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Time for another "what book are you reading?" thread...

Zemke Fan

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On Hiatus. Really. Or Not.
We've taken up a collection...

jake_fink said:
On a side note, the next avatar I have in my queue IS Sonny Liston. Wow, huh?
... and so far we've raised $34.47 to get you to change your avatar! That thing is SERIOUSLY creepy, JF. You're scarin' away the dames, man!

BTW, my favorite book by Hemingway is the collection of his dispatches when he was a reporter. Have you read that?
 

jake_fink

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Byline? or Dateline Toronto? or something like that. Most were for the Toronto Star.

I've had the pleasure and endured the torture of having read everythiing Hemingway ever wrote and most of what has been written about him. The glories of higher education, woo hoo!

About the avatar... we'll see.

Heh heh, get it, we'll see... an eye... Oh nevermind.
 

mysterygal

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Washington
Jack Scorpion said:
Hammett's The Thin Man is one of my favorite books. I actually laugh out loud more often reading the book than watching the movie. (Don't get me wrong, I love the movies. That's how great the book is.)
The movie is on my list of must watch..I've heard from quite a few people in here that it's great...I usually always like the book better though :)
 

Jack Scorpion

One Too Many
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mysterygal said:
The movie is on my list of must watch..I've heard from quite a few people in here that it's great...I usually always like the book better though :)

Heck, it's every other member's lounge-signature source. The Thin Man and the second in the series are about as amazing as Golden Age screwball comedy gets. #3 is not far behind. #4 and #5 are inferior movies but still worth a view.

A lot of the movies from the 30s and 40s I actually like better than their book sources. I always thought Raymond Chandler's fiction looked better on the big screen. (They almost always have better endings as a film.) Most other "hard-boiled" novels or romans noir I prefer in movie format.

Hammett's Hammett, though. The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon are better as books.

Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice is also a better book than a movie. I haven't read Double Indemnity or Mildred Pierce.
 

Mike in Seattle

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Jack Scorpion said:
Heck, it's every other member's lounge-signature source. The Thin Man and the second in the series are about as amazing as Golden Age screwball comedy gets. #3 is not far behind. #4 and #5 are inferior movies but still worth a view.

A lot of the movies from the 30s and 40s I actually like better than their book sources. I always thought Raymond Chandler's fiction looked better on the big screen. (They almost always have better endings as a film.) Most other "hard-boiled" novels or romans noir I prefer in movie format.

Hammett's Hammett, though. The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon are better as books.

Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice is also a better book than a movie. I haven't read Double Indemnity or Mildred Pierce.

All the films you listed are absolute Must-See-TV!!!
 

TheRetropolitan

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I'm currently reading "The War of the Worlds Murder" by Max Allan Collins, the author behind the original "Road to Perdition." It's about Walter Gibson (the creator of the Shadow) trying to solve a murder amidst the Orson Welles production of War of the Worlds, on Halloween 1938.

Sounds like a ripping good yarn, but so far it's a little lackluster. It's still got about 200 or so pages to pick up, but everything outside of the awesome introduction has been a little dull. Oh, well, I'll keep reading it anyway!
 

jake_fink

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I'm currently reading "The War of the Worlds Murder" by Max Allan Collins, the author behind the original "Road to Perdition." It's about Walter Gibson (the creator of the Shadow) trying to solve a murder amidst the Orson Welles production of War of the Worlds, on Halloween 1938.

Sounds like a ripping good yarn, but so far it's a little lackluster. It's still got about 200 or so pages to pick up, but everything outside of the awesome introduction has been a little dull. Oh, well, I'll keep reading it anyway!

The gimmick sounds gimmicky, but very appealing to me. Let us know how it all comes together.
 

Brad Bowers

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4,187
I had been reading a bunch of the "Hard Case Crime" novels, but last week I rooted through my bookshelves and decided to read Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain" series again. It's probably been twenty years or more since I last read them. Finished those, and last night I started on a book of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories.

Brad
 

The D.A.

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Brad, The Chronicles of Prydain are amongst my favorites as well. I actually enjoy a lot of fantasy that's labeled as "young adult." I find that it's often much more fun and inventive than the stuff intended for adults.

Lately I've been on a pulps kick. I read the first two Doc Savage stories, "The Man of Bronze" and "The Land of Terror," and the first Shadow story, "The Living Shadow" (all in new reprints). Right now I'm about two-thirds of the way through "L.A. Confidential." It's the first Ellroy book that I've read, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it, but I think that next I'll read something a little more pleasant, like a Poirot or Nero Wolf.
 

Barry

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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I'm several pages into it. I plan to read a good portion on my travels to and from NYC.

Barry
 

Feraud

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Hardlucksville, NY
Barry said:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I'm several pages into it. I plan to read a good portion on my travels to and from NYC.

Barry
Let me know what you think of this book! I have it on my bookshelf in queue waiting to be read.
I am currently reading Man-Eaters of Kumaon by J. Corbett.
 

Fred G.

Familiar Face
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Back in The Hills
My "list of books I gotta read" is getting longer...

I am reading "Wheels for the World", the story of Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company; also re-reading Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
 

Zepp

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Littleton, Colorado
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir. I just finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and this is a natural follow-up to Follett's fascinating novel of cathedral building, political scheming, and religion in the 12th century. I have been captivated by both books and highly recommend them.
 

RedPop4

One Too Many
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Zepp said:
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir. I just finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and this is a natural follow-up to Follett's fascinating novel of cathedral building, political scheming, and religion in the 12th century. I have been captivated by both books and highly recommend them.

I haven't read these, but I'm a huge fan of the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, made into the BBC TV series Cadfael which has been featured on PBS Mystery! series in the 1990's
 

Barry

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Recently I read "The Sting Man" by Robert Greene. It's about the ABSCAM scandal from years ago. Mel Weinberg - the "con man" is very, very funny.

Barry
 

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