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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 10:50:17 GMT
That’s got your attention.
I mentioned Left Foot Forward in another thread, I thought of the utility, with Saturnalia approaching, of a thread to share general football book titles equally as good.
I tend to buy second hand ones dirt cheap with a bit of character about them, but they are perfectly readable.
If you are both footy fanatic and fan of books, I can recommend 3
Only A Game? - Dunphy
The Glory Game - Hunter Davies
Left Foot Forward - Garry Nelson
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Swedish Gas
Bob Lee
BRFC in exile, IK Sirius Fotboll som andra lag, heja Sirius!
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Post by Swedish Gas on Nov 9, 2020 11:42:36 GMT
Can I add
The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro,
and
Dynamo; Defending the honour of Kiev ? Yes, I can.
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warehamgas
Predictions League
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Post by warehamgas on Nov 9, 2020 12:41:41 GMT
The Dunphy book is still the best one imo. Probably one of the first books of it’s type and still the best. All about the 73/74 season which is of course a great season. Another one that is really good is Robin Friday: the Best Footballer You Never Knew, a biography of ex Reading, Cardiff player Robin Friday. A bit disturbing but a seriously good read and very thought-provoking. UTG!
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kentgas
Archie Stephens
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Post by kentgas on Nov 9, 2020 12:51:08 GMT
Would add:
A Season with Verona - Tim Parks
The Bromley Boys - Dave Roberts
My Father and other Worrking Class Heroes - Gary Imlach
Saturday 3pm - Daniel Gray. NB Chapter 33 'Singing' which is in praise of the Rovers supporters singing Goodnight Irene at Gateshead in the Conference season.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Nov 9, 2020 12:57:54 GMT
I'd recommend a subscription to the Blizzard.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 14:10:51 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football.
There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football.
Lord help us...
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basel
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Post by basel on Nov 9, 2020 14:25:05 GMT
Pointless by Jeff Connor.
He reports on a season with East Stirlingshire.
I loved it.
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warehamgas
Predictions League
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Post by warehamgas on Nov 9, 2020 14:57:17 GMT
Pointless by Jeff Connor. He reports on a season with East Stirlingshire. I loved it. Yes, it was good. It made Rovers look like Man U in comparison and that’s never an easy thing to do!😉 UTG!
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warehamgas
Predictions League
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Post by warehamgas on Nov 9, 2020 15:18:17 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football. There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football. Lord help us... Yes, you’re right about a whole world of interesting topics and some football books, even most are dull. But those are usually the ghost written autobiographical books about footballers and those take dullness to a new level. But there are some, probably very few where, although perhaps about football, are about all the things you put in your 2nd paragraph but have a football context. Usually written by good authors. The very best of them are about success, ultimate failure and the reasons for it, they are about perseverance in the face of long odds, they are about overcoming big obstacles, they are about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, they can be about financial success and financial failures and the reasons for that. They can be about tragedy or unexpected success as well. So whilst I’d agree with some of what you’ve said there are a few gems out there which can stay with you for some time if you can find them. BTW, if you are looking for a good book about those things in your 2nd paragraph I’d recommend “Dan Gretton: I, You, We, Them” about those very big questions that you identified. It may not be from the point of view that you would wholly support but it’s a very thought provoking but easy to read book. It’s near to a 1000 pages and took me over a month so needs a bit of perseverance and time (obviously). (You may wish to ignore this but I read it last Jan/Feb and whilst I disagreed with some aspects of it, it challenged some of my previous thoughts and feelings and at the end was very glad I read it 😉) UTG!
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 16:23:13 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football. There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football. Lord help us... Yes, you’re right about a whole world of interesting topics and some football books, even most are dull. But those are usually the ghost written autobiographical books about footballers and those take dullness to a new level. But there are some, probably very few where, although perhaps about football, are about all the things you put in your 2nd paragraph but have a football context. Usually written by good authors. The very best of them are about success, ultimate failure and the reasons for it, they are about perseverance in the face of long odds, they are about overcoming big obstacles, they are about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, they can be about financial success and financial failures and the reasons for that. They can be about tragedy or unexpected success as well. So whilst I’d agree with some of what you’ve said there are a few gems out there which can stay with you for some time if you can find them. BTW, if you are looking for a good book about those things in your 2nd paragraph I’d recommend “Dan Gretton: I, You, We, Them” about those very big questions that you identified. It may not be from the point of view that you would wholly support but it’s a very thought provoking but easy to read book. It’s near to a 1000 pages and took me over a month so needs a bit of perseverance and time (obviously). (You may wish to ignore this but I read it last Jan/Feb and whilst I disagreed with some aspects of it, it challenged some of my previous thoughts and feelings and at the end was very glad I read it 😉) UTG! many of these football books, based on keeping a diary, are also eye witness accounts of history. And as well the insights into the life of footballers and managers can bring comedy. For example, I think it’s in a Garry Nelson book, he points out just how much time footballers spend on the road, often in traffic jams, and one occasion in a jam, two young ladies in the car next door looked up and saw it was a coach of bored looking young men, and proceeded to take their tops off, and the rush to that side of the coach lifted the wheels and it nearly turned over. 😛 However, in the spirit of togetherness, the thread is Stocking Fillers for Saturnalia, if anyone would like to suggest any Kerouac, Camus, or Sartre for Groiny, why not? I understand Kierkegaard is very much in fashion.
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 16:49:49 GMT
Yes, you’re right about a whole world of interesting topics and some football books, even most are dull. But those are usually the ghost written autobiographical books about footballers and those take dullness to a new level. But there are some, probably very few where, although perhaps about football, are about all the things you put in your 2nd paragraph but have a football context. Usually written by good authors. The very best of them are about success, ultimate failure and the reasons for it, they are about perseverance in the face of long odds, they are about overcoming big obstacles, they are about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, they can be about financial success and financial failures and the reasons for that. They can be about tragedy or unexpected success as well. So whilst I’d agree with some of what you’ve said there are a few gems out there which can stay with you for some time if you can find them. BTW, if you are looking for a good book about those things in your 2nd paragraph I’d recommend “Dan Gretton: I, You, We, Them” about those very big questions that you identified. It may not be from the point of view that you would wholly support but it’s a very thought provoking but easy to read book. It’s near to a 1000 pages and took me over a month so needs a bit of perseverance and time (obviously). (You may wish to ignore this but I read it last Jan/Feb and whilst I disagreed with some aspects of it, it challenged some of my previous thoughts and feelings and at the end was very glad I read it 😉) UTG! many of these football books, based on keeping a diary, are also eye witness accounts of history. And as well the insights into the life of footballers and managers can bring comedy. For example, I think it’s in a Garry Nelson book, he points out just how much time footballers spend on the road, often in traffic jams, and particular occasion in a jam, two young ladies in the car next door looked up and saw it was a coach of bored looking young men, and proceeded to take their tops off, and the rush to that side of the coach lifted the wheels and it nearly turned over. 😛 However, in the spirit of togetherness, the thread is Stocking Fillers for Saturnalia, if anyone would like to suggest any Kerouac, Camus, or Sartre for Groiny, why not? I understand Kierkegaard is very much in fashion. To divert from from football to cricket, Runs in the Memory: County Cricket in the 1950s by Stephen Chalke is full of characters and lifestyle from a 50’s golden age many of us never lived, so understandably curious about. For a general social history of the same era in Britain, David Kynaston’s books starting in 1945 and to 1979 is equally readable. For a readable catch all book of aesthetics and psychology, the history of philosophy, science and literature - the Art of Memory, Frances Yates. It’s on the premise we don’t have to remember, we can look it up, but historically, often without even access to books, architecture, crafts, the sciences relied on memory as an art form, so through this premise opens a different window on history.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 19:17:37 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football. There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football. Lord help us... Yes, you’re right about a whole world of interesting topics and some football books, even most are dull. But those are usually the ghost written autobiographical books about footballers and those take dullness to a new level. But there are some, probably very few where, although perhaps about football, are about all the things you put in your 2nd paragraph but have a football context. Usually written by good authors. The very best of them are about success, ultimate failure and the reasons for it, they are about perseverance in the face of long odds, they are about overcoming big obstacles, they are about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, they can be about financial success and financial failures and the reasons for that. They can be about tragedy or unexpected success as well. So whilst I’d agree with some of what you’ve said there are a few gems out there which can stay with you for some time if you can find them. BTW, if you are looking for a good book about those things in your 2nd paragraph I’d recommend “Dan Gretton: I, You, We, Them” about those very big questions that you identified. It may not be from the point of view that you would wholly support but it’s a very thought provoking but easy to read book. It’s near to a 1000 pages and took me over a month so needs a bit of perseverance and time (obviously). (You may wish to ignore this but I read it last Jan/Feb and whilst I disagreed with some aspects of it, it challenged some of my previous thoughts and feelings and at the end was very glad I read it 😉) UTG! And I would recommend, as some light reading, something, just as an example, by Michio Kaku. Trying to grasp how a universe is created from nothing is far more interesting to me than a made up story about a couple of girls in a car exposing their breasts.
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warehamgas
Predictions League
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Posts: 3,421
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Post by warehamgas on Nov 9, 2020 20:07:33 GMT
Eh? You lost me there BG. UTG!
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 20:10:02 GMT
Yes, you’re right about a whole world of interesting topics and some football books, even most are dull. But those are usually the ghost written autobiographical books about footballers and those take dullness to a new level. But there are some, probably very few where, although perhaps about football, are about all the things you put in your 2nd paragraph but have a football context. Usually written by good authors. The very best of them are about success, ultimate failure and the reasons for it, they are about perseverance in the face of long odds, they are about overcoming big obstacles, they are about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, they can be about financial success and financial failures and the reasons for that. They can be about tragedy or unexpected success as well. So whilst I’d agree with some of what you’ve said there are a few gems out there which can stay with you for some time if you can find them. BTW, if you are looking for a good book about those things in your 2nd paragraph I’d recommend “Dan Gretton: I, You, We, Them” about those very big questions that you identified. It may not be from the point of view that you would wholly support but it’s a very thought provoking but easy to read book. It’s near to a 1000 pages and took me over a month so needs a bit of perseverance and time (obviously). (You may wish to ignore this but I read it last Jan/Feb and whilst I disagreed with some aspects of it, it challenged some of my previous thoughts and feelings and at the end was very glad I read it 😉) UTG! And I would recommend, as some light reading, something, just as an example, by Michio Kaku. Trying to grasp how a universe is created from nothing is far more interesting to me than a made up story about a couple of girls in a car exposing their breasts. “girls in a car exposing their breasts” that’s kerouac on the road out your stocking then 😆. And to think we started the day on the same page for once. I have a couple of problems with Astro and Quantum physics books, firstly the stuff by people like Hawking is more akin to creative writing, can be fascinating read but not peer accepted science, Lightmans accidental is fine example of how bad that category can be - whilst real science is tricky for novice to follow in many books, and those books date so quickly, Cox and Forshaws can happen will happen probably best of those at the moment. At a glance it looks like Kaku may be in the former Hawking/Lightman category? Thanks for the tip though. Having said that, I was dusting round a while back, skimmed through Sagan’s Cosmos and there was a lot there that’s aged well; but then In that project Sagan was just introducing to the building blocks of various disciplines, the experiment where they created life was quite interesting, not really pushing the Astro starship all the way out there, so probably good to give inquisitive 7yr old to read.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 20:39:59 GMT
And I would recommend, as some light reading, something, just as an example, by Michio Kaku. Trying to grasp how a universe is created from nothing is far more interesting to me than a made up story about a couple of girls in a car exposing their breasts. “girls in a car exposing their breasts” that’s kerouac on the road out your stocking then 😆. And to think we started the day on the same page for once. I have a couple of problems with Astro and Quantum physics books, firstly the stuff by people like Hawking is more akin to creative writing, can be fascinating read but not peer accepted science, Lightmans accidental is fine example of how bad that category can be - whilst real science is tricky for novice to follow in many books, and those books date so quickly, Cox and Forshaws can happen will happen probably best of those at the moment. At a glance it looks like Kaku may be in the former Hawking/Lightman category? Thanks for the tip though. Having said that, I was dusting round a while back, skimmed through Sagan’s Cosmos and there was a lot there that’s aged well; but then In that project Sagan was just introducing to the building blocks of various disciplines, the experiment where they created life was quite interesting, not really pushing the Astro starship all the way out there, so probably good to give inquisitive 7yr old to read. This will worry you even more, I like Sagan, a lot. Very much 'of his time' and the presentation doesn't age at all well, but the way in which things are kept at a level where they can be understood without having to stop constantly and research what to the presenter is just part of his daily dialogue is excellent. I would like to cite Lawrence Krauss also, and for his academic work I will, but until the suggestions of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with I'll stop short of recommending that anybody go out of their way to buy anything by him. If you want a laugh, don't mind watching him whilst those accusations still stand, and have an hour free, find his debate with William Lane Craig. It's an absolute bloodbath, that's how you prepare for and deliver your argument in a debate. Ref Kerauoc. Anybody who claims to be a Catholic has a lot to answer for. And before people get their knickers in a twist, I didn't say that Catholics are, by default, bad people, it's the institution that's rotten to the core.
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Post by The Concept on Nov 9, 2020 21:08:06 GMT
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 21:25:21 GMT
Look what you can accomplish when you apply yourself, foolly. A-
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Nov 9, 2020 21:41:40 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football. There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football. Lord help us... Until quite recently I'd have largely agreed with that. But I'd argue that there has been something of a revolution in football writing in the last decade which has changed my mind.
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 21:50:30 GMT
“girls in a car exposing their breasts” that’s kerouac on the road out your stocking then 😆. And to think we started the day on the same page for once. I have a couple of problems with Astro and Quantum physics books, firstly the stuff by people like Hawking is more akin to creative writing, can be fascinating read but not peer accepted science, Lightmans accidental is fine example of how bad that category can be - whilst real science is tricky for novice to follow in many books, and those books date so quickly, Cox and Forshaws can happen will happen probably best of those at the moment. At a glance it looks like Kaku may be in the former Hawking/Lightman category? Thanks for the tip though. Having said that, I was dusting round a while back, skimmed through Sagan’s Cosmos and there was a lot there that’s aged well; but then In that project Sagan was just introducing to the building blocks of various disciplines, the experiment where they created life was quite interesting, not really pushing the Astro starship all the way out there, so probably good to give inquisitive 7yr old to read. This will worry you even more, I like Sagan, a lot. Very much 'of his time' and the presentation doesn't age at all well, but the way in which things are kept at a level where they can be understood without having to stop constantly and research what to the presenter is just part of his daily dialogue is excellent. I would like to cite Lawrence Krauss also, and for his academic work I will, but until the suggestions of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with I'll stop short of recommending that anybody go out of their way to buy anything by him. If you want a laugh, don't mind watching him whilst those accusations still stand, and have an hour free, find his debate with William Lane Craig. It's an absolute bloodbath, that's how you prepare for and deliver your argument in a debate. Ref Kerauoc. Anybody who claims to be a Catholic has a lot to answer for. And before people get their knickers in a twist, I didn't say that Catholics are, by default, bad people, it's the institution that's rotten to the core. Kerauoc pretty much Buddhist at the end, I think. I’ll accept science and presentation can date. The Corduroy jacket may come back into fashion if global warming gives us dry springs and autumns to match California’s. As a fine illustration what I mean as difference between (sometimes heavy) real science and the creative stuff bordering fiction (easier to read), all clearer when the same person jumps between both examples. Richard Feynman. Amazing scientist, yet all the wives who divorced him said trying to have conversation with him at breakfast, his heads somewhere else, calculating calculation, like Organ Morgan playing his favourite Bach. But His Feynman caltech lectures on physics in the early 60s are timeless faultless introduction to building up the basics to thinking in the world of physics. Making the clever stuff easier to learn. And not just in my opinion. I used to keep a copy in the closet, never waste five minute sit down when you can multitask. However when he attempts to blend the science with social commentary in The Meaning of It All, discusses everything from the church and education to war, from flying saucers to faith healing, it’s nothing short of embarrassing. Rather than inspire any lead from it, he comes across as a blundering third way Blairite (Blair/Bush war in the Middle East for example has still arguably killed more people than COVID-19). Sure there are questions of ethics in all science, Feynman himself worked on the bomb. And when science contradicted church orthodoxy not all the history is good. But it may be the scientists themselves are not best to turn to untangle the ethical questions, more like they are the playful kittens making a mess, others need to do the tidying up. What manual do you suggest for tidying up the ethical mess science brings us? Which writer is master/mistress of this field?
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Nov 9, 2020 21:55:01 GMT
Can't think of many things duller than books about football. There's a whole world out there of interesting topics, great historical figures to learn about, great thinkers and orators to listen to, difficult philosophical questions to ponder and watch debates about, languages to learn so that you can share and try to understand different cultures, or you can read a book about football. Lord help us... Until quite recently I'd have largely agreed with that. But I'd argue that there has been something of a revolution in football writing in the last decade which has changed my mind. the Times football pullout every Monday has some fine analysis and football writing I think, from cover to cover. and whilst on the question of analysis, what do you make of the Prem? What is it about Covid that seams to have brought such a levelling? Someone can look so good one week, and thrashed the next. Is it happening in the other divisions? firstly it looks like the bigger clubs home advantage from their support may have proved a bigger advantage in the past than we realised? That doesn’t explain though what happened to Liverpool at Villa, or that no one can string results together without blips. Maybe Covid has equalised the fitness and coaching of the teams in some way?
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