He Died with a Felafel in His Hand

Discussion in 'Books' started by Gyro Gearloose, Jul 19, 2009.

  1. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Hi,

    finally I got a copy of the above book and I laughed my ass off while reading it. If you ever plan to share a flat or if you already live in a shared flat read this book. I'll invest some bucks into The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco from the same author ;).

    Regards
    Gyro
     
  2. flurryfury

    flurryfury Guest

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    actually, this does seem pretty neat
     
  3. Face Eater

    Face Eater Banned

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    Are you Aussie gyro?

    It's one of my favourite books. John Birmingham's style reminds me of Irvine Welsh, but far easier to read and much less intellectual.
     
  4. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Hi Face Eater,

    nop, German. But there is no reason not to like our antipodian friends. Often they have a very special attitude and they are funny.I like that.

    Sorry, don't know about Welsh. Is that a recommendation? Birmingham is really easy to read. Even for a non native speaker like me.

    Regards
    Gyro
     
  5. Face Eater

    Face Eater Banned

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    I'm glad that He Died with a Felafel in his hand is getting an audience overseas.

    Irvine Welsh novels are difficult to read because they're written in broad Scottish. I'm not sure how much of a bearing your English skills will have on your ability to read one of his books because a non-scottish person would obviously struggle as well. He has a similar sense of humour to John Birmingham, although a lot darker.

    Have you seen Trainspotting? That is one of Welsh's novels.
     
  6. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Hi Face Eater,

    well, I can't remember who had recommended the book to me. Perhaps I read about it in a newsgroup. It's a pity that it's out of print.

    I'll put it on my books to read list. I use English usually in a technical domain and with other non native speakers. That limited the amount of terms and phrases I use somewhat. And I'm a very rough speaker ;). Anyways, I can handle Kerouac, Huxley and others. At the moment I'm into Rory McLean and his travel books. If you like this genre you might have a look into Magic Bus.

    Welsh' Scottish phrase might be hard to decode. I can remember reading some Scottish short stories from around 1920. They came with a translation table into plain English ;).

    Ah, I remember. Choose life, choose a fucking big tv ;).

    Regards
    Gyro
     
  7. Face Eater

    Face Eater Banned

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    It's modern Scottish and most if it is just English words spelled differently. Its easy to figure out the few foreign words once you see how they're used. For example 'I dinnae ken what I was doin there.' obviously means 'I didn't know....'. You get used to it after about 50 pages.


    Exactly! The book is way better though. Let me know what you think of 'Tasmanian Babes Fiasco' when you read it. I'm still yet to buy a copy myself.
     
  8. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Face Eater,

    hey, sounds like me after five beers ;).

    Will do. I've just ordered the second last copy at that internet bookstore.

    Regards
    Gyro
     
  9. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Hi there,

    And so it goes on and on. rotfl. Further questions on what I think about the book ;)?

    Regards
    Gyro
     
  10. Face Eater

    Face Eater Banned

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    ha ha! I still haven't read it. I can't wait.

    Is it nearly as good as the first?
     
  11. Gyro Gearloose

    Gyro Gearloose Senior Member

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    Hi,

    well, I've read about 80 per cent of the book so far and some jokes in it are not astonishingly novel. But I have no regrets. The few bucks are well spent ;). According to the preface the Australian and the European (British?) edition are different in some aspects.

    Regards
    Gyro
     

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