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What are you reading at the moment?
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marietta honeybun



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:05 pm    Post subject: What are you reading at the moment? Reply with quote

At the moment I am reading 'The Night Watch' by Sarah Waters. Set during and just after the Second World War. Basically a story about four people and how their lives merge through the trials and tribulations of the war years. I'm about half way through and it's been good so far.

Recently read quite a few books by Joanne Harris. 'Chocolat' is my favourite book of hers. Much better and a darker story than the filmed version. 'Five Quarters of the Orange' was also excellent and set during the German occupation of France during WW2.

One I had to give up on and would not recommend was Bill Bryson's 'A Brief History of Almost Everything' - so boring I gave up after chapter 5. Stick to amusing travelogues Bill!! Smile
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm reading Prey by Michael Crichton, seems pretty good so far. Before this I read Never go back by Robert Goddard which I thought was excellent.
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MajorLondonboy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Marietta,
If you are enjoying "The Night Watch" you will enjoy "Boys from the Wood" set in a similiar period in the 1940's but seen through a child's eyes in St Johns Wood, London. Sad, amusing and very enjoyable based on true events in the authors life. Living on his wits there are chapters about Lords, London Zoo, meeting the Andrew Sisters, and various other different incidents in each chapter plus flashbacks to the War. Everyone under 50 should read this book to appreciate some of the things we enjoy today but take for granted!
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marietta honeybun



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Toggy tea slurper wrote:
I'm reading Prey by Michael Crichton, seems pretty good so far. Before this I read Never go back by Robert Goddard which I thought was excellent.
How very strange Toggy. I've just finished Never Go Back and returned it to the library on my recent visit. Excellent indeed. I really like Robert Goddard's books and have read them all now.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I only discovered him realtively recently, I read another one of his a few months ago called Sight unseen. It's very shallow of me but the only reason I bought it was because it had a picture of Avebury stone circle on the cover. Embarassed

I'm on the lookout for more of his stuff now.
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DannyButcher
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just finished Mythao Wood by Robert Holdstock. A good change to the normal Fantasy Genre, and tried to continue by reading the next book in the series... but gave up.

I'm now reading a book by Orsonn Scott Card - Wyrms. Only read a few chapters, but so far it seems ok. I have been a fan of Card for some time, and tend to like all of his books too. The man is as prolific a writer as they come.
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just re-reading the posts on here. Michael Crichton's "Timeline" was good but I didn't like the movie they made from it. As for the other fantasy books - I did go through a phase and Julian May was the favourite for me at the time. Started with "The Many-Coloured Land" and read that series. That seemed to be the end of my enthusiasm for fantasy!! The only other book I really liked which was in a similar vein was Daphne du Maurier's "The House on the Strand" which (sad to say) I've read four times .... Confused I am definitely not into horror stories of any kind any more. Some genre of books you just seem to "grow out of" as you get older.
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DannyButcher
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ohhh.

I'm a sci-fi and fantasy man myself. I got in Moorcock in a big way last year, bought lots of his book, read about 10 of them and then just gave up.

I have four books of Julian May in my to-read pile. But that includes about 6 of Robert Jordans Wheel of time and a whole host of others.

Have to admit though, I haven't heard of Daphne du Maurier's "The House on the Strand."
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Natasha
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've recently started reading 'The Diary of a Nobody' by George and Weedon Grossmith - it's fab.
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Daz_M



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am currently reading The Doc - Hallowed By The Game - The Biography of Football Manager Tommy Docherty
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AndyAndy2
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished 'Need to Know' by Timothy Good - true book about UFO's, etc. If you're into this stuff, this is one mighty read. Hoochy Momma!! Scarey stuff Shocked
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Captain Pugwash



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm reading Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell, the second in the Grail Quest series, cracking stuff!!! Very Happy
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Captain Pugwash wrote:
I'm reading Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell, the second in the Grail Quest series, cracking stuff!!! Very Happy

So - pleased to see you got off the Black Pig and went to the bookshop instead of the tavern Cap'n .... Very Happy Wink
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Arcader



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PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DannyButcher wrote:
I've just finished Mythao Wood by Robert Holdstock. A good change to the normal Fantasy Genre, and tried to continue by reading the next book in the series... but gave up.


You gave up on Lavondyss ???

Much as I love Mythago Wood, I think Lavondyss is even better - truly a wonderful book. It really 'rings true' for me and I've lost count of the number of times I've read it.

Anyhow, to get back on topic - I'm currently re-reading 'The Stone Book Quartet' by the excellent Alan Garner.
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Behind Geddon's Wall



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished "Something Rotten" By Jasper FForde.

Currently reading "The Truth" by Terry Pratchett.

Latest Raymond feist and The Fourth Bear waiting for me under the Christmas Tree
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Cherskiy



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Marching through Georgia" by S M Stirling - alternative-history SF set in WW2 with the Domination of the Draka (descendents of exiled Dutch and British mercenaries sent into exile to South Africa after the American War of Independence) fighting the Germans in the Caucasus Mountains during an alternate WW2. Part 1 of a 3 part series - the Draka make the Nazis look like pussy cats.

To be read pile:

Various military/aviation history hardbacks, about ten imported American SF paperbacks from Baen Books and the latest issue of Private Eye...

Cherskiy
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Toggy tea slurper
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:


You gave up on Lavondyss ???



Now this is interesting because I gave up on this too but thought Mythago wood was excellent. I have not tried the next one in the series, the hollowing I think it is called.
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Arcader



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting that you too gave up on Lavondyss - I must admit that on reading various reviews, some people who loved Mythago Wood couldn't 'get into' Lavondyss at all, yet those who did preferred it to Mythago Wood.

It also seems to be the case that most people found all the subsequent books to be inferior (to some degree). None of them are bad, they're just weaker than Mythago Wood and Lavondyss.

Having said that, there is one exception and that's The Bone Forest - it contains a short story (kind of a short prequel to Mythago Wood) that focuses on George Huxley and his family when Stephen and Christian were still boys; it also features Wyn Jones and goes some way to explaining why Huxley's wife eventually went downhill mentally. Unfortunately it finishes somewhat abruptly and Holstock has never continued it. The book does though contain other (non Mythago) complete short stories by Holdstock. It's certainly a very good read and well worth getting hold of if you loved Mythago Wood, if only for the title story.
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Firefly



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Good, but very long!
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished The Night Watch (Sarah Waters) which was really excellent. I have just started The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffery Deaver.
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Clive55



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Bleak House" is very long- but worth the effort. One of Dicken's best, IMO
I am currently reading "Jew Made In England" by a guy named Blond. I forget his first name. He was a publisher in London during the 50s onwards. I am still early on. He's reached Oxford. Highly amusing.
I am always reading the Anotated Alice. Lewis Carrols Alice books with original illustrations & copious notes & references to the text. All the songs & poems Lewis parodies in the Alice books are quoted in full or close as
A great read
I gave up on the Lord of the Rings two thirds of the way in!
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gfloyd



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just finished reading Berlin: The Downfall, 1945 by Antony Beevor. Its a pretty grim read about the last months before Berlin fell to the Russians but fantastically well written. Probably the best history book I've ever read. He really personalises what could otherwise be just a series of battles and events.
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Cherskiy



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gfloyd wrote:
I just finished reading Berlin: The Downfall, 1945 by Antony Beevor. Its a pretty grim read about the last months before Berlin fell to the Russians but fantastically well written. Probably the best history book I've ever read. He really personalises what could otherwise be just a series of battles and events.


You might want to read his account of Stalingrad, then.... written in a similar style. Another couple of good books about the final days in Berlin are Le Tissier's "With Our Backs to Berlin" and Lucas's "The Last Days of the Reich" - the latter also has chapters on the last futile battles in the Kurland, Prague and Austria during May 1945. Ungvary's "Battle of for Budapest" follows the 'human viewpoint' approach as well, interlaced with day to day accounts of how the 100-day battle for the city progressed.

Cherskiy
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished Jeffery Deaver's book The Devil's Teardrop which was a terrific story and very edge-of-the-seat stuff. Am now reading Archangel by Robert Harris. Excellent. A thriller which is about when Stalin ruled Russia.
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Toggy tea slurper
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors, he is brilliant. He's a really nice guy too, I've got a photograph of him and me. Very Happy
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins.
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Toggy tea slurper wrote:
Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors, he is brilliant. He's a really nice guy too, I've got a photograph of him and me. Very Happy
Lucky you! I've only seen his pic on the book jacket. I've read all his books now. Excellent stories. I tend to find an author I like and then read everything they wrote .... ! Silly really, because now I'm going to have to wait ages for the next book of his.
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marietta honeybun



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Didn't Santa bring anyone any books for Christmas? Confused
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Cherskiy



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

marietta honeybun wrote:
Didn't Santa bring anyone any books for Christmas? Confused


No, my "to be read" pile currently stands at 48 so I thought I should demolish some of those first before picking up any new ones....
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jennyw



Joined: 18 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:29 pm    Post subject: What are you reading Reply with quote

I've just finshed So Me by Graham Norton, which was a little sex-obsessed but very funny at times.

Now I'm reading Peter Kay's Sound of Laughter, but haven' got very far into it yet.

I know there's a new Pat Cornwell book out but I'll wait until it comes out in paperback - it'll spoil my row of books otherwise! i like Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books, and Lee Child's.

I bought a 'coffee table' book from the bloke who brings books around the offices - Castles from the Air - it's full of beautiful photographs. And my Dad bought me a Readers Digest book called Secret of Nature.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm reading Alan Bennett's Untold stories at the moment and it is superb.
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VictorLaslo (U1142367)



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DannyButcher wrote:
I've just finished Mythao Wood by Robert Holdstock. A good change to the normal Fantasy Genre, and tried to continue by reading the next book in the series... but gave up.

I'm now reading a book by Orsonn Scott Card - Wyrms. Only read a few chapters, but so far it seems ok. I have been a fan of Card for some time, and tend to like all of his books too. The man is as prolific a writer as they come.


Danny, I'm not a fan of the fantasy genre but Holdstock is the exception and Mythago Wood is his best work. I think that Lavondyss was the follow up and is not very good at all, it seems to me like a book written under the pressure of a publishing group. The Bone Forrest and Gate of Ivory are better books.

VL
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VictorLaslo (U1142367)



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Natasha wrote:
I've recently started reading 'The Diary of a Nobody' by George and Weedon Grossmith - it's fab.


A great book Natasha, Pooter is an hilarious creation.

I'm reading 'Any Human Heart' by William Boyd, in parts it reminds me of 'Nobody', it's also writen as a diary and Boyd is one of the best writers around.

VL
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VictorLaslo (U1142367)



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arcader wrote:
Interesting that you too gave up on Lavondyss - I must admit that on reading various reviews, some people who loved Mythago Wood couldn't 'get into' Lavondyss at all, yet those who did preferred it to Mythago Wood.

It also seems to be the case that most people found all the subsequent books to be inferior (to some degree). None of them are bad, they're just weaker than Mythago Wood and Lavondyss.

Having said that, there is one exception and that's The Bone Forest - it contains a short story (kind of a short prequel to Mythago Wood) that focuses on George Huxley and his family when Stephen and Christian were still boys; it also features Wyn Jones and goes some way to explaining why Huxley's wife eventually went downhill mentally. Unfortunately it finishes somewhat abruptly and Holstock has never continued it. The book does though contain other (non Mythago) complete short stories by Holdstock. It's certainly a very good read and well worth getting hold of if you loved Mythago Wood, if only for the title story.


Sorry Arcader, hadn't seen this post when I made mt earlier comments about this subject. Seems we're of different opinions, realise now that I don't think I read 'Bone Forest' It was 'The Hollowing' and 'Gate' that I read after Lavondyss.

Also read a few of Holdstocks other books such as 'Eye of the Blind' 'Time winds Blow' and 'Earthwind' all very good but nothing to match Mythago, sadly. Might have another go at lavondyss.

VL
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Arcader



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VictorLaslo (U1142367) wrote:

I think that Lavondyss was the follow up and is not very good at all, it seems to me like a book written under the pressure of a publishing group. The Bone Forrest and Gate of Ivory are better books.


I hate to differ (but I will ........... ) - Holdstock certainly didn't write Lavondyss under any kind of external pressure. In fact he has often stated in interviews that it was his hardest book to write and that he'd never do anything similar again (apparently it gave him a real hard emotional time).

I know I've said it before but I think Lavondyss is absolutely superb, but it's one of those books which you'll either love or loathe. You really have to 'get it' and I'm glad to say that I did. Smile No problem if you didn't, it's just a shame that you can't enjoy it the way that I and many others have (does that sound pretentious? If so it's not meant to, but you know how it is if you really love something, you want others to love it too).
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Behind Geddon's Wall



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Currently indulging my need for humour by reading 'The Big over easy' by Jasper Fforde
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am reading "3 men in a Boat" Jerome K Jerome...v funny....!
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iwarburton



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me it's the 1991-2001 volume of Tony Benn's diaries--utterly fascinating.

The new Wogan autobiography is in the pending pile.

Ian.
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Natasha
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If anybody fancies a really boring read <daft thing to say Very Happy > try Joanna Lumley's, sort of autobiography, 'No Room For Secrets' Confused
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Am still reading the Tony Benn Diaries and have reached early 2000--my return to work after the break has reduced my reading time significantly!

Two fascinations:

1. His affection and respect for John Major, Ted Heath and, to a lesser extent, Margaret Thatcher comes over strongly, despite their political differences.

2. When I first started taking an interest in politics in the 70s, Tony Benn was a hate figure. Now he seems to have turned into a national institution.

Well worth a read.

Ian.
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