Ersatz TLS discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Weekly TLS
>
What Are We Reading? 2 Nov 2020
Mod
It's going to be a long (week-long) night.
Lljones wrote: "It's going to be a long (week-long) night." Hope you have some good whisk(e)y to either celebrate, drown your sorrow, or dampen the anxiety about not knowing just yet.
🙏
For you: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...
Lljones wrote: "Gladarvor wrote: "I stayed up 4 years ago to see the results of the early polls and thus had a blissful s..."It's going to be a long (week-long) night."
It's just about lunchtime here, though I must say the suspense isn't conducive to good digestion. No doubt about it, the Australian election system is world's best practice. Hang in there...
Winston “Tuffy” Foshay, in Paul Beatty’s novel Tuff, is an enormous young man living in Harlem, New York City, getting by as the muscle for petty criminals in his local area. The novel was published in 2000, so it probably arrived at the tail-end of the crack boom. Poverty, neglect and social inequality are ever-present, but the novel is written with such humour and elegance that the injustice never feels like a laboured commentary. For example, Tuff has one of the best literary signs I’ve ever seen, which makes a strong case for attentive reading: “GIRLS! GIRLS GIRLS! (with penises) All sex acts non-refundable”. The novel also has the distinction of having more “N words” than any other text I’ve read, so move on over Huck Finn.I think I’m going to read Winesburg, Ohio next.
Mod
I stayed up 4 years ago to see the results of the early polls and thus had a blissful s..."
4 years ago I was in Seville - we went back to the flat we were staying in and tried unsuccessfully to find an English-language channel on the TV. However, when shots of a grinning Trump filled the screen, closely followed by a beaming Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen, the language barrier no longer mattered: hopes were dashed.
A couple of days later, I bought a newspaper to read while waiting for my plane home and learnt that Leonard Cohen had died. Of course, nowhere near the same magnitude of importance, but it made me sad.
Keeping everything crossed for our American friends - and the rest of us.
You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe is looking like a necessary re-read. Viva Italia
Mod
Can I come live with you?
Looks grim in the USA....dire wake up call at 7amTHE REFUGE(Mackenzie) is a brilliant non mystery murder novel, beautifully poised as a sort of tense, dark confession, slow pace with real narrative skill, descriptions of maritime Sydney and human nature...
ARAB TRAVELLERS IN THE NORTH...some truly fascinating fragments of the 8-12th century in what is now central Russia and China
THE TUNNEL (Yeshoshua), a rather charming portrait of an 70 something man battling dementia, spare prose and observations, a rare contemporary read for me, that i am enjoying
Things are obviously gonna get ugly in the USA. I'm trying to spend as much time as possible not following the news, taking refuge in the 12th century with Matthew Kneale's Pilgrims. Things were bad then, but at least it's been over for 8-900 years,
Lljones wrote: "Paul wrote: "You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe is looking like a necessary re-read. Viva Italia"Can I come live with you?"
Of course! You might have to fight it out with Sean for the bedroom. Italian apartments are miniscule and poorly constructed
Justine wrote: "Things are obviously gonna get ugly in the USA. I'm trying to spend as much time as possible not following the news, taking refuge in the 12th century with Matthew Kneale's Pilgrims. Things were ba..."It's actually the 13th century, but you've picked the perfect book to distract yourself with.
It's actually the 13th century....I found that very tricky when I lived in the UK. They would say 'the 1800s', in Germany that would be 'the 19th century'. Not sure about the US or AUS.
Even worse was the 'half past the hour'. In Germany half past four is 'half five', in North England it is 'half four'.
Magrat wrote: "It's actually the 13th century.."Ha ha - and me the one who was going to do a PhD in Medieval Studies! Thanks for the correction.
Anyway, as well as the 13th century, I'm visiting the 19th with Barchester Towers. Better than guzzling wine.
Georg wrote: "The Offing by Benjamin Myers I’ll start with a warning: what follows is not an eulogy. I am one of a small minority who wasn’t bowled over by this book, unlike the 85% or so who gave it 4 and 5 s..."
I have it waiting for me at the library. I read all of your post and now may just turn it back in as I have a couple of other books also waiting.
There is nothing like an 'eye-roller, that can't be' to put me off an author. And I hold a grudge. In a long ago mystery the author (now-deceased) included a hurricane in North Carolina over Christmas and that was that for me as that is so easy to check.
An
Georg wrote: "It's actually the 13th century....I found that very tricky when I lived in the UK. They would say 'the 1800s', in Germany that would be 'the 19th century'. Not sure about the US or AUS.
Even wor..."
In the UK we say both the 19th century and the 1800s.
Some more thoughts on THE REFUGE:Mackenzie was a heralded aussie author,a complex character, bright in school but never really managed to hold down a job, lived in penury for long stages of his life. he was apparently attractive to women, a tall blonde man, who had little to no interest in traditional australian past-times such as sport, he disdained the sports fields
In THE REFUGE, his narrator,Lloyd Fitzherbert is not autobiographical, "Fitz" is a crime reporter for the Sydney Gazette, the opening pages describe the deep shaking of the printing presses in the belly of the Gazette HQ. The style of the narration is literary and also quite clear and well structured(elements of Greene seem to be within the mix)
The first 100 pages contain brooding sections on the crime and the wintry streets of Sydney,the harbour, Kings Cross and the world of crime reporting, the tone then shifts a little, back to less brooding times and the arrival of a female jewish refugee, with communist links(she left the party though).
Munich surfaces in a section from 1938, an aussie friend remarks that "the bastard Chamberlain has dashed our chances of war". Fitz comments that in fact he may have enabled it, within a years time
I am really enjoying this 430 page confession-thriller from 1954, well done to Text Classics for publishing it
I've just finished Rob Cowen's 'Common Ground'. Part novel, part nature diary Common Ground is big on the minutiae of our natural world.It follows nature in the edge lands of towns. Life amoung the scrap heaps of brush and gorse and wastelands. As the author explores areas close to his home he brings a different story to each chapter - The final days of an old fox fighting for survival; The minute by minute story of a deer being hunted; What is the tiny life of a mayfly? The non stop flight of the swift; On and on. He brings wonder and magic to the pages.
Running parallel to this journey through scrubland is his wife's pregnancy bringing the promise of new life of his own.
The mayflies -
'elavated above their previous aqueous universe, poised on the alder leaves, cushions of wood ear mushroom and pole like grass stems, the mayflies took little over an hour to achieve their ultimate incarnation to molt into the sexually mature 'spinner', the imago. They appear more clearly defined and sharper,as though an aeronautical engineer has stepped in to improve their designs, readying them for their last triumphant function.'
The swifts -
'Over time and given persistently grim summers, it's feasible that swifts could cease to exist in our skies. We're only too aware nowadays that species will vanish, but the thought of losing swifts terrifies me. 'They've made it again,' wrote Ted Hughes, 'which means the globe's still working.' How perfect that is. Nothing speaks of this planet's interconnectedness like the swift's migration; nothing screams so loudly of it's fragility either.'
The pregnancy reaches full term and there are complications at the birth -
'Then, at some point while I'm distracted and staring, a different animal steals into the room....And now I see it and feel it, that wild animal that crept into the corner while my guard was down. I sense it's size and shape; nature's other side, the chaotic antithesis of the hypnobirthing affirmations; this viscious twin of glorious creation.'
The book highlights the ebb and flow of life, the dark and the light side. And that change is an inevitable part of life too.
Ducks,Newburyport, Lucy Ellman.First of all well done Sam and Galley Beggar for not rejecting this book.
A woman whilst doing some baking is thinking about life, love, the loss of her mother and someone called Abby, (not sure if she was a family member or a friend+ as I am not far into it yet)
The style is stream of conciousness, the cover makes reference to Ulysses , and while it is influenced by Molly Bloom,I don't think even Joyce could have kept it up for a thousand + pages. It only contains eight full stops but the narrative is punctuated by the phrase "The fact that". It reminds me of the way that Emily Dickinson used a dash to punctuate.
I found the style dizzying at first but have got into the flow. A story does emerge out of the stream of random thoughts,alliterative lists and snatches of songs.The narrator used to teach at a college but was seriously ill and has had a course of chemo and is now baking to supply local restuarants and outlets to supplement the families income, as medical bills have left her and Leo - her second husband flat broke - so much so that they cannot afford repairs to the house and Leo has no time to do them. She has four children and seems quite overwhelmed with domesticity and the older children don't help at all.Stacey the teenage daughter is, well,a teenager and clashes with her constantly. The book does not stay on that domestic level, it is also a reflection on modern America. She has a dig here and there at Trump.
"The fact that Trump wants to take cover away from 630, 000 Ohians who took up Obamacare last year and if he gets away with it some of these people are going to die"
(Ohio has just voted for Trump hasn't it? Is there any hope?)
I will be taking my time with this book as it is a book well worth taking time over, so will be probably be reporting on it for the next week or two.
Reen wrote: "So, only two or three pages into Cold Comfort Farm, I find I have something in common with Mrs Smiling. Well, two, to be exact ... she is Irish and is, it seems, in perpetual search of a perfect br..."Ever since lockdown I have missed going to M and S and getting a fitting and help to get a decent bra I am having to order them on line and the last one wasn't really a success.Ah well I'm not leaving the house all that much so do without most of the time apart from when excercising. Good luck with your quest!
I went into my library last night looking for my next book - the last two came from my Literary Criticism shelf and I went back there first. I'd just turned off the computer so I wouldn't watch election results and the title Waiting for the End seemed to speak to my attitude. It's a kind of "state of American literature" piece by Leslie Fiedler c. 1964. The day before I watched The Gangster on TCM, with a screenplay by Daniel Fuchs based on his own Low Company. To my surprise Fiedler gives a fair bit of attention to Fuchs, who I seldom see mentioned anywhere; he sees him, along with Henry Roth, as a 1930s adumbration of the wave of urban Jewish writers who came to prominence in the 1950s.
I bit the bullet and made a comment on another Guardian book page today - 10 Best Books about Books. I did make a plea to bring back TLS of course.Just looking now I find I'm a Guardian Pick. I've never had that in my life - but given the way they chose TLS Picks I'm quite glad. Of course I'm pleased (and surprised) that they've 'picked' a comment that asks for TLS back. And re the book (about books) - I've read it but never seen it mentioned in TLS. It's S by Doug Dorst..
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "I bit the bullet and made a comment on another Guardian book page today - 10 Best Books about Books. I did make a plea to bring back TLS of course.Just looking now I find I'm a Guardian Pick. I'v..."
Joy wrote: "I’m not really settling on any books at the moment, what with another lockdown about to commence and both parents having major surgery this month. I’ve picked up various lightweight books to tempt ..."Best wishes to you all maybe a book of verse would be just the thing?
Mod
I followed your example - and recommended Le mystère/The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos, which I read following the suggestion of Tom Mooney and safereturndoubtful on TLS.
Georg wrote: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "I bit the bullet and made a comment on another Guardian book page today - 10 Best Books about Books. I did make a plea to bring back TLS of course.Just looking now I find ..."
I too added a plea for return of TLS & RG, along with my book suggestions on the Guardian
Mod
Don't think I'm interested in the film, but it reminded me that the book Let Him Go by Larry Watson is pretty good. Harrowing, but good, as I said in my GR review.
Georg wrote: "It's actually the 13th century....I found that very tricky when I lived in the UK. They would say 'the 1800s', in Germany that would be 'the 19th century'. Not sure about the US or AUS.
Even wor..."
In Australia we would say 'four thirty'. Sometimes 'half past four' but the extra syllable is generally too much effort!
LLJ if it's any consolation or comfort to you, we stayed up here too, some later than others, willing a positive outcome. In a spirit of solidarity, know the Irish contingent is praying, drinking, cursing, yahooing, cursing again, cracking fingers and generally in a state of (more than usual) agitation. Of course, he (the right he) has already been claimed in Mayo by his Irish cousins and had the pleasure only a couple of years ago of being mobbed by clammy-handed Westport people on a visit to the town. He might have been glad of some social distancing then but took it in good spirit.
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "I bit the bullet and made a comment on another Guardian book page today - 10 Best Books about Books. I did make a plea to bring back TLS of course. Just looking now I find I'm a Guardian Pick. "Good on your MissB (and the others)!
Yes, that pick is intriguing, but I suspect there is some latitude given to authors who are not staff to pick what they like, in that case it was Antoine Laurain (wasn't his book reviewed recently by a forest dweller? I'm pretty sure it was...). Maybe he was a lurker, who knows!
Georg wrote: "It's actually the 13th century....I found that very tricky when I lived in the UK. They would say 'the 1800s', in Germany that would be 'the 19th century'. Not sure about the US or AUS.
Even wor..."
Even in London it's 'half four'. Also had to learn not to say 'quarter of', which is American, but rather 'quarter to', which is British.
Why is Goodreads so... outdated?Hope I'm posting this in the right place.
Reddit thread on GR. They don't say much. Consensus seems to be if it ain't broke, don't fix it, which is good enough for me. Main reason for posting is that they recommend some GR replacements; two which I remember off the top of my head are lit.hub. com and thestorygraph.com, especially the latter. I expect you'll know these sites already, but maybe this'll be of help to somebody.
Reddit on GR
BTW, I was EricCross on TLS, but my posts were few and far between, although I was an inveterate lurker.
Currently reading Peter Guralnick's Looking to Get Lost, which you'll probably need a love of blues, gospel, country, and rock 'n' roll fully to enjoy, and Andrew O’Hagan's Mayflies. I've just finished the first part about a group of 20-ish Scottish lads coming of age in Thatcher's Britain, and the next part will jump forward 30 or so years. Am really enjoying O'Hagan and am looking forward to reading his other books. It's such a pleasure to come across an unfamiliar author, and think he'll be a companion through the coming years.
Off to do the Guardian Quick Crossword, which is a warm community like TLS if anyone would like to to take a look. Hope it doesn't get shut down in the current Guardian economy drive.
Glad to have got the awkward first post over. Also glad to find we can edit our posts.
Alan wrote: "Why is Goodreads so... outdated?Welcome first of all, I will certainly add Looking to Get Lost to 'want to read' as I love the music you mention as well as classical and Opera and various other styles.
Another lovely Graun community was Readers Reccomend Music, which was also stopped, but refugees from there gather at sites called The Spill blog and /or The Song bar, are you familiar with them? If not, take a look - I have a feeling that you will like them.
Currently reading The Hard Way Up autobiography of working-class suffragette northerner Hannah Mitchell. Goes some way to removing the taste left by Gwen Ravarat's Cambridge memoir Period Piece.
LeatherCol wrote: "Hey, first a big shout out to justine to say cheers for setting this up.Thanks, LC - but it's really thanks to Lisa Jones that we are here. She's done all the real work. I'm just the sidekick!
I'm finding Goodreads a bit tricky to navigate - I think Glad said there was a horror film discussion going on here but I can't find it. Not sure if it's just me being an idiot?This week I'm reading "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. Still early days, but I think this every time I watch a film to do with mountain climbing: I just absolutely cannot understand the urge to climb extremely deadly mountains like this for no reason, no matter how many times people (often very eloquently) explain it to me. And I used to spend a lot of weekends hiking nearby (safe) mountains in Kyushu, so I'm not uh... anti mountain or anything like that.
As for the US election results, this time it's infinitely better. Last time my American colleague had arranged our monthly work trip (every month we did a sightseeing day to write about it for an English language newsletter our department organised) for results day because she is a shy person and saw on Brexit day a local news station came to interview me and dreaded it happening to her (she was spot on - they called when we were out)! Spent the whole day in a scenic beauty spot with her checking her phone and trying not to cry. To make it worse, she's a Wellesley graduate. When it was finally time to go home and she clearly just wanted to be alone, our train was delayed because someone committed suicide on the tracks a few stations ahead (unrelated to election but just a crappy depressing cap to a crappy depressing day). So yes. Results day this time is infinitely less depressing.
Greenfairy wrote: "Alan wrote: "Why is Goodreads so... outdated?Welcome first of all, I will certainly add Looking to Get Lost to 'want to read' as I love the music you mention as well as classical and Opera and var..."
Greenfairy wrote: "Alan wrote: "Why is Goodreads so... outdated?
Welcome first of all, I will certainly add Looking to Get Lost to 'want to read' as I love the music you mention as well as classical and Opera and var..."
Thanks for the two blogs, Greenfairy. Both excellent.
Miri wrote: "I'm finding Goodreads a bit tricky to navigate - I think Glad said there was a horror film discussion going on here but I can't find it. Not sure if it's just me being an idiot?Oh, no, I think pretty much all of us are struggling with it. I think the horror film Andy (@safereturndoubtful on the G) was on this thread (so maybe make a search on these 4 pages of comments with 'horror'). Another way if you know who was the poster is to look at the members list on the group page, and click on their comments specifically. If you find the right one and click on it, this will take you to the right thread, at the right place.
Edit: Found it! The mention is at the end: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
As for the Krakauer book, there was a really good thread on TLS back in June started by Swelter (@Bill fromPA here): https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
Miri wrote: "I'm finding Goodreads a bit tricky to navigate - I think Glad said there was a horror film discussion going on here but I can't find it. Not sure if it's just me being an idiot?This week I'm read..."
big fan of that Krakauer book, went through a mountain climbing/exploring phase(reading not climbing) , in my mid 20s, with the Fergus Flemings "90 Degrees North" and "Killing Dragons" about the conquest of the alpine peaks, Harrers "Seven years in tibet" and Krakaeur. alongside Scott of the Antarctic diaries
LeatherCol wrote: "Hey, first a big shout out to justine to say cheers for setting this up.After a discussion with CCC on her discussion re place, I began to reread [book:Don We Now Our Gay Apparel: Gay Men's Dress..."
good to see you here Leather....hope all is well? i bet gyms closing again has gone down badly, i remember you commenting on this back in March. (home gym kit maybe, if you have the space?)
Expanded on my one-liner on the Grauns '10 best books about books'. Thanks to the four or five people here who do their bit against the odds.
Mod
However, this function is not available if the member's profile is set to 'private'.
Mod
There is a 'search discussion posts' box, top right on every discussion page, so it's not necessary to search page by page. The search scans all the discussion topics within the group.
Mod
I've just posted this under 'Culture to cheer you up during lockdown':
"It's rather ironic that giving ideas for culture to cheer us up comes just after the 'pausing' of Tips, Links & Suggestions, where you could find, every week, book recommendations to cheer and inspire no matter your reading tastes!"
Warning - don't take these as recommendations if you want to be 'cheered up during lockdown'..Two pieces of historical fiction to report on from the last couple of days..
is certainly engrossing, but I don't think it is Baron at his best, that accolade reserved for The Lowlife.
Set on the eve of the First World War, in 1911, as the coronation bells at Westminster inaugurate the reign of George V, it tells the story of Dido Peach, who is drawn into the violent world of protection rackets and gang warfare. The Peach family who reside in Rabbit Marsh near Brick Lane, his two younger brothers are rough and impressionable, despite their widowed mother's guidance, the life of crime seems unavoidable.
Baron himself grew up in the East End, in a similar slum; written in 1967 this is very much a story of 'angry youth', but Dido does attract some sympathy, driven to defend his family from the surrounding squalor and to take them to a middle class life.
The stongest features of the novel are Baron's observations on the East End slum life, class oppression, and period detail. Against it, is that it is a depressing read, there are few, if any, parts of optimism, brightness, or levity to the book; the best writers on dark subject matter do manage the occasional moment of respite.
And, The Matiushin Case by Oleg Pavlov, translated by Andrew Bromfield.
A second pretty depressing book in succession this week..but, look at it another way, there's always someone worse off than you, though few people will have it worse than Matiushin.
Pavlov's novel follows his relentlessly miserable life, from his troubled childhood in the shadow of his domineering father and his rebellious older brother, to his experiences as a young man in the Soviet army. It is not a plot driven novel, rather a commentary on the bleak atmosphere of the declining years of the Soviet Union. Troubled childhoods are not rare in novels, but the numbing routine and detailed descriptions of daily life and violence in the Soviet army make this a very different read.
Some of the writing is based on the author's own experiences; his father too was abandoned as an infant in a graveyard, and he too, was a conscript in the last years of the USSR.
It is the second in a 'loose' trilogy (Tales Of The Last Days), or rather, three unconnected books based on Soviet outposts in the Republic's final days. This is far more savage and brutal though than the first, The Captain Of The Steppe, as I said at the outset. It explores the effect of steady degradation and how humans somehow cling to survive, and some don't; it is particularly dark reading and won't be for everyone.
I will attempt, over the next months, to prepare myself for the third, Requiem For A Soldier.
Miri wrote: "I'm finding Goodreads a bit tricky to navigate - I think Glad said there was a horror film discussion going on here but I can't find it. Not sure if it's just me being an idiot?This week I'm read..."
Miri - Glad - I'm keen to see that Horror film discussion also if you find it.
(Once I've finished a book, I do look to see if it has been included in any 'Lists'. This feature is below your rating / review. I find it useful quite often to discover future reads.)
I watched Relic last weekend and I am really keen to see what others thought.. did I read it right? Is it as clever as I thought? A view of Alzeihmer's that is compassionate and respectful, and yet it is a horror film. It will probably be my 'film of the year', and an example as why the genre, when its done well, is the best..
Gpfr wrote: "Georg wrote: "Expanded on my one-liner on the Grauns '10 best books about books'. Thanks to the four or five people here who do their bit against the odds."I've just posted this under 'Culture to..."
Great post. Ich habe meinen Senf dazugegeben (German saying, literally 'I've added my mustard'; Senf' denoting something irrelevant/of no consequence)
Gladarvor wrote: "Miri wrote: "I'm finding Goodreads a bit tricky to navigate - I think Glad said there was a horror film discussion going on here but I can't find it. Not sure if it's just me being an idiot?Oh, n..."
Thanks Glad. Only just read this. Not spotting the replies before the comments..
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
Waiting for the End (other topics)The Quiet American (other topics)
Brighton Rock (other topics)
This Gun for Hire (other topics)
The Quiet American (other topics)
More...
I stayed up 4 years ago to see the results of the early polls and thus had a blissful sleep, totally unaware things were unravelling dramatically in the mean time (same with Brexit, Farage had conceited defeat and so I went to bed happy... maybe I should just never go to bed again).