What Are We Reading? 5 July 2021

[Sandya]

scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "The Dictionary was an enterprise I had been involved with from the publication of the first words in 1884 to the publication of the last. I am told that few in that room could clai..."

It is pathetic and disgraceful. Talking of dinners, this is how I think of religion. Everyone who joins a religion pays a $30 entrance fee. For this, men receive: an hors d'oeuvre, a bowl of hearty beef stew, with trimmings, a salad, a glass of wine, and a dessert. Women receive a fast food hamburger.

[Greenfairy]

scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "The Dictionary was an enterprise I had been involved with from the publication of the first words in 1884 to the publication of the last. I am told that few in that room could clai..."

scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "The Dictionary was an enterprise I had been involved with from the publication of the first words in 1884 to the publication of the last. I am told that few in that room could clai..."
A fast food hamburger? The crumbs from the tablecloth more like .

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "The reviewers seem split on the book's merits, with some complaining of an excess of information about the family's cultural background, whereas others see that as essential to understanding their opposition.

I found Fest’s description of the Bildungsbürger fascinating, no doubt in part because it retrospectively provided a conceptual model for my own youthful attempts at self-education in the humanities, which were in some ways similar and in others quite different.

[giveusaclue]

Robert wrote"Still on the road toward Moscow, with winter setting in...."

Should have had a word with Napoleon before setting off!!

[AB76]

Truly horrible heat in the shires...the fourth day of 29c, with night temps at 20c minimum. Feels brutal, no relief, even if the midnight air feels cooler its only relative

Its now the third time this has happened in 3 years and matches the intensity of a week last year. Utterly fed up

[giveusaclue]

AB76 wrote: "Truly horrible heat in the shires...the fourth day of 29c, with night temps at 20c minimum. Feels brutal, no relief, even if the midnight air feels cooler its only relative

Its now the third time ..."

Massive claps of thunder here in the E. Midlands, but no rain yet.

[AB76]

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Truly horrible heat in the shires...the fourth day of 29c, with night temps at 20c minimum. Feels brutal, no relief, even if the midnight air feels cooler its only relative

Its now th..."

i just cant believe we have one more stinking hot day ahead and then another which would be considered hot on Thursday.

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "Robert wrote"Still on the road toward Moscow, with winter setting in...."

Should have had a word with Napoleon before setting off!!"

Or read history or listened to (take your choice) - Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

[Robert]

Storm wrote: "Late to the party. Managed to get away for a wee while and ….what a joy! To leave the confines of home and the home area with friends. What a treat. If you haven’t been to the Fairy Glen, at Rosema..."

Earl Rognvald laid it on rather thick, didn't he?

[Robert]

Tam wrote: "And I have to add that privilege is relative. There is a lot of evidence that Sally Hemming's family were certainly privileged compared to the other black slave families that lived at Monticello, s..."

There was a legend in the Hemmings family that, when Martha Jefferson was dying, Betty Hemmings and her children stood in the sickroom, near her husband Thomas and their children. They heard Martha remind her husband that she outlived two stepmothers by the time that she was twelve, and asked her husband to spare her children that-- that is, not to marry again. An ordinary "servant" would not be privy to this; but of course, Betty's children were all blood relatives to Martha and her children.

[Robert]

Georg wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gunter Grass and his diary of 1990 From Germany to Germany is hit and miss.

After an early craze for his novels like "The Tin Drum", i found all the others, except for ..."

Though it was also said of the Greens, who were not enthusiastic about reunification, that "they argued until noon about the sun coming up."

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "That is certainly true. But it was a mainly about class. They regarded Hitler and the Nazis as primitive lower class people. That doesn't necessarily mean that they didn't sympathize ..."

Kirst's The Night of the Generals is a first-rate crime novel, I think, and I'd rate his Soldiers' Revolt highly too.

[scarletnoir]

It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C. I get up and open all available windows and doors, including the front door which gives onto the street. (My wife doesn't like this, as she worries that a sneak thief will come in and nick her handbag from the chest of drawers in the corridor... but she's asleep, and can't complain. I move the handbag to a 'safe place' in the lounge, even though such a theft seems higly unlikely in our town...

The temperature inside starts to drop, but there is little breeze. Soon, I'll reverse the procedure, and close all doors, windows and curtains. What a pity that it isn't in the British tradition to have shutters to keep the heat out! So, as I have a moment...

by Andrea Camilleri (trans. Stephen Sartarelli)

Some thoughts on reading, rather than a 'review'... Why do we read? Why do I read? There are so many reasons - for information, education, entertainment; to live other lives and visit strange places; to enjoy a play of words, and learn some new ones; for stimulation; to fill spare moments; to role-play one's own reactions to novel situations, in the mind; to get a feel for other times and other places...

But, sometimes life is tiring. A dose of sciatica sets in. Sleep becomes even more elusive than usual. Things happen, and life becomes hectic, busy and exhausting - without even the benefit of travel to stimulate or provide that 'change which is as good as a rest'. And when life is like that, I'm not ashamed to say that I read to relax...

Which brings me, at last, to Camilleri. On the surface, there are many reasons why you might not choose this author - and he's certainly not going to be to everyone's taste. His series featuring Inspector Montalbano is not great literature, or outstanding writing (it's decent, though). The plots are usually pretty far-fetched, and no real police inspector would get away with the tricks he uses. The books appear lightweight, insubstantial... and are perfect for relaxation, for the exhausted soul.

And yet... despite the only occasionally successful humour (the verbal humour is clearly untranslatable, despite Sartarelli's efforts) - with the situational/ farcical humour working better, there are other elements which never cease to entertain. Montalbano loves his food (we are introduced to many Sicilian dishes, explained in the Notes at the end); we learn something of the history and culture of Sicily (again, expanded upon in the Notes where necessary); there are other cultural references - in this book, to the actor Vittorio Gassman, and - more surprisingly - to the English playwright JB Priestly. (I didn't feel that making the plot of a Priestly play an important clue worked very well, but never mind).

And despite the lightness of touch, Camilleri does sneak into his narratives certain more serious issues - in this book alone, he refers to domestic abuse and to high unemployment of the young, which leads to many being forced to live with their parents as they are unable to afford their own accommodation. There is a criticism of populist movements such as that of Beppe Grillo's 'Cinque Stelle'. He seems, essentially, a man of the left who despises corruption - again, here, he criticises the apparent ease with which Italian civil servants can get paid even though they do no work. He sympathises with the unfortunate and downtrodden - previous books have covered the migrant crisis affecting Italy. All of this without any of the clumsy and heavy-handed preaching of some authors I could name, and which only convince the already converted. You'd think that as Camilleri's books are so easy to read, and so popular, that even those tending to a right-wing indifference might be charmed into reconsidering: "Yes, maybe that is a point. Maybe I'm wrong." Certainly, fence-sitters may well be brought over to the side of the angels. It's far more likely to work than brow-beating...

So, there you have it. I read Camilleri/Montalbano for relaxation, but not only... and the character comes alive in Camilleri's hands, even to the extent of behaving in this late book in a wholly unexpected manner, but which remains believable. Salvo is human, all too human...

That was nothing like a review, was it?

(Since I started writing this, the temperature has dropped to 20.5C, and is a bit more bearable...)

[SydneyH]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C."

Hmm. I'm Australian, and that sounds perfect to me.

[Fuzzywuzz]

scarletnoir wrote: "Fuzzywuzz wrote: "The entire South Building has been demolished."

Interesting... I tried and failed to find photos of the very small complex as it was when I was there - I'm sure most of the build..."

The bus shelter has been demolished - a great idea to construct in the first place, but did little to protect against the weather. When the wind is wild, it's always in one's face!

I did go to Harbour bar on occasion, but I don't recall seeing any seamen there. The downstairs bar is the same as it was when I lived there 20 years ago. The upstairs bar has a pizza oven where the bands used to play. Barry's, the amusement park beside the West Strand in Portrush closed last year.

[Fuzzywuzz]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C. I get up and open all available windows and doors, including the front door which gives onto the street. (My wife doesn't like this, as she worries ..."

Thank for your thoughts about what reading means to you. I'd spotted books by Andrea Camilleri the other day and I wondering if they would be any good. Do they need to be read in sequence?

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C. I get up and open all available windows and doors, including the front door which gives onto the street. (My wife doesn't like this, as she worries ..."

last night was the coolest of this vile heatwave for me, a rather cool 18c...amazing that is seen as cool!
my house(built 1798) remains cool compared to all new builds or houses without shade but 5 days constant heat takes its toll...though again its not as bad as modern british builds, with windows that open a mere inch
my parents live in an old oast house and as a kid, i had one of the roundel room as a bedroom and in heatwaves it could get very toasty but then back in the 1980s-early90s, i dont remember heat this intense, ever

[Gpfr]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "I read Camilleri/Montalbano for relaxation, but not only... and the character comes alive in Camilleri's hands..."

"Do they need to be read in sequence?..."

I feel much the same as scarletnoir about the Montalbano books. I haven't really read them in sequence - I borrowed most of them from the library and took them as I found them. However like in any series, there are developments in the personal lives of the characters ...
I had been reading them in French translation. When I came to buy one in English because it was cheaper, it was quite a shock. The way the dialect is conveyed and particularly the speech of one of the characters who is given to malapropisms & mangling names seemed unconvincing to me compared to the French version. I got over that - to some extent 😉- & was able to enjoy the book neverthe less. I've got The Safety Net on the TBR pile.

[SydneyH]

I've finished Zoli, Colum McCann's novel about a Slovak Romani woman growing up in the 1930s - that is, a member of an ethnic minority in central Europe at the worst possible time. I've read so many stories about the second world war, it is interesting to come across a new perspective. The Romanis, more widely known as 'gypsies,' though some find it a derogatory term, didn't fare well under the Nazis and still faced prejudice afterwards. Though there was much that is culturally interesting about this novel, I don't think it is anywhere near as good as Songdogs or This Side of Brightness - that is a tough standard, but McCann set the bar high. I may read Dancer sometime in the near future.
Now starting Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles John Huffam Dickens.

[AB76]

SydneyH wrote: "I've finished Zoli, Colum McCann's novel about a Slovak Romani woman growing up in the 1930s - that is, a member of an ethnic minority in central Europe at the worst possible time. I've read so man..."

Josef Koudelka did a superb photo series entitled Gypsies, focusing on the Roma in Slovakia and Czech Republic in the 1970s. Wonderful images of religious devotion and family loyalties, amid crushing poverty

https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom...

[SydneyH]

AB76 wrote: "the Roma in Slovakia and Czech Republic"

I knew nothing at all about the Roma, I guess we don't have any in Australia. But it seems like an interesting, almost secretive, nomadic culture.

[Lljones]

Hi all...working on a new thread, will close this one shortly. (Don't want to interrupt any conversations...)

[scarletnoir]

SydneyH wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C."

Hmm. I'm Australian, and that sounds perfect to me."

Not so much with 99% humidity, it isn't!

[SydneyH]

Machenbach wrote: "I have Isabel Fonseca's Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey on my TBR."

McCann mentioned it in his acknowledgements at the end: "the story of Zoli was suggested to me after reading the extraordinary study Bury me standing: The Gypsies and their Journey by Isabel Fonseca".

[Georg]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C. I get up and open all available windows and doors, including the front door which gives onto the street. (My wife doesn't like this, as she worries ..."

I think that is a very good description of the Montalbano novels.
I mainly read them for their local colour, and the plot is usually ok/good enough.

Like you I dislike the in-your-face didactical treatment of current hot topics in novels. They are usually telling, not showing. But that stuff seems to increase a writer's chance to be awarded this, that and the other prize, regardless of the literary merit of the work (Evaristo being the most pertinent case in point imo).

[Storm]

Reply to Robert
Earl Rognvald laid it on rather thick? Mmm. Perhaps. But the verse also refers to the fact he assaulted a castle a foreign chieftain had taken over. So he and his men decided to overthrow the tyrannical chieftain and free the locals. And there was talk of marriage with Ermingerd once he came back from the Holy Land.
It seemed to also be a thing for a verse to be made about an exploit, extolling the deeds of the person making the verse. I wonder just how seriously all this was taken? Or did it depend on the status of the person? Anyway. The Earl refers in this verse both to Ermingerd who brought him wine in a gold cup, and the successful storming and firing of the castle.
Once the wine-serving
wench understood me,
the touches of my tongue;
I was content.
I loved that good lady,
but lime-bound stones
crumble: now I cram
the hawk with carrion.
A lover, a poet, a fighter, but always the proud Earl.
Or how about…
The Spaniards retreated
- time for a tryst soon
with a woman - war weary
we proved worthy of Ermingerd.
Ballads of battle
we chanted, bragging: but
on the carrion field, onl
a clutter of corpses.

[scarletnoir]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "I did go to Harbour bar on occasion, but I don't recall seeing any seamen there.

Well, that was nearly 50 years ago - they were probably fishermen, but I couldn't say for sure. I can't claim to have gone to the Harbour Bar on 'only' one occasion, though! Another highlight - a very good band (forget the name) came into the bar to 'warm up' over a few pints, before going to the uni to play a gig - we got a free, and excellent, concert!

[Hushpuppy]

scarletnoir wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "It's hot - too hot for comfortable sleep at 22C."

Hmm. I'm Australian, and that sounds perfect to me."

Not so much with 99% humidity, it isn't!"

The "cool" part of the house is now at 25C and my hair is like a puffy throwback to the 80s. I liked your early morning thoughts on reading!

[Lljones]

Machenbach wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "AB76 wrote: "the Roma in Slovakia and Czech Republic"

I knew nothing at all about the Roma, I guess we don't have any in Australia. But it seems like an interesting, almost secreti..."

Racking my brain, trying to pull up one or more books (fiction? non?) I've read about the Roma to offer SydneyH. It'll come to me eventually.

[Hushpuppy]

AB76 wrote: "Josef Koudelka did a superb photo series entitled Gypsies, focusing on the Roma in Slovakia and Czech Republic in the 1970s. "

These are wonderful, thanks a lot AB!