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What Are We Reading? 18 January 2021
giveusaclue wrote: "Or one who tells the mods to delete vicious abuse and ..."
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giveusaclue wrote (#262): "MK is in Seattle, Kincaid is in Oz....."Gpfr is right, MK is Kincaid, and has been based in Seattle for as long as they've been on TLS I think. There's a Who's who database (not updated with more recent members) on Page 2 of the Photos if you want to double-check some of these Guardian-Goodreads matching.
@Blue #216No, I haven't read any other of McCann's work. not that I can remember anyway. He wasn't really on my radar but I don't know why.
Bridgerton was a grand bit of fluff television I thought, totally undemanding, beautiful to look at and the modern soundtrack was clever. I wanted a wig at the end of it but I'm very glad to have missed the push-up corsets... I'd never see anything.
AB76 wrote: "FranHunny wrote: "Amelia wrote: "I've started and abandoned about 8 different books in the last few weeks (none of them bad, I just haven't had the motivation to read them), so I'm glad I finally f..."Yes, there were reasons. Unfortunately when I'm worrying about something all my anxiety seems to manifest in a complete inabiity to focus on all those nice books I'd just bought from the bookshop. This week seems a bit better so I'm hopeful I can get back to some of them soon!
Turning now from politics to serious matters, I've somehow managed to come up with a new quiz - totally different from the last two, no quotes, requires a completely different set of skills. Because this group is so clever and solves things so quickly, I'll post it Sunday evening, to give those who live on the other side of the world from me a chance to get in first before us Europeans.
Justine wrote: "Georg (78) wrote: : "Norman Lewis "Naples '44"..."I just looked this up, and it sounds far more interesting than the Origo. I've put it down for my next order from the library. Thanks!"
I'm seconding this suggestion - one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read! Lewis is warm and generous amidst absolute chaos (and shockingly funny!)
Justine wrote: "Harry (204) wrote: "AB76 wrote: "its still a remarkable paper"It could be, if it stopped trying to court the left and went back to being middle-of-the-road.
Creatures like Lexit Larry Elliot shou..."
I really agree with you Justine. I think Owen Jones signing that letter, amongst many others, to get Suzanne Moore sacked from her position, as a Guardian columnist, was shameful. I'm not a fan of her writing much either, but she did not deserve what happened to her. I want to hear what people have to say, even when I really disagree with them as it broadens my comprehension of the world, and the fact that we don't all see it the same way. I wish I could cancel 'cancel culture'!... and really get a new dialogue going... Somehow I'm seeing a lot of little pigs flying around with angel wings attached!...https://i.postimg.cc/zBJWHKd7/10dbb3a...
Tam wrote: " I think Owen Jones signing that letter, amongst many others, to get Suzanne Moore sacked from her position, as a Guardian columnist,"This was news to me 😑
I didn't think that screeching little bell-end could sink any further in my estimation....
Amelia wrote: "AB76 wrote: "FranHunny wrote: "Amelia wrote: "I've started and abandoned about 8 different books in the last few weeks (none of them bad, I just haven't had the motivation to read them), so I'm gla..."i totally understand, life can drag you away from all your pleasures in times of stress
Harry wrote: "Tam wrote: " I think Owen Jones signing that letter, amongst many others, to get Suzanne Moore sacked from her position, as a Guardian columnist,"This was news to me 😑
I didn't think that screec..."
news to me too!!!...i dont mind him but thats really bad form, cancel culture-esque
Tam wrote: "Justine wrote: "Harry (204) wrote: "AB76 wrote: "its still a remarkable paper"It could be, if it stopped trying to court the left and went back to being middle-of-the-road.
Creatures like Lexit L..."
exactly, discussion is the best way to do things,disagreement is fine, cancelling an opinion is bilge
Harry didn't write: "When I first read the letter, I was not so much outraged as gobsmacked. Who knew the Guardian had 338 employees including not just well-known columnists such as Owen Jones, but also “client-side developers”, “customer optimisers”, a “West Coast climate reporter” and, most mysteriously, an “agile scrum master”? How, scattered across the UK, the US and Australia, could they all agree on what constituted “transphobic content”? I used to skip all articles on this subject. I took no view on JK Rowling, who is also accused of transphobia. I was neither transphobic nor pro-trans. I was just not very interested."Small wonder they had to give Sam and TLS the heave-ho.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics...
I'd like to preface this by saying I too have my reservations about the clickbait-y sheen the Guardian has taken on lately, the fact that its moderation has no oversight, and its recent lack of transparency about how it's run. Having said all that, here are some random thoughts:
- if the G can be accused by loads of pro-Corbyn to be pandering too much to the centre Left, and by the centre Left to be pandering too much to its margin, maybe they're doing something right
- if we pretty much all agree that cancel culture is fundamentally wrong (and so is Suzanne Moore's dismissal), then we all agree the likes of Owen Jones and Larry Elliott or whoever he is should be able to continue voicing their opinions, right?
- if we're not happy with the G, there is also the possibility of not reading it and not commenting btl. What the alternative might be is anybody's guess however, such is the dearth of left-leaning, good quality reporting in this country
- the newspaper industry, even before covid hit, is a bitch right now, and we're all responsible to some extent (I'm sure AB can read this first hand in the book by Rusbridger), and so they need to do what must to survive
- Sam and TLS being 'paused' has nought to do with having an 'agile scrum master' in their ranks
- we're all here thanks to the G, and something they made available to us *for free* for a decade, so maybe a bit more gratitude wouldn't go amiss.
Hushpuppy wrote: "I'd like to preface this by saying I too have my reservations about the clickbait-y sheen the Guardian has taken on lately, the fact that its moderation has no oversight, and its recent lack of tra..."I dont think anyone is saying that Owen shouldn't be able to voice his own views. It's the campaigning to get another columnist sacked for their own differing opinion to his, that to me is/was the problem...
AB76 wrote (#118): "we had a 420 and a 505 but only for instructors to sail on weekends (the 505) or for very good pupils on advanced courses(the 420).we also had a trimaran for disabled sailors"
Wonderful AB, I am green with envy at your cinq'O (as we called 505). One of the instructors had his own 505, and we all looked at the boat when he'd take it out with lust.
Yeah, we used to have beginners 420 lessons, but it was usually a carnage! I was also a Laser and Hobie Cat/New Cat instructor, and these would be much easier of course, although the Laser is still very technical and you need good abs! I loved taking out single-handed a 420 or Hobie Cat 12, both with trapeze.
Love the story of the trimaran.
Tam wrote (#276): "Hushpuppy wrote: "I'd like to preface this by saying I too have my reservations about the clickbait-y sheen the Guardian has taken on lately, the fact that its moderation has no oversight, and its ..."Hi Tam, I agree with that, that's not quite what I was referring to... I might be wrong but I wonder whether, if we disliked somebody enough, then we'd be fine with indulging in a bit of double standard and be happy if the G were to tell them to find another place to spout their nonsense. Anyway, I wanted to clarify because of your comment, but I don't think I will myself continue this discussion; I've said what I wanted to say, however clumsily and perhaps unfortunately not clearly either.
Hushpuppy wrote: "AB76 wrote (#118): "we had a 420 and a 505 but only for instructors to sail on weekends (the 505) or for very good pupils on advanced courses(the 420).we also had a trimaran for disabled sailors"..."
The "cinq0" was generally out of bounds as its a lively beast!
Cowes Week was always fun and a few of us crewed in the races, i would have liked to take the trimaran out but the cabin space was far too small for a six footer, i would either have to kneel on my knees (painful) or balance on the tiny stern area as i described which would be very difficult to sail.
We had a brilliant disabled sailer, he was almost paralyzed apart from his arms, the trimaran set up meant all he needed was controls for left and right hand and off he went. he transformed on the water into an deadly racing snake and was usually trying to evade all instruction or authority! Getting him in and out was very difficult and needed real strength as he was a big lad. I never instructed him as he tended to do stuff apart from the flotilla (usually being chased by lead instructor in the inflatable motorboat yelling "come back!!!")
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Kincaid was another great one for the crime novels but, although he (?) registered here he doesn't contribute...."I think he/she does - as MK, no?"
You got it! I was already registered on GR as that.
And may I add - great sleuthing!
While I am here - for mystery aficionados - I recommend signing up for the Mysterious Bookshop weekly newsletter. (If we ever get out of this mess (I roll my eyes at the vaccine rollout here in WA. As an old person, I am eligible, but I am damned if I am going to spend half my day trying to get on some appt. list! End of rant), I will once again plan a trip to NYC to do the bookshop rounds and some history venues.For YouTubers Otto Penzler is doing 15ish minute pieces with the title - Otto Presents.
Hushpuppy wrote: "Tam wrote (#276): "Hushpuppy wrote: "I'd like to preface this by saying I too have my reservations about the clickbait-y sheen the Guardian has taken on lately, the fact that its moderation has no ..."I agree with you, Glad. There have been many times when I have been annoyed, or even downright furious, at the G, and I skip over a lot of it, but I still find more in it to agree with than in its rivals. And about TLS: what other newspaper/ website has ever offered anything like it? I always read it, the New York Times and Private Eye, and never agree with everything in any of them, but nearly every issue contains something of interest. And as long as I can remember there have been fulminations against the G's 'leftie' bias - oh, the days of its in-your-face Women's Page of the 80s! How they ranted against that!
Justine [237]I thought Katie Balls was a political editor for the Spectator? Anyway, I stopped buying the Guardian years ago. I hate to sound judgemental but it seemed to shift its target readership to well-off London Liberal Democrats, and I got very angry with the generally racist, sexist, ageist Opinion articles.
I liked TLS and some of the Food blogs.
Max (Outrage|):Katy Balls is indeed the political editor of the Spectator, but she writes regularly for the Guardian. Your complaints are the exact opposite of Harry's, which shows how we can view the same thing and come to contradictory conclusions. And I love a good debate, but feel, like Hushpuppy, that I've made my points and will now go back to BOOKS!
Hushpuppy wrote: "giveusaclue wrote (#262): "MK is in Seattle, Kincaid is in Oz....."Gpfr is right, MK is Kincaid, and has been based in Seattle for as long as they've been on TLS I think. There's a Who's who data..."
giveusaclue wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Kincaid was another great one for the crime novels but, although he (?) registered here he doesn't contribute...."
I think he/she does - as MK, no?"
MK is in Seat..."
Thanks, very confusing.
Hushpuppy wrote: "- if the G can be accused by loads of pro-Corbyn to be pandering too much to the centre Left, and by the centre Left to be pandering too much to its margin, maybe they're doing something right- if we pretty much all agree that cancel culture is fundamentally wrong (and so is Suzanne Moore's dismissal), then we all agree the likes of Owen Jones and Larry Elliott or whoever he is should be able to continue voicing their opinions, right?."
The Left have hijacked a Centre newspaper.
No-one would want that Elliot, Jones et al shouldn't be read - but they should be readable in a leftist newspaper - The Daily Mirror exists, as does the Morning Star for leftists views, and jolly good luck to them writing there.
While they are employed by the Guardian, I wouldn't put a penny in their pocket because I'm not a leftist, and if I want to read leftists views, I can choose to read The Morning Star.
"if we're not happy with the G, there is also the possibility of not reading it"
Thank you so much.
Can you recommend a newspaper that people who are sick to death of Lexiters and ID-Politics can read without having to put up with Culture War Gammons?
Harry wrote: "Tam wrote: " I think Owen Jones signing that letter, amongst many others, to get Suzanne Moore sacked from her position, as a Guardian columnist,"This was news to me 😑
I didn't think that screeching little bell-end could sink any further in my estimation...."
Oh, I am pretty sure he could!
MK wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Kincaid was another great one for the crime novels but, although he (?) registered here he doesn't contribute...."I think he/she does - as MK, no?"
You got it! I..."
Haha, so we are already friends then I tried to befriend Kincaid who ignored me. 😆 And thanks for the tip.
Oh Dear! I am beginning to wish I hadn't brought this up. Apologies, I just believe in free speech that does not break the law... and I don't like any kind of cancel culture which is in that in between space where no law has been broken. I support the Guardian for reasons that Justine gave, pretty much, and maybe we should just return to talking about books!...
My beef with the Guardian is that it is particularly selective about which articles it opens for comments (its prerogative of course), how long they stay open, which tends to depend on if the answers they are getting are what they want. Finally, as I have said before, they let any amount of abuse aimed in particular directions but you only have to put certain words in, even in an innocent context, and they mod you. It is almost as if they only want you to preach to the converted and is certainly not a good advert for freedom of speech.Sorry, rant over.
And just in case you didn't know ( and totally off topic!) did anyone notice that my team Burnley ended Liverpool's unbeaten home record on Thursday? 😎 I doubt anyone else cares.
Tam wrote: "Oh Dear! I am beginning to wish I hadn't brought this up. Apologies, I just believe in free speech that does not break the law... and I don't like any kind of cancel culture which is in that in bet..."you made some good observations Tam and thanks for bringing it up. while i am not a huge fan of many guardian opinion writers, i wouldnt want them to be cancelled.
i think the troubling thing, is many of them would be happy to have others cancelled (owen jones signing the letter against suzanne moore)
thats where leftist discourse can be just as bad as the their right wing equivulents, debate is narrowed down or moderated, until its a narrow channel of fellow travellers. i encourage open discussion, always
giveusaclue wrote: "My beef with the Guardian is that it is particularly selective about which articles it opens for comments (its prerogative of course), how long they stay open, which tends to depend on if the answe..."totally agree about comments sections being "steered" towards a certain opinion. They close comments sections on issues they dont really want to discuss, leave them open for hours on others
Harry wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: "- if the G can be accused by loads of pro-Corbyn to be pandering too much to the centre Left, and by the centre Left to be pandering too much to its margin, maybe they're doing so..."i'm not sure i ever saw the guardian as a particularly centrist paper and i've been a reader since 1992. i wouldnt be reading it if it was totally left wing, though the digital world has changed it, as i mentioned before into a more activist, identity politics driven paper, due to the american influence
i'm impressed at the general range of views on the G so far in the last 48 hrs, we do seem more diverse than i expected politically, which is a good sign of how broad the Guardian church can be, as that is how we all turned up here last autumn
Harry wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: "- if the G can be accused by loads of pro-Corbyn to be pandering too much to the centre Left, and by the centre Left to be pandering too much to its margin, maybe they're doing so..."cant think of any sadly......
AB76 wrote (259): "Now i'm onto the South Seas's and Herman Melvilles "Omoo", set in French Polynesia.."Typee is also a good read - set in Polynesia too.
I loved Redburn and Whitejacket. My first Melville was Moby Dick, recommended by the guard on a train I was on. It's on my TBRR pile, but when I don't know.
Mardi is one of his I gave up on. It started well but changed course. I doubt that I'll re-read that.
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote (259): "Now i'm onto the South Seas's and Herman Melvilles "Omoo", set in French Polynesia.."Typee is also a good read - set in Polynesia too.
I loved Redburn and Whitejacket. My firs..."
am looking foward to starting it, the south sea stories of London, Stevenson and Maugham are excellent too if you are interested in that part of the world.
giveusaclue wrote: "And just in case you didn't know ( and totally off topic!) did anyone notice that my team Burnley ended Liverpool's unbeaten home record on Thursday? 😎 I doubt anyone else cares.."I care, but from the opposite perspective! :)
Francis wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "And just in case you didn't know ( and totally off topic!) did anyone notice that my team Burnley ended Liverpool's unbeaten home record on Thursday? 😎 I doubt anyone else cares..."I care, but from the opposite perspective! :)
Oh, sorry! (not really)
Just reached the section in "breaking news" where Rusbridger discusses the idea of Guardian members and the payment situation i contribute a certain sum a month to the guardian since 2018, i felt guilty that i had moved 100% online in late 2017 and that the paper i loved needed some revenue, then the membership thing was created(not sure if it was 2017 or 2018)
i wonder if the net contribution of these members has gone down since covid?
The Little Grey Men. “BB”During the last year, I have found reading old favorites easier than trying new stuff and one thing I did was to revisit books I read as a child. I ordered a copy of The Little Grey Men, a beautifully bound “Slightly Foxed” edition. It was not a disappointment! “BB” was Denys Watkins-Pitchford, and he did the illustrations under his own name. The book was published in 1942 and while well known in England is less well known in the US.
The story concerns three gnomes, Baldmoney, Dodder, and Sneezewort, all plant names, who go off in search of their brother Cloudberry, who went on a trip to find the source of the Folly Brook, their home, and never returned. BB was a keen naturalist and the story is set in the English countryside when it was still unspoiled. It is told from the point of view of the small creatures that inhabited the woods and fields. There is a great deal of naturalistic detail.
I had completely forgotten the plot so there were discoveries to be made. Early on, one of the gnomes begs a ride from Sir Herne, the heron. To land, Sir Herne raises his wings to execute a perfect “stall…in the air”! This aviation detail was totally unexpected and that’s why the book is a classic. After more than 50 years, I returned to it and found something that resonated with my experience as a pilot, of all things! I have observed birds of prey do this many times when hunting, at GA airports! BB's observation shows the story is founded on the way things are.
The other thing I remember is the gnomes’ boat, the “Jeanie Deans”, because when I first encountered Walter Scott’s “The Heart of Midlothian” many years later, I remembered the boat had the same name as the famous character in Scott’s novel. This book is filled with an intense love of the countryside and the wild creatures that live there. And as always, BB’s books open with this old North Country epitaph:
The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power,
The shapes of things, their colors, lights and shades; these I saw.
Look ye also while life lasts.
FrancesBurgundy(295) wrote: "AB76 wrote (259): "Now i'm onto the South Seas's and Herman Melvilles "Omoo", set in French Polynesia.."Typee is also a good read - set in Polynesia too.
I loved Redburn and Whitejacket. My firs..."
I liked Omoo - hope you do, too. And I do read all your comments here carefully!
Sandya (300) wrote: "The Little Grey Men. “BB”During the last year, I have found reading old favorites easier than trying new stuff and one thing I did was to revisit books I read as a child. I ordered a copy of The ..."
Have you ever read Brendan Chase? Also by BB. Typical British children's book situation - missing parents (in India!), rigid aunt in charge. So then the kids escape and live in the wild, evading attempts to capture them.
Justine wrote: "Sandya (300) wrote: "The Little Grey Men. “BB”During the last year, I have found reading old favorites easier than trying new stuff and one thing I did was to revisit books I read as a child. I o..."
No, but I HAVE read BB's "Bill Badger" series! I loved them! My brother is a fan too. I also ordered a copy of "Down the Bright Stream"-next on the list after the book I'm reading now.
Still on Bryson's the body. Got modded in the guardian and don't know why, just cited a Wikipedia article about a woman who had eloped and married a man ger parents disappeoved off with the information that her daughter did likewise . The Guardian gets strange and I am very unlikely to renew my financial contribution
I read "Brideshead Revisted" aloud to my wife. We both loved the first part of the book, though I doubt that Waugh would have appreciated her comment that the second part had too much "ostentatious Catholicism." The characters she best identified with was not Sebastian's mother ("Mom is dumb") but Sebastian's younger sister, his father and his long-time mistress. ("Dad was a soldier. Why are they so worried about the state of his soul? He had his long talk with God years ago. What about her? She's been living in sin with Dad for all these years. Who's worried about her soul?")
Robert wrote: "I read "Brideshead Revisted" aloud to my wife. We both loved the first part of the book, though I doubt that Waugh would have appreciated her comment that the second part had too much "ostentatious..."Interestimg Waugh discussions this week: The Loved One, Scoop, etc. My favourites are still the early novels Decline and Fall and A Handful of Dust.
Snow in London this morning. A good day for settling in with a book, and forgetting the world's woes for a few hours, after several trying days when I've not been able to read. Back to Pastors and Masters!
Justine wrote: "Snow in London this morning. A good day for settling in with a book, and forgetting the world's woes for a few hours, after several trying days when I've not been able to read. Back to [book:Pastor..."snow down in the shires too, lovely to see and creates a wonderful light, also how silent it falls...
AB76 wrote(296): "the south sea stories of London, Stevenson and Maugham are excellent too if you are interested in that part of the world..."I don’t think I’ve read much South Seas literature; I liked Typee in spite of the setting! I really prefer Melville’s sailing books.
Having said that I see I’ve also read Bartleby the Scrivener, Billy Budd the Sailor (sailing but something else as well), and I may have read The Encantadas, or I may not! On my TBR pile I have The Confidence Man .
Bartleby reminds me all the time of Mr Bartlebooth who is one of the many protagonists in my current book. If you recognise him you’ll know why I’m not commenting much at the moment.
And for Justine too, I’ll certainly read Omoo but I’ve never come across it serendipitously, and that’s the only way it’ll happen I think. And thanks for your kind comment Justine – reciprocated!
Justine wrote: "FrancesBurgundy(295) wrote: "AB76 wrote (259): "Now i'm onto the South Seas's and Herman Melvilles "Omoo", set in French Polynesia.."Typee is also a good read - set in Polynesia too.
I loved Red..."
i think it has all the ingredients i would enjoy in a novel, lets see
De Gaulle and his disabled daughter is a touching theme that Jackson touches on in the Algiers days of 1943-44. The General lived in austere quarters, his wife already sensitive to attention about Anne De Gaulle and her many illnesses. (The plane that took Madame De Gaulle to Algiers had to fly low due the inability of Anne to wear the oxygen mask )The modest, dour, naturally anxious Madame De Gaulle was compared in a sexist manner by many male observes to wear no make up and look rather average among the more glamorous wives of the Algiers outpost. (i have to say the contempary observations of many british, later tory politicians, in the book becomes a bit jarring. they seem stuck in a edwardian world of sporting analogies and bizarre observations "de gaulle had feminine hands.......who the hell notices these kind of things, what are "feminine hands" when they are at home?)
One of the british representatives found De Gaulle at his home singing love songs to little Anne, a touching moment, this awkward man, tenderly enjoying moments with his offspring.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
Kipps (other topics)V2: A Novel of World War II (other topics)
The Last Wilderness, A Journey into Silence (other topics)
Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (other topics)
Pastors and Masters (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Neil Ansell (other topics)Jonathan Franzen (other topics)
I think he/she does - as MK, no?"
MK is in Seattle, Kincaid is in Oz.....