Job Discussion Forums

[nomadder]

To quote this forum's favorite phrase:

Is it just me or is there a glut of decent books and movies these days? Recently watched Adaptation and wondered how it could have received Academy Awards.

Does anyone have any movie or book recommendations?

For recent movies I'll have to go with the obvious-Lord of the Rings. A fave old flick is Fargo.

Book pick-this is not for everyone but I've been perusing the existential thoughts of Fernando Pessoa for a year now when the mood strikes. The book is The Book of Disquietude(Disquiet if you buy the shorter version).

I don't read much fiction these days but Chocolat wasn't bad. I can't remember the author- sorry-the movie was quite good as well. Anyone know any good books that have come out recently?

Thanks

[R]

The recent Peter Carey novel, My Life as a Fake, is entertaining. The new Martin Amis, Yellow Dog, stinks. I'm on a mission at the moment to find good contemporary fiction, so let me know if you find anything...

[ohman]

I saw School of Rock yesterday. I kept reading good reviews of this movie, but refused to see it. I won't watch formula flicks, unless I'm strapped in 35,000 feet above an ocean and the benedryl hasn't kicked in.. C'mon. . .a grown-up misfit takes charge of a bunch of misfit kids and by movie's end molds them into winners. . .

The movie not only skewered "rock" but the whole lovable-misfits-do-good genre as well. Ohman says check it out.

Just finished Honolulu Hotel by Theroux. Saint Jack it aint.

[oldfort]

The last book I really enjoyed was a reprint of The North-West Passage by Land, by Viscount Milton and Walter Cheadle. These were two British guys who went across Canada in the 1860s and published their account of the trip. I was pleasantly surprised by this book: there was more humour and personality (even if the thing is written in the third person) and less cultural pre-judgment than I'd expected.

A pretty fascinating book if you like reading explorer autobiographies/memoirs.

I guess I haven't been watching a lot of films these days

[gerard]

Hey R can you lend me Yellow Dog??? Don't worry the mail system in China is the best in history. HAHAHA!!! I even liked the INFORMATION which makes me a Martin Amis fanatic since the critics hated it. I read an excerpt from "Dog" somewhere on the net. Sounds good.

Good books lately??? Are you a troll??? HAHAHAHA!!! Finding a good bookstore in Asia is like trying to find good food. Seoul has decent ones but nothing to write home about. I was so desperate I bought Auto Focus--the murder of the Hogans Heroes guy... I know nothing NOTHING!!! Ve Ave Vays of making Zoo talk!!! They stock a lot of lot of Nick Hornby the guy who wrote High Fidelity anf the Japanese writer Murakami. And Memoirs of a Geisha and typical type stuff. I wish I hadf Yellow Dog I would even stop drinking beer to read it. HAHAHA!! Stop HAHA!!!

[Wolf]

Book selection limited. In August I bought the Lord of the Rings (my old copy is in Canada) and a book called Good Women of China by Xinran (no it's not about that.)

Right now all my reading is for my MA.

[denise]

Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections"--very American-oriented, though. A thoroughly f*cked up depiction of a thoroughly dysfunctional middle American family. Wicked, it is.

I am currently re-re-reading one of my all-time faves--Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo.

As for movies, it's a few years old, but I highly recommend "The House of Yes." Another thoroughly f*cked up depiction of a thoroughly dysfunctional family--this time upper-class, though. With Parker Posey and Tori Spelling in a role that is just perfect for her. (Yes, I am serious--even if you gag at the mere thought of her, I think you will like her in this role.) This is a verrrrrry dark comedy--my favorite genre.

d

[J-Pop]

Though I haven't yet read this book, Wild Swans, by Jung Chan, it sounds truly excellent. For those who are interested, there is a recent thread in the China (Off-Topic) forum on the book & author--a thread started by Egas.

Name of thread: "An Interesting Article from Jung Chan."

Don't worry! The China forum(s) have returned to sanity! It's safe to lurk there, again. Just kidding (sort of)!

[FGT]

Books! Ah, yes I remember - those were the things I used to adore back when I had access to and knowledge about them!
Ex-bookshop manager now in quivering heap remembering previous life.

I'm very out of date but on most recent trip to UK and enjoying book buying spree attempted to make up for lost time and bought as many as luggage allowance would permit. Of those, I particularly enjoyed "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore (Of 'Bowling for Clementine' fame, he has a new book out, I gather) and "The Salmon of Doubt" by Douglas Adams - he of 'Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy' etc; published posthumously, includes essays and a tantalizing fragment of his last novel.

Not a new novel, but if you haven't yet read "The God Of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy, you should!

For ordering obscure (even out of print) books online, I recommend abebooks.co.uk

For thought provoking/work related I've recently got round to reading "the Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker and can also recommend Julian Jaynes' "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind".

How about a new thread to nominate ONE desert island book?

[J-Pop]

[FGT]

Pinker's book is average to small paperback size. Not too weighty (and I'm no expert in linguistics - just a curious amateur). Parts of it had me riveted, parts sent me to sleep! I'm glad I read it and want to re-read it more thoughtfully next time.

To all - please recommend more books. Thanks to the internet, we can obtain virtually anything but I find that the problem is keeping up with what is out there.

[R]

Gerard, please understand. You don't want Yellow Dog. Really you don't. I mean, hey, I liked The Information too. Well, I liked the good novella that was hidden inside it. I even liked [Koba the Dread[/i]. But Yellow Dog... No, no, no! Bad Amis! One critic likened reading it to discovering your favourite uncle masturbating in a playground (can we say that on here?)*. It's a terrible novel made worse by the way Amis in interviews tries to make out that the bad reviews are part of some kind of conspiracy against him. You can't help wondering whether the dentist's drill might not have nicked a corner of his brain... If you really want to see a rant about it read my 'blog'.

A good varied read is McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrillling Tales. This is oficially issue 10 of Dave Eggers' literary magazine. It's a big fat book of authors, both genre and "quality", doing genre stories. Everybody from Stephen King to Michael Chabon to Nick Hornby to, er, about 17 other writers. There's some pap in there but some of it is pretty good.

I've just been spending the evening relaxing with classical music on the radio, Nathaneal West's Day of the Locust open on my lap and a glass of JD in my paw. A perfect evening, if only I hadn't quit smoking two days ago. I WANT FUMES!!!

*apparently not. Oh well, you can guess.

[Roger]

First thing: I read at least one novel a month. Plus interesting books on history, China.
Secondly: I rarely buy new books for obvious reasons!
Where do I buy books?
I stock up in second-hand bookstores in Hong Kong, and occasionally I swap books with fellow expats or on trips to Yangshuo, Dali or other parts where you find guesthouses that offer this kind of service.

Now the books I have read recently:
- Michael Chrichton: AIRFRAME. Powerful, convincingly told! A rare
insight into corporate America's criminality!
- Allan FOlsom: DAY OF CONFESSION. A tale of intrigue in Vatican,
equally a good read!
- Sue Townsend: ADRIAN MOLE. The Cappuccino Years.
Boosts your morale in times of homesickness or distress! Hilarious
and typically British - funny, humorous!
- Frank Yerby: CAPTAIN REBEL. A must-read for non-Americans!
An historic novel, well narrated.
- SHerwin B. Nuland: HOW WE DIE. A physician's philosophical approach
to la condition humaine and the end of it, rather beautifully executed!
In spite of its macabre contents I warmly recommend this work!
- Graham Swift: LAST ORDER. A journey through the whole life of
one man on his last trip on Earth - grim but humane, touching!
- Tamim Ansary: WEST OF KABUL, EAST OF NEW YORK. To me, another
must-read for us contemporaries who think in terms of "We the good
guys" and "THEY - the baddies", on Afghanistan where the author
was born.

Since I have the advantage of being able to read in French and other languages I want to recommend
- Erich Kaestner: DIE HAUSAPOTHEKE. German; a collection of witty
and sarcastic poems that help dispel my occasional deluding myself
that there should be a perfect society!
- Henry Miller: PLEXUS. In French (translated from the American),
one of the most wonderful, lyric biographies!

[Afra]

This Cold Heaven Seven Seasons in Greenland by Gretel Erhlich. Especially, if you are in a hot country!

[scot47]

I enjoy the discipline of reading in a foreign language. It takes longer but I can justify it by the fact that this improves my German.

My big thing recently has been the novels of HANS FALLADA. He was the only writer of any stature who stayed in Germany during the Third Reich.
as a starter try, "Kleiner Mann, was nun ?"

"Little Man, What Now" is the English title. It was turned into a very successful film in the mid-1930's.

Reading does not always mean grabbing the first title of the current best-seller list !

And now I am moving onto a contemporary German writer from Leipzig ERICH LOEST. He was born in 1926 and portrays the history of Germany through his novels. Wonderful stuff