Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What Are We Reading? 1 February 2021
Harry wrote: "I find it offensive that as a writer, I couldn't write a given black character and put ..."Mate, I wasn't accusing Beatty of being racist. I was simply acknowledging that if a white author wrote gags about black people liking watermelon it would be considered in poor taste.
Harry wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: "For what it's worth, I disagree too. The name-calling brings absolutely nothing to the conversation. The 'original reviewer' also never said that a white writer could not write ..."
Harry - whereas you have every right to argue for your points of view - and as you know, I sympathise with some of them - I do think that you have got a bit over-excited here (as we all do, online, from time to time).
Would you consider toning down your post a bit? You can still make the same points without going OTT - and the existence of an 'edit' button is one of the advantages GR has over the Guardian!
Harry wrote (#49): "Chop chop, point out the "name calling" in any of my posts."-> Harry wrote (#30): "Why is writing black characters such a big deal?
Answer: it's not, except for boring back-flip bigots like the original reviewer 🙄"
As for the rest, I have seen the perils of continuing a discussion about certain subjects with people who are obviously (and sometimes rightly) getting emotional about them, so I will leave it there.
scarletnoir wrote (#51): "somehow I can rarely stomach the idea of true crime presented as entertainment"Yes, I am with you on this one. Usually no matter how it's done, it still brings fame and notoriety to the perpetrator, which is usually exactly what they wanted in the first place. But in the case of The Investigation, you may give it a go as it has been done totally differently - have a look at the Guardian article I linked in my post to AB76 and see for yourself!
Hushpuppy wrote: "scarletnoir wrote (#51): "somehow I can rarely stomach the idea of true crime presented as entertainment"Yes, I am with you on this one. Usually no matter how it's done, it still brings fame and ..."
I feel much the same way. And I think it's possible that this idea can be extended even further : I saw an article once in Harper's, I thnk it was, arguing that even the most realistic, horrifying anti-war war movie ends up glamourising war in some sense, just by putting it up there, larger than life, on the big screen. And a satire like, say, The Simpsons can end up making its satiric target - in this case apathetic ignorance - seem cool.
But I'll keep The Investigation in mind as a possible exception to the rule.
Hushpuppy wrote: "scarletnoir wrote (#51): "somehow I can rarely stomach the idea of true crime presented as entertainment"Yes, I am with you on this one. Usually no matter how it's done, it still brings fame and ..."
good points both re crime and i didnt mean enthralling as entertainment i was more referring to the science of the cadaver dogs section of the plot and the tides/current etc
i see investigation and deduction as fascinating and enthralling, the actual crime is a crime and is not an entertainment. the process of exposing crime is the key part and yes, i agree that in the drama, giving the suspect no time at all is a very powerful dramatic tool and works very well
scarletnoir wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: I'm... not too comfortable with the word 'enthralling' being used to qualify the investigation of such a gruesome murder.No, indeed.
There have been quite a few recent dramatisa..."
i have posted on here that i like true crime but not in terms of the crime itself, more to do with the criminal procedures, the trial and examination of the suspect from a scientific angle.
i have no interest in the true crime-misery porn industry, i was shocked in 2003 to see how many people were reading books about the Soham murders on my commute, in the days before mass kindle,
Berkley wrote (#56): "And I think it's possible that this idea can be extended even further : I saw an article once in Harper's, I thnk it was, arguing that even the most realistic, horrifying anti-war war movie ends up glamourising war in some sense, just by putting it up there, larger than life, on the big screen."That's an interesting conundrum, I never thought of it in these terms, but I can see how this could be the case... I think there are exceptions of course, especially when focusing on the plight of civilians, and the medium used might go some way too in dispelling the "glamourising" aspect of it (such as Rithy Panh's The Missing Picture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mis..., or Isao Takahata's The Grave of the Fireflies). In the same vein, I long for the day when the media will finally understand that naming terrorists only plays in their hands by making them become "somebody".
AB76 wrote (#57): "i was more referring to the science of the cadaver dogs section of the plot and the tides/current etc"Yes, it was good to see science in action, wasn't it? I kept mumbling "take the currents into account ffs", so it was just a relief when they eventually brought in the scientist from Aarhus University.
I thought it was a brave move not to mention or even see the suspect at all, and it really worked. I hope it paves the way for a new way of doing these true crime shows.
Paul wrote (#3): "2 patents in the pipes and a paper on covid set to hit pre-print servers any day now"Forgot to comment on this - bloody well done! Fingers crossed for the paper+++ (Mine has just been rejected, but it will be very likely a protracted affair since it's starting high and with no big name attached to it... Sigh)
Nice review on the Franzen. Still have not read anything by him, but safe to say I'll only probably give The Corrections a try.
FrancesBurgundy wrote(38): "Georg wrote(23): "Harry wrote(16): I find it offensive that as a writer, I couldn't write a given black character and put ..."
Sorry (I am not a native English speaker): could you please explain ..."
Well, you're giving me too much credit by far, Frances.
The problem is obviously my vocabulary. I automatically translate 'offensive' into 'beleidigend' (insulting), so I was indeed not aware that it can also mean 'disgusting'. Hence my discombobulation :-)
scarletnoir (51) wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: I'm... not too comfortable with the word 'enthralling' being used to qualify the investigation of such a gruesome murder.No, indeed.
There have been quite a few recent dramatisa..."
You fail to mention that other fine actor Jason Watkins as Brian Masters, the author of Killing for Company, the book on which the TV series is based. Masters was hired by Nilsen to edit his voluminous reminiscences, written in prison. The police co-operated because they thought, correctly, that the project would uncover more crimes. Masters explains in his preface how he saw his task.
I have tried throughout to be neither indignant nor exculpatory, but objective. I am aware that this aim is rendered difficult in two respects. Firstly, I grew to know Nilsen very well during the eight months preceding his trial, and this personal contact must necessarily have some hidden influence upon my own attitudes; I can only hope that, being aware of the danger, I have managed to avoid it. Secondly, my account of Nilsen’s life is derived largely from his own words and reflections, written for me at great length in his prison cell. Wherever possible, I have corroborated his memory by researches in outside sources, and there are large sections (for example in Chapters 2 and 10) which owe nothing to Nilsen’s own writing. Moreover, though he has given me full and extensive information, he has had no control over the text, and I have been free to discard or expand, to make my own assessments and draw my own conclusions.I am frankly mystified as to why you should enjoy watching completely fictional police procedurals, but baulk at the examination of the life of a real serial killer. Anyway, I found both the TV series and the book very absorbing, so it's your loss I suppose.
Berkley wrote: I saw an article once in Harper's, I think it was, arguing that even the most realistic, horrifying anti-war war movie ends up glamourising war in some sense, just by putting it up there, larger than life, on the big screen. Too true... for example, the helicopter attack in Apocalypse Now... though that isn't an anti-war film, as Coppola said himself: ...an anti-war film, I always thought, should be like [Kon Ichikawa’s 1956 post-second world war drama] The Burmese Harp – something filled with love and peace and tranquillity and happiness. It shouldn’t have sequences of violence that inspire a lust for violence. Apocalypse Now has stirring scenes of helicopters attacking innocent people. That’s not anti-war.”
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019...
An unpleasant truth is that war is both horrible and (at times, and for some people) exhilarating, as portrayed in Michael Herr's Vietnam war reportage Dispatches.
One book - and film - which succeeds in developing a genuine revulsion for war (and jingoism) is All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, superbly filmed by Lewis Milestone in 1930. Never bettered, IMO.
Hushpuppy wrote: "AB76 wrote (#57): "i was more referring to the science of the cadaver dogs section of the plot and the tides/current etc"Yes, it was good to see science in action, wasn't it? I kept mumbling "tak..."
i found the dogs a nice distraction too...especially the spaniel cadaver dog! a lot of crime investigation is more scientific than people imagine, every scrap of the situation needs attention,every shred of evidence
many crimes are solved by tiny details of weather conditions, the biological processes of bodies etc. this nautical conundrum was a new one to me though, as a dog lover i should have remembered their incredible nasal capacities to sense and smell things!
scarletnoir wrote: "Berkley wrote: I saw an article once in Harper's, I think it was, arguing that even the most realistic, horrifying anti-war war movie ends up glamourising war in some sense, just by putting it up t..."quiet easily the most unsettling and downbeat novel of war is "Under Fire" by Henri Barbusse. he doesnt let up on the terrible impact of trench warfare and both me and my late grandfather (who was a big reader) found it very hard going
FLAMINGO FEATHER (1955) by south african novelist Laurens Van Der Post is a very unusual read for its time in many waysAside from the setting in 1948(just before the Apartheid regime was elected to power), it covers a murder of a member of the 'Takwena tribe,with an ominous message , which starts to signal the return of many 'Takwena to their ancestral homelands. The white narrator is concerned there may be a Soviet link to the murder and starts to investigate
The writing is very sympathetic to the native population and other groups, Van Der Post has a way with words and can be compared roughly to a Buchan/Greene style of writing. So far so good...
scarletnoir wrote(50): "Tam wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Harry wrote: "Justine wrote: "The novel is full of race-related gags that would be offensive if a white person wrote them"I find it offensive that as a writer, I c..."
Salcia Landmann, in her book on Jewish humour ("Der jüdische Witz"), claims that the Jews are the most self-deprecating people in the world.
Accordingly many of their jokes are based on Jewish tropes.
I love Jewish humour, but these are the ones I would not repeat, for obvious reasons.
So this morning it's back to Ivy Compton-Burnett, a welcome retreat from 21st-century angst, anger, ill-health, and the horror world of broadband providers.
Mod
and started reading it. I'm really enjoying it. I went to W.H. Smith's here in Paris this morning and Gale's A Place Called Winter
was reduced in the sale. Further to cakes in mugs/jars, go to Photos to see my latest discovery in that line, also in Smith's. 😉
AB76 wrote: "i have no interest in the true crime-misery porn industry, i was shocked in 2003 to see how many people were reading books about the Soham murders on my commute, in the days before mass kindle,"The locus classicus for true crime as a perversely appealing subject for art is On Murder.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i have no interest in the true crime-misery porn industry, i was shocked in 2003 to see how many people were reading books about the Soham murders on my commute, in the days before mas..."thanks for that link bill!
thats why i love this forum...a book i had never heard of and its non-fiction from the 19th century too!
i have just ordered it!
Excellent article in the NYRB on Bernadette Mayer's extraordinary collection of observations and photographs of a month in 1971, called "Memory"Its just been republished and it fascinates me when an artist or writer concieves of a project that records reality in detail, visually in prose. I would love to have the discipline to do the same thing, to stay " on point" and keep recording and noting the minutae of my life
i am just about to upload one of her full colour snaps of the Twin Towers under construction in bright summer light
the nation on Mayer:
https://www.thenation.com/article/cul...
AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Cyril Hare An English Murder:It’s Christmas Eve at Warbeck Hall and a blizzard is piling up the drifts on lawns laid out long ago by Capability Brown, while inside ..."
Lucky me - I had it unread on my shelves and, after seeing it on some Top Ten Mystery/Crime List, did read it in December. Hit myself up-side-the-head when at the very end I found out who dunnit. Excellent puzzler!
MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Cyril Hare An English Murder:It’s Christmas Eve at Warbeck Hall and a blizzard is piling up the drifts on lawns laid out long ago by Capability Brown, ..."
Yes, that's a good one, MK, and apologies for forgetting that it was you who recommended it.
Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin translated by Jamey Gambrell.
Sorokin is a new writer to me, and after completing this I am eager to read more from him.
With Putin and Russia in the news once again, I thought it was an appropriate time for this.
And if I had any doubt..
...the very same house where French ambassadors nested for nearly a century. The house has been occupied by the oprichnina since the famous events of summer 2021, when His Majesty publicly tore up the French ambassador’s credentials and sent the envoy packing, having enearthed his plot to foment rebellion.
This is a day in the life of an Oprichnik in the Moscow of 2028, where the Tsar is God, and once more on the throne, worshipped by a cowed nation. The Oprichniks were Ivan the Terrible's thugs, a decadent team of raping and torturing servicemen charged with policing interior threats, especially those posed by the nobility.
Andrei Danilovich Komiaga’s day begins in the first paragraph..
My mobilov awakens me: One crack of the whip – a scream. Two – a moan. Three – the death rattle. Poyarok recorded it in the Secret Department, where they were torturing the Far Eastern general. It could even wake a corpse.
There's a little science fiction to proceedings, with the 'mobilovs' (a sort of video phone bubble) and Mercedovs (super fast cars made in China), but the tone of that first paragraph continues, and is the main thread of the novel.
Despite the scenes of extreme sex and torture they have an over-the-top ridiculous side to them, and there is always wit. If there's an allusion to the current regime, its well-disguised. Each time any comparison comes close, there is descent into farce. The scene in the baths at the end of the book being an example; a political assassination followed by the absurd, the Oprichniks taking a type of viagra drug and indulging in sex with themselves, as a group, attached by hierarchy.
This is tremendously entertaining. There's even a satire within the satire, or a pasquinade, as the translator Jamey Gambrell calls it - such a much better word.
We’ll live, we’ll live. And we’ll let others live as well. A passionate, heroic, government life. Important. We have to serve the great ideal. We must live to spite the bastards, to rejoice in Russia….And as long as the oprichniks are alive, Russia will be alive.
SydneyH wrote: "Mate, I wasn't accusing Beatty of being racist. I was simply acknowledging that if a white author wrote gags about black people liking watermelon it would be considered in poor taste."Do you accept that you are wrong?
Unless it is an autobiography, *characters* speaks in a novel, and not the author.
To prevent a white author from accurately protraying (eg) a black racist is the same as stopping a black author from portraying a white racist, and I'm sure niether of us would want that?
Machenbach wrote: "Harry wrote [#16]: "I find it offensive that as a writer, I couldn't write a given black character and and put words in their mouth without being called a racist."Of course you could, and hardly a..."
very interesting mach, if you managed to type or tap that on your phone, nuff respect
(the last time i tried that the auto-predict was inserting some very random words into a whatsapp message i sent my brother on Biden and the senate- i avoid using a mobile 95% of my day..i dont think my lack of dexterity is anything to do with the size of my hands...damn....trump flashed into my mind...grrrr)
Machenbach wrote: #78This is brilliant. I wish I could uptick this ten times.
O.k., fanwomaning over. (I don't call myself a girl.)
AbsoluteBeginner: Thanky for your reply regarding TL&S on Sunday evening! I am unhappy too, but gladarvor did write at the time (in November, I think) that news were not expected until this year (2021) and could take some time, so I try to be as patient as I can (room for character improvement there!).
I agree with you that our non-invasive moderaters are doing a great job of herding us cats. (I am o.k. about calling myself a cat on ocassion.) Also love the quizzes, even though I am not contributing properly just now.
On other pages, I started reading French-language sonnets a while ago. Fun, to me!
Also hoping to write a review on Neo-Victorian books soon. Meanwhile, here is a link for FrustratedArtist and others who might be interested: Charles Palliser, the author of The Quincunx, has presented his top 10 Neo-Victorian novels in the Guardian some years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Many of these are unknown to me... ahem...
If anyone would like to take a look at Victorian humour, here's a link to a competent twitterer: https://twitter.com/VictorianHumour
Some of the examples are pretty funny, others more of historical interest, I'd say.
FrustratedArtist Good point about the dissatisfying ending to The Crimson Petal and the White, which was not as bad for me on my reread. Maybe it is news to you that with Faber's The Apple, you get a sort-of prequel-spinoff-sequel to The Crimson Petal and the White? Some of the most burning questions still remain unanswered, though... Happy to write more details, if you like. I could put them in spoiler links, so as not to give out too much.
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote (#80): "Machenbach wrote: #78This is brilliant. I wish I could uptick this ten times."
It was great, wasn't it? These are circumstances when I really miss the uptick option...
Anyway, your post has just reminded me that you wrote on Sunday night and I didn't reply. What sort of poetry are you reading in French? 20th or 19th century, or...?
Also, regarding TLS, did you see my update from a week or so ago? It's here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Brian wrote: "I'm currently in the midst of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression - which is an interesting mix of (starkly honest) autobiography, popular science and a bit of travelogue."Mention of the Solomon book caused me to look back over my review. I recall coming to feel that it had an uncanny relationship to The Eumenides, which is reflected in the illustration I chose for the opening. I felt that the book never quite resolved whether Depression is something that happens to a person or an integral part of one’s personality, though Solomon himself treated his depression as a kind of invasive condition to be mitigated (mainly) by elaborate daily drug cocktails. Yesterday, when reading this I also happened to read Adam Kirsch’s article on Søren Kierkegaard while catching up on a pile of old New Yorkers. In contrast to Solomon, Kierkegaard’s life seems to be totally defined by his depression and the actions it forced him into taking (or not taking, more accurately).
I think reading The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression also started, or perhaps revived, my still unsatisfied obsession with the Unabomber; what I want is a really comprehensive biography by someone like Jeff Guinn, who did excellent work on Charles Manson and Jim Jones.
Harry wrote: "Do you accept that you are wrong?"I don't accept that I was wrong, because you have completely misconstrued my post. I perhaps should have said instead that I find the recognisable stereotype jokes unamusing, e.g. 'black as prison basketball'. Whereas the one that made me laugh was the idea that black people don't tie knots well - it's the sort of humour Dave Chappelle, who is name-dropped several times in the book, does so well. I'm not angry, and I actually think Paul Beatty would be pleased that people are arguing over his book.
Apropos of one or two of the comments here: I thought it a bit odd that, when BBC produced the first of the Hollow Crown series, they cast Tom Hiddleston (tall and white) as Hal Henry V, Jeremy Irons (tall and white) as his father Henry IV and Paterson Joseph (short and black) as the uncle/brother. All fine actors but........:Did anyone else watch The Pembrokeshire Murders recently shown on ITV. I thought it was a really well done series and wonder if anyone has read the (true) book it was based on? Incidentally the Welsh actor Luke Evans played Steve Wilkins who wasn't actually Welsh.
Finally, and apropos of absolutely nothing, I went for my first Covid vaccination today (the Astra one). So far not even a sore arm.
SydneyH wrote: "I don't accept that I was wrong, because you have completely misconstrued my post. I perhaps should have said."But that's not what you said, is it.
And my reaction was to this specific statement: "The novel is full of race-related gags that would be offensive if a white person wrote them"
You don't see that as *exactly* the same as it being "offensive" for a black writer to put "race-related gags" into the mouths of white characters..?
Machenbach wrote: "For what constitutes racism changes"I'm not clear what you mean by this.
Do you have any examples? I'm genuinely curious.
Are you saying that, for instance, slavery wasn't racist? although we accept it to be racist now?
Harry wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "For what constitutes racism changes"I'm not clear what you mean by this.
Do you have any examples? I'm genuinely curious.
Are you saying that, for instance, slavery wasn't rac..."
The slavery in the 16-19th centuries or slavery since ancient times?
Harry wrote: "You don't see that as *exactly* the same as it being "offensive" for a black writer to put "race-related gags" into the mouths of white characters..?."I think some people would consider it so, though I don't - I'm an unusual person to address on this issue. Though Dave Chappelle had a personal crisis when it occurred to him that even though he was black, and it was socially acceptable for him to make jokes about black stereotypes, he decided it was 'socially irresponsible', which is a whole new layer of complexity to this issue.
SydneyH wrote: "Harry wrote: "You don't see that as *exactly* the same as it being "offensive" for a black writer to put "race-related gags" into the mouths of white characters..?."I think some people would cons..."
The former footballer turned comedian Charlie Williams, of mixed race, once joked "you have yellow hair, blue eyes and pink skin and you call us coloured"
giveusaclue wrote: "Apropos of one or two of the comments here: I thought it a bit odd that, when BBC produced the first of the Hollow Crown series, they cast Tom Hiddleston (tall and white) as Hal Henry V, Jeremy Iro..."great news about getting the vaccine, both my parents and almost all of their friends are now vaccinated too. i think there is a feeling of cautious optimism amongst them all, after almost a year of reduced activity/socialising. while my parents are in pretty good health at 75, they have many friends shielding or in poor health, it goes without saying the grandkids have been greatly missed by all of them (bar the small window of opportunity during the summer)
SydneyH wrote: "Harry wrote: "You don't see that as *exactly* the same as it being "offensive" for a black writer to put "race-related gags" into the mouths of white characters..?."I think some people would consider it so, though I don't ."
So, you concider it OK for a black writer to portray white racism, but not OK for a white writer to portray black racism?
Doesn't that strike you as being... racist?
AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "great news about getting the vaccine, both my parents and almost all of their friends are now vaccinated too.."
Glad to hear it. I don't have relatives anywhere near but have several very good friends who have my back. I am in a bubble with my oldest friends and have been able to have socially distanced walks with others. I think of myself as fortunate really, in that whilst I may have got a bit bored at times, especially during the grey days, I am able to enjoy my own company. And as a pensioner I don't have to worry about losing my job or having to pay the mortgage.
Harry wrote: "So, you concider [sic] it OK for a black writer to portray white racism, but not OK for a white writer to portray black racism?"No. I've never indicated any such view.
Machenbach wrote: "Harry wrote [#16]: "I find it offensive that as a writer, I couldn't write a given black character and and put words in their mouth without being called a racist."Of course you could, and hardly a..."
A thoughtful riposte Mach, doff of the cap to you... but I still don't know whether it is OK to make to make 'jokes' that stereotype, perhaps rather historical, Irishness (me being half Irish), or stereotyping the English, me being half English as well, or whether I just have to give up on making jokes (non-insulting ones!) all together... I really like a good joke, and terrible puns etc. I am loathe to let them go on the 'anvil' of 'political correctness'... any ideas?....
Tam wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "Harry wrote [#16]: "I find it offensive that as a writer, I couldn't write a given black character and and put words in their mouth without being called a racist."Of course you ..."
and I miss Alwynnes contributions, she could have perhaps enlightened us somewhat....?
Hushpuppy wrote (#81): "It was great, wasn't it? These are circumstances when I really miss the uptick..."Yes, it was! So do I...
Thanks once more for the Guardian update, which I saw last week. It sounds more hopeful than feared – though I am not sure what the wording regarding staff means, exactly...? I also hope there will be a way to recreate both Reading Group and TL&S. We will see. It can't be easy. Cutbacks everywhere.
(I am planning to take one week off as soon as possible, because we are still too few people at work and I feel the need to recuperate. Looking forward to reading more fiction again then! And having the energy for writing proper reviews...)
Hushpuppy wrote (#81): "What sort of poetry are you reading in French? 20th or 19th century, or...?"
Thanks for asking! I have acquired, somewhat over-ambitiously perhaps, Mille et cent ans de poésie française: De la séquence de Sainte Eulalie à Jean Genet. It was published in 1991 and "On ne trouvera dans cet ouvrage aucun auteur né après 1910", so the perception of what is canonical may well have shifted a bit in the meantime, but I thought it a good start for browsing well-known poetry.
I first started scanning my way through in a leisurely way, lighting on poems by chance, and enjoyed that well enough, but then I thought this approach too fleeting. So I decided it makes more sense to my limited after-work hours of concentration to pick out sonnets (one of my favourite genres) for a start. I am doing that as chronologically as possible. So today I looked at some by Luise Labé, and tomorrow might be time for some by de Ronsard.
The door-stopper also features a glossary, that is various "Notices" (Auteurs, Formes et Écoles,...), so I feel I can learn a lot from it. I am very interested in drawing comparisons to German and English literature and literary developments at the time.
My French teacher is happy letting me talk about poetry for a bit, too. (I can't discuss the current situation or politics very frequently, as I need some refuge on occasion. This place is one, mostly.)
I hope you enjoy reading The Housekeeper and the Professor!
Also, I hope you are well - as indeed I hope everyone is as far as possible at the moment.
hows about this for a routine "your book has been dispatched" email, i ordered The Moon and Sixpence off betterworldbooks and they sent this:"(Your book(s) wanted to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)
Holy moly! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over half a million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Dunfermline, Scotland already!
I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am? Yours sincerely The Moon and Sixpence"
Ace!
Paul wrote: "Next up, as soon as I finish Franzy will be Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo and or Jack London's Martin Eden."I read Jack London's "Martin Eden" many years ago and really enjoyed it however it was quite depressing. Don't want to give away the plot but if you are looking for something uplifting in these difficult times don't go for this one.
AB76 wrote: "hows about this for a routine "your book has been dispatched" email, i ordered The Moon and Sixpence off betterworldbooks and they sent this:"(Your book(s) wanted to write you a personal note - i..."
Post of the week!! I defy anyone not to laugh.
Harry wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "For what constitutes racism changes"I'm not clear what you mean by this.
Do you have any examples? I'm genuinely curious.
Are you saying that, for instance, slavery wasn't rac..."
What a feeble reply to @machenbachs (78) long, thoughtful and well argued post.
I am claiming the 'privilege', grudgingly afforded to us Germans, to call a spade a spade:
your posts are, more often than not, offensive to some.
You demand people apologise, for no obvious reason (49).
You all but call people who do not agree with you 'racist'(91).
Everybody can see the trajectory you are on.
"More of your conversation would infect my brain"
AB76 wrote: "(I'm not really ginger anyway, i'm a kind of light red colour with blond flecks)"I think " strawberry blonde" is the description you are looking for :)
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (other topics)A History of the World in 10½ Chapters (other topics)
Bengal Nights (other topics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (other topics)
The Proof (other topics)
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César Aira (other topics)César Aira (other topics)
Jonathan Coe (other topics)
Simon Blackburn (other topics)
Henri Bosco (other topics)
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No, indeed.
There have been quite a few recent dramatisations of 'true murder' stories, including one with David Tennant as serial killer Dennis Nilsen (Des). Although I can cheerfully watch any number of fictional cop/crime shows, and am currently working my way through Spiral/Engrenages, somehow I can rarely stomach the idea of true crime presented as entertainment, no matter how tastefully done (is that possible?) or well acted. I rather doubt that I'll watch these programmes.