What are we reading? 19th January 2022

[Slawkenbergius]

Hushpuppy wrote: "And quid of that of the pain-de-campagne?"

Fortunately she only had minor symptoms: aching muscles and such. (She got her third jab a few days before testing positive. )

[Slawkenbergius]

Machenbach wrote: "I assume it's a later Bodley Head edition - with the Eric Gill Homeric bow re-used from the first UK edition - on the far right."

Yes, I was referring to that one. On the same shelf there's also an Everyman's Library copy (easily recognisable, I think). Underneath there's the notorious Hans Gabler tripple-decker, and on the shelf below a Portuguese translation published by Livros do Brasil (Colecçao Dois Mundos, the blue and green door-stopper).

[Fuzzywuzz]

Oggie wrote: "I did not post much previously for several reasons. Firstly, I do not read so much. Last year I only managed around 20 books which did include the fantastic Boundless Sea, a history of seafaring fr..."

Hi Oggie,

Your contributions are always welcome here - I lurked for a long time before I posted comments and even now I don't post as often nor as eloquently as others.

I'm a bit of a crime fiction fan. Do you mind me asking which crime books you ditched? There are quite a few duds out there :)

[Fuzzywuzz]

CCCubbon wrote: "Oggie wrote: "I did not post much previously for several reasons. Firstly, I do not read so much. Last year I only managed around 20 books which did include the fantastic Boundless Sea, a history o..."

Aye, I bought 'An Introduction to Human Movement and Biomechanics' which I started reading two nights ago. I do love a good 'meaty' bit of science that I can sink my teeth into. I never thought I would write something like this here!

I've still got my Biochemistry (Voet and Voet) and Physiology (Guyton and Hall) textbooks that I like to dip into periodically.

[Oggie]

To Hushpuppy, thanks for getting back to me. I agree, let's draw a line under this

[Reen]

Machenbach wrote: "AB76 wrote: "geez....is that all Ulysses??? All the shelves?

remember taking a walk down the Liffey in 2013 to find the house where "The Dead" was set, was lovely to find it and imagine the world ..."

There has been blue murder about the repurposing of the pretty unprepossessing (fittingly so) No. 15 Usher's Island as a hostel... here's the [relatively] latest.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irela...

There's a Martello tower in Sandymount but the Ulysses one is in Sandycove. Just in case it comes up in a table quiz.

[Oggie]

To Fuzzywuzz - The Last Policeman - a large asteroid is about to hit Earth which will totally destroy humanity - do you still try and find the murderer? An interesting premise which the author could not really expand by thinly drawn and banal characters ..also this is the first book of a trilogy!

The other one was the Plot. A failing writer becomes a best selling author after he plagiarised the real life story of some psychokiller. The baddie was so obvious I thought there must be some very clever twist , but sadly not.

[Hushpuppy]

Paul wrote: "Yes and no. A monovalent vaccine is never the best idea for a virus, imho. So, yeah adding non-spike proteins can only boost T cell reactivity, and probably some B cell reactivity as well. "

Thanks a lot Paul! I'm (kinda) following you...

[Hushpuppy]

Oggie wrote: "To Hushpuppy, thanks for getting back to me. I agree, let's draw a line under this"

No worries, let's! 😊

[[deleted user]]

@giveusaclue #439 wrote "...From wiki:
Military service
During World War II, Gilbert served in North Africa and Italy with the Honourable Artillery Company. In 1943, he was captured and taken as a prisoner of war in northern Italy near Parma. Along with another soldier, Tom Davies, he was able to escape after the Italian surrender, their escape involving a five-hundred-mile journey south to reach the Allied lines...*

The same thing happened with my uncle: fought in North Africa and Italy, captured, put in prisoner of war camp in northern Italy, escaped with a companion, walked hundreds of miles down the Apennines, sheltered by Italians in the hills, eventually got to the battle front, managed to get across the lines - and then the two of them find they have walked right into their own unit, which in the meantime had been fighting its way up from the south. Amazement all round, and then a lot of ripe comments!

[MK]

Anyone here into film noir? If so, Eddie Muller has just updated his classic -Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir (Revised and Expanded Edition).

[CCCubbon]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Oggie wrote: "I did not post much previously for several reasons. Firstly, I do not read so much. Last year I only managed around 20 books which did include the fantastic Boundless..."

I looked up your book on human movement to see what it was about. Wish someone could find a cure for arthritis, my poor feet don’t like it.
Over on Ancient Archaeology some have been discussing dark matter and I like this description from the New Scientist with WIMPs and MACHOs

Not that we’re lacking in suggestions as to what might explain dark matter. Perhaps the most prevalent is that it is made up of an entirely new class of particles known as weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPS, an invisible sea of which pervades galaxies. But if these particles exist, we should be able to make them by smashing together other particles, for example at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. You’d also expect these particles to be streaming through Earth – yet dedicated dark matter detectors, generally buried deep underground to screen out the effect of other cosmic particles, have not spotted them yet.
Another possibility is that dark matter is not WIMPs, but MACHOs. These Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects are large bodies made of ordinary matter put together in unexpected ways that mean they don’t give off light


Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/definiti...

One’s imagination may run riot with particles in an invisible sea .

[giveusaclue]

Russell wrote: "@giveusaclue #439 wrote "...From wiki:
Military service
During World War II, Gilbert served in North Africa and Italy with the Honourable Artillery Company. In 1943, he was captured and taken as a ..."

Something very similar happened with Montgomery's stepson:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...

[Fuzzywuzz]

CCCubbon wrote: "Fuzzywuzz wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Oggie wrote: "I did not post much previously for several reasons. Firstly, I do not read so much. Last year I only managed around 20 books which did include the f..."

I'm sorry to hear about your arthritis. Human bodies are fantastic when they work properly but a total pain in the backside (feel free to insert other anatomical locations) when not.

I had a bit of a giggle when you mentioned "Another possibility is that dark matter is not WIMPs, but MACHOs". I guess some particle physicists were having fun with acronyms at work those days.

Thanks for the link :)

[Fuzzywuzz]

Oggie wrote: "To Fuzzywuzz - The Last Policeman - a large asteroid is about to hit Earth which will totally destroy humanity - do you still try and find the murderer? An interesting premise which the author coul..."

That's a shame those books were a disappointment - the premise of both seemed like something I would have liked to read.

Last year I tried reading 'The Rivers of London' by Ben Aaronovich, something which really should of been right up my street - daft humour mixed with supernatural characters/other London. The crimes are investigated by the very much alive Peter Grant.

The humour began to grate on me after a while and I just could not get into the story at all, which was a shame really. I did not finish this one!

[CCCubbon]

@Mach

As you know something about Japanese lacquer please May I pick your brains. I have put two photos on Photos of one of the frames and a close up of the flowers plus any info that I have.
Maybe they are only of sentimental value to me but I would like to know more if possible.
Thanks M

[AB76]

CCCubbon wrote: "@Mach

As you know something about Japanese lacquer please May I pick your brains. I have put two photos on Photos of one of the frames and a close up of the flowers plus any info that I have.
Mayb..."

i love the japanese section of the V+A, all those lacquer chests...

[AB76]

I see Knausgaard has another novel out, in some ways i wish i enjoyed reading him, Norwegian fiction is one of my favourites, though more classic, than modern but i would prefer to read observational,mundane 19thc norwegian novels than Knausgaard where you are constantly reminded of the "now", i dont mean the "moment", just the modern banality of life

PC screens, phone screens, coffee machines etc, are not what i want to read about in a mundane novel, too much a reminder of now, rather maybe the use of the mangle, 19thc medecine and tooth complaints...lol

[giveusaclue]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "Oggie wrote: "To Fuzzywuzz - The Last Policeman - a large asteroid is about to hit Earth which will totally destroy humanity - do you still try and find the murderer? An interesting premise which t..."

You aren't the only one who gave up on the Rivers of London series. I found the whole premise too farfetched. Now the Slow Horses series was fun.

[CCCubbon]

Machenbach wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "@Mach

As you know something about Japanese lacquer please May I pick your brains. I have put two photos on Photos of one of the frames and a close up of the flowers plus any info ..."

Thank you, that makes sense and I shall write it out and stick it on the back. The frames do look rather dull now and the flowers are orangey - rather neglected by me I am afraid, they are on the wall in my study.
And thanks for the info about that boy in the pink dress. In my ignorance I thought it was all one not two different pictures. The boy looks very miserable doesn’t he.

[Anastasia]

@Robert it's still disputed whether the Pilate chapters are supposed to be seen as something more than "a novel-within-a novel" and if they were intended as central to The Master and Margarita. I would say, that the Moscow chapters are just as powerful and ultimately leave the novel in an altogether different direction.

The Greeks would be really amused to hear about the "Russian" Easter though :)

[AB76]

Any good new non-fiction books about the Ukraine written in the last 18 months?

With Putin ready to de-stabilize the region as usual, it would be good to get some insight from the frontlines, though i cant remember anything published since 2020-21

Plokihys history is worth a read, i just hope that the Ukraine isnt history due to Putin and his henchmen in next few months....

[Anastasia]

@AB76 that was... reassuring?))

[giveusaclue]

AB76 wrote: "Any good new non-fiction books about the Ukraine written in the last 18 months?

With Putin ready to de-stabilize the region as usual, it would be good to get some insight from the frontlines, thou..."

Putin wants the USSR back so he has a nice barrier of satellite states between Russia and Europe. He won't stop at Ukraine if he gets his way.

[AB76]

Anastasia wrote: "@AB76 that was... reassuring?))"

sorry Anastasia, whats your outlook on things right now, i guess my impressions are distorted by a desperate Prime Minister (Boris), trying to use Ukraine as a distraction from his own misery

i am firmly pro-Ukraine and hope this mess all goes away, it was disconcerting to read in an LRB article how Putin has written about Ukraine not really existing as a nation. He seemed ignorant of the very distinctive culture of the far west( although he has form, he questioned Poland actually being a country too!)

[[deleted user]]

@giveusaclue #452 "...Something very similar happened with Montgomery's stepson..."

That’s a heck of a story. My uncle might have been in the same camp, as he did say that one of his escapes (he escaped twice) was more a case of the Italian commandant giving up and opening the gates.

[Anastasia]

Well it's hardly news and it's been going on for 8 years now, but all of a sudden pretty much all of my non-Ukrainian friends and colleagues are telling I'm going to die or the whole country will be in flames in a matter of weeks.

Otherwise it's life and business as usual (including me working with dozens of Russian colleagues and their banks or participating in a Moscow-hosted online conference) though with an added pressure from the media going hysterical every few hours. I've lived it for 3 months now, managed to go on a holiday and return, and suddenly everyone remembered Ukraine is technically at war with Russia since 2014...

[Anastasia]

Sorry all, the above comment was going to AB76. I suggest to take it to private messages to keep the conversation book-themed

[scarletnoir]

CCCubbon wrote: "a very dear uncle was a sailor chasing pirates in the South China Seas..."

To what end, pray?

[AB76]

Anastasia wrote: "Well it's hardly news and it's been going on for 8 years now, but all of a sudden pretty much all of my non-Ukrainian friends and colleagues are telling I'm going to die or the whole country will b..."

oh dear, sorry if i became another non-Ukranian doom monger!

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote re. Whitaker Wright: "To keep investors from seeing him struggle, he began to issue himself a series of loans and shuttle them between his companies."

Ah, yes - a fine example of capitalist methods... remind me - didn't a prominent politician do something similar recently? I do hope (not) that his companies are not about to go belly up!

[giveusaclue]

AB76 wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "Well it's hardly news and it's been going on for 8 years now, but all of a sudden pretty much all of my non-Ukrainian friends and colleagues are telling I'm going to die or the wh..."


Apologies from me too, will stay off the politics and wish you all the best.

[Gpfr]

MK wrote #438: "On the mystery front (be kind as my memory isn't what it used to be, and I may have mentioned this series previously), I am reading yet another of the great British Library Crime Classics..."

Yes, it is a great series, several of us have recommended books from it.
The most recent one I've read is Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley who wrote The Poisoned Chocolates Case which has been mentioned here before. The book starts with newly-weds moving into their home and the husband deciding to investigate the cellar - as we might expect, he makes a macabre discovery. The first big problem the police have to face is having no idea of the identity of the victim. Martin Edwards in his introduction writes:

This was, as far as I know, the first detective novel to contain a "whowasdunin" mystery. That is, the detective - and the reader - are challenged to determine from the information presented which member of a group of people is the murder victim.

I quite enjoyed this book, but not as much as others I've read from the series.
The section presenting the group of possible victims is set in a prep school and coincidentally I'm now reading another detective story set in a 1930s prep school: Nicholas Blake's A Question of Proof. This is the first in the Nigel Strangeways series, which for some reason I'm reading last. I'm enjoying it more than Murder in the Basement.

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote re. Whitaker Wright: "To keep investors from seeing him struggle, he began to issue himself a series of loans and shuttle them between his companies."

Ah, yes - a fine example of capita..."

i have always liked the way this forum links to modern and contemporary politics and yes, there are many modern Whitaker Wrights.

Its a shame there is no image of the underwater ballroom with the panes of glass free of green algae, though i wouldnt expect even in high summer, an underwater ballroom wouldnt be that jolly a place to be, rather gloomy with a sort submarine glow.

[CCCubbon]

scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "a very dear uncle was a sailor chasing pirates in the South China Seas..."

To what end, pray?"
He was in the merchant navy sailing in those seas from the mid twenties for about ten plus years before changing to RN during WW2. He said that there were many pirate ships and it was a constant battle against them.

[AB76]

My late uncle was in the merchant navy and was attacked by Somali pirates about 15 years ago

The ship he was on saw some small long boats racing towards them and he realised that they could be pirates. They deployed a sonic device that lets off a very unpleasent booming sound and used fixed hoses to spray the pirates, while the Gurkha security guards lined up heavy machine guns, luckily this was deterrent enough and the pirates turned back, though they did hover nearby for a good hour

There were bullet holes everywhere and a lot of ducking and diving from the crew as the pirates made their first attack, they apparently had huge grappling hooks fired by harpoon like guns which didnt work!

[FrancesBurgundy]

Question for Mach - your brains are certainly being picked today!

Supposing you had a very rare old book (you know the one) and a dealer asks you if you have a price in mind, what's the best way to play it? Given that
1) it would have to be half what the dealer can reasonably sell it for and
2) the initial price would have to be higher than the seller really wants as they will be beaten down.

Is it unreasonable to base the price on what it could have gone for some years ago?

Would it be best to throw it back at the dealer and say what will you give me?

Your suggestion of a dealer selling it for commission - does that happen often? What % would they take?

[Diana]

@Gpfr
I also really enjoyed A Question of Proof and am now reading, or rather not, Nicholas Blake’s The Beast Must Die for a book club. I’ve found it really hard going and prefer picking up other books. It may get better, of course, but at first the mystery element seemed to be lacking and now I just don’t seem to care. Have you read it?

[Gpfr]

Diana wrote: "@Gpfr
I also really enjoyed A Question of Proof and am now reading, or rather not, Nicholas Blake’s The Beast Must Die for a book club. I’ve found it really hard going and prefer picking up other b..."

I have read it, but I liked it less than other books in the series - I didn't much care for the long diary section that starts it off.

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "Russell wrote: "@giveusaclue #439 wrote "...From wiki:
Military service
During World War II, Gilbert served in North Africa and Italy with the Honourable Artillery Company. In 1943, he was captured..."

That is a great story. Thanks.

I'm on the hunt for Love and War in the Appennines now.

[[deleted user]]

MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote... I'm on the hunt for Love and War in the Appennines now."

I love that book. The blonde hair moment, and the butterfly episode, are both unforgettable.

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Any good new non-fiction books about the Ukraine written in the last 18 months?

With Putin ready to de-stabilize the region as usual, it would be good to get some insight from the fro..."

Recently, I have become a big fan of Heather Cox Richardson - American academic (Boston University but presently on book leave). While her academic focus is on the US Civil War and the aftermath, she knows how to take a topic and explain it well. Recently, she said that a reason autocrats act warlike is because they feel weak. This was in context of Putin's sabre rattling at the Ukraine.

My point is she sends out a M-F newsletter that may be of interest to some here. Note though that she more usually writes about US topics, political ones. It's available by signing up at: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...

If you are on FB, she also does a weekly video which is quite good as she has had so much practice with student audiences.

Fiona Hill wrote an OP-ED in the NY Times last weekend - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/op...

And finally as I get off my American, non-book soap box, if you haven't seen Fiona Hill's testimony before Congress, it is so well-worth a view on You Tube.

PS - her memoir -There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century is one of the Financial Times best political books of 2021.

[giveusaclue]

MK wrote: "I'm on the hunt for Love and War in the Appennines now.".

Here you are:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...

[MK]

Russell wrote: "MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote... I'm on the hunt for Love and War in the Appennines now."

I love that book. The blonde hair moment, and the butterfly episode, are both unforgettable."

Now you have really piqued my interest!

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "MK wrote: "I'm on the hunt for Love and War in the Appennines now.".

Here you are:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...-..."

Oh dear! And I have recently been checking books and updating catalog only to find I have three (all unread) books about Raffles of Singapore. Books are everywhere here!

But then - why not one more? 😉

[FrancesBurgundy]

Machenbach wrote: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Question for Mach - your brains are certainly being picked today!

I love it when my dabbler’s lore is mistaken for actual expertise!

It’s a really tricky question to answer..."

Thank you Mach for taking so much time and giving me the benefit of your expertise plus a nice little bit of philosophy. You are quite right in everything you say. I'll sleep on it and get back to them in the morning.

I've done very little book dealing but I did once pick up an Indian paperback about Gandhi for 50p in a house clearance shop. I walked into Charing Cross Road and got £50 for it just like that. I was happier about that than I'll ever be about this millstone of a book.

I've decided that my next move if nothing (or not enough) comes of it is to let an academic institution have it.

I'll keep y'all posted.

[AB76]

Just to remind anyone interested, there are two great sources of australian classic fiction right now, they are:

https://www.textpublishing.com.au/tex...

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/...

To think about 20 years ago it was just modern aussie novels that i hated in the stores (Winton, Malouf,Carey) but now i have all this choice, some obscure, some brilliant.....

[FrancesBurgundy]

Machenbach wrote: "a result of having spent silly amounts of time browsing bookshelves so that their brains just end up going "seen it before, seen it before, seen it before, seen it before, oh that's an odd one, I'll have that"."

Off Topic - I have spent silly amounts of time browsing charity shop bookshelves, and before Christmas I went into one (although trying not to cos of my 100 or so TBR books) and I thought the book person was probably challenged somehow (OCD? artistic non-reader?) because the books were all arranged by colour!

Was irresistably drawn in to a couple of charity shops the other day, near to one another, and their books were arranged by colour!

It didn't take me long to see the advantages. No need to look for History, Travel etc, just zoom along the shelves. Takes a dealer just that bit longer to find anything valuable. You don't need an expert to file the books, just someone not colour-blind. No need to label/re-label shelves ever. And it looks so nice.

Is this UK-wide, or has the metropolis started a new trend? If you don't believe me I might be able to post a pic or two in that other thread.

[Robert]

Anastasia wrote: "@Robert it's still disputed whether the Pilate chapters are supposed to be seen as something more than "a novel-within-a novel" and if they were intended as central to The Master and Margarita. I w..."

I think that "the ancient chapters" (as Bulgakov's wife called them) have a resonance with the modern ones. The themes so important to Bulgakov-- honor, love, hope-- appear in both. Yeshua's preaching the truth is an act of honor; Pilate betrays his own military honor though fear. Love sends Matthew the Levite to save Yeshua from torture; love binds Margarita to the vanished Master. The Master seeks to add a bit more truth to the world.
And on truth:
Pilate says "What is truth?" The ancient chapters answer in several ways.
Yeshua and Pilate have a serious debate, but from different premises. Yeshua seeks an ethical and religious, Pilate a philosophic truth.
Woland relates the dialogue between Yeshua and Pilate as a thing he overheard. An immediate experience leads to truth.
Ivan, who knows nothing of the period, continues the story in his dream. This, I would suggest, is an intuitive truth.
We hear the last two chapters of the Master's novel, which brings us to an unexpected conclusion. He works in a different age than Pilate and Christ; his is a historical and artistic truth.
A second key sentence appears in the dialogue between Woland and Koroviev in the Variety Theater. More on that later.

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "My late uncle was in the merchant navy and was attacked by Somali pirates about 15 years ago

The ship he was on saw some small long boats racing towards them and he realised that they could be pir..."

Wow!