books on Alastair Flynn

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A fun book, a good spy thriller. Though it really was a bit ridiculous. The main character seemed to get by primarily on luck rather than anything else. He also spent most his time dodging round the Scottish highlands. The ending was satisfying, the bad guys got uncovered, though the did manage to start the war.

Would recommend for a train journey or some such occasion.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A truly brilliant ending. I actuallly totally did not see it coming at all, like it was really fully out there. Is Dickens the greatest writer of all time? I think he really must be. Like some of the passages from that book. The way he described the passing of 20 years by the echos of the footsteps in the corner of the house. That was really something amazing. And just the imagery off it all. And the classic cast of recurring characters. I did wonder why the names were so strongly made note of in the initial trial of Darney. But it does make sense, those two spies who looked to dump him in for it.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This was a long read, I think I started in late September and have only just finished now at the very end of December. Well worth it though.

When beginning the book the main thing that struck me was how literally the text was written. The author directly describes what the characters do, what they think and how things make them feel, if a character is sad then you will be told as such rather than having it hinted at through allusions and dramatic effects. In some ways it reads like a play, in that you could take a lot of the text as instructions on how to portray the characters.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

People often say the English are very cold fish, very reserved, that they have a way of looking at things - even tragedy - with a sense of irony. Theres some truth in it; its pretty stupid, though. Irony wont save you from anything; humor won’t do anything at all. You can look at life ironically for years, even decades; there are people who seem to go though most of their lives seeing the funny side, but on the end, life always breaks your heart. Doesn’t matter how brave you are, or how reserved, or how much you’ve developed a sense of humour, you still end up with your heart broken. Thats when you stop laughing. After that theres just the cold, the silence, and the loneliness. You might say, after that, there’s only death.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This was an amazing book, one of my favourites. In fact it inspired me to write a bit of a blog post.

I think my favourite thing about it is that Dickens in it reminds me of myself a lot. Of course he does present himself as pretty good in the book, but its just the way he views the world.

In his writing, there is so much moral good and moral bad, and it aligned so well with my own feelings about these subjects. It is of course complicated, but it makes its own sense. Like when he talks about how we should all get on boards, gentlemen on boards do very well for themselves, but then he puts in the utter contempt for the Veneering’s, very justifiably so (admitely this is from Our Mutual Friend not David Copperfield, but still). The characters are just so god damn compelling. I love it. 10/10.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What a wild ride. I picked this book up on a whim, its title intrigued me, and I’ve had a lot of good experiences with French authors in the past. It was certainly something a bit different, which I guess is what I was hoping for, though by God its harrowing to read.

The book is all written from the first person perspective of a mother who is seriously mentally unwell. She hates everyone and everything, except perhaps her son, though that seems to more be just toleration. Her life seems to be entirely made up of hate and lust, occasionally interrupted by her bowing to the pressure of domestic servitude, usually in the form of cooking a meal or fellating her husband.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bloody good book. Amazing writing and a powerful human story. It feels like the essences of many wise and ancient proverbs retold in a fantasy world with as much delicious lore as middle earth.

Would recommend to anyone ready to enter a fantasy world very much intended for grown ups.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What an out there book. I enjoyed reading it a good deal. Its grand scale sci fi but not focusing on the grand scale which is nice, just the story of a single town and the arakie who can only tell the truth and are just a weird ass alien orginisation.

Its hard to tell what is book is really about. I find it hard to believe its the language stuff becuase how could it be. There was a lot of power dyanmic stuff, the, total curruption the power brings. I guess a main point was that this society that had exsisted for 100s of years easily had the power to emancipate the aliens from their truth telling langague but they didnt. ‘Its not really something the ambassadors like to hightlight’ as bren said. Even when the world was ending they were reluctant to give up their power.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A nice easy to read book about the siege of Sarajevo by the Serbs. And of the life of refugee children living outside in Croatia worrying for their family inside.

It really makes me realise how aweful the chetniks really are. Coming at the weekends to take potshots at the people queueing for bread. The family at the center of the story were clearly very well connected and lucky. It seemed like they didnt have to go through it quite as bad as some of the others, with the dad having published maths textbooks and the mum working for an NGO. Still they experienced serious loss and had two of their uncles taken away from them.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Birdwatching is a latent passion of mine. One that’s waiting under the surface, ready one day to come out when given the opportunity. At the moment, there isn’t much opportunity, I live in the centre of the city and don’t get to spend much time just existing in nature. Luckily, it turns out that this book was pretty much written for me.

Mostly the book goes through the authors life. He uses his experiences to illustrate the joy you can get out of observing what is there around you. He didn’t grow up birdwatcher, but slowly became one over time as he discovered the fun of it. Reading this, it made me want to go on the same journey. Actually, I really hope I do.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A really fucking good book. I think it has given me some hope.

A big takeaway from it is the idea that cynacism is lazyness. If you assume human nature is miserable, its fine to not do the good thing, its all fucked anyway.

This is a load of rubbish.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

It doesn’t do to look too hard into this mystery, which is as far from being simple as it is from being safe. We don’t know enough about ourselves. I think it’s better to know that you don’t know, that way you can grow with the mystery as the mystery grows in you. But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that’s why so many people are so lost.

Damn that was a hell of a book. Really one of the greatest of all time tbh. Its so completely human and real. In a way that so many books arnt. It captures the complete experience of these people. And how fucking hard it was to have anything good back then. And how lost everyone is. I wonder what Harlem is like now under the surface. It certainly doesn’t feel gentrified. Hopefully things are genuinly better.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted mearly to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glace at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notes

His universal compassion was due less to natural instinct, than to a profound conviction, a sum of thoughts, that in the course of living had filtered through to his heart: for in the nature of man, as in a rock, there may be channels hollowed by the dropping of water, and these can never be destroyed.

An excellent book. A wonderful story that left me sad as anything when Jean valjean died at the end and went to his unmarked grave but happy as anything that Marius and corsette were finally together. There were so many beautful extremes of emotion of character, of ideals all clashing together in a really quite unrealistic way. Jean Valjean constantly downtrodden and crsuhed by society because he stole a loaf of bread. But despite becoming the most holy of men society did not let him redeem himself. 19th century France sounds like a pretty hard place to live. Despite its upsides Paris really isnt that great.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A great, if disturbing read. Something about the tone of this book really drew me in, it has a really clever way of slowing letting the emotions through a little bit as the book goes on. It seems the main character is really just very depressed and hooked on drugs, but then everyone is a little bit. Its the lack of love that’s not so obvious on the surface, but painfully obvious when you look that really lets you see. There’s nobody who gives a damn what our main character does with his life, even if he ties a 12 year old to a bed and rapes her. The phrase repeated so often throughout the book sums up so much: why not.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notes

This book was ok, it was a bit of a novelty. The first chapter started off talking about the pleasures of going to a book shop and getting a new book. In great detail. It was good to read for the first half of the chapter but then it got a bit old. Eventually the protagonist (you) opens the book and starts reading. The story is quite good, about smuggling something on a train and of course has a love interest appear quite quickly (as all 11 stories did if you include the beta story). It’s interrupted by the rest of the book in question being blank.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Since I called upon you that morning when you were, shall I say, floating your powerful mind in tea”

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Interesting enough, the author did a good job building a world that made scientific sense, and the thriller aspect of it was good. On the other hand, the main character was a bit rubbish, and though he made very sensible decisions thoughout, I didn’t like his personality overly much. It also lacked what I usually love so much about sci fi, a reflection of some aspect of humanity explored in a world that takes it to its natural conclusion, or at least explored in more depth than it could be in a story set in our world. This on the other hand, felt more like a James Bond novel written by a secondary school physics teacher.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

“What isolation?” I asked him. “That which is now reigning everywhere, especially in our age, but it is not all concluded yet, its term has not come. For everyone now strives most of all to separate his person, wishing to experience the fullness of life within himself, and yet what comes of all his efforts is not the fullness of life but full suicide, for instead of the fullness of self-definition, they fall into complete isolation. For all men in our age are separated into units, each seeks seclusion in his own hole, each withdraws from the others, hides himself, and hides what he has, and ends by pushing himself away from people and pushing people away from himself. He accumulates wealth in solitude, thinking: how strong, how secure I am now; and does not see, madman as he is, that the more he accumulates, the more he sinks into suicidal impotence. For he is accustomed to relying only on himself, he has separated his unit from the whole, he has accustomed his soul to not believing in people’s help, in people or in mankind, and now only trembles lest his money and his acquired privileges perish. Everywhere now the human mind has begun laughably not to understand that a man’s true security lies not in his own solitary effort, but in the general wholeness of humanity. But there must needs come a term to this horrible isolation, and everyone will all at once realize how unnaturally they have separated themselves one from another.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A really cool history of Delih and indian culture. Has very much made me want to go there though I highly doubt I could find all the cool places in the book and also if much of it still exsits.

Its really cool how much living history there actually is, like the fact that the great gradaughter (or something) of the last Mughal emporor who lost power basically in 1700s is still just around and living her life complaining that her family built this places and how much its being disrespected. Like it was completly a different age. It also seemed that any practice that has happened at any point in the history of Delih would still have some reminant of it happening in the Old town, like the pigeon facnying or the dancing eunuchs. Living history really is a thing if you know where to look for it. Reminds me of that man in the castle in scotland who started out as a page boy or something in the 1950s as a servent to the last lady of the castle before she sold it. He was living history and I met him, like a completly different time. Also the partitoin is crazy. Like really crazy. They destroyed so much good stuff with that. The british really do have something to answer for there. Though not like theres any point fussing over it now. The muslim city of delih is now Punjab. There also seem to be so many cool locations.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Good book I think, interesting to read about shamanism and what ayahoasca actually does, though premise is utter shit. Quite interesting to think of DNA as god and then try and shoehorn in creation myths, like DNA creates oxygen producers and clears atmosphere, i.e. creates the sky and so on.

It does basically cherrypick random parts of mythology and biology and claim that its something bigger than conicidence. Prehaps the reason that snakes are so prevelent is really just that they’re a wiggly line, a pretty easy shape to come up with.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

An incredibly good book

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is an insanely good book. 11/10. Its a great reflection on what is good about our society, and what goodness is hidden from us because of it.

As always with Ursula K. Le Guin what makes this special is how it manages to deal with humongous societal issues in a very personal introspective manner. At the end of the day, society is made up of individuals and the more you dig into the more clear the human nature in it becomes. This book cuts right to the chase and clearly lays out how the structures around us shape our lives in the details.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A really nice read. The book is based in an bombed nunnery, previously used as a war hospital previously previously used as a battlegroud. The only people there are Hana and the English patient. Hes a horribly burned mysterious dester spy, and shes a highy traumatised, from her work as a nurse, canadian fighting for the allies. They’re later joined by carvagio, her dads friend (dad recently died), as well as kip, the indian sapper.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I read this book because it is half set in Venas Di Cadore, a small town nestled in the Dolomites where I recently stayed on the way to a hike. Also because I like ice cream.

The story is interesting, and reflective. I enjoyed the variety of themes throughout, the poetry, the history, the introspection and of course the ice cream making. the author managed to cram a lot of distinct subejcts into the book.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I enjoyed this book. The Ladies Paradise is effectively the worlds first department store and this book attempts to capture what a crazy thing that was in a world not ready for it. It effectively catalogues the lives of people swept up in rapture and/or vehement hatred of the new store with a decent story set around it.

There were several points where it felt the author was rushing through the plot parts so he could spend more time writing about the hosiery department, the house made of gloves, or the hoards of ladies trapped by the store’s magnetism. Either rushing through or extending out miscommunications to allow more time revelling in the store.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A powerful book. Very chaotic and hard to pin down but certainly enjoyable. For me I guess the main message was that getting our ideals is never simple. We can make a wish but the conciquences are always hard to predict. I was cool how it developed. The world they started in vs the world they ended in were completely different. Some mistakes they fixed but others they decided not to. And his wife changed a lot from dream to dream. The only things that were constant was the dream scientist harber and him. The aliens were a cool introduction, possibly they were just a way for him to try and process what was happening. That’s what he really wanted. The only way that couldn’t be understood by Harber. Introduce something completely new.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Now this was a cool book. A funny page turning piece of entertainment. The story started off great. With an introduction to Saffron Gardens. A beatiful part of town where the eccentricts lived. Such as the biologist who invested everything into looking the part. He may not have discovered any rare and exquisit creature but was there in the world that was more a rare and exquisit create than himself. And the poets who may not have written any great poetry but there was no greater subject for a poem than the men themselves. The plot starts off by really throwing you into it. A secret anarchic society run with the upmost order and precision. And a new memeber is to be raised to the council for the position of tuesday. Syme says as he and Gregory introduce themselves to the meeting that he is a representative of Sunday. And by the end of the meeting that turns out to be the case. He gets himself voted in.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Really good book, would highly recommend to anyone. Rory Stewart is redicolosy hardcore and very lucky, there are a lot of places where he just could have so easily died, crossing a snowy pass alone where on the way he met some people brining back a half decayed body of am oldish man who had tried to do the same thing, pretending he was an Indonesian professor of history to the Taliban people at the end who said that the British dont come here cuz they know we will kill them, then at one point told he to go down to a river or something which he didn’t, then they laughed and said if he had he would have been killed (this was on the last day of the walk as well). Also the city of the turquoise mountain, that’s pretty crazy, so the Ghors were a mountain tribe around 1200s who conquered india. When another mountain tribe murdered the son of the king of the Ghors the king went to their capital, murdered all the men, burnt the city then made all the women and children climb to this really inaccessible place up in the proper mountains. They then killed everyone and mixed their blood with the soil to make bricks and build a city called the turquoise mountain which was the capital of their empire until it got destroyed by Genghis Kahn. The area could normally only support like 5 people. To get supplies to it they had a massive floating board walk on the river for hundreds of miles. The location of this city was unknown until around 7 months before rorys walk. The only surviving part was the minaret of Jam, a random tower in the middle of nowhere with scripture from the Koran written on it. The locals were digging up the remains of the city to sell destorying a lot of the archeological evidence, there was a lot still there as it was burned down but the UN refused to acknowledge it because of the war and didn’t step in until too late. Its really crazy stuff. Also support for the Taliban is pretty high in places they havent killed loads of people. The warloads that control the different tribes fight so much that pretty much any form of peace is good. There are a lot of different peoples up on the central route and they havent changed that much since the times of elphinstone. It must be a really interesting place to be. Rory was walking most days like 30km and surviving only on the hospitality of the random village folk, also he had dissentry for the second half of the walk.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Excellent book. Probably one of the coolest sci fi novels I’ve read. I would still say that Cats Cradel had more of an impact on me and The Stars My Destination was more spectacular but this was a really good book. Its really the best description of utopia I’ve ever come accross.

The culture is a post scarcity society where everyone can do what they want. The way its presented hobbies are basically replace the role of work. Personally I’m not sure how I would handle the idea of the meaning of life. I think some part of what gives my life (and probably most peoples life) a lot of meaning is that the world is constantly advancing, I know that the world is going to be a different place in 20 years, not sure how but the fact that it will be motivates me in some way. I really dont know how much though, probably to a far lesser extent than the idea of my personal development. That I can spend my time doing things now that will make me better in the future. Why should I become better? so I can have better children, raise them better and make other peoples lives better. This would very much not exsist in the culture. People live for themsevles. Theres not that much point devoting your life to giving your children a better chance, they’ll be genofixed to have a better life anyway. I wonder if I’d be better suited to the empire, probably not.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I enjoyed this book. Short and effective. I actually finished in 3 days. What a beautiful thunderous adventure through someones life. I actually really liked the characters in this book, not on a personal level, but just the idea of them, good but flawed people. She was very attracted to infidelity and thought it was a fundamental part of her personality. Maybe it was but it seemed with the massive twist at the end that maybe it was just that she was in unsatisfying relationships at that point.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This was a beautiful book. I think I very much enjoy nature writing. The descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness and the wildlife living there were excellent.

The dynamics between the main characters did annoy me a bit. Most problems they faced came from lack of communication rather than anything fundamental. I was able to forgive this in the end because their lives worked out well.

I also didn’t like that Fina melted away at the end one she had her child. I mean I get that something like that was sort of inevitable with the story book that the plot mirrored, but the fact that it was so magical does annoy me. At least provide a hint of something real.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Having a degree really has absolutly nothing to do with general intelligence. Especially when it comes to running a country - the ability to do well on standardised tests does not give you the civic sensibility and moral fortitude to make good desicions. Diversity makes for a good government and thats precisely what you loose when everyone comes from oxbridge. The more different ideas the better.

The idea that someone without a degree is less intelligent that someone with one is utter bull. For one, they chose not to go to university. In the current climate they easily could have if they wanted to. Two, standardised tests test your ability to do well in standardised tests and not much more. Three most jobs benifit from doing not from sitting in a lecture hall, someone who didnt go to uni probably has 4 more years of education than someone who did.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This book started slowly for me. It throws you right into the middle of it, a community of lots of Scottish women with confusing Scottish names saying all sorts of Scottish things that are almost impossible to parse on the first run through.

But as it developed, this book really hooked me in. Garry Forbes coming back from war, from his fight of good against evil, looking to fix the world. He finds a small example in a girl from the village of this evil, she has claimed his dead friend betrothed himself to her before he left. Him trying to get this simple fact straight goes on to have utterly life changing consequences for a whole range of characters. Upon talking to Louie he quickly realises she is a bit more complicated than disgracing his friends name. She is wrapped up in herself and can’t get out, as is Ellen Falconer, one of the three Craigmyle sisters who unbeknownst to Garry becomes obsessed with exposing Louie. Ellen has been living her life in her fantasy world, she comes to realise at the end she has experienced almost none of it. Louie goes to utter ruin and never recovers.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Another absolute banger by Ursula K. Le Guin, she’s done it again. This was a relatively short book, only just over 100 pages, and yet it still felt like I was loosing a good friend when I finished reading it.

The world it conjured up was vivid and beautiful, with a dense forest covering all and the native people at peace with themselves. That is, until the Americans come, or at least, all their stereotypes. They are the villains in this book and they are comically evil. It’s basically all the worst characters from Apocalypse Now getting their way and that being taken to its local conclusion.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Like the woman on the radio said, if you’ve ever felt different to everyone else, flet like you’re existing and observing and feeling something incalculable, something inexpressible, then this is the book for you.

There was a beautiful sentance by Mrs Ramsey when she was alone:

Beneath it is all dark, it is all spreading, it is unfathomably deep; but now and again we rise to the surface and that is what you see us by.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A very strange book, some bits were quite enjoyable - the biographical sections of the authors life in dubline going from his bedroom to college and drinking a lot, the tale written by the young orlick with all those characters like furrusky at the end to get revenge on the author who had been keeping them all prisoner (Dermot Trellece) and some of the stories of all the people who had the be gathered for large books, cattle punchers and the like.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You cannot love what you fully understand. Love is a process not a state. Held still it withers.

Nice book, not as good as player of games or consider phlebus but still good

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This was the first book by Murakami that I’ve read, and I have to say, I was surprised by how readable it was. I think because he’s won a Nobel prize I had in my head that his writing was going to be impenetrable, or at least very high-brow. But no, he writes like a normal person, with a fairly normal experience of the world. Well, sort of.

Its very clear from reading this book that Murakami is a goal driven person. He seems to love the cycle of putting in a ton of effort, and pain, and then achieving some massive result. Such as finishing a marathon, or writing a book. He holds himself to his own standards, which arguably is better than holding himself to other peoples, except that his own are very very high. He mentions a few times how he goes to see a massage therapist for his tight muscles and they are in shock how he could be in such a state without being in immense amounts of pain. The fact is, he is in immense amounts of pain, he just really wants to do well at the next race so keep pushing and pushing.

rss@aflynn.uk (Alastair Flynn) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A strange but incredibly interesting book. It tells short partial biographies of some of the most exceptional geniuses in history, always with the slat that extreme suffering or extreme willpower are what causes the epifinies that advance science.

Whether thats true or not I dont know but the stories are amazing. Grothendeick who revolutionised half of maths with an evntual goal of discovering the central truth of it, but then at forty suddely became so scared of what he might unleash by doing so that he renouced all of mathmatics and devoted himself souley to doing as much good as he could in the world (even if he wasnt padticulary good at achiving this).