You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pascalthehoff's reviews
404 reviews
Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray
4.0
This novel is truly one of a kind. It may be a bit hard to get into at first as the first section of the book is quite enigmatic. But as soon as you passed these confusing, yet still fascinating first 100 pages, the whole thing will make more sense to you, trust me.
Personally, I found Thaw's tale to be a bit more enjoyable than Lanark's. Both main characters are pretty eccentric and unique, but Thaw's fate was the one that was less surreal and more relatable. The books slow pacing can be tedious at times, but it greatly serves the purpose of constructing characters that are tragically conflicted with their inner selves.
I sincerely urge you to read past the somewhat intimidating first section of the book. What Alasdair Gray offers in later chapters is quite unlike anything I've ever seen in any novel I've ever read. I don't wanna spoil too much - you shouldn't even skim through the later pages of the book. Just the sheer sight of them would give away too much. But I'm sure you won't be disappointed, should you be a fan of slightly unconventional prose.
Personally, I found Thaw's tale to be a bit more enjoyable than Lanark's. Both main characters are pretty eccentric and unique, but Thaw's fate was the one that was less surreal and more relatable. The books slow pacing can be tedious at times, but it greatly serves the purpose of constructing characters that are tragically conflicted with their inner selves.
I sincerely urge you to read past the somewhat intimidating first section of the book. What Alasdair Gray offers in later chapters is quite unlike anything I've ever seen in any novel I've ever read. I don't wanna spoil too much - you shouldn't even skim through the later pages of the book. Just the sheer sight of them would give away too much. But I'm sure you won't be disappointed, should you be a fan of slightly unconventional prose.
It's So Easy: And Other Lies by Duff McKagan
5.0
Did I even know this guy? It's so easy (pun intended) to write Duff McKagan off as "just the bassist" of Guns N' Roses. Nothing against bassists – quite the contrary in general. But with bands like Guns N' Roses or similar folks from the same time and genre, the bass parts usually aren't anything to write home about, as great as they may be.
I've read Slash's autobiography before, but Duff's was way more interesting and MUCH more pleasant to read, in its style and structure alone. Because Duff is note quite the big "rock star" persona as Slash or Axl, I didn't know a lot about him, despite being into Guns N' Roses for over ten years by now.
I was really surprised by how wise and educated this man seems to be and how astonishingly he turned around his life after leaving Guns N' Roses. This memoir is quite a read and a true pageturner from front to back. It's so well-paced that it probably isn't only for Guns N' Roses fans.
This book might also be really effective for teaching young people about the danger of drug abuse in a non-preachy way. They should make books like this one a mandatory read in schools – it really teaches the reader something about life, not on every single page but on more than I could have counted.
If you read one Guns N' Roses memoir, read this one, not Slash's.
I've read Slash's autobiography before, but Duff's was way more interesting and MUCH more pleasant to read, in its style and structure alone. Because Duff is note quite the big "rock star" persona as Slash or Axl, I didn't know a lot about him, despite being into Guns N' Roses for over ten years by now.
I was really surprised by how wise and educated this man seems to be and how astonishingly he turned around his life after leaving Guns N' Roses. This memoir is quite a read and a true pageturner from front to back. It's so well-paced that it probably isn't only for Guns N' Roses fans.
This book might also be really effective for teaching young people about the danger of drug abuse in a non-preachy way. They should make books like this one a mandatory read in schools – it really teaches the reader something about life, not on every single page but on more than I could have counted.
If you read one Guns N' Roses memoir, read this one, not Slash's.