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Weekly TLS
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What Are We Reading? 15 March 2021
Thanks LL, for persevering even with computer issuesBooks on the go are:
The Faces of Justice by Sybille Bedford
The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla
Friend by Paek Naem Nyong
The Longest Journey by EM Forster
I startd Forster this morning and was immediately absorbed into the elegant edwardian prose. Cambridge quads, slightly archaic dialogue and the world of class in 1907. He really has left a deep mark on english literature for such a slim ouevre, he lived a long life but wrote no novels in the last 45 years of his life
Hello again,thanks for this, LL!
The quiz looks great, I will give it a go later.
Have a great week, too, and I hope the computer issues will soon get solved in a good way.
Inspired by Gpfr's, Georg's, AB76's and Tam's discussion, here is a highly subjective list of favourite literary texts on reunification and its aftermath, as well as some favourites on the GDR system. (I have been thinking about this before, as an occasional colleague and I were planning a small literary evening (@reen: with wine!), as a critical, multi-perspective review on the occasion of 30 years of reunification for autumn 2020 - did not happen, as you may imagine...)
I have noted which works have been translated into English - alas, too few.
Disclaimer: There are lots of works I have not read, as, for example, Juli Zeh's Unterleuten, mentioned in last week's thread. It's on the ever-expanding reading list, though. (The pandemic slowed down my burrowing into this.)
Reunification and its resonances:
When it came out in 1998, Ingo Schulze's Simple Stories blew me away. I am not sure how much I would like the book on a reread, but it has been praised by Penguin publishers:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Friedrich Christian Delius' Die Birnen von Ribbeck is a wonderful novella on reunification.
A monologue? Stream of consciousness? In any case, read it and get drunk with the narrator! You can look inside the English-version of the book here: https://books.google.de/books?id=PtBe...)
Thomas Rosenlöcher, Die Wiederentdeckung des Gehens beim Wandern: Harzreise. A writer goes hiking in the Harz (a region spanning both political "East" and "West" of Germany), trying to sort himself out after the monetary union and on the brink of reunification. Many literary and political resonances. Subtle. And containing various funny scenes, too! (No translation into English so far)
Jana Hensel, After The Wall
I am adding this because it is written from the point of view of someone who was 13 years old when the wall came down, it describes upheavals and a pervasive sense of loss. There are more differentiated depictions around, but I think it an interesting complementary voice.
Christa Wolf, One Day a Year: 1960-2000
Christa Wolf's many-page volume assembles diary entries written each year on the same day. I read her sharp-eyed observations, and reserved views on the many transitions, with great interest.
Publisher's page: https://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/one_d...
(Only in part about GDR/ reunification:)
Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation. A century-long history of a house, ending soon after reunification. Excellent read. Recommended by Machenbach, too.
Clemens Meyer, All the Lights. It is a little bit like Trainspotting in Leipzig, but it's also much more than that. Rough, and bleak, but it was worth it.
Christoph Hein is very contested. Regardless, I thought his biting Gegenlauschangriff: Anekdoten aus dem letzten deutsch-deutschen Kriege an absolutely brilliant voice. Here is an English-language description by the publisher: https://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/count... (not translated into English yet)
Stefan Heym wrote his very first novels in English. His wry take in Auf Sand Gebaut (Built on Sand), published in 1990, deconstructs the end of the GDR and its reverberations in small vignettes. (not translated into English yet)
The sometimes colleague very much favours Sascha Stanicic, Before the Feast. He has good taste! (I have not read it yet.)
GDR:
Günter Kunert, Die zweite Frau: Reading Montaigne to escape the 'real Socialist' stasis, marital misunderstandings, sexual desire and mishaps (reading Montaigne can lead to all sorts of problems!) - Kunert's playful irony makes this satire a fun read. (No translation into English so far)
Sergej Lochthofen, Grau - Eine Lebensgeschichte aus einem untergegangenen Land. You'd never believe this happened! But it did. Lochthofen, in this light-touch memoir, tells the story of two states that no longer exist: Soviet Union and GDR. He was viewed as a Russian in Germany and a German in Russia, making use of his intermediate state and viewing his experiences in a Tyll-like manner. A story of family resilience, too. Loved it. (No translation into English so far)
Durs Grünbein, The Years at the Zoo,
https://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/the_y...
(English translation might be coming out soon)
(Description see via link provided)
On the GDR (mostly) peaceful revolution, I think Erich Loest's Nikolaikirche one of the best novels. (No translation into English so far). There is a film adaptation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai..., which I have not seen yet, though.
______________________________________________
Machenbach wrote a couple of hours ago:
"Not unless you want a biff on the mush, no."
Ha. I got the gist immediately, but had to look up "mush"! I won't give it a go, then, as I suppose my profile would not be improved this way. (Snub nose, a source of amusement for my older siblings who called it "slippery slide", running a finger along its trajectory....)
Machenbach also wrote:
"As for Volckmer, yes I think she is settled in the UK and writes (so far) in English. She has said that the German press initially failed to understand The Appointment and weren't much interested. Evidently they've changed their minds, but I don't think there's anything that ought to have baffled them in it really, 'though it's certainly not 'polite'."
I am intrigued by what you wrote in your review about Thomas Bernhard as precursor. None too polite, either (I have been wanting to reread Old Masters: A Comedy for ages).
I will be very interested to read how she presents the "negating difference" argument with the "fresh twist" you describe.
Jokes about sexual fantasies involving Hitler give me more than the creeps, though. Eurgh. But that would be the point, I suppose.
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Hello again,thanks for this, LL!
The quiz looks great, I will give it a go later.
Have a great week, too, and I hope the computer issues will soon get solved in a good way.
Inspired by Gpfr's, ..."
thanks shelflife
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: ""Dang, that's a great post. Thanks a lot
i am beginning to get a bit "exhibition-itus", which in my own mind is when 12 mths of no physical exhibitions to visit and view gets on my tits!All the creativity and hard work has been fairly successfully re-worked into online galleries, videos and other ways to virtually view these things but for me, the joy of an exhibition, especially art, is the actual objects.
Colossal size paintings, in massive wood frames, the scale of a crowd scene viewed at 2x life size and the bustle and chatter around.
Maybe by June it will be safe again and i can do it but i am not sure how they will deal with social distancing and it will make booking tickets for the paid exhibitions harder but i look foward to the return
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Hello again,thanks for this, LL!
The quiz looks great, I will give it a go later.
Have a great week, too, and I hope the computer issues will soon get solved in a good way.
Inspired by Gpfr's, ..."
I know that Thomas Bernhard is a cult figure in certain literary circles, and there will be a reason for it. I just cannot figure it out.
Old Masters (recommended by a friend) was my latest (and probably last) attempt (the previous ones were about two decades ago). I abandoned it before the will to live abandoned me.
Re Erpenbeck: I belong to a small minority, so I better not comment.
We Are Not in the World by Conor O'Callaghan
I didn't enjoy this anywhere near as much as I did with O'Callaghan's first novel, Nothing On Earth. That had an element of horror to its mystery, and was much more my thing. This is much slower and more meditative, and I couldn't get his previous work out of my mind. In this book, not much happens, it is not so much plot driven, and I kept thinking I was missing something, when I actually had not.
Here, the narrator, Paddy, is struggling to get over his separation from his wife, and death of his father. He takes the chance to escape from his depression by agreeing to drive his friend's (who is dying of cancer) HGV to France for a week, with his 18 year old daughter stowed away in the cab. He intends to visit an old flame in the south, from a broken-down affair a few years previously. His daughter has been his only steadying influence, but she is also struggling with life, mentally fragile and possibly anorexic.
If there's a twinkle of light in this dark story, it is the character of Carl, who Paddy bumps into occasionally, a sort of school-bully throwback, but to the extent that its humorous.
O'Callaghan writes powerful stuff for sure, but I am not a lover of novels of deteriorating observations on mental health.
Georg wrote: "Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Hello again,thanks for this, LL!
The quiz looks great, I will give it a go later.
Have a great week, too, and I hope the computer issues will soon get solved in a..."
I like Bernhard and Handke but a lot less keen on Sebald.
Shelflife and Georg. Thanks for the German book recommendations.Before the new thread, your comment about Unterleuten caught my attention so I ordered it. Not translated yet so it got me to thinking why some writers or some works are translated in preference to others. I have read two of Erpenbeck, a lot of whose work has been translated and I find her intelligent, and thought-provoking and though worthy, not a writer I can love. Not sure why.Maybe it is just an impression but I notice non-English language books often seem to be translated into German more quickly than into English. Not sure about that either.
My book group were struggling to come up with book suggestions this month and one proposal was the new novel, Almarina, by the Italian writer Valeria Parrella which our German member had heard described on German radio. Unfortunately, that was a non starter as it is not out in English yet so I have ordered the Italian version as a challenge and she the German, and we will see what we make of it. (My Italian is recent and limited). The English version will be out in a few months so I will get that and see if I have grasped it or not!
Am fascinated by the post-war era of West Germany from 1945-60. The DDR has been much easier to find studies of a similar period, so if anyone has any recommendations for the 1945-60 period in the BDR, i welcome suggestionsI have just ordered: Coming of Age: Constructing and Controlling Youth in Munich, 1942-1973, which will be interesting as it compares three generations of youth in Munich.
Shout out to Cornwall!!
All being well we are taking our motor home to Cornwall in June. I have been looking for "Cornish" books to read, with some success I must say.
So just a quick question here - can anyone recommend a volume of Cornish tales and legends please?
All being well we are taking our motor home to Cornwall in June. I have been looking for "Cornish" books to read, with some success I must say.
So just a quick question here - can anyone recommend a volume of Cornish tales and legends please?
Storm wrote: "Shelflife and Georg. Thanks for the German book recommendations.Before the new thread, your comment about Unterleuten caught my attention so I ordered it. Not translated yet so it got me to thinkin..."I have an inkling that I have said something similar before, so apologies if I did:
As a German reader I have yet to find a book I cannot read in German soon after it has been well received in its home country, wherever that may be.
scarletnoir loved Un certain M. Piekielny. It has been translated into German (and chances are my small local library will get it after my suggestion), but not into English.
One of my favourite contemporary writers (*1944) is Maarten 't Hart. He is Dutch and hugely popular in Germany. I own 13 of his 18 (or so) books, only 3 or 4 have been translated into English. Some decades ago.
There have been a fair number of writers I would have loved to recommend on this thread over time. Only: they haven't been translated.
I might have some misgivings about living in Germany. But as a reader the world is my oyster.
Last week Bill wrote:"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertainment, worth an adult’s attention."
That prompted me to re-read A Wind in the Willows.
I am half-way through. Is it literature? Is it entertainment? Is it worth an adult's attention? Yes! Yes! Yes!
(and the same goes for Winnie-the-Pooh imo)
Georg wrote: "Last week Bill wrote:"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertainment, worth a..."
The Iron Man. Ted Hughes
I am David. Anne Holm
..?Treasure Island
.? The Secret Garden
.? Alice in Wonderland
CCCubbon wrote: "Georg wrote: "Last week Bill wrote:"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertai..."
high wind in jamaica?
children of the new forest
Thanks, Georg. Wouldn’t mind a few suggestions for future reference, if you don’t mind? I will comment on Unterleuten ....but it may take some time! I think it is illustrative of modern Germany (especially compared to present day UK) that the German reading public is so open to works in translation from diverse countries.
Mod
"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertainment, worth a..."
Anne of Green Gables
Emil and the Detectives
Little Women
and especially for Bill:
Tales from Shakespeare
Storm wrote: "Thanks, Georg. Wouldn’t mind a few suggestions for future reference, if you don’t mind? I will comment on Unterleuten ....but it may take some time! I think it is illustrative of modern Germany (e..."
the UK has a long way to go with translation, i think it was a very poor % of books published when i last checked but that was 15 years ago...
Storm wrote: "Shelflife and Georg. Thanks for the German book recommendations.Before the new thread, your comment about Unterleuten caught my attention so I ordered it. Not translated yet so it got me to thinkin..."Yes, I want to thnk Shelflife and Georg as well, I've added several of these suggestions to my list. Too bad some of the most intriguing have not been translated into English!
Berkley wrote: "I've added several of these suggestions to my list. Too bad some of the most intriguing have not been translated into English! "Yes, isn't it? We should start a campaign.
I do hope you will like them. I was a bit surprised to see the ratings here, some of which are not high at all...
Sorry, on my way to bed, and maybe a bit incoherent, but saw this and wanted to "warn" you because of the ratings, before you order anything...
Question to more GR-experienced people: What do you make of the ratings, generally, on this site?
(I don't believe in ratings, much. Same with films. But I am open to correcting this bias.)
What you wrote about Heine the other day was very pertinent, by the way, I have been wanting to let you know, Berkley.
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Berkley wrote: "I've added several of these suggestions to my list. Too bad some of the most intriguing have not been translated into English! "Yes, isn't it? We should start a campaign.
I do hop..."
i'm not a fan of GR really. i like the fact we have found a way to continue the Guardian TLS and therefore i use the site in a very basic way. Adding books i am reading for people to check and get ideas but i have switched off all of the annoying alerts and the rating system is just as unreliable as any really
its a terrible bore to have to fiddle around with all the html stuff, like i'm programming a BBC computer from 1982 as well
but the voices are the most important, the Guardian TLS voices
Georg wrote: "That prompted me to re-read A Wind in the Willows.I am half-way through. Is it literature? Is it entertainment? Is it worth an adult's attention? Yes! Yes! Yes!
(and the same goes for Winnie-the-Pooh imo)"
I was wondering after I posted whether I should have included The Adventures of Pinocchio: Story of a Puppet as a further exception. Probably. My personal reading of it was made more enjoyable by reading a dual Italian / English text (tornagusto!). I’m not sure how I would have fared with an edition more targeted at a young audience; the book I read certainly presented as a work for adults.
I read the Winnie-the-Pooh books as an older child, maybe 12 or 13, by which time I was reading H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and others. This was at the suggestion of a teacher for some purpose of which I’m uncertain: perhaps she was just fond of the books. I’m guessing that, if I were to re-read them, my reaction might fall somewhere between mild amusement (laced with irritation at the twee-ness) and Dorothy Parker’s more visceral dislike. I should say that I do occasionally listen to and enjoy Robert Tear’s recording of Fraser-Simson Milne settings.
I thought when posting about how a lot of adults praise The Wind in the Willows. I have a copy, but every time my thoughts stray near the idea of reading it, I end up putting it off with the idea that it’s unlikely to work out between us. Maybe it’s the non-Shepard illustrations in the Bantam paperback.
Lljones: I read Emil And The Detectives (it was the only other Erich Kästner I could find after enjoying Fabian: The Story of a Moralist); it didn’t do it for me. Is there any eye-gouging in Tales from Shakespeare? (Are you serious that I should look into this? I always dismissed it, thinking it was merely simplified and Bowlderized Bard to give the young-uns an early start on getting cultcha'd.)
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Question to more GR-experienced people: What do you make of the ratings, generally, on this site?"The ratings are absolutely unreliable - one would do as well to use a random number generator. I do often find it worthwhile to look into individual reviews, however, though sometimes more popular titles get swamped in banalities and irrelevancies.
Mod
Coincidentally, when I first saw your post about literature published for children, this edition of Tales From Shakespeare, published by J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1957, was within arm's reach, ready to go into the next box I'm packing from my brother's shelves. I can't say for sure whether this is the same edition I remember from my parent's shelves, but Arthur Rackham's illustrations feel awfully familiar.
As for eye-gouging: see for yourself...
Lljones wrote: "Arthur Rackham's illustrations feel awfully familiar"I’ve tended to pick up Rackham illustrated books when I see them, and thought I might actually own a copy of this Tales from Shakespeare, but don't (I do have this: A Midsummer Night's Dream); I like a lot of children’s book illustrators, and as with Tarot I can enjoy the pictures while paying only selective attention to the matter around them.
After reading some of that version of Lear, I can’t imagine reading the Lamb book for pleasure, and even less can I imagine modern youth doing so (though I am completely out of touch with their tastes). I have a similar book retelling stories from Wagner in prose, The Wagnerian Romances (a much older edition, with preface by Willa Cather), but I don't think that they were especially written with juvenile readers in mind.
As I went through last weeks comments after the 13th, I never saw this article from the Guardian showing up in our discussion:https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Maybe it was in the poetry-thread ...
Michael Rosen suffered from Covid, too, but his outcome was luckier than Justine's.
I was very moved by his poems about his illness - and then I got to the poem "Rehab" - and had to laugh, good to know his humour did survive, too:
"They’ve been worried
about my low blood pressure
but they’ve brought me the Daily Mail
so it’ll be fine in just a moment."
FranHunny wrote: "I was very moved by his poems about his illness - and then I got to the poem "Rehab" - and had to laugh, good to know his humour did survive, too:"They’ve been worried
about my low blood pressure
but they’ve brought me the Daily Mail
so it’ll be fine in just a moment."
Brilliant! That would do it for me, too...
Did the quiz - oh my - 13 out of 100 ... and I should have known three or so more ... *hangs head in shame and looks wistful at membership card of TLS
I am taking an inordinate time to read my 'serious' book of the moment - Albert Cohen's the book of my mother... in part because a worse than usual period of insomnia has deprived me of the concentration needed to read in French (three consecutive 3:30am starts, anyone?), but TBH mainly because of the prevailing mood of the book - gloomy and regretful.I can't be doing with too much gloom at the moment, so it's a struggle, despite the book's brevity. Will try to get it done this week, though!
In the meantime, and far better suited to both mood and befuddled state, I have finished a couple of 'entertainments':
The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths is the latest in the Dr. Ruth Galloway series (thought I'd better include the 'Dr.', as she rather insists on it...). This takes place two years after the previous title, and we find that a number of characters have moved on and up in their careers - Ruth is now in Cambridge, for example. The strength of the series lies in the believability of the characters - they adapt and change in entirely convincing ways - nothing seems forced or artificial in the developments, and neither do they feel like pawns in the hands of the author. Griffiths is also very good indeed at capturing fleeting emotions, such as moments of fear, envy, humour etc. during conversations and other interactions. She also includes interesting incidental information - in this case, regarding the eponymous 'lantern men' of Norfolk, who would lead the unwary to their deaths... for example:
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends...
For the most part, the plot moves along at a decent clip... the final chapters stretch credibility, but Griffiths gets away with it because of the credibility of the protagonists. I enjoyed it (as I knew I would).
Second up - Winterkill by Ragnar Jònasson. This is, according to the author, the final tale in the 'Dark Iceland' series... the sixth story featuring Inspector Ari Thór Arason and set in the northern Icelandic town of Siglufjörður. The snows are coming, and Ari Thór's estranged wife is bringing their son to town for an Easter visit, when - but of course - there is a suspicious death. Ari Thór is torn between wanting to solve the mystery, spending time with his son, and considering whether the marriage can be saved, or if he should rekindle his flirtation with Ugla.
As usual, the characters and the setting are well drawn, and in this instance the mystery elements remain within credible limits - the reader can quite see how things might have played out as described. It's a short, slight book, probably best read as part of the series rather than as a stand-alone. I enjoyed it.
Michael Rosen has written extensively about his terrifying COVID and “long COVID”experience, and in his poem “These Are the Hands” pays tribute to the care given to hm by the NHS.
Georg wrote: "scarletnoir loved Un certain M. Piekielny. It has been translated into German (and chances are my small local library will get it after my suggestion), but not into English."Yes - I am at a loss to understand why this should be. It is not only brilliantly written, but entertaining... what more do publishers want?
I suspect it's a sort of arrogance - there are 'enough books in (British and American) English, so why bother?' attitude - but I don't really know.
(BTW - I hope you enjoy it, if it turns up in your library!)
scarletnoir wrote: "FranHunny wrote: "I was very moved by his poems about his illness - and then I got to the poem "Rehab" - and had to laugh, good to know his humour did survive, too:"They’ve been worried
about my ..."
superb, a hero of my childhood and i read his covid experiences last year, so glad he survived
Bill wrote: "Lljones wrote: "Arthur Rackham's illustrations feel awfully familiar"I’ve tended to pick up Rackham illustrated books when I see them, and thought I might actually own a copy of this [book:Tales ..."
CS Lewis in his auto-biog "Suprised by Joy" remembers adoring Rackhams art as a child and teenager. I actually hadnt heard of him and went to google the images, they were superb
I loved the Wagnerian images...
Mod
There's an interesting Slightly Foxed podcast no.24 The Lives and Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb.
Lass wrote: "Michael Rosen has written extensively about his terrifying COVID and “long COVID”experience, and in his poem “These Are the Hands” pays tribute to the care given to hm by the NHS."During Michael’s illness people were encouraged to put a teddy bear in their window, in reference to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Ours attracted interest from passing children, and is now in the window in grandchildren’s room.
I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago, when he was discussing his book The Disappearance of Emile Zola. Recommended.
"The Longest Journey by EM Forster (1907)" 
This is already a joy of language and expression, in that late Edwardian style that is lighter than the masters of the 1880s and 1890s but deceptively so. Forster is rooted in his time and age, while almost feeling timeless too, the dialogue and slang is archaic but the thoughts and the interests timeless
Rickie Elliott, the main character, in the first few chapters seems a bit of a feeble, , insecure individual. There are strong homosexual undertones in the Cambridge life described, being almost totally male in 1907 wasnt very unusual but there is very little focus on female life or attraction towards women, instead the "beefy" culture of rowing is admired and somewhat despised.
When Rickie meets the fiancee of a family friend (a bullying athletic ex-schoolmate), it is he, not she who is described in detail. I cant quite work out how autobiographical it all might be as i am leaving the extensive introduction and appendices till after i finish reading it.
Like with the Theodor Storm collection, the extra content is superb.almost 70 pages of the 334 is introductions, notes and appendices, if only all novels had that much context supplied. Usually i finish an obscure but brilliant novel and lament the lack of notes, intro or anything worthwhile in the copy i have purchased and sometimnes on the internet(though to be fair, the net supplies a lot of good stuff in that regard)
A couple of responses:Children's books "worth an adult's attention", eh? A difficult one, as "children's books" are written for children - I'd have thought! So - as a child, I'd say that one of my all-time favourite books was Treasure Island, which I must have read several times. Interestingly, my daughters were resistant to its charms - is it, therefore, a 'boy's book'? Kidnapped was another by Stevenson...
I also much enjoyed Emil and the Detectives - as a child, and also A High Wind in Jamaica.
Now - there used to be a wonderful series of abridged classics published (I think) by Oxford - where it was possible to enjoy Moby-Dick or, the Whale without the boring bits (I never got past the tattoos in the unabridged version)... I'm not sure how these are considered...
I also remember reading The Call of the Wild and White Fang at a fairly early age, though I'm not sure if these were the complete versions or not.
As for The Secret Garden, this was given to me by an aunt, but I couldn't get into it at all... I'm a bit reluctant to suggest that there are 'girls' books' and 'boys' books', but maybe certain titles do appeal more to one gender or the other...
The only 'children's book' I remember reading as an adult was forced upon me by a friend at uni - Winnie-the-Pooh. It made me laugh - I definitely wasn't too 'grown up' to enjoy the humour.
As for book ratings - I don't take these too seriously. I try to read a couple of positive and a couple of negative reviews, to get a 'feel' for the style and content. A more useful guide, potentially, is the Kindle approach of allowing downloads of samples, at no cost. For example, I am currently sampling Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, where not a lot happens, rather slowly... the writing (in translation) is nothing special, and I am unlikely to persist to reading the whole book - still less the trilogy!
AB76 wrote: "...almost 70 pages of the 334 is introductions, notes and appendices, if only all novels had that much context supplied. Usually i finish an obscure but brilliant novel and lament the lack of notes, intro or anything worthwhile in the copy i have purchased "I make a point of never reading introductions before the book itself - they can either contain plot spoilers, or try to tell you how you should feel about or react to the work - that is incredibly patronising. Such introductions can be of interest AFTER completing the book, but often they feel superfluous.
If, during the reading, I wish to check on certain facts - such as the numbers of Jews living in pre-war and post-war Vilnius, for example, then I'll do a specific Google search to find the information.
(Are introductions sometimes used as a means of extending the effective life of copyright on certain works? I don't know if that is possible, but I have often wondered...)
What are children looking for in children’s books? Any mums, dads, grandparents got thoughts? There seems to be so many wonderful books for children now.I read all the usual Enid Blytons but among adults her star has fizzled somewhat because of her racist attitudes. So long since I have read them but I have no recollection of any more than the typical views of “posh” kids and I was able to separate myself from that but still want to go on “adventures” like them. I had a beloved book called The Story of Heather, about a horse who gets stolen, treated badly, sold etc and eventually is found again. Aaaw.
I have no memory of “edgy” stories, social commentary, absolutely no sex or gender thank you, and I think the dearth of stories about familiar, ordinary everyday children and situations explains my early move to the classics and the complete works of Agatha Christie!
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...almost 70 pages of the 334 is introductions, notes and appendices, if only all novels had that much context supplied. Usually i finish an obscure but brilliant novel and lament the ..."excellent rule of thumb as i mentioned in the earlier post, is leave all introductions till after reading the novel in hand
supplementary stuff on the net has been a true joy for me in the last decade or so,for example: finding a whole gallery of colour photos taken in 1960 in same locations by WF Hermans supplemented his great novel "Beyond Sleep" with an extra dimension, as did the notebooks of Theodor Fontane and the photographs you can find of places where novels are set, old press clippings and essays too, artworks and so on
not sure about copyright idea....
scarletnoir wrote: "A couple of responses:Children's books "worth an adult's attention", eh? A difficult one, as "children's books" are written for children - I'd have thought! So - as a child, I'd say that one of m..."
i am pretty sure i read abridged childrens versions of "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild" as a kid
Georg wrote: "Last week Bill wrote:"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertainment, worth a..."
Last year I read Grahame's The Golden Age (1895), a collection of connected short stories for children, and absolutely loved it. Looking forward to its 1898 follow-up, Dream Days, and later on a re-read of The Wind in the Willows.
Berkley wrote: "Georg wrote: "Last week Bill wrote:"Other than Lewis Carroll and maybe Treasure Island, I haven’t found any books specifically written for children that I consider, as literature or even entertai..."
i must re-read Wind In The Willows again too,it still makes me laugh aloud to this day, the wit and the style. To read it in middle age will be interesting as well, to see if any themes emerge i missed as a kid, a teenager and since
Pomfretian wrote: "Shout out to Cornwall!!All being well we are taking our motor home to Cornwall in June. I have been looking for "Cornish" books to read, with some success I must say.
So just a quick question here..."
Daphne Du Maurier set most of her novels in Cornwall and i have a novel by Hammond Innes set in cornwall too on my list.
The arthurian legends are another link to the region..
@Pomfretian – If it’s not already on your list, I recommend The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley, to my mind the perfect Cornwall vacation read.
Mod
So just a quick question here - can anyone recommend a volume of Cornish tales and legends please?"
Here's a Goodreads List on Cornwall: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Mostly fiction, but it includes some non-fiction, including one I've read and enjoyed: Vanishing Cornwall: The Spirit and History of Cornwall
My brother's library includes 200+ books on folklore and legends, including six volumes of narrative and legend by Katharine M. Briggs (for example: Folk Tales of Britain: Volume III). I just looked through them - they're not indexed geographically, alas, but they do look well-researched.
Russell wrote: "@Pomfretian – If it’s not already on your list, I recommend The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley, to my mind the perfect Cornwall vacation read."I second Mary Wesley and The Camomile Lawn. 'The Mists of Avalon' by Marion Zimmer Bradley, on the Arthurian legend (concentrating on the women's perspective!) is a pretty good romp as well, if you want a good holiday read, located around Tintagel. There is a rather curious 'Museum of Witchcraft' near the harbour, at nearby Boscastle, which is worth a look!...
To whom it may concern It seems to have gone under that it was gpfr who recommended Unterleuten, not me. I only picked up on it because I had seen the TV series. Therefore all thanks for suggestions should go to shelflife and gpfr.Storm wrote (17) I think it is illustrative of modern Germany (especially compared to present day UK) that the German reading public is so open to works in translation from diverse countries.
I wouldn't single out Germany there.
Arno Geiger's (*1968, Austrian) "Der alte König in seinem Exil" was published to great acclaim in 2011. It was translated into 27 lanuages before it was published in English in 2016 (The Old King in his Exile). He has won quite a few prizes for his work, but this remains his only book you can read in English (and I would highly recommend it).
(Storm, I am always more than happy to recommend books. Could you be a bit more specific though?)
Bill wrote (23) I read the Winnie-the-Pooh books as an older child, maybe 12 or 13...
Can't blame you for disliking them then. You were several years too old. Or a decade+ too young to enjoy them.
... if I were to re-read them, my reaction might fall somewhere between mild amusement (laced with irritation at the twee-ness) and Dorothy Parker’s more visceral dislike.
The iconic witty Dorothy Parker taking on a bear of very little brain in a childrens book?
Hm, that tells me more about DP than about the book,
No wonder Dadaism didn't take off in the US....
scarletnoir wrote(32) I suspect it's a sort of arrogance - there are 'enough books in (British and American) English, so why bother?' attitude - but I don't really know.
I do not think it is arrogance. I think the Anglophone world is a bubble. And the majority is just not interested in the world beyond. I dare say that many are not even aware that there IS a world beyond.
(I don't think "Treasure Island" is a boy's book, btw. My love for pirates goes back a long long way. As does my contempt for girlie stuff. Which was mainly about horses when I was a girl. Urghh...)
@berkeley (43) Thank you for your Grahame recommendations. Love The Wind in the Willows. Don't want it to end...
@lass Thanks again for the Waterson tip. Really enjoyed that.
Georg wrote: "To whom it may concern It seems to have gone under that it was gpfr who recommended Unterleuten, not me. I only picked up on it because I had seen the TV series. Therefore all thanks for suggestion..."on the anglophone world i can only agree that its a bubble and knowledge of other languages or exploring non-anglo cultures remains a minority reading audience but i also think there is arrogance too, with english so dominant in the western world, with music its even more dominant
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
We Were Liars (other topics)The Song of Achilles (other topics)
The Fortnight in September (other topics)
Immigration and Nationalism: Argentina and Chile, 1890–1914 (other topics)
The Complete Maus (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Marilynne Robinson (other topics)Graham Joyce (other topics)
Eric C. Higgs (other topics)
E.M. Forster (other topics)
Jirō Taniguchi (other topics)
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So, a link, a quiz and literary birthdays. That's all I've got!
Have a great week, everyone!
I know there are a few Joan Didion fans here. This documentary, produced by her nephew Griffin Dunne, is both fascinating and heartbreaking. (I watched it on Netflix; may be available at other sites.)
From LitHub: How Many of the 100 Most Famous Passages in Literature Can You Identify? ("Most Famous" rather loosely defined by compiler Emily Temple.)
Literary Birthdays - March 15th through March 21st