What Are We Reading? 14 Dec 2020

[Justine]

Greetings to all our doughty Ersatz TL&S crew!

To start with a bit of business: on Monday 21 December I’ll open a new What Are We Reading? as usual, but the next time I’ll appear in this capacity will be Monday 4 January. In other words, that thread will remain open for two weeks over the holiday period. Please feel free, of course, to continue reviewing and chatting as always, whether or not you are decking the halls and quaffing the mulled wine. Or even reading …

If you have a look at the December Quiz (under Special Topics), although it has been closed for further comments, you can still read the solutions in the final comment.

And speaking of challenges, some of you more creative types might investigate the competition offered by The Book Collector magazine called ‘Banquet for Bibliophiles’, in which you are asked to ‘describe in 1,000 words an imaginary banquet for book lovers’. Entry is free, and the prize is £500 plus publication. Closes 22 January. We’ll all be there, of course, and Magrat will provide the menu: www.thebookcollector.co.uk/banquet

If you believe no book-lovers’ event should lack some element of crime, then you can bone up on a true one, as signalled by MK:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

As the weeks progress, I also recommend entering your Best of the Year lists and comments in that discussion. When you have done so, do check it later to see if there are any questions or comments about items on your lists. It will remain open until 10 January.

Several commenters here have been engaged in long-term reading projects. JayZed reminds us that ‘over the past year […] I’ve been reading À la récherche du temps perdu ’:

Today, I finished what has been quite a remarkable journey. There were a few times when I struggled - I found The Prisoner really hard going - but overall it's been a really fulfilling experience, and reading the last volume, Finding Time Again (aka Time Regained) was one of the great reading experiences of my life. That final volume is like a keystone that gives form and meaning to the whole novel.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've also started re-reading the whole novel again from the beginning, but at a slower pace of around 20-30 pages a week. So Proust will be with me for some time yet. I read the Penguin translation by Lydia Davis, Ian Patterson et al, which I would very much recommend.

For his part, Bill has

finished the 9th in my slow-motion chronological reading of the novels of Ivy Compton-Burnett: Elders and Betters. Her usual Victorian / Edwardian, claustrophobic family setting, but with some variations on what I've come to expect from this author.

The main female character, Anna Donne, makes for one of Compton-Burnett's more complex psychological studies and Anna's aunt Sukey exemplifies the type of invalid-tyrant that has been the scourge of other Compton-Burnett families. At a few points the author relies on narrative exposition rather than dialogue or action to reveal a character's desire and motivation, which seems a weakness given the tendencies in her work to this point to tell the story as much as possible through the characters' words and behavior. As with her previous novel, Parents and Children, the characters are established at length in leisurely scenes before the plot kicks in.

One unusual touch are the scenes of young siblings Julius, 11, and Dora, 10, praying to a deity named Chung who they have imagined dwelling in a stone in the family garden. In these scenes the children - fairly typical Compton-Burnett juveniles wise beyond their years - comment on the novel's unfolding action as a kind of Greek chorus.

We’ve also been learning about Sandya’s devotion to the Brontës, and she has found an unusual addition to her collection – Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës:

How do I describe this? It is a thick, large format graphic novel, beautifully produced, of the Brontës’ juvenilia, of which there was a massive quantity, more than all their novels combined! I am not in general a devotée of graphic novels, but I loved this and my graphic version of Jane Eyre. It is not the genre perhaps, but the matter dealt with that makes a graphic novel memorable to me. Here Isabel Greenberg weaves together the juvenilia and the Brontës’ lives to form a coherent whole. Much of the incident in the juvenilia and in their lives is familiar, but she also indulges in a few creative flourishes, which fit well with the overall tone of the book. […]

The juvenilia focus more on CB’s and Branwell’s writings about Angria than Emily and Anne’s writings about Gondal, which are nearly all lost except for the poems. This is reflected here. Despite this, Greenberg still manages to create an exciting story about the intrigues in Glass Town and at the same time suggests how these youthful idols, transformed and changed, survived in her novels. […] A wonderful Christmas gift for any lover of serious literature and any Brontë aficionado. I enjoyed it very much!

Others keep up with contemporary writing. Andy, for example, believes that in Three-Fifths, by John Vercher, he has found ‘a contender for book of the year’:

This powerful novel is set in Pittsburgh in 1995 with the backdrop of the LA Riots and the O.J. Simpson trial. It is billed as a 'hard-boiled noir' but that alone doesn't do justice to a piece of literature that is far more than that, an astute commentary on race in today's American cities.

The book’s protagonist is Bobby, a teenager of mixed-race descent who works as a waiter after school to help support himself and his alcoholic mother, Isabelle, an Italian-American, the daughter of a racist white police officer. The action centres on the return from prison of Bobby’s best friend Aaron, a convicted drug dealer now a fully-fledged white supremacist. In a dramatic opening chapter, Aaron savagely attacks a black teenager in a fast-food restaurant.

Like with the best noir writing, Vercher writes an authentic and dynamic dialogue, but in the other aspects he takes on he is as strong; the emergency ward at the hospital, the diner, and particularly racist America. This is really good throughout, and timely - an all-round triumph.

Hamnet has received a good deal of attention since the old TL&S days, and now Magrat has caught up with it as well:

[Maggie] O'Farrell herself has pointed out that Ann Hathaway has always been given a bum rap - older woman traps bard into marriage by getting pregnant, causing him to run away to London, from where he eventually returns a wealthy man who leaves her his second best bed. 1066 and All That, enough said.

In fact so little is known about Shakespeare's private life that O'Farrell is free to invent and embroider without clashing with historical facts. She is actually very careful with the historical record - 'Agnes' was the spelling in her father's will, it seems to me that departing from it would constitute pretentiousness. The dodginess of the old man is in line with recent research. In fact O'Farrell has done a good deal of diligent research, but she wears it lightly […]

As we all know, this is not a novel about the death of young Hamnet. It is about marriage, and family, and grief at the loss of a child even in an age when such an event was common. Agnes is an almost stereotypical wise woman, like Granny Weatherwax and her 'headology', who sees her husband succumbing to what we would call clinical depression and contrives a (to me rather elegant) solution […]

Russell has read a book that most of us probably know as a film: Shane , by Jack Schaefer (1949), which he says has ‘a reach outside its genre’:

A cattleman wants to keep the range open and is determined to drive out the homesteaders. No lawman nearer than a hundred miles. The struggle turns brutal. The most visible elements will have fitted the movie-making of the time - the stranger who rides into town alone and stays to help, the leader of the farmers who feels he has to make a stand to keep his self-respect, the loyal wife with her flapjack and apple pie, the boy who watches, the brawling cowhands, the hired gun. […]

He can’t recall ‘if the movie catches any of the subtleties in the book -’

the air of mystery and menace that hangs about Shane, his self-knowledge and self-fear, his Zen-like assurance in a bar fight that’s five against one, the farmer’s awareness that his wife has fallen deeply for this man, a man of “invincible completeness.

‘The one “semi-serious” novel I recently managed to start, finish and enjoy very much was Isabel Colegate’s The Shooting Party, writes Karen:

Set in the autumn of 1913 in one of those grandly generic country houses which feature so prominently in so many novels, at first it seems not to differ significantly from a better-than-average episode of Downton Abbey […] [with] the ultra-traditional yet responsible and caring country squire and his good lady wife, an assortment of aristocratic cads and bounders, the young girl trembling on the brink of grown-up love, the Hungarian aristocrat, the Jewish financier, the loyal gamekeeper, the cheeky young footman. And while I wouldn't say they ever achieve fully-fleshed-out status, Colegate is good with telling details -- random thoughts or stray bits of conversation especially -- which lift many of the characters above their stereotypes. I thought she also did well at capturing that sense of "history holding its breath" which is often associated with the long twilight leading up to the beginning of World War I.

Inevitably, we have wonderful seasonal recommendations, which we are promised go beyond Hallmark Card banalities, such as Murder on Christmas Eve: Classic Mysteries for the Festive Season (Magrat) and The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter (Alwynne). The latter also reminds us of the pleasures to be found in A Child's Christmas In Wales, by Dylan Thomas:

There are numerous versions online, although I read this in a miniscule hardback version complete with Edward Ardizzone’s evocative illustrations.

Some versions I’ve come across that people may like are:

The full text:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-chi...

Dylan Thomas reading in New York:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv4-s...

A dramatized version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTSQ...#

And now ... back to all of you!

[AB76]

Thanks again for all your work on this Justine!

Milder in the North Downs heating on, cosy indoors as i prepare to start quarantine on Weds (family xmas at my folks means my two UK based brothers are now starting quarantine this week as well)

December is always a winding down time, as i tend to be busy with neices/nephews, large meals and non-book related things from 22nd to 28th Dec. I usually fit some reading in b4 NYE. All very different in 2020, with no Xmas parties, NYE etc but i am hopefully staying safe in hermitude!

Right onto books..i am reading:

THE ICE SAINTS by Frank Tuohy is a mid 60s novel set in cold war Poland, I know the Krakow area quite well and its a familiar world in the novel, albeit without the cold war atmosphere. It won Faber and Tait prizes in 1965

ECA's ENGLISH LETTERS by Eca De Querios, is a joy of dry portugese wit and observation, writing about London in the late 1870s and early 1880s. There is a superb long-ish essay on Disraeli, commentary on Ireland and his wonderful letters to Brazilian and Portugese newspapers plus a trade report on Bristol which sheds light on the recession in Britain during 1877-78

THE A6 MURDER by Blom Cooper is a study of the James Hanratty trial and the weaknesses of the british system in that case. Blom Cooper looks at the french inquisitorial system that lays all evidence and life history of the accused before a court and the british adverserial system that relies on just the facts of the pertinent case. A thought provoking short book picked up from Oxfam

[Magrat]

Justine wrote: "Greetings to all our doughty Ersatz TL&S crew!

To start with a bit of business: on Monday 21 December I’ll open a new What Are We Reading? as usual, but the next time I’ll appear in this capacit..."

Goodness, I seem to have had my head above the parapet! The banquet competition is irresistible. First task will be inviting really interesting guests; the short form of these dinner party lists always includes Queen Elizabeth I and Jesus Christ, both of whom would never let anybody else get a word in. And shall we have service à la russe or à la française? Oh bliss...

Thank you for all your great work, and have an enjoyable holiday.

[Georg]

Magrat wrote: the short form of these dinner party lists always includes Queen Elizabeth I and Jesus Christ, both of whom would never let anybody else get a word in

If I were to invite Jesus Christ I would place him opposite one of the most maligned historical characters ever, Judas. In the hope that crockery, cutlery, expletives and fluids would be hurled by the latter towards the former in an animated exchange about his outrageous decision to give the top job to one of the most hypocritical historical characters ever, Petrus.

[AB76]

Alwynne wrote: "AB76 (3) wrote: "Thanks again for all your work on this Justine!

Milder in the North Downs heating on, cosy indoors as i prepare to start quarantine on Weds (family xmas at my folks means my two U..."

its going to be a very local xmas,at my parents as usual but nobody outside the immediate family will be present(following the 3 household rule), with one wing of family in singapore(my second youngest bro) but they were here last xmas which was fun

[Justine]

Magrat (5) wrote: "Justine wrote: "Greetings to all our doughty Ersatz TL&S crew!

Book Lovers' Banquet ..."

I've been mulling this one over. There'd have to be several rooms, In one room we might put the Booksellers, who wouldn't need to sit; mostly they'd be happy standing, gabbing loudly and competitively, and drinking. A good bar and cheap snacks is all they'd require. Next would come the Collectors - and it's them to whom we'd want to serve the fine meal as they sniff over issue points, hand colouring, dust wrappers in mint condition, etc. I suggest the service russe, but Machenbach (if he's around) might advise. Finally, in a very large hall with roaring fires and deep sofas, the 'mere readers', appreciative of sandwiches and a glass of something a little better than ordinaire, or maybe even just tea or coffee, to accompany their gentle chat when not sunk back into the latest read. As for special guest writers, maybe we could start with Homer, who could sing an epic or two for our entertainment,

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Justine, for the round-up. I appreciate having the reminder so I actually do something about books that sound great - in particular this week the Dylan Thomas, which I never knew about - how could that be??

Georges Simenon – I didn’t realise he wrote novels set in the US. A while ago I bought a bunch of the romans durs at random, and two of them it turned out had entirely American settings. I read “La Boule Noire” some months back and have just finished “Un Nouveau dans la Ville”. Both satisfying – a neat plot and a gallery of characters worked up with the usual humane touch and impressive economy. The atmosphere definitely felt American and yet there was a pervasive Essence-of-Simenon.

[Sandya]

Thanks for the great summing up!!

[Justine]

The Darkest Day, by Swedish crime writer Håkan Nesser, translated by Sarah Death, situates its dark deeds within a family setting. Three generations come together to celebrate the double midwinter birthdays of Karl-Erik, who will be turning 65, and his eldest daughter Ebba, 40. In disgrace is Ebba’s brother Robert, who has committed a highly embarrassing and newsworthy act while taking part in a reality television show, while at the other end of the spectrum is Ebba’s son Henrik, always a winner and now a university student for whom great things are expected. Another sister, and assorted spouses and children, complete the mix.

The first third of the book is devoted solely to building up a picture of a family whose tensions, frustrations and secrets seem no worse than those in many others, but gradually the scene darkens, especially when Robert and then, the following night, Henrik, disappear.

Håkan Nesser seems, as in other works, less interested in the investigative side of things than in the exploration of various psychological aspects. His detective, Gunnar Barbarotti, is provided with the required back story, but has surprisingly little to do with solving the crime or crimes, while the ending felt rather hastily cobbled together. But that didn’t matter much to this reader, who was sufficiently diverted by the untangling of the familial knots.

[Sandya]

I read this (https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...) with some curiosity because despite several efforts over the years, I do not like either his books or their TV/film versions. First, espionage doesn't interest me, nor does the Cold War. Second, his interests were so bleak. It seemed to me that there was no green, no life, no living creatures, no passion, no color, no warmth in the genre of spy novels, however literary.

It was sad to read about his parents, childhood and private schools. He had a horrible early life that was clearly the precursor of his fiction.

As a long term fundraiser for research I was also pretty annoyed to see how much PR he got for his mingy $100K gift to Médecins sans Frontières. It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-this is really easy to do. Did he engage in any other philanthropy? The obit doesn't say. I once saw some Hollywood star get a front page article in the LA Times for a $75K gift. The largest gift I managed was $300M, half of the $600M Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation Caltech Commitment, with no mention in the mainstream news at all. I routinely brought in multimillion $$ grants from foundations-apparently they aren't news either. The media, like the aristocracy, always overvalue what they do and really only report on themselves. I will not be reading or watching any Le Carré for the foreseeable future.

I apologize to anyone offended by this, but we make reading decisions based on many different factors.

[CCCubbon]

Denise Mina writes a dark book and her latest is no exception.
Less Dead takes some getting used to but it gradually grabs and keeps you transfixed by Margo’s search for her identity, the lives of prostitutes, the terror in being stalked, the yearning to know more about her birth mother.
The book tells of the reasons why women prostitute themselves, how society treats them as lesser beings. Many years ago I spent an evening talking to two ‘ladies of the night’ , just ordinary people, nicer than some who I know would have shunned them.
There’s violence, grief, pain, love and hope all in a heady mix within the pages of Less Dead
Maybe not for everyone but then I am a fan, admiring her ability to face reality at its darkest.
I finished this book before my poorly vision made reading for more than a few minutes problematic. Consequently, have nudged a little more about fantastic fungi, now onto lichens in Entangles Life , never knew before that lichens were really two organisms combined, algae and fungi. The Dark Archive , the latest Invisible Library has barely a couple of chapters read. Must be patient until sight clears some more.

[AB76]

Sandya wrote: "I read this (https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...) with some curiosity because despite several efforts over the years, I do not like his books or their TV derivative..."

I'm a cold warrior and an espionage fan but le carre wasnt top of my list in that genre, despite being a great writer
I was only a kid during the communist years of evil but it has laid its mark on me since, major source of my reading.....

[Georg]

Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those whose money it was should have prevented him from giving it away then, n'est-ce pas?

[Sandya]

Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those whose money it was should have preve..."

It was from an award he received-the Olof Palme Prize. It was his to give away, I am not arguing with that. However, it isn't as if it came out of his personal resources or his estate, or was part of a focus on philanthropy. I'm sure it was very nice of him to donate it, but it seems a bit calculated, and he got way more credit for it than he deserved.

[MK]

Sandya wrote: "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those whose money it was sho..."
Lo, that I, first, received a prize, and second, that I was able (and kind enough) to give some/all of it away.

On Le Carre, mostly in his later books, he got on a hobby horse. One I put down and didn't finish was The Constant Gardner.

This may be a spy story, but if I were a fingernail biter I would have had none left when I read The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

Perhaps it's just that I once worked in the bowels (mezzanine floor of the basement) of the Pentagon that I enjoy a good spy story, but one without beheadings and other extraneous nastiness like The King's Spy.

[Georg]

Sandya wrote(#16): "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those whose money it was sho..."

How many bestselling authors have donated price money?
If they didn't: who am I to judge?
I just do not understand your train of thought: that somebody who donates money, which isn't "his own money" should be blamed for doing that via the argument that he could /should) have have done more.
I do not expect authors to be philanthropists. I am quite happy if they refrain from being apologists for war criminals, like Peter Handke.

[MK]

Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#16): "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those wh..."

For Georg (#18) I, too, have my preferences - I don't read 'dark'. By that I mean literally dark places, or rather ones that reflect the fact that their location is sometimes dark - as in Scandinavia, the Hebrides, even Scotland (especially Glascow). I also consider the Southern portion of the USA as dark - mostly because of its past. My only author exception there is Tourist Season by Carl Hiassen.

I know some eyes will roll, but there, as the saying goes, are so many authors, so little time.

[SydneyH]

Graham Greene’s Travels with my Aunt was lovely, one of Greene’s best. I was tempted by hearing the novel described as the funniest the author wrote, and I think it’s a fair description. While the humour isn’t consistent throughout, there are a few laughs to enjoy, as if Greene indulged some whimsical impulses more often than in his other texts. Henry Pulling, a retired flower enthusiast, joins his aunt on her adventures, starting with a jaunt to Istanbul. His aunt isn’t opposed to illegal smuggling, which results in Henry’s exposure to underworld figures.
Now starting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[Andy]

CCCubbon wrote: "Denise Mina writes a dark book and her latest is no exception.
Less Dead takes some getting used to but it gradually grabs and keeps you transfixed by Margo’s search for her identity, the lives of..."

Thanks CCC. I’m a Mina fan, and hadn’t yet seen a review of this new one. Sounds good.
The Long Drop is my favourite of hers’, so far..

[Shelflife_wasBooklooker]

Thank you so much, inter, for another great start into the new week! I appreciate your introductions very much.
This also goes for your excellent advance information, such as duration of quizzes, when threads close etc. It really helps to find one's way around here and to feel more at home.

I was too slow to post this earlier today, so this refers to a post of Tam's from last week:
Tam wrote (#269): „I like you am not reading much either, I don't really know why. I'm reading reviews and articles, anything shortish... and the odd poem... but mostly I am totally distracted by 'doors'... They are not going on forever though, I just decided to make them the equivalent of my 'Advent Calendar'. It's as if I have found a tiny cubbyhole that opens up inside, to somewhere in my mind that is as big as Narnia!... Tomorrow's will be from Marburg, Germany. Have you been there? It has made me want to visit it sometime, when we get over this unsettling period of 'time paused'... I hope things get much better for you... whatevers going on... take care...“

There will be other times and more extended reads again, I am sure. Glad you are enjoying yourself just now. The door/ advents calender idea is great! „a tiny cubbyhole that opens up inside, to somewhere in my mind that is as big as Narnia!“
Ha, doors of perception.

Yes, I know Marburg a little, as one of my older sisters used to study there. It has a nice flair, as so many of these old-world campus towns do. I like the landscape as well.

Thank you for your kind words. It could be much worse, really. (Hope it won't be.)
All the best for you and everyone here, too!

Here is a door and cat photograph, if much more run-down and scraggly than the one you posted: https://postimg.cc/fkwg2gB8 But it's the only one I have just now - and I hope you may like it a little anyway.

[giveusaclue]

Firstly, a very big thank you to Justine and Ll for their great efforts in setting up this Group so that we can continue to commune with one another.

Secondly, I hope everyone has as good a Christmas as is possible in these difficult times, remember - nothing lasts for ever, even it is seems like it at the moment.

Right, down to business:

I have just finished reading

and here is my review:

Two unrelated crimes in one book. Ten years ago a Scottish civil servant based in London disappeared and is never seen again. His brother is suspected of killing him, although no body is every found and he does a runner and joins the French Foreign Legion (as you do!). Fast forward and the brother's body is fished out of the sea near Edinburgh with a bash to the head. Meantime Pirie is called in to a body in a garage - a woman is killed in an accident and when her sister goes to sort out the house she finds a body, or the remains of, in a camper van covered in tarpaulin in the garage (as you do!). Given the historic nature of both killings Pirie is called in to investigate the two crimes at the same time (not likely). She sends her oppo haring off to England then she herself goes haring off to Ireland with another oppo in the most unlikely (again) manner without telling anyone where she is going. The book is around 360 pages and could easily be cut by 100, particularly as it becomes evident far from the end what has basically happened to the missing persons.

I think I might be getting a little curmudgeonly in my old age!

I have just started to read

I'm only on page 15 but her description of Annecy makes me want to visit.

[Greenfairy]

I am making very slow progress with Ducks, Newburyport, I think that I will give it a rest for a day or two, I like that the mountain lion and the narrator are focused mainly on the same things- feeding and protecting their young.At risk of seeming shallow, one of my problems with it is that there are lists of food and for health reasons I am on quite restricted diet, it is all I can do not to drool on the page..
*Note to Machen Bach ; she mentions Welsh rabbit but no Bara Brith or Welsh Cakes so far!

[giveusaclue]

Back to earlier posts regarding John Le Carré, I got the distinct impression that he never forgave Glasnost for removing the main purpose of his spy novels. He came across to me as a slightly bitter man. That is such a shame because his earlier novels were great, but
A Legacy of Spies came across to me as a bit of a desperate attempt to stay relevant.

[AB76]

MK wrote: "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#16): "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Cert..."

Interesting, so the novels you read are all set in warm sunny climes?
I tend to read as seasonaly as possible...so summer reads do tend to be northern hemipshere summer settings....

[Reen]

Justine wrote: "Magrat (5) wrote: "Justine wrote: "Greetings to all our doughty Ersatz TL&S crew!

Book Lovers' Banquet ..."

I've been mulling this one over. There'd have to be several rooms, In one room we migh..."

Hi Justine, put me down for a chair in the sofas and sandwiches room please. Sounds heavenly!

[Justine]

Thank you, Booklooker (and others). I enjoy putting together the weekly opener. It's my little, very leisurely, 'weekend job', which lends some gentle structure to my somewhat isolated life these days.

Meanwhile, I am treating myself to some Americana. Completed Part 1 (of 4) in Rick Perlstein's Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. I'm surprised anyone can follow the complicated committees, pressure groups, negotiations, meetings both public and secret, intrigues, deals, betrayals, back-stabbings that make up the selection of a presidential nominee. As a child and teenager I watched the party conventions - very entertaining in those days, when it wasn't clear who would prevail, and there were these crazy 'demonstrations' with delegates marching noisily around the convention hall, singing, setting off fireworks, dressed in silly costumes.

I've also just begun Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis, about a man who

assumed that he was the center of the universe and that the rest of the system was valuable only as it afforded him help and pleasure.

And:

oh, he was always friendly enough; he was merely astonished when he found that you did not understand his importance and did not want to hand over anything that he might desire.

Reminds me of a few people currently in the public eye ...

[Reen]

I finally finished, inter alia, Cold Comfort Farm, which I found very witty and diverting in the way Flora herself might wish to have been diverted but it didn't give me the feels overall as a book to rush back to each night, which is why I made such hard work of it. There were some very good oneliners which I vowed to remember and instantly forgot. I can see why it has its place in the canon ... and the affections of so many. I'm happy to have read it. I'm wavering now between Apeirogon and A View of the Harbour but feel I won't get a good run at either before the Christmas hols. In the meantime I'm dipping into The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories, which I see Alwynne reviewed. It's a beautiful looking book and well worth making a present of to someone if anyone's looking for a seasonal volume.

Enjoy the break Justine. Well earned. R

The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter

[Sandya]

Reen wrote: "I finally finished, inter alia, Cold Comfort Farm, which I found very witty and diverting in the way Flora herself might wish to have been diverted but it didn't give me the feels overall as a book..."

Cold Comfort Farm is very funny!

[Sandya]

AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#16): "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own ..."

I don't primarily read fiction, mostly history and memoirs. The novels I do read may not be set in warm climates but there is at least a semblance of life-espionage strikes me as a deathly cold subject, even if set in a warm climate.

[Sandya]

Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#16): "Georg wrote: "Sandya wrote(#12): It wasn't even his own money-the funds from an award-easy to do. Did he engage in any philanthropy?

It wasn't his own money? Certainly those wh..."

I don't think he should be blamed for it. I think he, and Hollywood types, get too much credit for what are not huge gifts by philanthropic standards. There are masses of larger gifts that get no press because it isn't someone famous making them. Speaking as a fundraiser, it made me roll my eyes, the obit banging on as if he had just saved the world with $100K. Maybe you have to be a professional fundraiser to see it this way.

[Justine]

Reen (27) wrote: "Justine wrote: "Magrat (5) wrote: "Justine wrote: "Greetings to all our doughty Ersatz TL&S crew!

Book Lovers' Banquet ..."

Worry not, Reen! All the comfiest, cushioniest seating has been reserved for TL&S members, past and ersatz.

[Bill]

Justine wrote (28): "I've also just begun Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis"

Michael Dirda is fond of quoting what he claims are the first and last sentences of this novel. They were, as I recall, respectively, "Elmer Gantry was drunk again." and "'We will yet make America a Christian nation!'"

[Justine]

Bill (34) wrote: "Justine wrote (28): "I've also just begun Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis"

Michael Dirda is fond of quoting what he claims are the first and last sentences of this novel. They were, as I recall, r..."

So far it feels as if Sinclair Lewis had fun writing this book. I'm sure I'll comment more on it as I progress.

[Magrat]

giveusaclue (25) wrote: "Back to earlier posts regarding John Le Carré, I got the distinct impression that he never forgave Glasnost for removing the main purpose of his spy novels. He came across to me as a slightly bitte..."

Oh I dunno, he eventually found other targets like the arms trade and big pharma, though he never abandoned his underlying themes of deception, manipulation and betrayal. Certainly the bitterness about Brexit was there, and underpinned the atrocious A Legacy of Spies, without doubt the worst thing he ever wrote -see my review.

[AB76]

Sandya wrote: "Reen wrote: "I finally finished, inter alia, Cold Comfort Farm, which I found very witty and diverting in the way Flora herself might wish to have been diverted but it didn't give me the feels over..."

i first came accross this on a talking tape my mother had for long car trips in the late 80s. I found it very funny as a child and must read it as an adult...."something in the woodshed..."

[AB76]

In the ICE SAINTS, Tuohy describes the fading stucco and crumbling brick of 1960s Krakow, which made me remember my last visit to the city in 2004, when i noticed the same thing,. These mighty old Hapsburg era tenements and public buildings in a terrible state of repair

Not sure if its simply the cost that meant almost 40 years later, the same situation was presented.

[AB76]

My new avatar is lovely nativity scene by russian artist Borovikovsky from the late 18th century....

[Justine]

AB76 wrote: "In the ICE SAINTS, Tuohy describes the fading stucco and crumbling brick of 1960s Krakow, which made me remember my last visit to the city in 2004, when i noticed the same thing,. These mighty old ..."

What is The Ice Saints about (besides Krakow in the mid-60s)? Have you read any other Tuohy novels?

[AB76]

Justine wrote: "AB76 wrote: "In the ICE SAINTS, Tuohy describes the fading stucco and crumbling brick of 1960s Krakow, which made me remember my last visit to the city in 2004, when i noticed the same thing,. Thes..."

Its a study of society under communism, with a background plot of a young english woman travelling to visit her sister who is married to a Pole. So far its a slightly opaque commentary on polish society and the differences between west and east

i havent reads any others of his, its partly based on his own time in Krakow as a member of the British Council

[[deleted user]]

I've just finished The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce edited and introduced by Michael Newton.
The stories were written in the years from the mid nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries and include stories both familiar and unfamiliar to me.
Those I knew include Dicken's The Signalman, W W Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw, and Ambrose Bierce's The Moonlit Road.
Those I didn't ranged from Henry James' The Jolly Corner, via Kipling's At The End Of The Passage, to Edith Wharton's Afterward.
My favourite was Readjustment by Mary Austin, which I found touching and human.
The introductory essay is good too and there's a comprehensive list of further reading.
I can't say I was scared but I did enjoy the collection.

Just opened Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousnessby Peter Godfrey-Smith.

[Andy]

A couple from me from the last few days..
Firstly, The Winterlings by Cristina Sánchez-Andrade, translated from Spanish by Samuel Rutter.
The two Winterling sisters have returned to the quiet unchanged village of Tierra de Cha years after their grandfather’s murder during the Spanish Civil War. It may sound a dark premise, but the writing is sprinkled with the bizarre and humorous, which makes it so entertaining (the style reminded me of Flannery O'Connor). The residents of the village are an assortment of eccentrics; from a cross-dressing dentist who steals the teeth of the dead, to an obese priest who rides on horseback up the mountain every day to administer an old woman her last rites, yet she carries on living.
The sisters fit well into the cast of rural grotesques, they harbour dark secrets which Sanchez-Andrade tempts and taunts the reader with, until late on the piece, their reveal..

In the darkness of their bedroom, in their little iron beds, the Winterlings let themselves speak of their secret.
A voice (or is it the wind?) scratches away at the silence.
“Listen, Sala…”
And the other replies:
“What?”
“That day, do you think…”
“Yes…”
“Do you think we did the right thing?”
“We did what we had to do, Dolores.”
And then after a while:
“Listen…”
Saladina lights the oil lamp. She stretches an arm towards the other bed and takes her sister’s hand.
“What, Dolores, tell me…”
Her skin gives off waves of heat, the light, the beating of their hearts, and the touching of flesh soothes the women. Dolores’ answer lurks in the darkness.
“Nothing.”

It is an enchanting gothic fantasy with a wily wit, and abundant period detail from 1950s rural Galicia.

[Andy]

And, Trio by William Boyd
This is some way short of the vintage Boyd, but nonetheless an entertaining read.
Define vintage: I’ve read and appreciated everything he’s done, and right at the top of the chart I would put Any Human Heart and The New Confessions.
This is a black comedy set on a filmset (as in New Confessions..) near Brighton in 1968, but there’s little glamour here, rather it’s concerned with greed, slog and drudgery, and the dirty work involved in shooting a single movie.
The star of his ‘Trio’ is the producer Talbot Kydd, who is wonderfully observed, shepherding his stars through their ups and downs, dealing with drugs, divorces, off-screen punch-ups, alcohol abuse, and the cunning and conniving of his team. All of the trio have secret lives, and completing it are Elfrida, an alcoholic novelist married to the film’s director, and Anny, the film’s star, who has somehow attracted the unwanted attention of the CIA.
There are flashes of Boyd’s brilliance here, but it suffers from a determination to finish climatically. It’s strength is the insight into the craziness of the world of movie-making, which clearly Boyd is well versed with. But for me Boyd is best when he spreads his novel across a person’s life, the two books I mentioned at the start, and Sweet Caress, as well as those earlier books set in Africa.

[AB76]

Justine wrote: "AB76 wrote: "In the ICE SAINTS, Tuohy describes the fading stucco and crumbling brick of 1960s Krakow, which made me remember my last visit to the city in 2004, when i noticed the same thing,. Thes..."

plot to do with an inheritance for a half-english son of a university lecturer and party member now has popped up, creating a potential East v West situation, capital coming into the workers state

Tuohy has a light and elegant style...

[Greenfairy]

I noticed that since the death of John le Carre, a number of people are of the opinion that he should be awarded a posthumous Booker prize - but the Booker never includes "genre fiction" which is what his work is classified as. What do you think TLSers?
I think that it should certainly be awarded. ( I hope that I haven't opened a large can of worms)

[AB76]

Only two books on the go as the Xmas season begins, i start quarantine tommorow so i can return to my 75yo parents abode for xmas...(that wont stop me reading as normal but from 23rd Dec i will be in Uncle Mule territory)

Anyway,alongside Tuohys novel i have Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "Warning To The West" to read, a collection of his mid 1970s speechs in the USA and UK when he was in exile. In later life, through my reading, i have realised that Solzy was much more than just the dissedent the west saw him as. A markedly original thinker who had ideas for Russia which certainly did not chime with western ones, ideas of a "strong leader" etc

I always like in December to find shorter, unusual forms of non-fiction, one year it was Gracq's study of Nantes, another it was Perec's small collection of observations made in a suburb of Paris.

[Gpfr]

Greenfairy wrote: "I noticed that since the death of John le Carre, a number of people are of the opinion that he should be awarded a posthumous Booker prize ..."

He was on the shortlist for the Man Booker International prize, but didn't want it:

"I am enormously flattered to be named as a finalist of the 2011 Man Booker International prize," Le Carré said in a statement issued through his publishers "However, I do not compete for literary prizes and have therefore asked for my name to be withdrawn."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

[Paul]

I don't really understand the idea of posthumous honors or pardons. It seems like trying to "correct" history, but you can't undo death and I tend to think late-coming earthly recognition means little for those that have reached Valhalla or become dust. I tend to think John Kennedy Toole and Franz Kafka aren't toasting their late-coming honors.

[AB76]

Paul wrote: "I don't really understand the idea of posthumous honors or pardons. It seems like trying to "correct" history, but you can't undo death and I tend to think late-coming earthly recognition means lit..."

.....and so many have reached Valhalla with no consideration of their writing. i guess its good for their extended families or loved ones who suffered with them, to see a father, mother, sister, brother, lover etc achieve some recognition for lives that maybe were lived in penury or without any acclaim

[Storm]

Pure escapism and I loved it. On Wilder Seas: The Woman on the Golden Hind by Nikki Marmery is an intriguing historical novel. There WAS a woman on Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind but little is known about her so this not a biography or pure history, it is an imaginative retelling of the possible life of a woman taken for slavery from Guinea and what might have happened to her. So it is both a gripping story on the high seas, a polemic on colonialist privateers and government sanctioned thieves, and a heartbreaking foreshadowing of the clash between native Americans and European explorers. And we know it can’t end well.
Macaia, given the name Maria, stays true to herself and her traditional beliefs as she keeps her own counsel, bends, and pretends and adapts to the men and the « Christians » who use and abuse her, using her own wits to keep alive. As the blurb has it « Marmery gives voice to a woman, who, like so many others, has been written out of history.
I wouldn’t give the book 5 stars because it slows midway, partly because there is little to drive the plot action, and the suspense ebbs because we already know some of how it ends. We know about Drake. We know she gets off the ship.
However, this is a debut novel, written in a beautifully lyrical way, with excellent research, and believable characters so if you are looking for something out of the ordinary, something to spark your own imagination, this is an excellent candidate. I am very keen to read her next book.

[Georg]

Greenfairy wrote: "I noticed that since the death of John le Carre, a number of people are of the opinion that he should be awarded a posthumous Booker prize - but the Booker never includes "genre fiction" which is w..."

There are no provisions for something like a "lifetime achievments Booker":

The Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded annually to the author of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible work of long-form fiction. The work must be published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October of the year prior, and 30 September of the year of that award.