More Books from my Recently Read List
A Dreamer’s Tales by Lord Dunsany
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This collection of tales by Lord Dunsany is romantic, fantastical and somewhat macabre, each having a fitful dreaming quality to them. The reader eavesdrops on conversations between souls and bodies at the point of death and travels to some very strangely named places. This was my first taste of the author’s work and has compelled me to explore further.
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A brutally visceral and mind-bending psychotic trip that nevertheless sounds a triumphant note for the common man or woman … or, dare I say, the 99%
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a thorough book on the clarinet from a world class player and expert on the instrument. Brymer is excellent on the history of the clarinet and also very much focused on the technical side of note production. He very quickly encourages the reader/player to begin thinking acoustically about their instrument in terms of a tube of vibrating air and to move away from a mere inputs (covering holes and blowing) and outputs (notes) approach. In order to progress to mastery of the clarinet the very quirks and compromises that are inherent in its design must be mitigated throughout the registers. It covers every aspect of clarinet playing and technique from a specifically classical orchestral and soloist point of view (i.e. don’t expect much insight on jazz or other styles of playing).
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I want so badly to understand the appeal of this “classic” work. I will return to it repeatedly in the hope that on some reading in the future it will break open for me and I’ll come to love it as so many do. Until now, however, I have found that its 36 pages of overblown metaphysicality leaves me cold and unstirred, with the notable exception of the closing lines of “Little Gidding”, which really do blow me away.
Collected Poems, 1978 1999 by Craig Raine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I first encountered Craig Raine’s poetry it was like a homecoming, one of the most exciting moments in my literary youth. Here was someone who seemed to write about the same world that I saw through my eyes – the most commonplace things having a breathless mystery about them. I have since discovered that his approach spawned an entire school of “Martian Poetry” that takes his “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” as its point of departure into a tour of the most familiar things seen through alien eyes: “There are tiddlywinks / of light in the summer woods. /Play with them. The ironing-board / has permanent lumbago. Pity it.” In “Scrap”, “The [petrol] pump held a gun to its head an empty theatrical gesture”. “Enquiry into Two Inches of Ivory”, “A Cemetery in Co.Durham” and “The Behaviour of Dogs” are the poems that stand out the most for me from this collection and are always with me.
The Shangri-La Diet: The No Hunger Eat Anything Weight-Loss Plan by Seth Roberts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Obviously there has been a buzz about this book on the back of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Like other reviewers I found it a very quick read and interesting enough to read in one sitting. Yes, the basics could fit on three pages but the “padding” is lightly engaging although repetitive at times. I did skim the chapter on the problems of global obesity because that’s not something I need convincing about. Like other reviewers I was impressed with Seth’s audacious self-experimentation and willingness to connect concepts in unorthodox ways.
So what about the “diet”? The concept at the core has this intuitive ring about it and resonates with some of the other bits and bobs that have crossed my radar recently, such as Michael Dowd‘s stuff on evolutionary psychology. The author is careful to include some examples of negative feedback he has had on the “diet” not working for some people. If it works for me, it will be astounding, and it could be the answer I’m looking for – but the proof will be in the eating …
It costs nothing to try and seems harmless so I’ll be giving it a go and reporting back.
Filed under: Books Tagged: Books, Reading
