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What Are We Reading? 23 Nov 2020
Alwynne(196) wrote: vBut I wondered, and sounds as if Machenbach confirms my cynical musings, if the tragedy was more of a hook to promote the book. Since the success of H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald there seems to be a sub-genre of personal trauma meets personal hobby/interest. Not sure what the industry term for it might be. I assume it also grew out of the 'new nature writing' boom and the work of Richard Mabey in books like Nature Cure by Richard Mabey . Although I quite like Richard Mabey whereas Helen MacDonald annoyed me.Hm... I find that problematic. Speaking only for myself: I do not think I have the right to pass judgement on a book. I can voice my opinion. I can say I personally did not like it, hated it, thought it was overrated...
Some time ago a dear friend of mine gave me "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I despise PC, he loves him. Who am I to tell him that PC is,imo, essentially soppy crap?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is all that counts.
Tam wrote: "I lived in Islington in the early 80's when a somewhat radical Labour council took over the borough. One of the first policies they implemented was banning a selection of library books,..."Yes, I remember that - and also, on the other side, the Daily Mail campaign of the 80s against a children's book about a child living with her male same-sex parents, which they'd found in the ILEA teachers' reference library. I was working in a private school and all the teachers were up in arms - in support of the Mail!
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All the teachers but you, I imagine!
Lljones wrote: "Justine wrote: "...all the teachers were up in arms - in support of the Mail!..."All the teachers but you, I imagine!"
I was the one gagging on my sandwich, but my bad reputation as a 'leftie' was already well established.
Georg wrote: "Magrat wrote: ... while literature has been ransacked to make film and TV versions, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a half-decent book based on a film.For the first part of your sentence: ..."
I was not using 'ransacked' as a pejorative. Perhaps 'strip-mined' would have been better. Indeed, because so much of his work was published as serials, Dickens is very suited to TV adaptation.
Alwynne wrote: "This was a re-read which I expected to be fairly light but turned out to be not at all what I remembered.REVIEW:
[book:Invitation to the Waltz|1276807..."You haven't actually posted this as a review, so you'll have to take this as a 'like'. And a query as to why the girl on the cover of that edition is wearing a green dress.
Hello all,I've not been reading much, but last week I read Naguib Mahfouz's "The Thief and the Dogs." What can I say, it's Mahfouz. This week I'm (slowly) reading Maaza Mengiste's "The Shadow King." She liked something I tweeted about it!
AB76 wrote: "i havent read that short story (White Nights) but the white nights of Petersburg feature in Crime and PunishmentI had forgotten that the white nights also featured in Crime and Punishment, despite having read it at least twice - but a long time ago. The book covers a lengthy time period, so I wonder if it wasn't winter when Raskolnikov carried out his plan - as I remember it (correctly, or not?) he was in poor health at the time - perhaps suffering from influenza or a similar condition - which is more common in colder weather. I'm pretty sure that one of the implicit questions Dostoyevsky asks in this profound book is: would Raskolnikov have carried out his crime, had he not been unwell? Illness affects our capacity for clear thought and good judgement, as well as the body itself. He was also suffering from malnutrition, I think, which couldn't have helped.
Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few times has the equivalent of brand recognition working for them; but for standalone titles another is the 'lookalike', a book unexpectedly, or not, does well and marketing depts. then consider how they can cash in on that with future books"I have noticed that, once a series is established, and uses a recognisable style of cover design, other books by different authors can often appear aping the book covers - so I assume this is another strategy.
There are also one or two authors whose pen names are close to those of better known writers... coincidence? Hoping to benefit from confusion and/or a position next to or near the 'other' on the shelves? I have no idea.
Justine wrote: "I was working in a private school and all the teachers were up in arms - in support of the Mail!"I also found myself working for a time in English private schools - force of circumstance, rather than choice. I would cheerfully see these bodies abolished; a look at our current 'leadership' in the UK provides sufficient reasons for that opinion.
As for banning books - I agree with whoever wrote that books should not be banned, unless they break laws relating to incitement to hate crime. I suppose the problem lies in deciding where, exactly, the line between unpleasant opinions and actual law-breaking lies: who'd be a lawyer, or judge? The grey area allows wiggle space for all sorts of demagogues and charlatans, such as the Orange One - unfortunately... which brings me back to the Mail...
I make it a point to remind readers of this publication of its extremely 'dubious' past judgement, not least its support for Hitler in the 1930s, as well as its continued backing for extreme right wing outliers such as Marine le Pen in the present:
https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog...
Even before this, the paper had a shameful hand in publishing fake news in the form of the Zinoviev letter, which helped the Conservatives to win a landslide in the 1924 general election:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinovie...
But of course, the Mail and its proprietor have every right to hold these views as British taxpayers, don' they? Well, I expect the newspaper makes 'some' contribution - but Viscount Rothermere? Not so:https://beastrabban.wordpress.com/201...
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i havent read that short story (White Nights) but the white nights of Petersburg feature in Crime and PunishmentI had forgotten that the white nights also featured in Crime and Punis..."
The White Nights scenes are fascinating , i think a fellow like Raski would be in bad health whatever the season!
And happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it in anyway.
scarletnoir wrote: "Justine wrote: "I was working in a private school and all the teachers were up in arms - in support of the Mail!"I also found myself working for a time in English private schools - force of circu..."
On the meals on wheels run i did during the Spring lockdown, all the old folk were lovely, i knew many from the day centre but on every sideboard was The Sun or the Daily Mail. These papers are part of so many lives and very influential in the UK.....
scarletnoir wrote: "Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few times has the equivalent of brand recognition wo..."Alongside the obviously offensive, there are more subtle divisive and unpleasent authors like Niall Ferguson who has managed a lifetime of rather dodgy historical blockbusters with a right wing slant, Dominic Sandbrook has supplied a tory-daily mail pop history of the UK and there is never a shortage of publishers for a good right wing polemic sadly
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Oh joy! When I returned from my certainly not more than 1 km distance walk, I found Slightly Foxed in my letter box. For those who don't know it - in spite of myself and Magrat and I think someone else whom I've forgotten - this beautifully produced quarterly aims to introduce "its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal". They also bring out beautiful hardbacks or paperbacks of a selection of books. Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie is the latest. Plenty of scope for Christmas presents, for other people or yourself!
One of this month's contributions is A Merry Malady on The Anatomy of Bibliomania by Holbrook Jackson. A must-read I think.
Magrat have you received yours? I guess it takes longer to cross the world than the channel :)
Mod
I've just posted photos if anyone is curious to see.
Gpfr wrote: "Slightly Foxed the winter issue of the quarterlyOh joy! When I returned from my certainly not more than 1 km distance walk, I found Slightly Foxed in my letter box. For those who don't know it - ..."
Mine's not here yet. I bought a copy of The Englishman's Commonplace Book as a Christmas present for Mr M and it took a fortnight to arrive, which I thought fairly impressive.
Machenbach (219) wrote: "Georg wrote: "I do not think I have the right to pass judgement on a book. I can voice my opinion. I can say I personally did not like it, hated it, thought it was overrated...."Surely when you s..."
There is also a social element. When I say 'I hate pickled Onion Monster Munch' and you say 'I love it', we are neither of us making a judgement on the other person's taste. Your view will likely just be 'Oh good, more for me!' But when you say 'Hamlet is a wonderful play', anyone who finds it boring or simply bad may feel their judgement called into question and through that a social slight. So for reasons of diplomacy we tend to claim that ours is an 'opinion only'. Beyond that, yes, we can argue the virtues or otherwise of Hamlet in a way we can't about our reactions to food. But there are other areas - I might like the piano repertoire of the Romantic composers and hate modern pop groups, but it would be difficult for me to argue why beyond saying that one appeals to me and the other doesn't.
Penguin Random House is buying Simon & Schuster. That’s bad for readers."In the future that Bertlemann celebrates, we can all read anything we want so long as it’s a bestseller by John Grisham."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
Time to cullMy TBR shelves have been worrying me as they are so full. Yesterday I went through them and pulled several books out, leaving over 80 still there I may add. I’m intending to give the following books to a charity shop unless anyone here can persuade me my life isn’t worth living without having read them. All ‘foreign’ books are in English translation:
Effi Briest by Theodore Fontane
The Boat* and A Perfect Woman by L P Hartley
A Pin to See the Peepshow by F Tennyson Jesse
The Gilded Age* by Mark Twain
Resentment by Gary Indiana
Nomad* by Alan Partridge
The Lusiads by Luiz Vaz de Camoes
Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andric
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
It would help me find your replies (assuming there are any) if you could add the message number - 225 - to the italicised intro - TIA!
*Started and put aside.
Justine wrote( 223): "Machenbach (219) wrote: "Georg wrote(201): "I do not think I have the right to pass judgement on a book. I can voice my opinion. I can say I personally did not like it, hated it, thought it was overrate..."I think I've stated my case badly. And I am not sure this attempt will not be much etter:
I live in a small town, just over 10000 inhabitants.
When I joined the local library I was quite put off. I spoke with the librarian, who does an outstanding job bringing authors to do a reading in this backwater. I said: 'I was looking for this and that classic and couldn't find any of them. ' He said: 'I know and I am sorry, but there is no demand for them.' What people want to read here seem to be, mainly, books I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.
BUT: there are also Jane Gardam. Elizabeth Stroud, Hilary Mantels trilogy, Colson Whitehead...Even Marlon James' 'A Brief History...". And 'H is for Hawk'.
Overall I am grateful: we have a library, people are still reading books , even I can find, every once in while,a book that is in my want-to-read-list compiled from TLS
FrancesBurgundy wrote(225): "Time to cullMy TBR shelves have been worrying me as they are so full. Yesterday I went through them and pulled several books out, leaving over 80 still there I may add. I’m intending to give the ..."
Effi Briest is a classic. I've read it a long time ago. I liked it then. Not enough to want to re-read it though. Maybe give it a go and read the first 30 pages or so?
I am sure Abbie will recommend it :-)
FrancesBurgundy (225) wrote: "Time to cullMy TBR shelves have been worrying me as they are so full. Yesterday I went through them and pulled several books out, leaving over 80 still there I may add. I’m intending to give the ..."
The only two of those I have read are Vera - not one of Von Arnim's best, so you can probably live without, and A Pin To See The Peepshow which I read way back in the early days of Virago. It made a deep and lasting, but depressing, impression. Maybe, again, your life won't be the less if you pass it by.
Georg wrote(227): "FrancesBurgundy wrote(225): "Time to cull ...Effi Briest is a classic"
I know it is, but it's so long and the print is tiny! And the translation (Rorrison and Chambers) looks a bit stilted. In fact, I'm considering reading some German - I have a book about climbing Kanchenjunga I think and it looks feasible - but I know Effi would be too much for me in German.
Veufveuve (216) wrote: "And happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it in anyway."Thanks, Vv! I don't celebrate it any more, and especially not this year, but I'm always glad to be reminded of it. How are things in Copenhagen?
Veufveuve wrote: "And happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it in anyway."And Happy Thanksgiving to you and especially your wife Vv! 🦃 (This is apparently a turkey emoji - not that I'd particularly recommend turkey!) I was starting to wonder about you...
Justine wrote: "Thanks, Vv! I don't celebrate it any more, and especially not this year, but I'm always glad to be reminded..."Not even now that you are expert at Zooming? Some friends of mine have gotten their (older) mum to learn to do so, and they'll have a Zoom thanksgiving with her scattered siblings, something that has pretty much never happened over the past few decades...
Response to message 219:Machenbach wrote: "Georg wrote: "I do not think I have the right to pass judgement on a book. I can voice my opinion. I can say I personally did not like it, hated it, thought it was overrated...."
Surely when you s..."
That is an excellent argument, and I'm pretty sure I agree with about 95% - tiredness prevents me from trying to pick a bone or two with the rare points I find a bit dubious...
However, this is clearly an excellent point, which I have adapted a little: There's really no discussion to be had with someone who merely claims that they "like" Donald Trump. Nothing anyone says could possibly dissuade them from that subjective judgement...
Some people are not amenable to rational discussion... you may substitute your politician of choice in that sentence, BTW, if the Orange One doesn't fit the bill...
(As I have never read Kant, I was interested to see that he made some good points... thanks for that.)
Two disappointments this week.. Carys Davies's The Mission House
I was outside my comfort zone with this.
I suspected I would be, as I had not enjoyed Davies's first novel. But I know some here did.
I found it too watered down, too harmless, too nice..
I just read Tom Mooney's review from June, which I had intentionally avoided at the time as I was going to read it.. I could easily have written the same in mine.
FrancesBurgundy wrote(229): "Georg wrote(227): "FrancesBurgundy wrote(225): "Time to cull ...Effi Briest is a classic"
I know it is, but it's so long and the print is tiny! And the translation (Rorrison and Chambers) looks ..."
Just chuck it then. Nobody should read "classics" - or anything - they do not enjoy..
Response to message 225FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Time to cull
My TBR shelves have been worrying me as they are so full. ..."
No direct response to your question, as I haven't read any of them - but it strikes me that it would be fun (in theory - not sure about the practicalities) to have a 'balloon debate', in which (say) 8 famous books would be considered, and the least popular in each round would be jettisoned to allow the balloon to float free and safely!
And, Dolores Reyes's Eartheater
, translated by Julia Sanches. Its a short novel about a teenage girl living in an Argentinian slum with her older brother, orphaned as their mother has been violently killed, and their father mysteriously disappeared at the same time.
Their absence leads the young girl (narrator) to eating earth, soon discovering that she has the ability to see those associated with the ground she consumes, whether they’re dead or alive.
It feels to me like a used plot, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've come across it before, (perhaps the movie, Sixth Sense). It also is promoted in a misleading genre; rather than literary fiction / horror, it would appeal more to a young adult market as a fantasy / crime novel. Some passages seem out of place, for example when the narrator and her brother are accosted by a gang of local youths. It lacks darkness and subtlety, and the tone of the writing fails to make reader dwell on any of its themes, or consider any wider issues in the way that the best contemporary horror does.
Machenbach wrote (219): "Georg wrote: "I do not think I have the right to pass judgement on a book. I can voice my opinion. I can say I personally did not like it, hated it, thought it was overrated...."Surely when you s..."
Sorry, I must have overlooked your post. Will (have to) think about it.
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few times has the equivalent of ..."I see that Niall Ferguson is at the Hoover Institution at Stanford - 'Nuf said.
There a few authors I won't read just because . . . The mystery writer Susan Hill comes to mind. Several years ago she went after The Book Hive in Norwich. She ended up the loser as she should have.
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Time to cullMy TBR shelves have been worrying me as they are so full. Yesterday I went through them and pulled several books out, leaving over 80 still there I may add. I’m intending to give the ..."
Effi Briest is a must read, a superb wilhelmine german classic!
Trying to pace the CF Ramuz novel, its my second 150-ish pager since i finished the much longer Mckenzie novel and i am in love with the Valais mountains and the peopleThe Swiss French surnames are a tongue twister, i usually find french surnames ok but Anzevui, Mettrailler,Arlettaz arent bouncing of my very Germanic tongue(germanic as in germanic languages which includes english)
The snow and the gloom fit in well with a early winter's read, i much prefer to let novels match the seasons whenever possible....
MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few times has the e..."what did susan hill do?
Justine wrote(228): "FrancesBurgundy (225) wrote: "Time to cullThe only two of those I have read are Vera - not one of Von Arnim's best, so you can probably live without, and A Pin To See The Peepshow
Thanks Justine, that's the sort of thing I want to hear!
Georg wrote(235): "FrancesBurgundy wrote(229): "Georg wrote(227): "FrancesBurgundy wrote(225): "Time to cull ...Effi Briest is a classic"
I know it is, but it's so long ,,,,
Just chuck it then. Nobody should read "classics" - or anything - they do not enjoy..."
Thank you, I will. I do have
The Sorrows of Young Werther still TBR. It looks possible because it's short, and it's so famous! But it's pretty low down the pile.
scarletnoir wrote(236): "Response to message 225FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Time to cull
it would be fun (in theory - not sure about the practicalities) to have a 'balloon debate',."
Great idea. Does GR have a 'vote' facility? That would be the way to do it. Once you'd decided how to choose the candidates.
If anyone would like to pay a visit to a Russian cyperpunk farm to see a 'fractal cucumber' and a very cosmic outdoor lav then its all here(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMX0p...)
Gladarvor wrote 232): "Justine wrote: "Thanks, Vv! I don't celebrate it any more, and especially not this year, but I'm always glad to be reminded..."Not even now that you are expert at Zooming? Some friends of mine ha..."
I dislike 'social zooming' for some reason (probably because I can see my face in that little box) - prefer email or phone. And the timing with California is difficult. Anyway, these days I would never prepare all that food for myself - the turkey, the yams, the pumpkin pie, and I don't drink alcohol at home, so I'm not much fun there either! But I love the memories!
scarletnoir (236) wrote: "Response to message 225...Balloon debate"
How do you run a balloon debate? Sounds fun.
AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few time..."AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Alwynne wrote: ..."publishers have to find ways to repeat successes: one obvious strategy is a series; a successful author who's repeated that a few time..."
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/such-a-b...
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "The Sorrows of Young Werther still TBR"I really liked the Oxford University Press edition when I read it a couple of years ago.
Machenbach wrote: "Kant makes this point in the COJ"Now there's a deadly text :)
I think passing aesthetic judgments has become unfashionable in academic circles, but I really value a considered assessment of a literary work.
Justine wrote: "I dislike 'social zooming' for some reason (probably because I can see my face in that little box) - prefer email or phone."Ah, if that's your main gripe with it, you can very easily change the way you view people and hide your own feedback. I've done that many times in the past, and it does help with the self-consciousness. Just let me know if you want me to show you (via direct message), it's no trouble at all!
And the timing with California is difficult. Anyway, these days I would never prepare all that food for myself - the turkey, the yams, the pumpkin pie, and I don't drink alcohol at home, so I'm not much fun there either! But I love the memories!
I'm sure you do! For a night owl like you and me, timing with West Coast is actually a tiny bit easier (I know from regularly working past midnight, including in Zoom/Skype calls, with people in Berkeley, Stanford or SFU in Vancouver). I'm no fan of turkey whatsoever, but I got converted to pumpkin and chocolate pie a few years ago; it was delish. As for the alcohol, god knows (and by god, I mean 'we') you don't need it to be funny. At any rate, Happy Thanksgiving from me! Find a little something nice in the fridge or cupboard to treat yourself to (and a good book too, ahem).
Mod
A balloon debate is a debate in which a number of speakers attempt to win the approval of an audience. The audience is invited to imagine that the speakers are flying in a hot-air balloon which is sinking and that someone must be thrown out if everyone is not to die.
GR has a feature called Lists - where a selection of titles can be voted on and then are ranked highest to lowest based on votes. Anyone can create a list, and anyone can vote on the list (i.e., not limited to members of our group). Here's an example:
2019 Tournament of Books Shortlist
This might be used for a initial 'balloon debate', but it would be difficult to implement 'rounds', other than creating a new list for each round.
(You can find bazillions of GR Lists from the top menu bar: Browse -->Lists)
Mod
The Finish These Quotes from Your Favorite Books quiz
Again, any GR member can create a quiz, and anybody can take the quiz.
Bazillions more available on the menu bar: Community -->Quizzes
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Ersatz TLS
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