Any good books?

[KICKSTART]

Im looking for some good books to read! (instead of doing my housework!) To give you an idea of what i like ....I like stories set in the 1900's were they only had like 2/6d to pay the rent and keep them for a week , stories about hard times, living in the slums of London. etc.(at least it makes you feel pretty well off after reading those!) One of my favourite authors is Helen Forrester , so if you are going to suggest her , ive read them all !!

[glitter]

A star called Henry- I think it takes place in Ireland.

[jbeany]

How about Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt?  It's Irish, not British, though.

[KICKSTART]

Thanks Angela's ashes ive read and seen the film ..lol   Henry though not read that , whats it about ? who is it by ? 

[glitter]

 
 
Really a good read with an ending that made me go WHAT? and thumb back through the entire book.

 

INTRODUCTION

Born in the slums, raised on the streets, caught up in the fight for a free Ireland at the age of fourteen, Henry Smart is, indisputably, a survivor. A Star Called Henry describes the first twenty years of Henry's adventure-filled life in early twentieth-century Ireland. Using a compelling first-person fictional narrative, Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle lets Henry tell his own story, revealing this young man's heroism, as well as the tumultuous era in which he lived.

Henry stood out from the moment he was born. "I glowed guaranteed life," he boasts. In Ireland's tuberculosis-ridden slums in the early 1900s, healthy babies were rare. But beyond this gift, there is little in Henry's life to call miraculous. His father works as bouncer and a hit man at a local brothel. He has a wooden leg, which he uses as a weapon as well as a prosthesis. Henry's mother is already old at age twenty, beaten down by poverty and by the deaths of so many of her children. Henry's name is the same as one of these dead babies, and neither parent can bring themselves to use it. "I was Henry but they never called me that," Henry explains. "She wouldn't; he couldn't . . . . So they called me nothing."

Denied the use of his name as well as any material or maternal comforts, Henry ends up, by age three, spending most of his time on the streets, accompanied by his beloved younger brother, Victor. Life is marginally better here than in their home, until the day that the "rozzers" (police) nearly catch him after he heckles the King of England. Henry's father spots his sons running away and leads them to an escape route he knows well—the rushing underground rivers of the Dublin sewers. After this, Henry never sees his father again, though the sewers prove useful to him many times in the future. Henry's father leaves him another gift—his spare wooden leg. The leg will become his constant companion, aiding him in the service of war, romance, and disguise, long after he leaves home.

On the streets Henry learns to stay alive by taking advantage of whatever situation presents itself: he sells rats to rich men for betting races, he herds cattle for drovers, he learns to pick pockets. As the seeds of rebellion take hold in the city, Henry eagerly offers his services. He is paid to pour tar on cows owned by absentee landlords and sells week-old newspapers to Dubliners hungry for news of uprisings.

Henry's life is soon dominated by Irish politics. The early 1900s was a period of tumult for Ireland. The nationalist movement was gaining momentum backed by the guerilla warfare tactics of the newly-former I.R.A. Henry's strength, toughness, and street smarts are a useful resource to the Irish rebel leaders, including the renowned real-life rebel, Michael Collins. Collins, Padraig Pearse, and James Connelly use Henry to train young fighters and to blow up buildings. Eventually, Henry becomes an assassin for the republic, wielding the wooden leg as a murder weapon.

Though exhilarated by the excitement of his work and the cause, Henry is too smart to ignore the hypocrisies of the revolutionaries and his own tenuous role in the activities. "I was shaping the fate of my country, . . . but, actually, I was excluded from everything. . . . the men of the slums and hovels . . . were nameless and expendable . . . We followed orders and murdered."

As the turmoil of the era surges around Henry, he continually searches for camaraderie, love, family, and identity in the midst of the chaos. He gravitates towards female warmth, from his own mother's sad affection, to the women who can't resist his handsome physique, to his affair with the love of his life, the schoolteacher-turned-rebel Miss O'Shea.

Will Henry find some peace in his hard-edged existence? A Star Called Henry gives some hints, but this novel is really only the beginning of the Henry Smart story. Roddy Doyle plans to make Henry's tale a trilogy. Since this young man is such a survivor, his life promises to be a long one, bursting with adventures enough to fill at least two more novels.

 

PRAISE FOR A STAR CALLED HENRY

"Astonishing. . . . Narrated with a splendor, wit, and excitement that lift Doyle's writing to a new level." —The New York Times Book Review (front page review)

"Doyle vividly portrays the wild passions of an Irish Everyman . . . [and] the birth of the modern Irish nation." —Time

"A stellar novel." —Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice)

"Brilliant . . . ferociously powerful; Doyle captures the desperation of the slums with the intimate authenticity of a poet." —The Boston Globe (front page review)

"Stunning . . . not only Doyle's best novel yet; it is a masterpiece, an extraordinarily entertaining epic." —The Washington Post

 



 

[glitter]

Have you ever read any Harold Robbins?

[willowtreewren]

I like Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series.

[KICKSTART]

  Glitter i will try and find that , it sounds just my cup of tea ! (now i can blame you when i dont do any housework  ) No i havent read any Harold Robbins but will have a look now.
Thanks for all your suggestions nothing like losing yourself in a good book , curled up on a sofa with some treats !!!

[monrein]

Have you read any Rohinton Mistry novels?  I particularly liked "A Fine Balance" and "Family Matters"...they both are set in India and struggle is definitely the theme.  Very well-written and also interesting in that Mistry presents the perspective of a different culture.  He is an immigrant to Canada from Mumbai, India and he's from a Parsi background.

I also liked Anne-Marie MacDonald's novel "Fall on Your Knees" which is set in Nova Scotia ,Canada. 

[kristina]

Hamsun: Hunger.

[kristina]

The life story of George Washington Carver.
I forgot the author because it is so long ago
that I read the book. It is the story about the first black man
who went from one school to another to finally get his education,
becoming a very important agriculturist who figured out why
cotton made the land poor whilst planting peanuts made
the land recover again from the strain of the cotton.
To proof his point he discovered everything
that could be produced from peanuts, like peanut-butter, peanut-oil etc.
He supported himself financially by washing clothes etc.
A most impressing life of a survivor who had an idea!
The book also described how he mixed colours for his paints
from plants and his paintings have impressed many people.
Unfortunately I did not see any prints/photos of his paintings.
I was very impressed by his story.

[kitkatz]

Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

The powerful force of tradition intended Elena to be a Cinderella, except that her prince was only eleven when Elena turned twenty-one. When her evil stepmother decides to try other lands for fortune, Elena is abandoned and forced to come up with a future of her own. She decides to become a servant--and at least get paid for working for others. Instead, a Fairy Godmother takes her on as an apprentice. The magical potential that has built up in her through the frustrated tradition gives her huge magical powers. Which she'll need, because tradition forces the inhabitants of her kingdoms into preset ways--some of which are positive and nice, but others of which are quite dark and evil. Elena, even aided by brownies and unicorns, has a lot to do.
When Prince Alexander behaves rudely to what he thinks is an old woman but is really Elena in test mode, she turns him into a donkey and brings him home to reform him. Which is fine as long as Alexander stays a donkey, but when he turns back into a man, attraction sizzles, which is a problem. Tradition doesn't hold with Fairy Godmothers having lovers, at least not lovers who don't betray them. And Elena is determined not to follow that tradition.

Author Mercedes Lackey melds together a number of fairy tale traditions to create a compelling story of fairie, magic, and romance. Elena is a strong character, who, as her brownies point out, would be wasted in the largely decorative role of princess. Alexander starts out something of a jerk, but manages to redeem himself through hard work and serious thought. A strong action sequence closes out the story answering readers who wonder whether Elena and Alexander will be able to create a new tradition where they can explore the strong attraction between them.

Mercedes Lackey's strong writing engages the reader emotionally and makes THE FAIRY GODMOTHER a compelling read. This is the launch novel in a new fantasy imprint--LUNA. LUNA will concentrate on female-driven fantasy. THE FAIRY GODMOTHER augers well for the new line.

[KICKSTART]

Thanks everyone ..looks like i got some reading to do now !!!!

[kristina]

My first thought was to mention one of the typical Victorian novels by Charles Dickens (1812-1870). 
His great speciality was to point out social injustice.
Then the Thatcher-government started a campaign telling people 
to “take an example” on Victorian values,
Charles Dickens, his integrity etc, and that proved to be fatal.
Instantly some reporters started “digging” into Dickens life
and came up with the startling news that he shared his house
with his wife on the ground floor and his lover (sister of the wife) on the second floor
whilst he set up his other lover in another house altogether.
Everybody started wondering how he found  time to write his novels
and again some reporters started “digging” and found that he had
a work-shop full of talented no-name writers
whom he gave some skeleton-idea for a book
and they wrote his books for him, whilst he,
in his spare time did some proof-reading
before the novels were set to be printed.
Because of all this I am not too sure anymore
whether or not I agree with myself
that he was a great writer. But I still think that some of the books printed
under the name of Charles Dickens are a good insight into Victorian London. 
My favourites are still “Great Expectations” and “A Christmas Carol”.
Have you read the novels by Katherine Cookson?
She often describes the life of the workers
in the Docklands, Newcastle (“The Gambler”, “The Secret” etc.)
You cannot fault her historically, all the facts are very reliably researched
and her books are great to read and to learn about life in "those days".
The human drama is sometimes a little bit over the top.
Her books are a lovely read on a resting day.

[Aubrey]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressail.

A vision of hell, in pre-WW1 Hastings.

[Hanify]

Try Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd (note the spelling).  He does big books starting off ages ago and coming up more to date.  Sarum starts 4000bc!  It's up to 1500's where I'm at.  Great fun.  Apparently another good one of is is called Ireland or something.  Haven't read that one myself yet.  Easy to get at the library.