London Fields in Reading 1001

Nov 10, 2018 鈽楳isericordia鈽� 鈿∠熲殹鉀堚殹鈽� 鉂囷笍鉂も潱 rated it it was ok

Shelves: gloriously-bad

A mumbo-jumbo of words trying desperately to congeal into a plot. And failing at it, miserably. A case of when the book is way worse than the bad film. I have a feeling that some promiscuos dictionary had a love affair with the Holy Bible and a bunch of pop-sci lit and quite a bit of erotica and this is their collective offspring. It should come with a warning: Careful! Words hijacked this book!

The style is ridiculous. Pompous and sleep-inducing. An example of what I mean by this: there is a pie ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Rosemary rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books

The story of Nicola Six, a murderee in search of a murderer, and the men she picks out and manipulates to bring about her end. Keith Talent is a small-time crook and womaniser who dreams of fame though his darts playing, taking the stereotypical pub-going dart-player type to such an extreme that he becomes original. Guy Clinch is from another class entirely, living in posh Lansdowne Crescent with his bossy wife and murderously aggressive toddler son, but he drinks in the same pub. The whole is n ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-challenge, 2018, fiction

I listened to this book as an audiobook, and it was a VERY LONG book to be digesting in that format. The reader was good at the voices, though, and did add something positive to the experience, especially with respect to Kevin, whose dialect the reader did especially well.
This book is a classic noir-style thriller, and metafiction, with the characters hanging out with the 'author' of the book, a man named Sam, who has his own adventures as he tries to keep tabs on his characters. The femme-fata ...more

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Jan 27, 2019 Kristel rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, 2019-botm, british-literature, 1001-challenge, death-and-dying, writing, london

This is a story about writing in novel form in my opinion and is reported to be the author's best work. The story is about an American writer, Samson Young, in London, dying of cancer with a 20 year writer's block. It is also a story of a murder. The characters in this book are from various walks of life and feature city life. London, east end. They never really go to London Field.

This book was published in 1989 and is set in the future. This woman, Nicola Six, has picked November 5th as the da This is a story about writing in novel form in my opinion and is reported to be the author's best work. The story is about an American writer, Samson Young, in London, dying of cancer with a 20 year writer's block. It is also a story of a murder. The characters in this book are from various walks of life and feature city life. London, east end. They never really go to London Field.

This book was published in 1989 and is set in the future. This woman, Nicola Six, has picked November 5th as the day she will die. So we have an American author dying and we have Nocola who is going to die because she does not want to get any older, she is turning 35. "It doesn't happen yet, but it will".

There is really so much in this book. Samson Young is the narrator. He emphasizes that he is a "reliable narrator". Samson Young is a writer of nonfiction and can't seem to write fiction so he starts writing about these people from their real life; Nicola Six, Keith Talent, a criminal, dart player, Guy Cinch a rich banker, Marmaduke the rich banker's son, Mark Asprey (a successful British author). Samsonb uses Nicola's diaries, Guys short story, Keith darting diaries. Mark Asprey may be a play on words for the author Martin Amis and true life memoirs.

In this book, which in my opinion is about writing, we have the question of accuracy; reliable narrators, memoirs, tabloids, gossip columns, weather forcasters, etc. We have the TV with its fast forward, freeze frame and confusing realities.

As I said, there is really a lot here, even with the descriptions of darts and shafts, etc, etc, the word play, the theme of dying and writing block. There is also a theme of end times with mentions of Enola Gay and Baby Boy both alluding to nuclear weapons/holocaust. The American president's wife (Faith) is fighting for her life. So there is the dying of the individual as well as the dying of the world. There is the mockery of Keith's culture of cheap tabloids set against the high literary culture of Guy.

It's all very creative and well done but in the end, did I enjoy it? Can't say that I did. Did I appreciate it? I do appreciate the work and talent of this book. I've also read the authors Time's Arrow and Dead Babies.

5-Legacy: This book does fit the scope of books of the era. It does contribute to the novel.
5-Plot: actually at times dull but very creative
4-Characterization: some very unique characters representing life
2-Readability: not so enjoyable
4-Achievement: some important lists
2-Style: a whole lot of violence, not very favorable image of women, sex, language but creative!

Rating 3.67 ...more

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Jan 28, 2019 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it liked it

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers, read-in-2019, 1001-books

The story is a complex one with lots of twists, and the writing is very good. Unfortunately I still did not enjoy the book. The extended soliloquies were often more like angry rants. The twists were so big that I found myself flipping back through pages already read to refresh my memory. I am quite ill so my concentration isn't great and that may explain it, so I may try to read this one again at another time. ...more

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