What are we reading? 31st August 2021

[Shelflife_wasBooklooker]

As I wrote in inter's/ Justine's thread, I enjoyed reading Hilary Mantel's Fludd, which I just finished. And sometimes you get these nice connections between recent reads - the following passage reminded me strongly of Lucy Ellmann's Things Are Against Us:

she [a very young nun] must roll on those thick woollen stockings, pull on her drawers. Her heart pounding, she must shake out the three petticoats the Order prescribed, and lash them about her waist, knotting their sashes and strings. She must punch her arms through her stout scratchy bodice, her cheeks growing hot, and fumble with her shaking fingers at the buttons at its neck. What a time it took, what an agonizing time, what an eternity to climb into her habit, the black folds stifling and gagging her. Then her undercap with its drawstrings, and the tiny safety-pins to secure it, and all the time the knowledge of the necessary encounter, waiting out there in the frozen night. Fludd is adjacent, he is proximate, he is nigh; and here she juggles with her starched white outer cap, ramming it on to her skull, pressing it over the brows, feeling it bite into its accustomed sore groove on her forehead; and now she scrabbles for the long straight pins to secure her veil, and now she drops one, and hears them—yes, in the midnight silence of the convent, hears a pin drop, and roll. So now she must throw herself to her knees and pad with her hands and dab the floor under the bed, and then, rising successful, pin pinched between her fingers, catch the back of her head a glancing blow on the under-edge of the bedstead; iron on bone. Sick, half-stunned, emerging from under the bedstead on hands and knees, she must lever herself up and put on her veil, skewering it with the pins, and then seize up her crucifix and drop it over her head, then lay hold of the long swinging string of her rosary beads and whip it out into the room and secure it around her waist. Then—the breath of the future misting the panes, the future grinning at the window eager to have her in its jaws—she must bend again, dizzily, pick up her shoes, pluck at the knots in the laces which, contrary to holy obedience and all the dictates of the Order, she has left fastened the night before. Then, gasping with irritation, she must fling the shoes to the floor, work her feet into them still fastened, stamp and then jump them into place; thrust her handkerchief into her pocket, and then, only then, cross herself, murmur a short prayer for guidance, open the door of her cell, make her way along the passage, down the stairs and swerve sharp right, ignoring the big front door, and through the passage to the empty, echoing kitchen.

Phew! Another reason not to become a nun.

Have not mentioned yet that I also read and enjoyed Alice Munro's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories recently. A recommend!
Now, I am just about to start Patrick Modiano's Invisible Ink, though I probably won't make it past the first few pages tonight.

Mach, thank you for sharing another one of your treasures. And you do the (mock-)academic really well, too. I have an, er, fractured (now that's a silly pun!) anecdote on Hegel and Judith Butler, and your post also made me remember a very comical scene in Hans-Ulrich Treichel's Leaving Sardinia, which I would very much like to share here. (Here is a review of the book: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re..., which to me, however, is one of those reads that do not develop as promising as they start.)

Will write more on the crucial art lecture scene tomorrow, as well as reply to your Zweig post, Hushpuppy.
Agree on your individualized view regarding the painters, Tam. Georg, your attribution of Holofernes crossed my mind, too. O.k., babbling here. I better call it a day, especially since the day is already calling in the next one here (three minutes to midnight).

[AB76]

Machenbach wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "I'd be interested to hear how you get along with The Princess Casamassima"

Yes, I think it's shaping to be a pretty good book, along the lines of The American or..."

is that novel the one that many feel is the least "Jamesian"? I'm a total beginner on James really but it was a novel i made a note of, i think some critic was keen on it in a book i read

[AB76]

Machenbach wrote: "Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Ha, this is great! Love the writing in the paintings, too. Is it names only?."

Yes, I think so, but my language skills aren't great: I think it's written in a sligh..."

big fan of Gentileschi here

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "Gpfr wrote: The anglicisation is there to reflect the fact that, in German but not in English, the sound /b/ is devoiced to /p/ in speech (but not in writing) at the end of words or, ..."

The names of cities with distinctive English pronunciations of their name also includes Rome, Florence, and Paris. All of these cities were part of the Grand Tour so popular with the English in the 18th century, so perhaps the pronunciations come from tourism, not some imperialist impulse.

[Robert]

Machenbach wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Uniate church was divided into male and female sides"

Yeah, that's often the case in Orthodox churches too, 'though it's generally not policed, and largely a matter for the indi..."

Like the picture. The Uniates and Orthodox carry on a number of traditions of the old Jewish temple-- the separation of sexes, women having their hair covered.

[Robert]

MK wrote: "It must have been about 15 years after Mt. St Helens blew her top that I drove the recently constructed/paved? road to Spirit Lake. I will not forget that point where the road curved, and we went f..."

This St. Helens reference brings up a family memory. The volcano became active during the period that Dad was the emergency planning officer for the National Guard. That same long, hot summer created a fierce tension in overcrowded state prisons. and my father had to assess both. He made regular reports to the governor's staff.
The governor, Dixy Lee Ray, had passed down a verbal order that if the guards lost control of any of the prisons, she wanted the National Guard and the State Patrol SWAT team to retake the prison by storm the next day. No negotiations.
Dad toured each of the state prisons. During one inspection, the prisoners decided that he was an FBI agent inspecting the prison. The chant "FBI, FBI" could be heard through the heavy glass of the prison control room.
Seven-day weeks could go on only so long. He got permission to go down to his timeshare on the beach. It was on a weekend.
Mount St. Helens blew up while he was out of town....

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Uniate church was divided into male and female sides"

Yeah, that's often the case in Orthodox churches too, 'though it's generally not policed, and largely a ..."

Hope you get to visit them!

[SydneyH]

AB76 wrote: "is that novel the one that many feel is the least "Jamesian"?"

It's unJamesian in the sense that it's about revolutionaries/terrorism (I think, I haven't got that far yet). Someone on TLS told me it was their favourite for that reason.

[Robert]

SydneyH wrote: "Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "Excellent, Sydney!
That's great to hear. Will you share which are your seven attention-demanding finds?"

First, I'd like to say thank you. I've just been admiring T..."

The Jeremy Brett Holmes TV series of some years ago-- very well done-- also brought out how very gothic many of the Holmes stories were. Isolated heroines abound: the lone governess in The Copper Beeches, the young girl in Dr. Roylott's sinister house in The Speckled Band, the German girl in The Engineer's Thumb, the Greek heiress in The Greek Interpreter...

[SydneyH]

Robert wrote: The Jeremy Brett Holmes TV series of some years ago"

Haven't seen that one, but I'm hoping the Gothic Tales will be along the same lines as The Homes stories, which I've unfortunately finished. Conan Doyle was a big admirer of Poe, so it sort of makes sense that he would write in this mode.

[Robert]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Has anyone else seen the film about the end of his life, Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe?"

Haven't seen that, but I did enjoy [book:Summer Before the ..."

With the Mountbattens it was just a straight translation, back in World War I. A number of pro-British royals had German surnames, like Battenberg. There was a ceremony, dubbing these folk with more English-sounding names. As Admiral Battenberg put it, "Enter Prince Jekyll, exit Lord Hyde." I've posted a contemporary Punch cartoon on this controversy.

[Gpfr]

SydneyH wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "does some of the same stuff better in The Bostonians imo"
"Gee, I'm not sure about that. I thought the Bostonians was a bit of a stinker - I'm backed up by the general critical a..."

I'm with Leavis on this - as I've said here before, I think The Bostonians is a fine book. It was one of the four we had to study at university and it remains one of my favourite books. It's also more accessible than some for people new to James.

[SydneyH]

Gpfr wrote: "I'm with Leavis on this"

Interesting - what were the others you studied? I only studied Maisie at university. My uncle, an old judge, gave me a list of texts that he thought were must reads, and The Bostonians was the James he picked. But he also picked Our Mutual Friend as the Dickens, so I identified a subtle anti-feminist thread in his choices.

[Gpfr]

SydneyH wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "I'm with Leavis on this"

Interesting - what were the others you studied? I only studied Maisie at university. My uncle, an old judge, gave me a list of texts that he thought were must..."

The Portrait of a Lady, The Awkward Age, The Wings of the Dove. We had the reading list for the long vacation and (I think I've said this before), I made the mistake of starting with The Awkward Age which I found very hard going at that point. Then I tried The Bostonians and never looked back. The Portrait of a Lady is one of my all-time favourite books. And I did think better of The Awkward Age afterwards, although it's the only one of the four I've never re-read. However, I've been thinking lately I should.

[SydneyH]

Gpfr wrote: "The Awkward Age which I found very hard going at that point"

Oh, I agree that The Awkward Age is more hard-going than The Bostonians. I remember liking the opening and then finding that most of the book after that point is dialogue. It's amazing how little consensus there is about pretty much every James text other than Portrait of a Lady.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "Gpfr wrote: The anglicisation is there to reflect the fact that, in German but not in English, the sound /b/ is devoiced to /p/ in speech (but not in writing) at the end ..."

that makes sense, though hardly any of the italian towns would be hard to pronounce, though i guess Florence sounds rather Victorian and Rome harks back to the Roman times. Paris written the same though which is interesting, ancient Greek name

On the Iberian side not sure how Lisbon came about, i guess Oporto to Porto isnt a huge change. Then you get Sevilla-Seville but many other towns in Spain remain with the spanish spelling, probably not on the Grand Tour!

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Uniate church was divided into male and female sides"

Yeah, that's often the case in Orthodox churches too, 'though it's generally not policed, a..."

Maybe in 2022 but i dont want to jinx it...lol!

[AB76]

SydneyH wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "The Awkward Age which I found very hard going at that point"

Oh, I agree that The Awkward Age is more hard-going than The Bostonians. I remember liking the opening and then finding th..."

i picked up "Washington Square" in oxfam in July, anyone recommend that short James novel?

[SydneyH]

AB76 wrote: "i picked up "Washington Square" in oxfam in July, anyone recommend that short James novel?"

I'm afraid it isn't a favourite of mine, though you can get through it pretty quickly.

[Gpfr]

AB76 wrote: "i picked up "Washington Square" in oxfam in July, anyone recommend that short James novel? ..."

I like it. Other 'shorts' I like are The Europeans and The Spoils of Poynton.

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i picked up "Washington Square" in oxfam in July, anyone recommend that short James novel? ..."

I like it. Other 'shorts' I like are The Europeans and The Spoils of Poynton."

thanks GPFR and Syd

[SydneyH]

Gpfr wrote: "Other 'shorts' I like are The Europeans."

I really liked The Europeans, and @Samye enjoyed it on my recommendation. I also liked The Reverberator, which I associate with it and The Ivory Tower, which is a bit different.

[Georg]

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "Gpfr wrote: The anglicisation is there to reflect the fact that, in German but not in English, the sound /b/ is devoiced to /p/ in speech (but not in writi..."

To be fair: it is not only the Anglosphere that changed geographical names

Napoli-Naples-Neapel. Interesting that in English the adjective is not Napolitan, but Neapolitan.

In Italian Paris is Parigi, London Londra and München Monaco di Baviera ("Monk of Bavaria", which is true to its origins in "Mönch")

German keeps the original names of UK/US/AUS and most French cities,

And some names are, AFAIK, never changed, like eg. Buenos Aires.

I think Roberts idea is fundamentally right: people travelled within Europe and adapted the strange names to their own language. There is even a verb for it in Deutsch: "eindeutschen".

[AB76]

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Georg wrote: "Gpfr wrote: The anglicisation is there to reflect the fact that, in German but not in English, the sound /b/ is devoiced to /p/ in speech (but..."

didnt know that about Munich in Italian!

Lisbon becomes Lissabon in German, anyone know why?

[AB76]

Almost finished "She", enjoying it, next up is a feminist novel from 1906:

"A Woman" by Sibilla Aleramo its a new translation by Penguin and am interested in the female perspective on life in a catholic conservative country at the dawn of the 20th century. I wasnt due to read it next but i feel i need to read more about the female experience and this looks like a very interesting novel

[Georg]

Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote (339): And I did not know he was Bavarian!

Oskar Maria Graf grew up in Berg on Lake Starnberg. mainly known because a temporary resident of Berg, King Ludwig II, (was) drowned there.

I hardly ever recommend Grafs Das Leben meiner Mutter, although I really love it. It combines memoir with his general observations of social and political change. But Bavarian history and how people lived there and then is probably too niche to be of interest to many.

[Lljones]

Good morning, all.

Anne is unavailable this week, so I'll be posting this week's thread...let's say 8:00 am, PST, 4:00 pm in London.

[Sandya]

Machenbach wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I thought the Bostonians was a bit of a stinker - I'm backed up by the general critical and commercial response, but F.R. Leavis apparently thought it was amazing. Though The Boston..."

On the subject of James, my father, a wide reader, owned a good selection: Portrait of a Lady, The Princess Casamassima, Washington Square and others. I am a reader like him and was encouraged to read everything. I attempted Portrait of a Lady and hated it-I got about 25% of the way through it and gave up. I have never attempted to read any James since then. Looking back, I was less than 18 at the time, as I left home to go to university at 18 and never returned home again afterwards except for vacations. I was completely independent by graduate school at age 21 and never lived with the family again.

In analyzing why I dislike James so much 1) I was too young to appreciate it before age 18. 2) Until age 18 I read primarily history, biography, or encyclopedias since as a scientist, I enjoy facts more than fiction. For fiction, I preferred fantasy and science fiction. I was young for my age, being a sheltered Indian girl of the time, though in my experience of racism I was NOT sheltered. I didn't start reading the classic novels in depth (except Jane Eyre, a lifesaver at my school, Belsen) until university-my 3 best GFs there were all English majors. However, the boringness of James stayed with me. 3) My struggle during the entirety of my youth (ages 14-26) was to avoid an arranged marriage. This took up ALL my mental energy outside establishing my career. Consequently, I don't want to read about this stuff-it was and remains too close to home. It covers a lot of books including ALL of Jane Austen and many others, primarily James but also modern Indian novelists. The struggle is still real. I simply do not understand why people treat Austen's novels as comedies or think that James is even bearable. Both the English and Americans have completely forgotten how awful arranged marriages can be, particularly if imposed out of context, as in immigrant communities. I fought very hard for the right to agency-that is why I prefer Jane Eyre to Isabel Archer, who as far as I am concerned is a fool. She has her own money and still ends up married to Osmond. I'd like to see Jane Eyre fall into that trap-she would never have done it!

I should probably give James a second chance but I don't think I can, because of his reputation for verbosity, and the same feelings as I have about Wharton.

[AB76]

Sandya wrote: "Machenbach wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I thought the Bostonians was a bit of a stinker - I'm backed up by the general critical and commercial response, but F.R. Leavis apparently thought it was amazing..."

while i have only read The Turn of the Screw, i have always been peturbed about anything else by James as i have memories of GSCE/A LEVEL teaching force feeding more readable 19th century artists down my throat. I quickly re-discovered how good those authors were but James remained distant to me.

I have a vision of a pedantic,fastidious and rather dull man who wanted to be English and spent his whole writing career obsessed with style and form. I may be wrong....i think "Washington Square" might be an xmas read, dont think i can fit it in before