What Are We Reading? 21 June 2021

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "Lljones wrote: "A note about the Reading Justine tribute page: I encourage you to add your own tribute or story about how you first encountered Justine.

Because this page is outward-facing, pleas..."

i am suprised we have lost regulars like mach and villefuefe, have they commented much on the guardian since they vanished from here?

we certainly lost the more meandering posts from the Guardian TLS which was welcome and random flamers popping up

[Reen]

Lljones wrote: "At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine, being installed today:



(photo of plaque installed in library…)

The library is located..."

What a fitting tribute to Justine. Thanks Lisa and to all the anons on making such a meaningful memorial to Interwar. R

[Tam]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: the problem is that brexit has released the xenophobic mania that was always less than dormant

I cannot get upset about the football hooligans, tbh. They have always been there, they ..."

The country is still here Georg, much diminished, but many of us are still the same, maybe a bit sadder, but we have to live with some hope in our hearts and look for the good in the world, which is still there I think. If maybe a bit hidden these days...

[scarletnoir]

Russell wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "...I think you mean Blacktop Wasteland... ."

You’re right, Blacktop Wasteland. You might want to look at a copy in a bookshop if you can find one. I nearly didn’t bother myself..."

Are you suggesting that it might read better on paper than in an e-reader, or that I may be seduced by the cover picture? ;-)

[CCCubbon]

Georg wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Good morning Georg
Yes, they are the hooligans. The way our election works gave the Conservatives, Boris Johnson et al, a huge majority yet they only got 43,6% of the vote. In othe..."

Maybe it’s because I have seen so many other things come and go that I believe these will go too. Who now remembers the battles between the Mods and the Rockers, the Teddy boys, Flower power, and the like, all headlines in the tabloids foretelling the doom of society. Who remembers some awful politicians and their scandals? Who thinks about the miners’ strikes, Thatcher’s erosion of communities except when they keep trying to put up yet another statue. Things change. Johnson has all the hallmarks of a fly by night , he won’t stay around for long.
The football hooligans are worse at present because they have been in lockdown for so long. I am reminded of how I used to watch the cows being let out into the pasture after winter for the first time, how they would charge around almost leaping for joy.
Our present difficulties largely stem from the craziness of Brexit and people are only just beginning to see and feel the consequences but still trying to justify it all. Once Johnson goes I am sure you will see a change in attitude towards Europe again for the better.

[AB76]

From Germany to Germany 1990 is Gunter Grass's account of the year of German unification, the final joining of that great nation back together and something i always wanted

Grass is canny and cautious about what the unification may look like,questions of the basic law and what it will all mean for neighbouring countries like Poland. Its like reading about a collection of politicians who have long been forgotten as he namechecks "ossie" and "wessie" characters.

Willy Brandt is key player in the early 1990 entries as a senior SPD politician and Grass attends an early east german socialist party conference, staying with a local pastor in Leipzig. He walks the old town and observes soviet military activity, possibly preparing to pull out

The only annoying thing is he keeps discussing and mentioning a novel he is writing, it results in sections that end with an imaginary tale but told as if it was true, that could have been avoided, very few other diaries i have read in last 12 mths, have constant references to plots of novels incubating in the soul

I'm reading it slowly and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

[[deleted user]]

scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "...I think you mean Blacktop Wasteland...Are you suggesting that it might read better on paper than in an e-reader..."

I was thinking that a download sample might only give you 4-5 pages, and it does get better.

I am sometimes a sucker for the cover, but I don't think this one would sell anyone a copy!

[AB76]

CRIME-MYSTERY NOVELS...discuss..

The balance of a crime or mystery novel is important but almost impossible to achieve in my thinking, once the mystery that intrigues you has been revealed, once the unbearable search for the puzzles in the text in front of you are de-mystified, it’s the end of the affair, the decompression sets in and now the mystery or the crime has to be as good in explanation as it was in opacity.

[Georg]

CCCubbon wrote: "Georg wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Good morning Georg
Yes, they are the hooligans. The way our election works gave the Conservatives, Boris Johnson et al, a huge majority yet they only got 43,6% of the..."

I see blatant corruption on a scale that now surpasses countries that have been infamous for being corrupt for a long time.
I see the attack on democratic values and democratic instititutions, bit by bit, or bite by bite.
I see the contempt for human rights and the resulting efforts to get rid of them.
I see poverty on a level that should put any Western European country to shame.

I see an electorate that approves whatever the Tories do, however scandalous or disgusting it is. They will watch the destruction of everything that is worth anything, like the NHS, with the same equanimity cows show for passing traffic.

On the whole I think England is much closer to the US than it is to the rest of Europe. You'll follow in their footsteps. So Brexit makes some sense, after all.
An article in the G yesterday explained how the Republicans can win the next election purely by gerrymandering. England has FPTP. Both are borderline democracies in danger of turning into authoritarian states.

Maybe things will change. But it might be too late.

[Georg]

AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles.

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles."

i guess it depends a lot on where you come to it from, as a pro-German i was keen to see the divisions ended and a new stronger, larger germany back at the heart of europe

Right wing neo-liberals will have seen it as a chance to plunder the DDR and its socialist base(which they did), while the left wing and progressives will lament how a chance to temper the free market march of the BDR was lost.

[AB76]

Just recieved my first issue of the newly re-launched "Jewish Quarterly".
i'm not jewish but very interested in jewish culture and thinking, i subscribed to Haaretz Weekend , in print, for 18 months, it was a great read and never dissapointed. then they suddenly didnt offer it in print and tried to shunt me into an online version and i never bothered again. Now i dont read print newspapers at all....until the pandemic i enjoyed FT Weekend but i havent read it for 14 months

[AB76]

Somebody of this parish recommended The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen to me last year and finally i am about to read it.

Rugen has always fascinated me since i discovered the CDF paintings of the chalk cliffs and this novel(written in 1904) should be an interesting Wilhelmine era read, albeit from an english perspective. Von Arnim's other Prussian set novel is on my list too

[Georg]

AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles."

i guess it depends a lo..."

Sorry, but it doesn't depend on "where you come from". Fact is that the division has not ended. Thirty years on there is still division.

while the left wing and progressives will lament how a chance to temper the free market march of the BDR was lost.

Discounting the GDR-financed and wholly irrelevant DKP the German left in general has never had any sympathies whatsoever for GDR/USSR-style socialism. And they weren't even in government. So what/whose imaginary chance are you talking about?

[Georg]

Andy wrote(177): "The Field by Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins.
An old man sits in a field in a forgotten and no longer looked after ..."

I have given up on The Field about half way through. I have a soft spot for Austrian authors, and Seethaler is a good writer. But I thought the story of the priest was over-egged and the rest was boring. Maybe I missed something.

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles."

i guess it..."

i didnt mean DDR style communism. Grass himself was a fan of SDP style government, nothing to do with communism , rather a form of Socialism and i would imagine that not being in government is rarely an impediment to dreaming about a spell in government!

i have Berlin friends who feel there is still division, some of them are fairly hostile to the events of 1990,usually generational. from across the channel, i am just glad the mighty German nation is one again

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "Andy wrote(177): "The Field by Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins.
An old man sits in a field in a forgotten and no lo..."

i love german fiction, austrian, swiss or german, i have found Seethaler horribly over rated

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Georg wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Good morning Georg
Yes, they are the hooligans. The way our election works gave the Conservatives, Boris Johnson et al, a huge majority yet they only..."

the tories have very little chance of losing power in the next decade and their outdated, xenophobic little englander routine is now seen as patriotic pride and a display of anti-woke defiance. They will be able to build their cloth eared little empire of australian meat and wine, new zealand lamb and other 1960s oddities, while neglecting anything that creates a more equal society

i'm 45 and this nation was a rotten limb of a tree called "lost empires" the year i was born, its heading back to that time now but with 20% less world influence and a lot less North Sea Oil.

[Georg]

AB76 wrote: SDP style government, nothing to do with communism , rather a form of Socialism

SPD and Socialism??? Hm...in order to connect the two you'd have to go back to August Bebel, I think.

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: SDP style government, nothing to do with communism , rather a form of Socialism

SPD and Socialism??? Hm...in order to connect the two you'd have to go back to August Bebel, I think."

ah,very good point Georg, yes the Bebel years were the promise, up to 1914. i think my point on 1990 is that the left would have liked something less akin to plundering the eastern German state, however moderate or radical a leftist they were

i look back on a lot of the cowboy privatisations of the 1989-93 period, across the former commi nations and wince, it was almost as if the Milton Friedman acolytes had a free run on a china shop, profits guaranteeed, for anyone but the common man

[MK]

AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles."

i guess it depends a lo..."

I am a big fan of the NYTimes The Daily podcast. lately on Fridays they have been airing another which is a series called Day X. If you are not a subscriber you might be able to listen to a couple of parts today and continue tomorrow - since it is a new month. Day X is about the right wing - especially in the German military.

I suspect it is similar here in the States - except we have not begun to scratch the surface.

Here's the link - https://www.nytimes.com/column/day-x

[AB76]

MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: and 1990 was a magical year for ending the division of Germany once and for all

No, it wasn't. You're looking at it with rose-tinted spectacles."

i guess it..."

thanks MK

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me! It's still raining... but the dog needs a walk, so..."
..."
Colder, moister air rolled in, along with layers of cloud. Temperature fell about 40 degrees F. below peak.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me! It's still raining... but the dog needs a ..."

that is great news, i can feel your relief. i hope the Pacific NW now has a temperate July and August as it should have, with no more heatwaves!

[Robert]

According to an item in the Seattle Times, only 44% of Seattle homes have AC installed-- the least of any metro area in the US.

[[deleted user]]

L’Illusion Comique – Pierre Corneille

He wrote several comedies in addition to the more famous tragic dramas. This the first I’ve tried and once you get used to the declamatory speeches it is indeed very comical. It’s a ridiculous tale of a magician and six lovers, albeit with a painful twist, and then an even more ridiculous conclusion. But all is justified by one hilarious character, a loudmouth gascon captain called Matamore who takes the cake for bombast.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "According to an item in the Seattle Times, only 44% of Seattle homes have AC installed-- the least of any metro area in the US."

thats impressive, i would have thought it would be lower as that city and Vancouver have the sort of climate i would enjoy, where air-con isnt needed

air con % in uk are much lower, standing at 0.5% in 2008 but almost all offices are air-con now i think

[scarletnoir]

Russell wrote: "I was thinking that a download sample might only give you 4-5 pages, and it does get better."

The sample is supposed to represent some 50 min of reading, so it was of a decent length. As I say, it wasn't bad at all, and I may yet read it... much better than most of the other books I've sampled recently. It was a marginal decision.

(One sample I downloaded consisted entirely of most of a lengthy introduction by someone other than the author! You will not be surprised to learn that I didn't buy that one.)

[scarletnoir]

Georg wrote: "On the whole I think England is much closer to the US than it is to the rest of Europe. You'll follow in their footsteps. So Brexit makes some sense, after all.
An article in the G yesterday explained how the Republicans can win the next election purely by gerrymandering. England has FPTP. Both are borderline democracies in danger of turning into authoritarian states."

Unfortunately, you are not wrong in this or in the rest of your comments. I have never minded paying my taxes - until now, when it appears as if a substantial part of anything goes into the pockets of Tory supporting billionaires or companies, who then return the favour by funding the party. The scale of dicey contracts awarded during COVID beggars belief.

In the meantime, they want to introduce a US-style photo ID requirement to vote, and another statute to limit the right to demonstrate.

What a bunch of crooks.

[Sandya]

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me! It's still raining... but t..."

I lived in Seattle from 1999-2003, moving there from Los Angeles and I was amazed by how blastingly hot the summers were. I had to move down to the basement of my house in the summer as I had no A/C and the heat was intolerable. Much worse than Orange County. "Temperate July and August"? That was absolutely not my experience. I lived near the U District. People think Seattle is damp, cool, and rainy most of the time-it is simply not true. Further, old-timers I spoke to said it had never been that way earlier, but rather warm, clear, and dry for longer periods. I do not doubt climate change is happening but I wonder if the situation in the Pacific NW is not one of degree rather than kind. I hated summer in Seattle.

I get very tired of the sensationalization in the news, combined as it is with ignorance of science and short memories.

[AB76]

Sandya wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me! It's still rai..."

compared to the SE England climate, while the Pacific NW shares the milder winters and autumns, it is a lot more consistently warm than the UK during the summer, though nothing like the freak temperatures of the last 10 days

Vancouver too, while sharing mild winters for its latitiude has much warmer summers on average than the UK. Up[ till the last week, if there was anywhere i could live in the New World that shares the UK climate(summer excepted), it would b Vancouver

[Robert]

Sandya wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me! It's still rai..."

In the western part of the state, where the mountains create all sorts of microclimates, the general rule is that we have about two months of hot summer weather. (When my family first moved to Olympia, south of Seattle in western Washington, we had 40 days and 40 nights of winter rain-- my father was counting-- and he worried that he shouldn't have accepted a transfer. )

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "Lljones wrote: "A note about the Reading Justine tribute page: I encourage you to add your own tribute or story about how you first encountered Justine.

Because this page is outward..."

I remember the mystery comment from a man who didn't read, didn't like book columns, didn't like readers... an odd rant for a Books section. Another curmudgeon and I went after him....

[MK]

Continuing the weather theme, I hadn't gotten beyond how warm it was (for me) until I saw that British Columbia also was hit rather badly. That little town of Lytton, BC, that broke heat records is no more. A wildfire wiped it out yesterday. How awful!

[Robert]

A summer wildfire in the mountains is a serious thing out here. There were major wildfires in Canada, Idaho, and Montana over a century ago.
There was a town in the Idaho mountains that serviced miners and loggers. Taverns and houses of prostitution abounded. When then-President Taft passed through on a western swing, he pronounced the place the worst town he'd ever seen. The residents renamed the town Taft in his honor. Drought and heat left forest river beds as trails of mud.
A great wildfire later wiped out Taft and all around it. (And much in other states.) People took shelter in dry wells and abandoned mines. I would have done that if it had been my choice; I would have died right along with them.

[Robert]

Egan, Timothy, (2009). - The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, is a thrilling account of the infant US Forest Service and the hurricane force fires they fought in 1910.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "Sandya wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Wish we could trade weather for a day or two."

Anything much above 30C is too much for me!..."

i think the scientific classification would be that the Pacific NW is in a warmer climate zone due to its summers, than it would be without them if that makes sense. Temperate in maybe 7 months of the year opposed to UK, Ireland and NW Spain and France, where its temperate for 12 mths with mild summers and cool but not cold winters

[AB76]

The Feb issue of Past and Present had a very interesting essay on "civil" executions or "public death" in Tsarist Russia in the 1860s and 1870s

Russian law came direct from the monarch and the idea of the "civil" execution was to humiliate the victim, whose punishment was to be publicy and visibly stripped of all civil honours and standing, before the inevitable exile to SIberia

Initially in the period studied, it performed its task well,a display of Tsarist might against its enemies but slowly the public displays became risky for the police and authorities as they became opportunities for dissent to be encouraged, the victims could shout and harangue Tsardom from the scaffold. Examples of victims smiling with contempt became alarming to the authorities and public executions became less common

Eventually the public display faded and the "civil execution" was removed from the judicial statutes in 1878. Siberian exile continued but without the civil executions and of course if the victims had no social standing anyway, how would the executions have any effect?

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "The Feb issue of Past and Present had a very interesting essay on "civil" executions or "public death" in Tsarist Russia in the 1860s and 1870s."

That has some interest for me, as Dostoyevsky was arrested and sent Siberia (with the Tsar's direct involvement) in the slightly earlier year of 1849. He and his fellow so-called 'conspirators' had to survive a mock execution (they were 'reprieved' at the last moment, and then sent to Siberia). D.' s experiences are graphically recounted in a fictionalised account - The House of the Dead.

In the meantime, I continue to make slow progress through the Terror Tu montreras ma tête au peuple; I'm enjoying it (if that's the word) but life has been busy...

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "The Feb issue of Past and Present had a very interesting essay on "civil" executions or "public death" in Tsarist Russia in the 1860s and 1870s."

That has some interest for me, as Dos..."

i loved "the house of the dead"

[MK]

Robert wrote: "Egan, Timothy, (2009). - The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, is a thrilling account of the infant US Forest Service and the hurricane force fires they fought in 1910."

Thanks for that. One of six downloadable copies was available at the library. Now downloaded for transfer to MP3 player which can be listened to on yard weeding forays.

[CCCubbon]

Flea constipation

Little did I think that I would be reading about flea constipation when starting Alice Roberts book called Ancestors.

It is mentioned when discussing the way that archaeology and genetics combine now, how investigating the DNA of ancient bones tells us about the diseases suffered by those people when alive.

One finding that you may have read about is that plague is/was a much older disease than had been previously thought, dating back into prehistory.
Here comes in the flea. This fascinated me and I wanted to share it with you.

If a flea bites an infected rodent the bacteria enters the flea and clogs together, blocks up the flea making it constipated, unable to pass faeces. Subsequently the flea begins to starve, desperate for food it will bite anything and in doing so regurgitate the plague bacteria into the newly bitten.

Constipated fleas regurgitating plague into the wound. Now there’s a nasty thought, even nastier if you were the new bacteria host.

[MK]

CCCubbon wrote: "Flea constipation

Little did I think that I would be reading about flea constipation when starting Alice Roberts book called Ancestors.

It is mentioned when discussing the way that archaeology a..."

What a picture! It is so refreshing when I read something and chuckle.

[Hushpuppy]

Look at what I've found online!

Amazing, most of the books from @inter's little library are already gone... I hope people remember of placing some of their own in there when they get a chance, or once they're done reading the ones they've picked. If I were around London, I'd donate quite a few too!

[giveusaclue]

MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Flea constipation

Little did I think that I would be reading about flea constipation when starting Alice Roberts book called Ancestors.

It is mentioned when discussing the way t..."

Glad I had finished my dinner!

[giveusaclue]

Back from holiday in the Forest of Dean. I have just finished reading


and here is my review:

I really enjoyed the first few books in the series, then felt there was a drop in quality in the last couple. This, however, is back with the best of them. Steiner, who appeared in the last book is on a killing spree and staying one step ahead of the police. He has a personal and scary interest in Nick Dixon. As the bodies mount Nick finds himself under pressure from above to get a result from budget conscious ACCs and immediate superiors, and is thwarted constantly by his old nemesis Simon Chard. Problems with his diabetes help to build the the suspense even further.

I have now moved straight on to the next in the series


So far so good.

Before that I read


I had read Lethal Witness By Andrew Rose which was a real hatchet job to be honest. The Colin Evans book covered a lot of the ame ground, obviously, but missed out some of his more contentious cases (funny that!), I feel because he had a bit of hero worship for Spilsbury. I guess the truth may well lie somewhere in the middle.

[MK]

Hushpuppy wrote: "Look at what I've found online!

Amazing, most of the books from @inter's little library are already gone... I hope people remember of placing some of their own in there when they get a chance, or ..."

I'm going to blame this Google foray of mine on you. I have no idea if there is a connection but - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_F...

[[deleted user]]

Hushpuppy wrote: "Look at what I've found online!"

I haven't been around for a while and have some catching up to do. This is exactly the sort of thing I never find on my own, so really appreciate you posting the link.
Hello to everyone. Give me a while to catch up!
On my iPad, so heaven knows how this will format.

[Lljones]

MK wrote: "Hushpuppy wrote: "Look at what I've found online!

Amazing, most of the books from @inter's little library are already gone... I hope people remember of placing some of their own in there when they..."

Yes, that's Justine's father.

[Lljones]

Hushpuppy wrote: "Look at what I've found online!

Amazing, most of the books from @inter's little library are already gone... I hope people remember of placing some of their own in there when they get a chance, or ..."

Library is to be reloaded this weekend. I suspect it's a matter of people discovering it for the first time, not carrying books with them. We're all very pleased with the success, and have had wonderful feedback from the neighborhood.