a bit jaded about escapist narratives and the selected epiphanies they proffer...

[fatbikephil]

Neil Ansell's Deep Country - had mixed feelings about it really. By the time I read it i'd probably overdosed on non-fiction nature writing, and this is partly that. The connection with the natural world was well expressed and good to read, but the off-grid retreat from the world I'm always a bit conflicted about (see also The Way Home by Mark Boyle). As far as I remember he lived mainly off pickled food and ended up with a thyroid condition - quite possibly unrelated - but nevertheless, i'm a bit jaded about escapist narratives and the selected epiphanies they proffer...

Yes I picked up on that too - If he had explained the context as to why he went off grid I think it would have rounded the story out better. I kept thinking about 'the Hermit of Loch Treig' as I read it - a much more genuine escape from a traumatic event in his early life...

[dlovett]

Never Wipe Your Ass With a Squirrel by Jason Robillard. Something to get me in the mood of off road when my knee allows me to. It's a very good read. Got it used from Able Books for a couple of quid.

[dlovett]

If Audio books count as reading Ross Edgley's the Art of Resilience which was excellent and now Blueprint.

[godivatrailrider]

Just finished Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead … a novel about the early days of flying and a pilot wanting to do a circumnavigation via both poles… loved it.

Now on Who Owns England? - Guy Shrubsole… drives me mad the money the government hands out in ‘farming subsidies’ to billionaires
It’s very similar to Book of Trespass but none the worse for it.

[RIP]

Now on Who Owns England? - Guy Shrubsole… drives me mad the money the government hands out in ‘farming subsidies’ to billionaires
It’s very similar to Book of Trespass but none the worse for it.

I always like the apocryphal interaction that goes something like:

Land 'owner': Could you get off my land

'Trespasser': Why?

Land 'owner': Because I own it

'Trespasser': Where did you get it from?

Land 'owner': My father handed it down to me

'Trespasser': Where did he get it from?

Land 'owner': His father handed it down to him

etc etc until eventually:

'Trespasser': And who handed it to him?

Land 'owner': He fought for it and won it

'Trespasser': OK, I'll fight you for it

[fatbikephil]

Dunno about that Reg, some of the farmers up y way are pretty burly lads, I suspect I would come out worse in a square go....

Anyway, as mentioned on the BAM thread, I've just read "The book of the bivvy" by Ronald Turnbull - one of those short works that Cicerone put out. Fairly light hearted and the writing is somewhat erratic at times, but quite a good insight into sleeping bivvy bag only. It's confirmed my worst fears (i.e. when it rains you get wet, irrespective of whether you are using a plastic or goretex bag) but I may give it another go subject to 3 independent weather forecasts telling me it's not going to rain. Also some good insights into 'ultra fueling' (custard creams apparently) and general movement over a long distance with minimal stuff.

[JackT]

Dunno about that Reg, some of the farmers up y way are pretty burly lads, I suspect I would come out worse in a square go....

Anyway, as mentioned on the BAM thread, I've just read "The book of the bivvy" by Ronald Turnbull - one of those short works that Cicerone put out. Fairly light hearted and the writing is somewhat erratic at times, but quite a good insight into sleeping bivvy bag only. It's confirmed my worst fears (i.e. when it rains you get wet, irrespective of whether you are using a plastic or goretex bag) but I may give it another go subject to 3 independent weather forecasts telling me it's not going to rain. Also some good insights into 'ultra fueling' (custard creams apparently) and general movement over a long distance with minimal stuff.

100% - it's a classic. And good on the glory of bar meals.

[Blackhound]

Two books on the go. Three men on the bummel by JKJ that @godivatr mentioned ^ there. Not really enjoying it and may abandon.
The other is What Just Happened? By Marina Hyde. It is a compilation of her pieces in The Guardian over the last few years. Just finished the Brexit section and found myself laughing.

[RIP]

Three men on the bummel by JKJ

It was of its time really. I'm a fair fan of JKJ. A good mate of mine was a leading light in the JKJ Society. We once punted up the Thames for 10 days recreating scenes from Three Men In A Boat, that book is more 'accessible' than Bummel. More applicable to (some types of) bikepacking is Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow. Maybe give that a try .

[godivatrailrider]

Two books on the go. Three men on the bummel by JKJ that @godivatr mentioned ^ there. Not really enjoying it and may abandon.
The other is What Just Happened? By Marina Hyde. It is a compilation of her pieces in The Guardian over the last few years. Just finished the Brexit section and found myself laughing.

I’m not sure my reading it was any sort of a recommendation that others should too… it was fairly poor compared to 3MIAB …

[AndreR]

Dunno about that Reg, some of the farmers up y way are pretty burly lads, I suspect I would come out worse in a square go....

Anyway, as mentioned on the BAM thread, I've just read "The book of the bivvy" by Ronald Turnbull - one of those short works that Cicerone put out. Fairly light hearted and the writing is somewhat erratic at times, but quite a good insight into sleeping bivvy bag only. It's confirmed my worst fears (i.e. when it rains you get wet, irrespective of whether you are using a plastic or goretex bag) but I may give it another go subject to 3 independent weather forecasts telling me it's not going to rain. Also some good insights into 'ultra fueling' (custard creams apparently) and general movement over a long distance with minimal stuff.

100% - it's a classic. And good on the glory of bar meals.

Loved this and bought and read a copy years ago. Lent it to someone and it never returned, so when I wanted to re-read it and couldn't remember who I'd lent it to I bought a Kindle copy. About a month after I finished it for the second time my paper copy was returned with an apology and a bottle of wine!

Just started a Christmas present, The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell. (Signed copy picked up at one of his talks!) How to rebuild our world after an apocalypse. The people left over are past the basic survival period and now are looking to re-create some of the technology we currently have. Where is this knowledge and who has the skills to understand and use it.

[Dave Barter]

I'm about to re-read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. This is a book that really is mind candy. If you've read it, you'll know.

[AndreR]

I'm about to re-read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. This is a book that really is mind candy. If you've read it, you'll know.