9/9/09 9:09

Marquis

So what have SGers been up to on 9 Sept? Any memorable events? Just curious. (I was sitting on a balcony in Spain, reading Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd, which I picked up at the book giveaway one Saturday afternoon about a month ago on Upper Tollington Park - always wondered what the story behind that was)

ADGS

Clearing out space to make room for a baby, I heard. Given how much stuff they were leaving out, it must be a bloody big baby.

sophie

at that precise time i was getting my graduation robes on. not nearly as pleasant as a beach in spain but fairly memorable. was the william boyd book good? i read an atrocious book by him that was left in a holiday apartment in corfu, it was about armadillos and a sleep clinic as far as i can remember. i swore never to set eyes on a word written by him ever again.

andy

If we're doing recommendations: Bad book: Tomas by James Palumbo. Utter drivel. I was compelled to register on Amazon so I could review it. Awful. Good Book: Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. Not yet finished it, but really enjoying it.

Marquis

Congratulations to the graduation!

I thought Brazzaville Beach was a real discovery and wanted to go on reading more by W. Boyd. Tricky human complexities and a good narrative flow at the same time, at times almost a thriller. Odd subject matters too: the troubles of a chimpanzee researcher and her mathematician husband who's getting lost in advanced maths. I found it hard to put down once I was on the last 100 pages or so.

My recommendation is anything by David Foster Wallace, but ultimately Infinite Jest. it's much more accessible than the size makes you think.

I've had Netherland in my hands several times but always ended up buying something else. Will give it a go one day.

sophie

i keep meaning to read netherland too, quickly, before sam mendes finishes the film of it. my latest other non-recommendation is between the assassinations by aravind adiga. i loved the white tiger but assassinations is pretty rubbish. i'll try boyd again. restless is supposed to be very good as well.

Ian

@Marquis my guess from this thread is that everyone here was being, at the precise point in time you mentioned, easily distractable.

Colette

I'm reading Netherland right now. So far so very good. I failed my driving test on 09/09/09. Not so very good.

dion

@ Marquis - William Boyd is a great writer, I like all his stuff. His writing is versatile, nothing is ever the same. B Beach is early and great - good the second time round. Try Blue Afternoon when you have some time when you are feeling relaxed and mellow. I would love to read them both for the first time again! @ sophie - I can't believe you didn't like Armadillo - I thought Lorimer was great! One of my favourite books.

David

I'm still on Schumacher's 'Small is Beautiful', and was skimming a wall the night before so was sitting at work aching while not doing very much at 9.

becky

I was taking the tube like so many people at 0909090909. But unlike most people who were off to work, I was going to see a wedding reception venue. You can't get married in N4 it seems.

bennyfromtheblok

I was at work making 2 people redundant which really was a bummer - give me the Spanish sun any day!

With regard to the books, I've read both Restless and Netherland and really liked them both. I just re-read I am Legend which I loved as much as the first time I picked it up at 18. I recently got back from a weeks stay at a friends house in Ibiza where I went through Slash's Autobiography (unbelievable how little the man remembers about being in one of the great bands of the late 80's/90's) and A tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil which was really very funny and made you think about the school like perceptions you have of old friends you have not seen for years and whether they are justified given we have all grown up.

ShaunG

@sophie - totally with you on Armadillo. I also picked it up in a holiday cottage and it was the biggest pile of cack I've ever read. Can't remember the details now but I think the ending was even worse than the rest of it.

missisclack

090909. Waking up in a tent, in a field, looking out to sea, in Cornwall, celebrating 16th anniversary with misterclack. Forgot to check when it was 09h09. It was sunny!

Reading matter for Cornwall holiday was Skins, by Gavin Watson. Really more a perusal of amazing photographic content than a read. However the 2007 edition contains a much more in depth Expalnation from Watson and Introduction by Ted Polhemus.

Recommend to anyone interested in (misunderstood) youth sub-cutures and/or any of us old enough to have been a Skinhead.