Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What Are We Reading? 16 Nov 2020
Mod
Sorry, I didn't see yours, but it remained. FrancesBurgundy's did mention moderators (see her post above) and it was removed.
Lljones wrote: "You can count on posts that discuss moderators and moderation to be removed, whether the subject is TLS/RG or not."Indeed. Another rule - not spelt out unlike the Fight Club one - that I thought was quite telling, revealed itself when I found one of my posts that mentioned the Guardian editor-in-chief by name not even seeing the light of day (no problem when I redacted said name).
Worth remembering what this was about, when so many jobs, including editorial ones as we've seen, are being cut at the Guardian [from the Press Gazette https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/guardi...
The results reveal that editor Kath Viner’s 5% pay rise took her total pay and benefits for the last financial year to £391,000.
The document also reveals that outgoing chief executive David Pemsel received a pay-off of £184,275 when he left the company on 2 December last year. His successor, Annette Thomas, has the same salary: £630,000.
Gladarvor wrote: "Lljones wrote: "You can count on posts that discuss moderators and moderation to be removed, whether the subject is TLS/RG or not."Indeed. Another rule - not spelt out unlike the Fight Club one -..."
Not sure what the most experienced consultant neurosurgeon (e. g.) on the NHS would be paid. A third of Cath Viner's salary?
Justine wrote: "The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger (1934) about a Jewish family in Germany facing the rise of Hitler, and The House Opposite by Barbara Noble (1943) about two families in the London Blitz."Brilliant suggestions, Justine! I've been eyeing the lovely new Persephone edition of The Oppermanns for a while, so this may be the perfect excuse to buy it as a present and then 'borrow' it afterwards...
Alwynne wrote: "Bit stumped by person three not a fan of Mitchell or Mantel....For person one: Child of All Nations by Irmgard Keun."
Haha Person Three is less of a worry; I love most of the same books (including Mitchell and Mantel), so will be able to think of something.
Fantastic suggestions for the other people - I love Skvorecky and just finished Passing by Nella Larsen, which was fantastic. Lots of good ideas in there - thank you so much!
Georg wrote: "I can recommend Nino Haratischwili's The Eighth Life (for Brilka)"Excellent news! I was actually planning to buy this for myself for Christmas, so I have a dilemma now. But very pleased to hear that you enjoyed it; I share the tastes of Person 3 and, therefore, you!
AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christmas present inspiration. What would you recommend ..."A few books came to mind:
1 - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (continued in Olive, Again)
The Big Green Tent by Lyudmila Ulitskaya
2 - HhhH by Laurent Binet
Mendelssohn is on the Roof by Jiří Weil
The German Mujahid by Boualem Sansal
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
3 - The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Paul wrote: "Hey Rick/Alby:Person 1 is a kindred spirit."
Hi Paul, good to see you; I always enjoy reading your reviews so was glad that you made the jump across.
You're right about the kindred spirit thing; Person 1 is my wife and, after telling her there was someone on TLS who was into Calvino and a number of her other favourite others, she started threatening to leave me for you. I think she was joking.
She has read (and loved) the Perec and I've already bought her a Morante. The Roth looks interesting...
Person 2 loved the Fallada (you're good at this), but I'll check out the other two (I own the Okada).
Tom Drury is a great shout for Person 3. Top recommendations!
Machenbach wrote: "And, for those here who like a bit of frock consciousness with their social history, there's [book:Women's Lives and Clothes in WW2: Ready for Action""You'll learn which essential garments to wear when enduring a bomb raid" - given the noises Trump has been making about bombing Iran, this might be the mostly timely Christmas gift I could give!
Gladarvor wrote: "Lljones wrote: "You can count on posts that discuss moderators and moderation to be removed, whether the subject is TLS/RG or not."Indeed. Another rule - not spelt out unlike the Fight Club one -..."
so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?
AB76 wrote: "so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?"Yup, you've got that right. To be fair though, I don't know what will happen for this financial year. I feel if she takes a pay rise while so many jobs are on the line, that'd be extremely provocative. In fact, I think she should absolutely take a pay cut, but I'm not holding my breath...
Gpfr wrote: "Andy wrote: "Also from the weekend... The Alphonse Courrier Affair by Marta Morazzoni.."I read this about 3 years ago - I think I may have mentioned it in my first ever post on TLS..."
I added it my tbr list in 2017.. it was one of the oldest on it.. most likely it was on the strength of your recommendation- so many thanks!
AB76 wrote: "BBC4 icelandic drama link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
By the way for any fans of "Arctic Island drama" dont neglect the Faroe islands, incredibly this tiny archipelago has two grea..."
I’ve seen this AB.. and couldn’t get on with it.
A rarity, because I am a fan of Nordic crime, and BBC 4 outputs.
The recent Danish DNA was good I thought.
I had a week in the Faroes returning from Iceland by boat a few years ago. It was August and the sea was completely still for 10 days or more.. the Faroes shrouded in mist the whole time. Impossible to see more than 20 metres in any direction at any time.
But I plan to return someday next few years. The hiking looks incredible.
Alwynne wrote: "AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christmas present inspiration. What..."Thanks for these.
I have the Baron and the Hochgatterer on my list already, but keen on the Czapski and the Teffi.
I dropping hints for Andrews’s Women Walking after reading the passage on Nan Shepherd on Lit Hub a few days ago.
Pre-Christmas I’ve my eye on two from the British Library,
Anne Meredith’s Portrait Of A Murderer and Tanya Kirk’s edit of Chill Tidings - Dark Tales Of The Christmas Season
I've just posted up my review of Ian RRankin's A Song For The Dark Times and here it is:
I won't give a detailed plot description as many have already done this, I'll just give an opinion. In some ways I was a disappointed with this book. There were things in it which didn't really add up. For instance, Malcolm Fox gets himself involved with the old enemy Ger Cafferty which, given his former role in the Complaints, I found highly unlikely and the way it played out at the end came a little too pat. As for the denouement, this seemed to come suddenly - CCTV of a car at the scene of the crime wasn't checked and worked on until near the end when it could have been done much earlier. Would I read the next Rebus, of course; would I look forward to it quite as much, probably not.
With great relief, I can announce that I’ve finished The Awkward Age, a ‘late’ Henry James novel. The Awkward Age lured me in with an opening that reminded me of John Banville, but from that point onward the writing is mostly dialogue. I would say we are seeing James here in his occasional guise as an unsuccessful dramatist. There are rare attractive passages of description, but the book really should have been a novella. I do not recommend The Awkward Age. I still have The Princess Casamassima and The Tragic Muse on my list before I can finally put James to rest, but I’m likely to read some other big Victorian classics first, such as The Woman in White and The Way We Live Now.I have some more contemporary texts to choose from now, so I think I’ll move to 10:04 by Ben Lerner.
Bring Me the Head of Quentin Tarantino: Stories by Julián Herbert, translated by Christina MacSweeney.
When you’ve written one good (long) short story or (short) novella how can you, or your publisher, market and sell it?
That question must have faced Herbert here. The title story, 60 pages, is the only thing worth reading in this collection, and I almost didn’t get to it, some of the others were so poor.
I know some publishers release ‘shorts’, and I suppose that’s one idea, marketing them at about £1.
The novella is a favourite form of fiction of mine, I read and enjoy a lot of translated books of between 80 and 200 pages, but do often have a moan at the price they are sold at. Does it not seem reasonable that they should be the corresponding fraction of the price of a full novel?
I learnt recently that Pascal Garnier’s publisher were considering putting two of his together to sell as one book.
Back to Mexico though and the Herbert..
The title (and final) story is one of unlikely circumstance, in which a hapless film critic is kidnapped as part of a mission to decapitate the famed director after an inadvertent error involving the doppelgänger of a fearsome cartel boss. As with a Tarantino film, it is blood-spattered, bizarre and great fun. As a surreal parody it clearly demonstrates Herbert’s talent. There’s a hint of Tonino Benacquista’s Badfellas about it, which is high praise. I’m just concerned that some who start reading the book at the beginning may give up and not get as far as this..
Here’s a clip from early in the piece..
This is where Greek and contemporary treatise writers go down the drain, where the only thing left to tie us to the world is the irrationality of parody and the sublime. To give one example: Barry White’s voice when he singes “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe.” No one believes that voice to be true. But we all know that it’s the voice of Truth.
AB76 wrote: "BBC4 icelandic drama link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
Thanks for that, I have set it to record.
AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christmas present inspiration. What would you recommend ..."For Person 2 have a look at Allan Massie's Bordeaux series:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/al...
set against the backdrop of the German Occupation.
Having finished the latest Rebus I fastened my seatbelt and turned my watch back 800 years. I am now reading Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters. So far so good.I though I had read all of these many moons ago, but some kind person mentioned this on TLS a few months ago and I realised this one had escaped me. Bought from Blackwells - cheaper than Amazon and free postage to boot.
Alwynne wrote: "Justine wrote: "I realized, about five pages in, that I’d read Vita Sackville-West’s All Passion Spent (1931) some years ago. Never mind; although I remembered the general gist and va..."Thank you, Alwynne. No, I haven't read The Edwardians, but plan to request a copy in my next order from the library (won't be or a few weeks). I remember when Vita's son Nigel published his book about his parents Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. I was then still working in the auction business and everyone was talking about it, but I never read it. Maybe I should get that sent to me as well!
Alwynne wrote: "Andy wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christ..."Thanks for all those Alwynne..
I’ll save ghosts until next Halloween.
The Solnit is particularly interesting.
Gladarvor wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?"Yup, you've got that right. To be fair though, I don't know what will happen for this financial year. I feel if she takes a pay rise while s..."
the guardian is making so many mistakes recently
Alwynne wrote: "I miss the library.."I'm very fortunate because the library will post books to me. I'm currently awaiting a delivery.
Machenbach wrote: "Justine wrote: "of WW2 interest"And, for those here who like a bit of frock consciousness with their social history, there's Women's Lives and Clothes in WW2: Ready for Action, av..."
Thanks for that, I'll check it out.
Mod
Thought of you (and MsC) when I saw MB's post. Looking forward to your report.
AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christmas present inspiration. What would you recommend ..."For Person 2, I suggest To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly 1939-1945 by Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly. This is published by Slightly Foxed, who will gift wrap their beautiful little hardcover editions.
Monarchs of the Sea by Danna StaafI posted tis review on my profile page and have copied it here as I have mentioned it before. Overall the book disappointed me a little.
In a way I think of this as a book in two halves. The first half which deals with the emergence of life on Earth and the evidence from fossils of cephalopod development was particularly interesting but later the book wandered into a series of names of researchers and evidence which became confusing.
I would have liked much more information about octopuses in modern times, there did seem a greater emphasis on squid.
I appreciate that there are many varieties of cephalopods but some kind of tables listing the different species mentioned in the book, perhaps with a brief summary of size, ocean habitat, description and so on would have been extremely helpful. These tables could have included those living in specific eras separately and, again, this would help the lay reader such as myself have a more comprehensive grasp of the multi million year lifespan of these magnificent brainy creatures who will probably still be jetting around when man has long gone.
The term "terrorist" can be remarkably fluid. Sheridan Le Fanu, in his gothic mystery Wylder's Hand, refers to the villainous Captain Lake as a terrorist. Lake's actions have nothing to do with politics; rather, he uses fear for his private ends. I have begun reading Fernando Aramburu's Homeland, which raises similar questions.
The novel is set in the Basque country. The two women who stand at the novel's center were childhood friends. Neither was a political person until one woman's son left Spain to join the Basque terrorist organization ETA in France.
It appears that he left long after Franco's death; even though he lives in a much different Spain than in the 1960s. This decision puzzles both families; so does the extortion letter one husband receives from the ETA shortly after. Is this ETA a strictly political group? Their methods remind me of Captain Lake, or, for that matter, of the Mafia or Boston's Whitey Bulger. Pay up or we attack; we are willing to kill you. And, if one is tempted to ask for a favor from the extortionists, the ETA, like the Mafia, now owns a little piece of the one asking.
The community is small. Everyone knows which families have members in the ETA; everyone knows which tavern the ETA sympathizers frequent; everyone knows the families of the victims, and is careful to keep a distance from the survivors. This can divide even the victim's family.
The novel, like The Unseen, which I finished recently, is divided into very short chapters, each showing a different facet of the character's situation. Neither book makes much reference to political events or even the calendar, but sticks to the characters' private lives. Is that the current style? Rather than being strictly chronological, like The Unseen, the stories bounce from time to time.
I will report more later.
IN HAZARD comedy critter update, not sure if i mentioned Thomas, the first mates pet lemur, who sleeps in the foghorn on board the SS Achimedes and is treated with the same rank as his masterAnyway, the ship has run slap bang into a 200mph hurricane and poor Thomas has been sick in the foghorn....i really hope they dont encounter any fog in the next 50 pages....lol
my new avatar is a portrait of Van Gogh by aussie artist John Russell from 1886i am a dead ringer with beard for Van Gogh or DH Lawrence, with a hint of Garibaldi (three famous redheads)
I've been quite busy this week, so only now catching up with the book section of the G. This https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...We Still Have Words review – two fathers come to terms with terrorgot me sobbing first thing this morning. Shit.
Georges Salines lost his daughter in the Bataclan terror attack in Paris, while Azdyne Amimour’s son was one of the killers. Their conversation makes a powerful book
AB76 wrote: "Gladarvor wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?"Yup, you've got that right. To be fair though, I don't know what will happen for this financial year. I feel if she takes ..."
I'm not sure what to do with my subscription to the Guardian now. Suzanne Moore has resigned because over 300 Guardian staff complained to K Viner, and accused Suzanne of being transphobic. This was about an article that she wrote, (in a similar vein to what J K Rowlings said), which criticised the baiting of feminists for defending women only spaces!..
My view of feminism seems very old fashioned now, as I believed that there was strength in diversity, and that women should be encouraged to let their voices be heard... and to listen respectfully to others, even when you don't agree with them... which personally, on a great many things, I find myself all too likely to disagree... Anyway it seems like, after the death of TLS, some sort of final proverbial straw has appeared to me, and the camel is looking distinctly worried!... And now you say that Katherine V is taking a pay rise as well!... What do others think?
While waiting for my library delivery, I engaged in two quick reads: Arthur Machen's The Inmost Light, and an E F Benson's ghost(ly) story, 'Between the Lights' from The Outcast: And Other Dark Tales'. This was almost enough to convince me that the genre is not for me. In the first could perceive many echoes of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, published eight years earlier, and that's never been a favourite with me, despite having read it many times as a GCSE tutor. With the Machen, I never did understand why the doctor who did the autopsy on the wife believed her brain was that of 'a devil' - no further explanation or description is supplied - and the chief horror of the woman's consenting sacrifice left me dismayed and disgusted, but not pleasurably shivering. The Benson did, for me at least, a better descriptive job, but the plot was predictable and the weird events (again, for me) failed to convince. For the time being, I'll leave such works to those who are capable of enjoying them.Meanwhile, my parcel arrived this morning, so now off I go with Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man ...
Andy wrote: The recent Danish DNA was good I thought.I had a week in the Faroes ... the sea was completely still for 10 days or more.. the Faroes shrouded in mist the whole time. Impossible to see more than 20 metres in any direction at any time.
But I plan to return someday next few years. The hiking looks incredible.
Top tip Andy - check the weather forecast! You don't want to spend another 10 days hiking in the mist.
Thanks for your comments on the TV series - I had already spotted DNA (it's on BBC4 and iPlayer), and will give it a try, as well as the Icelandic series - I'll see if I like it more than you did.
Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gladarvor wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?"Yup, you've got that right. To be fair though, I don't know what will happen for this financial year. I feel ..."
It's a problem especially because there is no really open-minded left-of-centre news and opinion source that I know of. Do we leave the field to the Mail, the Telegraph and the Murdoch empire? The BBC is under all sorts of pressures. I don't have an answer, but will stick with the G for now.
Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Anyway it seems like, after the death of TLS, some sort of final proverbial straw has appeared to me, and the camel is looking distinctly worried!... And now you say that Katherine V is taking a pay rise as well!... What do others think?"It is tricky Tam, and they have made quite a few many mistakes (including that obituary of a serial-killer that Mach pointed out). But like inter, I believe that the G is the last bastion of left-leaning, mostly accurate reporting in the UK, and so for the time being, I continue to support them financially.
Viner took a pay rise, but since this was reported in July, this was for the financial year ending in April 2020 presumably, when the G posted some good results. This doesn't explain the ridiculousness of her salary itself, but that is not the sole appanage (oh, I see this word is archaic, well, never mind) of the G.
As for TLS, it isn't dead yet, and there is - I don't want to jinx it - a not infinitesimal probability that it will return. Let's see.
'I cried when it was all over': the actor who brought 120 characters to life“the most rewarding narration job I have ever had”.,
Nick Sullivan, narrator of JR audiobook, talks about his narration of the William Gaddis classic, all 37 hours of it.
Hope this is in the right place, and hasn't been posted already. Haven't got my GR legs yet.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Mod
“the most rewarding narration job I have ever had”.,
Nick Sullivan, narrator of JR audiobook, talks about his narratio..."
Some ex-lover or another, can't reminder which one, challenged me to read JR -
- decades ago, and it remains on my bookshelf, unread beyond the first two or three pages. I'm tempted by the audiobook, though, so thanks for that.
Another one that forest dwellers might find of interest (and good comments btl, I feel like distributing flyers advertising for Ersatz TLS there!): Top 10 books about great thinkershttps://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
From Kant’s routines to Frantz Fanon’s astonishing wartime work and Simone de Beauvoir’s vexed position in history, these books thread together ideas and the lives that animated them
Sadly as noted btl, it focuses on writers, activists and philosophers, and there is not a single scientist in the list (if you exclude Weil's brother).
Justine wrote: "Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gladarvor wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so we lose TLS and Viner gets a pay rise?"Yup, you've got that right. To be fair though, I don't know what will happen for this financial y..."
I use the New Statesman, LRB and NYRB(all in print) as other sources of liberal or left leaning debate on important issues, alongside C4 News and the BBC, plus The Guardian
Also CNNs online site is good and dont forget Deutsche Welle's and Der Spiegel's english language sites
Justine wrote: "While waiting for my library delivery, I engaged in two quick reads: Arthur Machen's The Inmost Light, and an E F Benson's ghost(ly) story, 'Between the Lights' from [book:The Outcast..."I think "The Inmost Light's" most horrific thing is the willing dutiful sacrifice by his wife, not even read in a feminist or patriachal way, Machen creates that appalling chasm of self sacrifice expertly well
Magrat wrote: "A Cat's Tale: A Journey Through Feline HistoryLooks like my latest purchase - which originally came to my attention on LitHub - is definitely one for Lisa to have a look at. I mea..."
I need a Like button!
Alwynne wrote: "I read this over the weekend but just reviewed it. A 1941 British golden age, crime novel by Dorothy Bowers Fear For Miss BetonyMy review: Not reviewing, but saying thanks. I just checked my shelves and found her first - Postscript to Poison which is now next on my bedtime reading list.
Dorothy Bowers’s WW2 mystery’s been bil..."
hi all first time caller. currently reading the lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
AlbyBeliever wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm going to post about this month's reading later in the week or next week, but today I'm going to shamelessly exploit TLS for Christmas present inspiration. What would you recommend ..."Would person 2 - have read any of the Bernie Gunther books by Philip Kerr? March Violets is the first.
Tom wrote: "Hey guys. I have been struggling to interact with this in the same way as TLS. I appreciate all the effort that has been put in and I will take part when I can manage it.Anyway, I have read a cou..."
If anyone is into Author Zoom events, Google will give you a head's up. I know I've seen several for Cool Millions - which were a bit pricey for me. (I like free.)
Georg wrote: "My Bring back Tips, Links and Suggestions and the Reading Group! comment under the Kobo Abe article has been swiftly removed. A disgruntled reader pressing the report button? We'll see..."Not only that, but this is such a clunky site! I'm having a hard time navigating it.
I returned to an old favourite today with Muriel Spark's Symposium.
The story is based (starts, and indeed ends) at a dinner party hosted by Hurley Reed, a Catholic American painter, and Chris Donovan, a rich Australian widow, and focuses on the secrets and lives of them and their eight guests.
Though I have come across Spark's theme in her previous work, the nature of evil, (A Far Cry From Kensington), I did not expect this to morph into a crime thriller.
“Your mother’s coming on after dinner,” Chris says to William Damien.
“Good,” says Hurley.
But Hilda Damien will not come in after dinner. She is dying, now, as they speak.
This exchange occurs after about a third of the novel; if the reader wasn't already hooked, they are now.
Crime writing is such a vast genre (I recall reading that almost every novel can be considered as crime..), but Spark has invented her own sub-genre of it; there is nothing gloomy or dark here, rather there's that same exuberant intellectual gaiety as in her other work, but it is farcical at times, clever and witty; on such matters as fashion, table manners, witchcraft and nuns on television.
Her main characters are manipulative, imperfect, and bizarre, and those in the background range from Marxist and foul-mouthed nuns to a worryingly sane lunatic.
Though I may infer a formula or trademark to Spark's work the real enjoyment in reading her is that there isn't one - you never know quite what to expect, but you are guaranteed to be entertained.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
The Unremembered Places: Exploring Scotland's Wild Histories (other topics)The Negro Grandsons of Vercingetorix (other topics)
Memoirs of a Porcupine (other topics)
Black Bazaar (other topics)
The Death of Comrade President (other topics)
More...
We didn't even mention mods or moderation.
My comment on The Betrayals is still there. Like a number of other comments about TLS on various reviews made before today.