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What Are We Reading? 5 April 2021

I couldn't agree more. I was hooked from the..."
Of course I'm reading it in English translation, so it's a little presumptuous of me to make so positive a declaration, I suppose.
I'm planning to soon start looking at a few of the famous 19-century German authors I've missed up to now, and I think a re-read of Büchner's Lenz might be on the agenda too, now that I'm reminded of it again.

Pretty sure I also read it 'back then', but never since... it may well be one of those works which is 'of its time', but doesn't pass the test of time, as you suggest. The cast was terrific, though, so it's no wonder the play/film was impressive.

Gfpr wrote: Peter Brook directed Marat/Sade ..."
I can highly recommend “ The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft”. Still a firm favourite on my shelves.
I had my 1st dose of Pfizer vaccine yesterday afternoon & have a painful arm today, one of the possible effects they warned us about. The vaccination centre was in the mairie (townhall) of the 5ème - the Latin Quarter - across from the Panthéon. Splendid rooms are used: frescos, tapestry, chandeliers ... Next dose in 4 weeks.
The appointment was the end of the afternoon, so I paid a visit to Gibert Joseph first. (Bookshops & libraries have been counted as essential except for during the first lockdown). I picked up some 2nd-hand books:
Next to Nature, Art by Penelope Lively
Women Talking by Myriam Toews
Vent de Sang by Nele Neuhaus (from a series of German crime novels).
The sun was shining, the sky was blue - a good afternoon.
The appointment was the end of the afternoon, so I paid a visit to Gibert Joseph first. (Bookshops & libraries have been counted as essential except for during the first lockdown). I picked up some 2nd-hand books:



The sun was shining, the sky was blue - a good afternoon.

Mary and Marie
While Mary Wollestonecraft is well-known her French "sister" seems to be almost forgotten:
Olympe de Gouges (Marie Gouze) was eleven years older than Mary. Neither came from a priviledged background, but both got a basic education, not that common for girls in their time.
Both were "self-made" women, thirsty for knowledge, both became writers and independent thinkers.
Marie/Olympe's "A Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen" was published in 1791.
Mary's "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" was published in 1792.
All those women who fought for the revolution found that
'Liberté, egalité, fraternité' was for men only.
Marie/Olympe was the third woman to be executed by guillotine in November 1793.

Mine took pla..."
hahahaha, mine is due to take place at the local hospital, which has 4 or 5 GP surgeries pooled within(not mine though oddly).

It mostly covered the years of 1789-92, written in a very readable, interesting way, i think by a female author but its completely escaped my memory....will have a look in my shelves later...

Gfpr wrote: Peter Brook direc..."
Lass wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "On the French Revolution I think it is worth mentioning a play that is probably little known in the Anglosphere. ..."
Gfpr wrote: Peter Brook direc..."
Lass wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "On the French Revolution I think it is worth mentioning a play that is probably little known in the Anglosphere. ..."
Gfpr wrote: Peter Brook direc..."

@Gpfr had the jab near the Pantheon. Oooooh, to be having a verre du vin nearby once again. I’ll just have to re-read Agnes Poirier’s “ Left Bank. Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940 -1950.
Lass wrote: "near the Pantheon. Oooooh, to be having a verre du vin nearby ..."
I'll join you in a virtual glass 🍷. No chance of having a real one yet, though I'm lucky enough to be able to flâner in the quartier.
"Flâner est une science, c'est la gastronomie de l’œil." Balzac
While waiting for a bus to go home, I saw at the bus stop a map with circles showing a 5, 10, or 15 minute walking distance away. Underneath are some suggested destinations with the time it takes to walk there.
I'll join you in a virtual glass 🍷. No chance of having a real one yet, though I'm lucky enough to be able to flâner in the quartier.
"Flâner est une science, c'est la gastronomie de l’œil." Balzac
While waiting for a bus to go home, I saw at the bus stop a map with circles showing a 5, 10, or 15 minute walking distance away. Underneath are some suggested destinations with the time it takes to walk there.

🍷 Sante!

I like serie..."
The three “essential” Hammets you mention are the ones I’ve read.
I also read all the original Bond books by Fleming, reading that, for me, was half pleasure and half a kind of sociological study. I went on to read the Bond novel by Kingsley Amis, Colonel Sun, which I found surprisingly bad. (I thought Lucky Jim a kind of anti-Casino Royale, where the drinking, smoking, and womanizing Bond does so effortlessly with such panache proves to be less simple and suave in real-life practice.)
I read the first Nero Wolfe as part of a “US novels of the 1930s” project, but didn’t care much for it. I understand it’s not considered among the best, but there’s far too many of them for me to contemplate reading any more.






Coming of Age: Munich Youth 1942-73, is covering the initial post-war years in the first chapter and the situation with young male delinquency and female promiscuity
The issues with women from 1945-47 is complex and i look upon it with a cynical view of the patriachal world that was all-encompassing back then.
I feel that german women had been locked in 12 years of a deeply male dominated, conservative and controlled lifestyle, suddenly during 1944-45, the streets and the control of the streets was largely devoid of german men and the message of the male overseeing the female world. It was a shattered world, a desperate world and the women looked to survival, which did include elements of prostitution and promiscuity but i am unsure how much. The young men faced a similar world without male authority or organised events like the Hitler Youth, military etc
My Great Uncle was in the Royal Artillery and ended up being ordered to stay on in Germany after the surrender, until autumn 1945, somewhere near Hamburg. He was a skilled horserider and was asked to look after a large stables of "de-mobbed" starving german army horses. In his memoirs(typed for family reading only),he describes many local women offering themselves in exchange for food or fuel. He was a single man at the time but did find it very unsettling, along with the general rule from his superior officers that fraternisation with any Germans was looked down upon


I'm not going to bother trying to summarise this short novel, it wouldn't do the work any justice. Suffice to say that this is Aira at his most madcap, in telling a fantastic and quite unique yarn. If you ever need to give an example of the power of storytelling, how it can mesmerise, astound, and completely captivate, use this.
I'm relatively new to Aira, I've read 5 of the 22 translations (to date..). I'm thoroughly looking forward to the rest, and hopeful that more of his work (more than 100 and counting..)will be translated soon.
Even from reading these 5, he seems to have an incredible capacity for invention and range in his style. One thing in common to them, is that they have a ferocious climax which is completely unpredictable.

I had long forgotten my response - and very interested to see your review after having read the book.
AB76 wrote: “Coming of Age: Munich Youth 1942-73, is covering the initial post-war years in the first chapter and the situation with young male delinquency and female promiscuity…”
Very interesting post, AB, thank you. I guess I’ve tended to look mostly at the post-war years in England and France, and you’re prompting me to take a proper look at Germany. Towards the end of my professional life I had the opportunity to work closely with a number of impressive German colleagues who must all have been born in those early years.
Very interesting post, AB, thank you. I guess I’ve tended to look mostly at the post-war years in England and France, and you’re prompting me to take a proper look at Germany. Towards the end of my professional life I had the opportunity to work closely with a number of impressive German colleagues who must all have been born in those early years.

The vaccination centre you were at sounds lovely. I had mine in a Leisure Centre with wonderful views of basketball hoops and whitewashed walls. It's a shame the government here in the UK didn't consider bookshops essential. Your book purchases look very inviting!

Friday evenings (if I'm not working) are reserved for some family time and watching a film or TV series as well as eating treats. I've been watching The Handmaid's Tale, which, so far seems to be a good rendition of the book of the same.
I read this book some years ago and, although I love dystopian fiction, I didn't really like this. I guess I was expecting something amazing because I had heard lots of great things about it. There was something lacking in the novel that I couldn't quite put my finger on at the time. Also, I hated the idea of the few remaining fertile women being enslaved as potential baby incubators.
However, the TV series is fantastic - the camera shots capture the coldness of the Commanders' home and the subtleties of the characters expressions help to create moments of tension, fear and at times humour. I'm tempted to reread the book.
Did anyone read The Testaments?

Very interestin..."
I too have read mostly about the french post-war recovery and the UK one, which via my late grandparents was rich in primary source detail
I have non-blood german relatives, who were from Munich co-incidentally, my aunt is german, her family were protestants from the city. The topic of WW2 has never been raised that much as her grandfather was interned by the Nazi's for doing un-Nazi things (helping a jewish family to hide in some empty flats he owned is i think what happened). My parents attended my uncles wedding in Munich, 1974, it was a very drunken affair and the grandfather was there, would have loved to hear what he had to say but i dont think the war was discussed, bad form and all that...
I spent several moments today thinking fondly of Justine/interwar. Her comments were always so warm and so wise, and her own range of enthusiasms so engaging. If my school days ever come round again I should like to have her as my English teacher. I will raise a glass to her memory this evening.

she is missed so much, a presence that always enlivened TLS GR and TLS Guardian...a wonderful woman

The real world starting to sound a bit like a dystopian horror film there. 'People used to buy toys for children here ... those were simpler times'.

The real world starting to sound a bit like a dystopian horror film ..."
used to work near a toyr s r us multi-storey carpark, it was a suicide hotspot...we were about 6 stories up.. the darker side of toyshops..

I read Colonel Sun so long ago I that I remember very little about it but I think my reaction was slightly less negative: not great but not terrible. I might try it again one of these days just to see
The Bond series is very interesting from all kinds of angles, including the socio-political, though I haven't tried any of the few critical volumes I've heard of that focus on it - most of them sound a little light-weight, but probably there's lots out there I'm unaware of .

I read The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis, which I found a fairly light-hearted examination of the Fleming books (one of the chapter titles is "Y*b**nna mat!"). This made me hope that there might be a bit more fun in Colonel Sun, but I found it pretty grim.


Am amazed at my ability to find books that are set in the season i'm reading them in, sometimes planned but mostly accidental. When i started The Hungry Grass i realised any novel set in Ireland would be fairly fresh and bracing in its narrative weather but its set from march to june and its lovely to read observations of nature which i am seeing now, the buds, the leaves, some flowers
A word on Party Headquarters by Tenev, a brilliant read so far, a sort of musing on the state of the last years of communism in Bulgaria, the Chernobyl disaster and the way the communist elites escaped with finaces many Bulgarians lost in 1989 and 1990. Tenev is a excellent writer, its a novel of thoughts and impulses, a thinking novel

There were many testing machines that I have met before at the hospital and the optician tested my eyes at length. Unfortunately because of the vagaries of my condition - they vary with each individual - my double vision became multiple with images and letters dancing everywhere until I pleaded stop.
To be honest I felt that they wanted me to buy new glasses but the hospital had warned me against so doing although she was honest enough to say that there was little to be done about all the extra images, which worsen as I tire.
In the end , to escape, I bought a small but powerful magnifier which may be useful and when returning home ordered a special reading lamp, expensive but print becomes impossible as the day wears on and this is something else to try.
I left the centre feeling quite depressed, hoping for the impossible, I guess, but have recovered my optimism this morning, look forward to getting my new lamp, determined to try an eye patch, Long Jane Silver here I come, to try and alleviate the feeling that I am falling off a tightrope when walking about, will use the new glass to savour a little more Crow and delve again into the mysteries of The Absolute Book once I have made some bread.

Here is a link to the Irish religion census PDF from 1881-1971, for all counties and regions:
https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/cen...
They moved the superbly formatted website they had to another system in 2020, so i was concerned i had lost this data but the PDF fills in well
The change from 1911 to 1926 is fascinating as Eire became independent and the demographics changed with the Protestant numbers falling, although the border counties retain strong protestant minorities into the 1960s. (I have been referencing these stats for almost a decade)

There were many testing machines that I have met ..."
Did you and Justine suffer from same eye conditions CCC, or am i being a bit ignorant? I know she posted about her issues with vision and stuff
Do you use talking tapes and stuff at all? I know my mother has friends who are mixing reading/listening due to eye issues in their 70s and 80s
Here's a link to online events (1-3 May) which may interest people:
https://www.londonlibrarylitfest.co.uk/
If I remember correctly, Justine subscribed to The London Library ...
https://www.londonlibrarylitfest.co.uk/
online talks, workshops and performances by writers including Salman Rushdie, Sarah Waters, Tom Stoppard,
Inua Ellams, Monique Roffey and many more!
If I remember correctly, Justine subscribed to The London Library ...

https://www.londonlibrarylitfest.co.uk/
online talks, workshops and performances by writers including Salman Rushdie, Sarah Water..."
yes she did

To try and give an example, if I see a footballer on the tv, there will be an identical person on his left, a little way away, sometimes these images are above or below as well as by the side.
It’s why I don’t feel safe to drive anymore, not sure which of the oncoming cars is real.
This comes and goes all the time, worse when I gat tired. You can imagine what it does to print, mixes everything up and it doesn’t stay still.
Justine had a more serious problem than I do but she escaped the double vision!
Must say I manage okay, one learns alternative strategies and I can see albeit a little oddly.

To try and give an example, if I see a footballer on the tv, there will be an identical person on his left, a little way away, sometimes th..."
whats your condition called CCC,?

https://www.londonlibrarylitfest.co.uk/
online talks, workshops and performances by writers including Salman Rushdie..."
I was so cross yesterday losing my normal radio programmes to endless guff about some chap who has just popped his clogs! Anyway to fill in the missing Radio programes I decided to watch the docu-drama Berlin 45, on I-Player. Based on real people's diary entries, it follows, day to day, many of the events that led to the 'Fall of Berlin', in 1945. Its fascinating and heart wrenching but I do wonder about the format.
They seemed to have a lot of real footage from the Red Army soldiers side, but a lot on the German sides' diaries were rather strange recreations, in that some harrowing cases were read out in such flat voices. I understand the desire not to overdramatise, when attempting to illustrate historical events, but it left a wierd feeling to me.
I was just wondering if you, or anyone else here had seen it, as I'd love to compare notes and find out if its just me who finds this particular take on history a bit awkward. Though I'm not sure what else could be better? Maybe the purpose of knowledge of history is to be made to feel a bit uncomfortable?

https://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/qu...
I still did not get one of the replies, but admit to it being an easy one...hmph.
All the best for your experiments with the new gadgets, CCC, and congratulations, everyone who has been vaccinated.
Rereading Persuasion was very enjoyable to me.
I was surprisingly moved by the minute observations of people's body language and facial expressions as described in bigger (theatre, concert) or more intimate places (private rooms). I think it may be due, besides the masterful narrative technique, to the experience of, for a year now, mostly having to "read" others via webcam projections, which often show you slightly delayed reactions, and limited body language.
The references to books are plentiful, I had forgotten quite a lot of these. They are fun, too: Anne, the main protagonist, prescribing sobering prose (...) instead of feeling-amplifying poetry (...), while inwardly thinking to her lovelorn self "physician, heal...".
@Hushpuppy: How did you like your reread?
On finishing Persuasion, I started reading "Jane Austen: A Memoir" by a member of her family, but soon felt that I could not really learn much about the author this way - more about the fabrication of her reputation in Victorian times. The latter is an interesting subject, too, but not what I am interested in just now.
Does anyone have any favourite Persuasion film adaptations? I have been thinking about watching one or two.

https://www.londonlibrarylitfest.co.uk/
online talks, workshops and performances by writers including S..."
I have watched it and thought it was very good, i agree that the voices of the german diary authors did seem rather flat and emotionless but i didnt find that too much of a problem. It was fascinating to watch and with all that detail, three episodes over a short period of time, witnessing the total disintegration of a major European nation.
I think that period of 1945 always needs a blunt approach, the german people experienced what the German armed forces had done to so many other people in the previous 5-6 years and the shock seemed even greater in many ways.
Although i am still disgusted at the way the USSR played such a brutal part in the post-war justice and settlement of the eastern lands, the idea that murderous soviet judges participated at Nuremburg is truly awful. Victorious nation or not the USSR was run in a very similar way to Nazi Germany. Issues like Katyn, the halt before Warsaw(so the Germans could crush the polish uprising), the murder of re-settled citizens and the expulsion of POWs were all heinous crimes by Stalin
Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "favourite Persuasion film adaptations..."
The 1995 BBC adaptation with Amanda Root.
The 1995 BBC adaptation with Amanda Root.

I did enjoy it very much. As with all re-reads with me so far (I don't do this v. often at all), it just cannot recapture the first 'emerveillement', but in this case, I still rated it very highly. This is my second re-read and on the first, I remember thinking Wentworth a bit too callous in his attitude to Louisa, but this time, I actually thought he showed extraordinary self-awareness when he explained his attitude to Anne, and to Louisa, at the very end, after the letter has been read.
I can see what Mach was saying about the ending being a bit abrupt (from memory) - I think it could have done with 20-30 more pages of Anne's future exchanges with Mr Elliot, now knowing full well who he is (a la Elizabeth-Wickham), and also how she'd have interacted with Lady Russell. This was definitely lacking, despite Austen seeming to have set this up nicely, by showing twice a delay in reporting back to her godmother what she has learnt of Mr Elliot, only for it to be wrapped up without being shown what I would have anticipated to be some reverse persuasion at play. Perhaps Austen was too unwell at that stage...? I know she was still in the middle of editing it when she died, so perhaps.
For me, this is probably the best love story of all 6 novels, but perhaps not between my favourite protagonists. This time around I've noticed one v. subtle thing I disliked in Anne - but which I guess just reflects the mores of yesteryear - the fact that she would not pay attention to which servant had opened her the door to her friend Mrs Smith, as if perhaps interchangeable or negligible in her mind. That's something I disagreed with inter: I think inter disliked Darcy very much, but for me, you can take a measure of one person's moral compass by looking at how they treat their 'inferiors' (in age, hierarchy, social standing, etc.).
I still love the style - not reaching the heights of Emma perhaps - and the wittiness. And god, she's got such a way with words...
"fancying herself stronger because her strength was not tried"using 9 words where I'd have probably needed to write 3 or 4 convoluted, multi-clause sentences to convey half the meaning!
As for the films, I've just rewatched 2-3 days ago both 1995 and 2007 versions. I think the 1995 manages to be closer to the original and pack more in a shorter amount of time, although there is some fine acting in the 2007 one (that silly ending, with Anne running everywhere frantically is terribly unnecessary however). I really long for it to receive the P&P 1995 series treatment, with many installments!

The 1995 BBC adaptation with Amanda Root."
I have to confess to not knowing really this actress before I watched Persuasion for the first time, and she was a very good Anne. I've just read this week though that she pulled from S&S, where she was cast as Marianne (not Elinor!) Dashwood to play Persuasion. I just cannot picture her as Marianne at all.
Hushpuppy wrote: "Gpfr wrote: Amanda Root."
I have to confess to not knowing really this actress before I wat..."
Mmm, I don't really see her as Marianne either.
I have to confess to not knowing really this actress before I wat..."
Mmm, I don't really see her as Marianne either.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I was looking forward to it, I had a beautiful edition, and yet, this just didn't capture my imagination (if you make a search for "Handmaid" in the 'Search discussion posts' box at the top right, you'll see the conversation, starting 14th of January). I think I may give the series a try still (I can see they wussed out for the cast of the Commander, or whatever his title is, to make him attractive).
Miri/Cardellina has read The Testaments, but she was a bit disappointed iirc (all the more that she really loved The Handmaid's Tale) while Greenfairy/Maggie really liked it.

To try and give an example, if I see a footballer on the tv, there will be an identical person on his left, a little way away, sometimes th..."
i apologise if this is a really stupid question, but what happens re the double vision if you cover one eye!

https://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/qu...
I still did not get one of the replies, b..."
In the 1971 TV adaptation of Persuasion Ann Fairbank played Anne Elliot. At the time I thought she inhabited the part perfectly. Not sure if it would hold up, these things don’t always. For me Persuasion is a favourite Austen, though, if memory serves @Anne (here) disagreed!

Hi Hushpuppy, thanks for this :)

To try and give an example, if I see a footballer on the tv, there will be an identical person on his left, a little way a..."
Recently better if I shut the crazy one . I have been reading/ writing with one shut - this is since it became worse over the last few weeks. Balance outside better one eyed, too. It’s odd, because we naturally use both eyes it has to be a conscious effort to close one, mostly do so when I want to concentrate.
Must say most with crvo do not have these problems but my retina is scarred now, it’s been almost four years now since this started and my sight differs every day, good days, bad days.

When did @Mach write on Persuasion? I think that may have passed me by, embarrassingly - I have noticed when reading eTLS on my phone, I sometimes overlook contributions on scrolling... There's room for improvement!
Just one additional remark just now: I think the not noticing the servant/ person opening the door might have been a rare instance of the Eliot pride, which Anne otherwise does not seem liable to.
Thanks to you and @Gpfr and @Lass for the film recommendations, too! I will try and get hold of them, starting with the 1995 one.

Don't worry, you can't remember it because this was from before you joined on TLS! I can't find atm the original conversation from 2019 because this was one of his previous (des)incarnations, so the profile is not searchable anymore... But I did find a (kind of) re-hash of it from March last year (starting there, read threaded!).
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I like series, although I haven't read that many and most of my favourite Agatha Christies are stand-alones. But I like the Chandler books, Hammet's Continental Op stories, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, the Bond books, etc.
I hope to get into more of the big 20th century British crime writers soon, including the spy/thriller series. I started that Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang overview by Mike Ripley but have set it aside for the moment.