Book Recomendations?

[Heinz57]

Hi all,

So a little later on in March we're off for a long weekend at Centre Parcs, which means I get plenty of time to relax with a good book!

I was thinking of getting a couple of new ones. I'm hoping you guys might have some suggestions.

My favorite genres are comedy and horror. Maybe there are some books which have a bit of both?

They don't nessasseraly have to be about railways, but maybe a good novel from one of the above genres which has some sort of railway setting wouldn't go amiss?

I'm open to any suggestions,

Cheers,

Heinz

 

[IanD]

Try "The Man on Platform 5" by Robert Llewellyn (aka Kryton from Red Dwarf).

Made me laugh, particularly the unnecessary railway innaccuracies and the fact that it was about a "trainspotter" called Ian who lived in Northampton and spends a lot of time at Milton Keynes station. Not about me, unfortunately.

No sure if it's still in print.

Was supposed to be made in to a film but don't recall seeing it advertised.

 

[Condor7]

Try 'The Passage' by Justin Cronin.

I don't want to give to much away, but it is based very slightly in the future on earth, and is a mix of mild horror and fantasy. A novel post apocalyptic twist.
It is being made into a film, and I have not met anyone yet who has read it and not thought it amazing.

 

[Mojo]

My favourite railway related book has to be Eleven Minutes Late by Matthew Engel.

 

[ainsworth74]

Another vote for Eleven Minutes Late, really great book.

 

[Seacook]

Nothing to do with railways but Charles Stross combines comedy, Lovecraftian horror and parodies of spy thrillers in his Laundry series. There are four so far:

The Atrocity Archives
The Jennifer Morgue
The Fuller Memorandum
The Apocalypse Codex

 

[Mvann]

Neverwhere by Neil gaiman. Some of it is based on the underground.

 

[Heinz57]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems Eleven Minutes Late is a popular one, but what is it about?

Neverwhere sounds like a good one too, and being partly set on the underground should be good - something differant!

 

[43021HST]

How about The Butt by Will, a very surreal story, that explores the tyrannical depths of political correctness, set in a country that's a cross between Australia and Iraq. The Butt is a very cynical and amusing book.

Or how about 1984?
Both good meaty books, to get your teeth into.

Or if you're looking for comedy how about Work, Consume and Die, by Frankie Boyle, some good insensitive cynicism, very funny read. Frankie somehow combines surrealism and a cynical outlook on todays culture. Ideal for 'bog reading'

 

[martinsh]

Neverwhere by Neil gaiman. Some of it is based on the underground.

Oh yes ! Forgot about that one.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

It seems Eleven Minutes Late is a popular one, but what is it about?

Eleven Minutes Late is not fiction.

How about Desolation Road by Ian MacDonald ? It's about railways on Mars !

 

[Heinz57]

Or if you're looking for comedy how about Work, Consume and Die, by Frankie Boyle, some good insensitive cynicism, very funny read. Frankie somehow combines surrealism and a cynical outlook on todays culture. Ideal for 'bog reading'

Now that sounds brilliant! Right up my street.

I read Boyle's autobiography, which I realy enjoyed. His writing style is good. So if thats anything to go by then this other book should be good.

Has any body read Stephen Ambroses series of WWII books? I'm fasinated by WWII (always have been) and I enjoyed the Band of Brothers mini-film series so I wonder what the books will be like.

 

[Flamingo]

Try Agent ZigZag, very good account of spying in WW2 I've just read (found it on a train), or anything by George McDonald Frasier or Terry Pratchett (or if looking for a "Classic", try starting the Barchester series by Trolope). Or anything by PG Wodehouse.

Anthony Beevor's DDay is very good, as is anything by the late lamented John Keegan.

 

[yorksrob]

My recommendation would be "A Confederacy Of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. A very witty farce set in New Orleans.

 

[Heinz57]

Thanks chaps, I'll take a look at them!

 

[user15681]

If you're looking for gorey horror, as in blood and guts, then Karin Slaughter's book Blindsighted is pretty good.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Or anything by PG Wodehouse.

P G Wodehouse has seen me through many journeys and commutes with a smile! He's never let me down.

One with a railway connection, and which is one of several books which vie for the claim of being the first post-modernist novel, is Geoff Ryman's "253: a novel for the Internet about London Underground in seven cars and a crash". It is set in a London underground train and tells a story about each of the people on board, and is written in a manner which focusses on the links many of them with each other.

What makes it all the more poignant for me is, . . . . .the last time I met Geoff Ryman, . . . . it was on a train!

 

[Flamingo]

I always knew you were a man of good taste!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Thanks for the compliment!

But I hope you realise, that by complimenting me on my good taste for appreciating something you also appreciate, you seem to be paying yourself the same compliment! So, as a supermarket claims, so I don't have to.

Which other authors have consistenly appealed to you with their humour? Flann O'Brien?

 

[Flamingo]

Funnily enough I am reading The Dalkey Archives at the moment, but it is the first book I have read by Myles Na Gopaleen. Pratchett is a relatively new discovery, in the past three or four years. Waugh is an old favourite I must revisit soon. Bill Bryson I like, being in turn full of nerdy facts and yet the ability to tell an anecdote that has had me weeping with laughter.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Funnily enough I am reading The Dalkey Archives at the moment, but it is the first book I have read by Myles Na Gopaleen.

Excellent! One of my favouries.

I'd just looked up this extract from his "Third Policeman":

'Would you believe that there is a great increase in crime in this locality? Last year we had sixty-nine cases of no lights and four stolen. This year we have eighty-two cases of no lights, thirteen cases of riding on the footpath and four stolen. There was one case of wanton damage to a three-speed gear, there is sure to be a claim at the next Court and the area of charge will be the parish. Before the year is out there is certain to be a pump stolen, a very depraved and despicable manifestation of criminality and a blot on the county.’

‘Indeed,’ I said.

‘Five years ago we had a case of loose handlebars. Now there is a rarity for you. It took the three of us a week to frame the charge.’

‘Loose handlebars,’ I muttered. I could not clearly see the reason for such talk about bicycles.

‘And then there is the question of bad brakes. The country is honeycombed with bad brakes, half of the accidents are due to it, runs in families.’

"What is the second rule?"

He said 'There are five in all. Always ask any questions that are to be asked and never answer any. Turn everything you hear to your own advantage. Always carry a repair outfit. Take left turns as much as possible. Never apply your front brake first".

‘If you follow them’, said the Sergeant, ‘you will save your soul and never get a fall on a slippery road.”

On a different topic, there's an East Coast guard, S., (whom I havent' seen for a while) who likes to ask his passengers about the book they are reading. He's well read and usually mananges to engage with them by asking about the book or author if he doesn't know them. A full ticket inspection can take him well over an hour! But he really enjoys the discussions.

 

[SS4]

Has any body read Stephen Ambroses series of WWII books? I'm fasinated by WWII (always have been) and I enjoyed the Band of Brothers mini-film series so I wonder what the books will be like.

I've only read Band of Brothers and Pegasus Bridge and they're pretty good books, it's less dispassionate than the more documentary-like books on the war in general. You won't be disappointed though, it's been a while since I read Band of Brothers but from what I remember the series covered pretty much the entire book. Overall I'd say I preferred Pegasus Bridge if only because it was about British troops

If you can get them used for a few quid they're good books.

 

[Flamingo]

I have been known to engage passengers in discussion about their books, indeed someti people have come up to me at the end of the journey and give me the book, as they had finished it!

 

[Heinz57]

Thanks, I think I'll go for Band of Brothers and Peagasus Bridge. They sound quite good!

Cheers chaps

Heinz

 

[Smudger105e]

The Railwayman by Eric Lomas, not much about trains, but is a factual book about him captured in Singapore and put to work by the Japanese. The only book I have ever read that has moved me to tears.