What book(s) are you reading right now?

[sam]

i'm reading the gossip girl series atm! but i've just read the notebook and a walk to remember!

[ashleyrose09]

I'm reading the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I saw the movie awhile back when it first came out and I liked it but for some reason I didn't start reading the series until know, maybe because I figured they might not make any more movies of it. I like it so far, the books are pretty short but I'm fine with that since I can get finished reading one in about a day or two!

[sam]

i've read teh first one in that series its quite good! just never got round to reading the rest lol.

[quackattack]

Reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe right now.

[kaatopp]

Currently in the middle, getting toward the end of Jude the Obscure. It is quite good and have wanted to read this classic for quite a while. I am anticipating the ending greatly as it is rumored to be one of the most shocking scenes in literature (or something like that), but the same was said of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which I quite enjoyed but found lacking in shock and awe at the end.

Hopefully Jude won't disappoint. It is a pretty good book, however it is probably longer than necessary as the most tiring love affair in which no real love ever seems come to fruition, has been taking place for the last nearly 300 pages. The love interest Sue is dreadfully annoying with her hesitation to love our main character Jude and I think it has played out by now.

Regardless of this criticism I am really enjoying the book and actually could not put it down last night. I guess I will not completely know how I feel about the book until the end!


(Rukia, I PROMISE I am reading On Chesil Beach next. I got it from the library and it is sitting next to me!)

[bookworm107]

I'm reading "Mirror, Mirror" by Gregory Maguire. It is a strange take on Snow White. I have yet to put a verdict out on it. Let you know as soon as I finish it.

[kaatopp]

Finished Jude the Obscure, I would give it a 6.5/10, it started out much better than it ended. The story was interesting the whole way through, it just could have been about 150-200 pages shorter, honestly, and the character Sue is a horrible wretch. Glad I finally read this classic but I was hoping for something much, much more.

Also just finished On Chesil Beach, I would give this a 9/10 probably. Ian McEwan writes another beautiful, interesting and heart breaking love story, really enjoyed this quick read!


I just started reading A History of Tom Jones: A Foundling by Henry Fielding. It is quite long and I will probably never finish it since it was written a couple hundred years ago. So far it is very funny and witty though. I just have to keep working through a quite different way of speaking and writing, I like it a lot so far though, so hopefully I can really get into it! I think it is some 800 pages so I have set up quite a task for myself!

[QuietOne]

I just finished White Male Heart by Ruaridh Nicoll. It was actually very good with a twist at the ending. I would definitely recommend it. Warning, White Male Heart has some violence, but it is not gratuitous--it's very intergral to the storyline.

[rukia888]

Yeah, I deleted my previous post here because I no longer need to buy White Male Heart! I've been searching through the online catalogs of the local public libraries here, and they don't carry it. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but there's actually a copy available at the university library. I went got it today, and I'm really excited to read it. The premise sounds so intriguing, and I'm really curious to decide for myself which role, Aaron or Hugh, would Cillian better embody. QuietOne, I would really love to discuss it with you once I'm done reading it, if you don't mind too much. Or anybody else who has read it for that matter! Let me know. I love book discussions, and this book seems like it'll have much to discuss.

[QuietOne]

Sure, I'd be happy to discuss White Male Heart once you're done reading it. After watching Disco Pigs for the "umpteenth" time(the ending still makes me cry), it would be a nice change to see Cillian play the role of Hugh.

[rukia888]

**MAJOR SPOILERS FOR WHITE MALE HEART**






QuietOne, so I've just finished White Male Heart. Quite an interesting read. Yes, the violence was quite disturbing, but at least it was scattered here and there. It wasn't like in your face, page after page violence. Aaron was a pretty creepy guy. I was especially creeped out when he butchered a stag when it was still alive and tore out its beating heart. *shudders* I was surprised though that the story was told more from Hugh's point of view. I'm not complaining though; I don't know if I wanted to delve deeper into Aaron's perspective of things. It would be quite scary, that's for sure.

So all in all, it was a good read. It dragged a bit for me in the beginning, but I grew more interested as the story went along. I kept on wanting to read further because I was feeling nervous about what Aaron was planning to do.

I liked Hugh -- at first; he had such potential to be a good guy. I felt bad that he fell so hard for Becky. Poor Hugh -- first love doesn't always mean lasting love although I don't think Becky really meant to hurt his feelings. She could've changed him for the better if she had decided to stay in a relationship with him.

One thing that I didn't like about the book was that everything happened too quickly and all at once towards the end. The Dane's murder, Alison's rape/torture, Aaron's death, everything. I felt really disappointed in Hugh for killing the Dane, and I'm not all too keen for his mercy killing of Aaron at the end. Was it even a mercy killing? Anyway, it just made him even worse of a person than Aaron. Yes, Aaron's more diabolical of the two, but he's never killed people before, and Hugh did at the end. Talk about the unraveling of a potentially good character...

Oh, one thing that I didn't get. What's up with Mac at the end? Did he influence Hugh into doing what he did at the end? If anything, I would think that Mac had a big influence on Aaron, and Aaron had a big influence on Hugh. Mac's not a very clear-cut character to me although he creeps me out.

Jun 24, 2008 21:12:59 GMT -5 QuietOne said:

Sure, I'd be happy to discuss White Male Heart once you're done reading it. After watching Disco Pigs for the "umpteenth" time(the ending still makes me cry), it would be a nice change to see Cillian play the role of Hugh.

I do agree with you, QuietOne, I can definitely see Cillian playing Hugh. I haven't seen any of Eddie Redmayne's movies, but from some of his pictures, he looks pretty creepy and well-suited to play Aaron. He's all gaunt and skinny, like how Aaron was described, and blonde hair would suit him. Although Cillian has played creepy roles before, he has also played some warm, good guy roles. Anyway, the role of Hugh is complex and has more to work with anyway - which definitely suits Cillian's style.

How old are Aaron and Hugh supposed to be anyway? Early 20's, I presume? Eddie would fit into this age bracket, but isn't Cillian a bit too old now to play a character in his early 20's? How old is Becky supposed to be? She's the exotic, older woman, right? I'm assuming she's either in her late 20's to early 30's. Anyway, as I was reading, I kept on picturing Kate Winslet as Becky. She's not that much older than Cillilan, but she looks more womanly and mature. Plus, she's good at playing these free-spirited, artsy characters. Kate Beckinsale and Rachel Weisz also drifted in and out of how I imagined Becky, but they didn't quite fit somehow. Alison wasn't that big of a character, but maybe Romola Garai? She's a bit too pretty though. Couldn't really match any actor to Mac... he's short and of African descent, am I correct? Hmm...

Looking forward to your input, QuietOne, and anyone else who has read it.

[bookworm107]

I just finished reading the Forbidden Game series by L J Smith. She really is one of my favorite authors of horror/fiction. This idea is so completely unique to any other book I have ever read. It is interesting and a good read. Most of her books were published back in the 90s and can be rather difficult to get ahold of. I usually try the library or Amazon.

[QuietOne]

[


Hi Rukia888, sorry for getting back to the book review so late. I'm really excited for White Male Heart to be made into a movie.
For me, the beginning of the book kinda established the main characters and their place in their town. Hugh was the fairly well-liked farm boy, Hugh was his rich, ne'er-do-well best friend who may have been disliked by most people in their town if it weren't for Hugh, and Mac was an enigma up to the very end of the book, but he was also a father figure of sorts(Hugh's father filled his time with farming and Hugh wanted no part of farming and Aaron's father was either gone all the time or emasculated by his shrew of a wife). Hunting was main thing that bound Hugh and Aaron's together in their friendship. When Aaron slaughtered the stag while it was still alive, that was a real turning point in the book for me--it was the first serious crack in their friendship. While Hugh really fell hard for Becky, I don't think she loved him in the same way he loved her--I don't think she was ever truely over her boyfriend back south. I do believe Becky cared enough about Hugh to see that his friendship with Aaron was unhealthy and that the only way he could save himself was to separate himself from Aaron. When Hugh and Aaron were planting landmines and throwing molotov c*cktails in some of the areas Hugh and Becky used to visit, I think that was Hugh's way of getting her out of his system. I believe Hugh really wanted to leave town with or without Aaron--Aaron was the only reason he stayed. Unfortunately, if Hugh left with Becky, he could've been totally dependent on her very similar to how Aaron was dependent on Hugh. I agree the ending was wrapped up a little too quickly. It seemed almost as if Hugh was planning to kill Aaron, but how was he to know that Aaron would torture and rape Allison the very night before they were to leave for America. I could almost understand how Mac could've been at the scene when Hugh killed Aaron--the forest was his home and he knew the place well. It would also seem like Mac was orchestrating every turn of Hugh and Aaron's friendship because he had so much influence in their lives, but moreso in Aaron's life. Of course Mac would never turn Hugh in for killing Aaron because now, all three of them were guilty of something terrible--Mac was a poacher, Aaron had multiple strikes against him, and now Hugh competed their little circle with his murder of both Aaron and the Dane(I had a bad feeling the Dane would meet with a bad ending). When Hugh killed the Dane beyond recognition, that made him just as bad as Aaron. Maybe Hugh was more like Aaron than he cared to realize--maybe when he killed Aaron, he killed a very dark, dangerous part of himself. Maybe that's why he needed to leave town--he could've possibly ended up just like Aaron if he had stayed.
Eddie Redmayne is a good choice for Aaron and Cillian would be great as Hugh(the story revolves around Hugh=maximum screentime for Cillian). I imagined Paloma Baeza as Becky(I think she and Cillian seem to have very good on-screen chemistry), but Kate Winslet is a good choice too(I just saw her in Little Children). I pictured Chewitel Ejiofor as Mac although he is a little tall, but he is an awsome actor(and he's African).

[rukia888]

I just finished Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. It was quite an interesting but quick and easy read. The story was pretty crazy and raunchy - the main character, Victor, is a sex addict afterall, so that wasn't surprising - but most of all, it was hilarious! Victor narrates in a sardonic tone, and I found all of his scenarios to be quite amusing. I didn't really expect the twist at the end, but I did sense something fishy about the doctor. I'm interested to see how Choke will play out on-screen in the upcoming film adaptation. Sam Rockwell's a tad bit old to play Victor (Sam's almost 40, and Victor's supposed to be 25), and he looks really old and frumpy from the trailer, but he's a pretty good actor and seems to fit the character well. Denny’s not supposed to be big and fat as the actor portraying him, but again, he fits the character well. Kelly Macdonald's prettier than what I imagined Paige to be, but I love Kelly! I'm sure she'll be great. From the trailer and clips, it seems like the film is staying pretty true to the novel, so we'll see.

I really like Chuck Palahniuk's clever way with words, and I'm planning to read Invisible Monsters next.




**MAJOR SPOILERS FOR WHITE MALE HEART**







Thanks for your input, QuietOne! I agree with you about Becky; she probably didn't love Hugh as much as he loved her. Although I didn't think about it before, you're probably right in saying that Hugh would probably be dependent on Becky as Aaron was dependent on him. Since the beginning of their relationship, there were clear signs of his obsession with Becky. He was definitely the more attached one.

Great point about Hugh's killing of Aaron at the end! I was thinking of it more as a mercy killing, but I liked your viewpoint on how Hugh was killing a dark part of himself when killed Aaron. Very nice analysis.

I think we can definitely agree that Eddie should be Aaron, and Cillian should be Hugh! You're right: Hugh=more screen-time=better for Cillian. I loved Paloma Baeza and Cillian in The Way We Live Now. I haven't seen them together in Sunburn unfortunately, but from what I've seen in TWWLN, I do agree that they have great chemistry. She's quite adorable and sweet-looking but not really how I pictured Becky. Perhaps she looks too sweet. Somehow I pictured Becky having a subtle devious air about her. I also pictured Becky being more stunning and metropolitan looking, being from London and all. Just upon looks alone, I think Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley would fit the look of Becky. But I think we can all agree that Sienna has shared enough screen-time with Cillian! Even with Keira, since she's been in soo many films lately, I think I'd like to see someone other than her. I was also thinking about Rosamund Pike, too, for Becky, but she could be a bit too gorgeous. Anyway, whoever gets the role of Becky, whether it be a big name actress or a total unknown actress, I'm sure Cillian would have amazing chemistry with her either way. He's very good in developing incredible but believable chemistry with his female co-stars; I think he has a gift. Good choice about Chiwetel Ejiofor - you know, I've seen a couple of his films (Children of Men, Inside Man, and Love Actually), but I don't really remember him in them. He looks great though. It's okay that he's tall; somehow I always pictured Mac tall and brooding anyway even though he's supposed to be short. How about Djimon Hounsou? I loved him in Blood Diamond... I really hope White Male Heart goes through in becoming a film! *crossing my fingers*

[kaatopp]

Still reading History of Tom Jones, it is really good, a very well written and interesting story! Only 400 some odd pages left, lol!!

Rukia, I requested White Male Heart at my library so that should be coming in any day now. I read some of your spoilers but I was not focusing too much so I am not sure what I do and don't know about the book (lol, I just couldn't help myself). I'll definitely let you know what I think though!!