• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

The Burning Blue by James Holland . 9/10
Story of university student who flew with part time squadron pre war and then got signed up into RAF . Certainly very unglamorous and dark side of daily life facing death several times a day for month after month.
 
Just finishedThe Way Back .Remarque's excellent sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front.Struck by the contrast between this,written by an enlisted man and the classics of UK WW1 literature writen by Graves ,Sasssoon etc ie Officers.Seems llike you have to go to song eg Oh what a Lovely War to find out what the British enlisted men thought of the War.
 
Finished Jonathan Coe's Bournville:A Novel on Seven occasions yesterday.It's a very funny and moving account of post WW2 England.I was sorry to learn that JC's own mother (who features as a central character in the story) died during lockdown.
 
Lionel Shriver's Abominations.Frankly I'm rather conflicted about LS.I've thoroughly enjoyed the 3 novels of hers which I've read.Not her appearences on the box in the last few years on Newsnight,QT etc.These pieces from the Spectator ,Harper's etc.are full of the same right wing guff ,which isn't evident in her novels.
 
At the moment am reading a Christmas present book titled "British Footballs Greatest Grounds" It's a really good read and covers 100 grounds from lowly non league up to Premier League.
 
John McManus's Inside Qatar:Hidden Stories from one of the Richest Nations on Earth.First off a big thank you to Blues Exile for mentioning this.

Second ,I'm glad I read it after the WC and not before.

Third, I take my hat off (metaphorically speaking), to anyone who managed to boycott the TV coverage of the WC.I couldn't.

Spome of the stories about the treatment of migrant workers mentioned here are genuinely harrowing.

Quite obviously the WC should never have been held in Qatar.
 
Last edited:
I recently finished this book about football in the old Soviet bloc and the former Yugoslavia. I suspect it won't be of universal interest but Jonathan Wilson has compiled a well-researched personal commentary on the foibles and corrupt practices of football in these nation states from last century and into the early years of this one. It makes Sepp Blatter and his former associates seem like paragons of virtue by comparison. Nothing about Albania, sadly, but the chapter on its near neighbours in the former Yugoslavia with its ethnic and political tensions was particularly interesting.
 

Attachments

  • behind the curtain.png
    behind the curtain.png
    278.8 KB · Views: 2
I recently finished reading Phil Burdett's third book of poetry, 'Something New Has Happened', and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are bittersweet reminders of life's uncertainties ('Song Of The Leg') with darkly humorous poems too ('The Amputee Motorclub'), some amusing thoughts on his craft ('How To Write Awful Poetry') and even a joyous lament ('Please Help Him, He's Happy') amongst the ninety-six engaging poems therein.

With thanks to 'Tangled Up In Blue' for sending me this for last Christmas.
 

Attachments

  • PB 96 poems.jpg
    PB 96 poems.jpg
    168.2 KB · Views: 2
Just finished Paul Theroux'x The Bad Angel Brothers.Haven't read any of his stuff for a while.He's really a master story teller.Probably his best novel since The Mosquito Coast.Hope if it gets fimed ,which it should,it's a lot better than TMC.
 
Back
Top