Some books I've read 71

Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane

Aargh! Quite disappointing, this book, I must confess. It drags for the first 200 pages, and it's not quite clear exactly where it's going. Then there is a plot twist past page 300 that is really too big to swallow, pretty much ruining the rest of the book. But since you've gotten so far, you might as well finish it.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

The first of his Kenzie and Gennaro private detective books, and since it is told in the first person, he's totally doing the Raymond Chandler thing, and quite well, I think. For a while at least. Then the book unfortunately goes Hollywood and loses credibility in the last fifty pages. Bummer.

Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

The second Kenzie and Gennaro book. Hmm... are these the least interesting of Lehane's books? It starts okay, then turns into a serial killer story, with pretty much all the inherent clichés, before ending in ultra violence. I'll read the other books in this series as well, but I really hope they are better.

Attempting Normal by Marc Maron

A collection of funny stories by Maron, some of them familiar if you've been following  his WTF podcast and not skipped his opening monologue. And why would you? You feel like you actually got to know the guy. And the following interview? Sometimes it was interesting, sometimes not. Boomer lives!

Chasing the Light by Oliver Stone

A pretty good autobiography from Oliver Stone, about his struggles as a new director in Hollywood, leading up to the triumph of Platoon. And I'm not a big Stone guy, only having seen 4 or 5 of his films, but it's still interesting. As you likely would have guessed, the guy speaks quite frankly about the people he has worked with. I hope there is a volume 2 on the way. He must have some things to say about the filming of JFK.

Walking With Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne

A well written and poetic memoir by Byrne, about growing up in Ireland, his family life, going through different jobs before discovering the theater, his career in Hollywood and also his alcoholism (of course! Or is that an just a cliché about the Irish?) Written the way memory works, not going in chronological order, but often by association. 

Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano

Tried to read 2666 once and gave up even before page 100. Will absolutely give it a second try, but in the meantime I read this, his short story collection. I assume maybe the stories are based on his life, if not 100% autobiographical. The main character is always a Chilean writer. And the stories are mostly good, with interestingly abrupt endings.

Blake et Mortimer: La menace Atlante by Yves Sente and Peter van Dongen

I really enjoyed the previous book, 8 heures à Berlin, which was an exciting cold war spy story. This one is a lot more science fiction oriented, pointing back to the earlier books by Jacobs, with exposition galore! Nice drawings in classic ligne claire style, but really, go easy on all them words! Anyway, since the Berlin book takes place in 1963, theoretically, The Beatles can now appear in a B & M book.