What are we reading? 29th March 2022

[Bill]

MK wrote: "Some might say that Jennifer Weiner writes 'chick lit.' Her first book was - Good in Bed"

I've read exactly one novel by Weiner (Good in Bed) and one by Franzen (The Corrections). The Weiner was pretty funny for its first half, but took a turn for poignancy that didn't work for me at all (nor for my wife, so not necessarily a gendered reaction). Some readers (or at least critics) found considerable humor in the Franzen as well, though I can't say that I did. Perhaps the real telling point for me is that I remember much of the Weiner novel, but very little about the Franzen.

I don't intend to read more fiction by either author, but if someone held a gun to my head saying I must read another novel by one of the two, I would unhesitatingly choose Weiner. (Though I have happily read non-fiction by Franzen without any threat of violence.)

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "Knut Hamsun is, imo, one of the most despicable writers I can think of for his views. I still had a go at his famed Hunger recently."

WRT Dostoyevsky, first... it's a long time since..."

I'm a big fan of Knut Hamsun, have read almost all the novels translated and "Sylt"(aka Hunger) was a novel i absolutely loved. His later life and his position on Hitler and nazi germany is a stain on his career, i recommend reading his final work "on overgrown paths" that covers his trial for treason at the end of WW2.

[scarletnoir]

Machenbach wrote: "As for the photos, I read the first English translation, which didn't have any, but this post has a few things to say about them, including a clarification about their dumbass placement in the text:
https://sebald.wordpress.com/2009/09/.."

Once again, thanks for the link - you don't mention it - did you also read the first part of the blog at
https://sebald.wordpress.com/2009/09/... ?

I linked back from part 2... it has a couple of very interesting comments, one from Tsypkin's son Mikhail:

If I may, a couple of comments. My father started photographing the places associated with Dostoevsky several years earlier than he had begun writing the novel. He had never planned, to the best of my knowledge, to use the photographs in the novel. He indeed donated an album of these photographs (with appropriate text either from Dostoevsky’s work, or from memoirs about Dostoevsky, attached to each photograph.) The album is still stored in the Dostoevsky museum; unfortunately, they keep the photographs separately from the text, because such are the rules!! Anyway, I am grateful to them. The album has more photographs (and more text) that in the Penguin edition — but given the cost of printing photos, I am lucky that the Penguin printed these. Practically all the photographs and text have been reproduced in the Russian edition (Moscow, NLO: 2003 — unfortunately, no longer in print.) No published has ever been interested in publishing the album as a whole; I also have several photographs my father made of the Dostoevsky’s places in Moscow.
Another comment: my father started writing in the early 1970s, and wrote Summer in Baden Baden between 1979 and 1981.
(posted 5 March 2012)

and this one on Dostoyevsky's attitude to the Jews:

Dostoevsky did in fact come up with a single word or two in defence of the Jews, and argued that they shouyld have the full rights of citizenship due to anyone else at the time in Russia; at a time and cultural atmosphere when this was not at all a given position. Interesting also that Dostoevsky offers far more damning tirades about groups like Roman Catholicism, particularly Jesuitism, and also Freemasonry, both groups he broadly considers as secretly diabolical – at the top of their power pyramids – & yet instead it’s his far less strident views regarding Jews which tends to get highlighted. If on the contrary he had, as with The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor, placed Jewish religious/political leaders at the centre of this essentially evil network imagine the damning furore that piece would cause, instead of being celebrated as one of the most famous of literary creations.

This latter, posted by 'Andrew' on 4 September 2009 is interesting - I wonder if anyone can either stand this up or disprove it?

(Nietzsche is also accused of anti-semitism, but in his case - as far as I recall - his main objection to Judaism was that it had paved the way for Christianity, which he abhorred!... That's just an aside, hope it doesn't spin off into an endless thread!)

[Slawkenbergius]

Machenbach wrote: "Bill wrote: "Wow! In his inaugural Twitter post, Jonathan Franzen announces a new novel, written in collaboration with Jennifer Weiner."

I didn't know who Jennifer Wein..."

It's the Wow! that gave it away.

[MK]

A Goodreads quirk. If you don't comment during the life of a thread, the little bell on the upper right does not show the link to that thread.

I expect I am a little late to the show here, but what the heck.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "Hahaha! never heard of her either, but Weiner wrote in her blog, apropos Franzen:

Great American Novelist Jonathan Franzen – the best writer of our time, y’all -- did a Q and A with a Butler University MFA candidate – perhaps you’ve seen it? – where he dismisses my quest for respect and reviews for genre women’s fiction by saying, that I “rub him the wrong way,”"

Since I read so many reviews of and interviews about 21st century fiction, but very little of the fiction itself, I tend to see current fiction as largely a game of publicity and notoriety rather than literary achievement, an arena in which Franzen often stands out. What I’ve admired about Weiner, who coined the term Franzenfreude, is how she’s been able to deploy a kind of publicity jujitsu, making Franzen’s greater fame and reputation into her weapon. She’s managed to get under his skin enough that he’s mentioned her by name in more than one interview.

[Lljones]

Bill wrote: "Wow! In his inaugural Twitter post, Jonathan Franzen announces a new novel, written in collaboration with Jennifer Weiner."

Seriously?! (My Twitter has been hacked, can't be bothered to try and get it back.)

Btw, I'm 400 pages (of 580) into Crossroads. Some parts are enjoyable, others a slog. This morning I picked up another book instead of continuing on - sure sign I won't finish it.

Edit: Ah! You got me, Swelter!

[AB76]

Miguel Arraes in Brazil: The People and The Power describes in meticulous detail the path of Brazil towards the military coup of 1964.

The coup that pre-dated many of the other CIA-backed operations in Latin America by a good decade, happened exactly 58 years ago on 1st April 1964. The military removed the legally elected government of President Goulart and immediately focused on repressing trade unions, political parties and anyone opposed to a neo-liberal, USA orientated future for Brazil.

What is interesting me is the language Arraes uses, a lot of it totally unfamiliar to me (as in the words used for political movements)which can make the byzantine Brazilian political and governmental system even more difficult to decipher. In his vocabulary the "nationalists" are like brazilian patriots opposing the Yankee dollar of the "imperalists" but the two factions are always moving in similar circles it seems at various times.

His starkest and clearest point was that once the military started to remove all representation of the masses, the only opponent to the military, was the self same masses and they had no voice. Most factions fell into a grudging acceptance of military rule and looked for ways to profit. the military wooed the middle classes to create a pliant state.

A second coup in 1968 led to even more repression and this in the mind of Arreas showed the failure of the first four years to eliminate dissent, torture and murder now entered the scene.

NB. Miguel Arraes was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Recife, State Deputy, Federal Deputy and three times Governor of Pernambuco. Jailed by the military he went into exile in Algeria

[Fuzzywuzz]

Machenbach wrote: "Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human (tr. Donald Keene)


I’m still pondering this one because the novel’s epilogue, in which an unknown third party brie..."

I have this in my next pile of books tbr. I better read the book first before I read your review.

[Fuzzywuzz]

After a rather frustrating week of trying to get started on something new, I've not really succeeded. These are library books that are going back tomorrow:

White Jazz by James Ellroy and The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I also tried to start the Rainmaker by John Grisham. This was one in my TBR pile that can wait a bit longer.

It's been a long week and not being able to focus on reading has me a bit out of sorts.

Just a quick perusal of what others here are reading reminds me of stuff I should be getting on with. However, I'm going to settle for a film tonight, get a good sleep and hopefully tomorrow I will wake up feeling revitalised and ready to be challenged by some words.

[scarletnoir]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "These are library books that are going back tomorrow:

White Jazz by James Ellroy and The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger."

Do you mean that you couldn't finish them? Ellroy can certainly be annoying - I probably won't read another, though I finished White Jazz with no problem... he becomes more 'Ellroy-like' as time goes on... indeed, nowadays he reminds me of the fine French idiom that: il est égal à lui-même which literally means 'he is equal to himself', but translated roughly would mean 'that's typical of him' or 'he remains true to form'. I do like the idea of someone being 'equal to themselves', though - it's funny!

As for the Salinger - I love it, but know it's crucial with that book to like the 'voice' of the narrator - that annoying adolescent. If you don't get on with the 'voice', it's game over...

[scarletnoir]

Just a brief update caused by a bellyache (I can't sleep, so need something to do)...

I have just started Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro,, and am enjoying it so far. I suppose in some ways it covers similar ground to Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey, which I read and liked a while back, with a central character brought low by - in this case - Parkinson's. The title also brings to mind a stylistic connection with the equally terse Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucci... are these titles part of a trend or fashion? I rather like them, as they are intriguing.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Hahaha! never heard of her either, but Weiner wrote in her blog, apropos Franzen:

Great American Novelist Jonathan Franzen – the best writer of our time, y’all -- did a Q and A..."

Bill - I like your comment, and am amused by the thought that these characters are juking it out on the book pages, or wherever. Weiner appears to have a sense of humour - always a plus - though I think it unlikely that I'll be reading her books!

[Berkley]

scarletnoir wrote: "
and this one on Dostoyevsky's attitude to the Jews:

Dostoevsky did in fact come up with a single word or two in defence of the Jews, and argued that they shouyld have the full rights of citizenship due to anyone else at the time in Russia; at a time and cultural atmosphere when this was not at all a given position. Interesting also that Dostoevsky offers far more damning tirades about groups like Roman Catholicism, particularly Jesuitism, and also Freemasonry, both groups he broadly considers as secretly diabolical – at the top of their power pyramids – & yet instead it’s his far less strident views regarding Jews which tends to get highlighted. If on the contrary he had, as with The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor, placed Jewish religious/political leaders at the centre of this essentially evil network imagine the damning furore that piece would cause, instead of being celebrated as one of the most famous of literary creations.

This latter, posted by 'Andrew' on 4 September 2009 is interesting - I wonder if anyone can either stand this up or disprove it?

(Nietzsche is also accused of anti-semitism, but in his case - as far as I recall - his main objection to Judaism was that it had paved the way for Christianity, which he abhorred!... That's just an aside, hope it doesn't spin off into an endless thread!)"

I can't recall what Dostoyevsky had to say about Judaism or Jews as a people but I do agree with the comments about his anti-Catholicism, which I think was largely part of his own Slavo-centric viewpoint and perhaps his own religious bigotry, if that isn't too strong a word.

BTW, I've read somewhere that a famous anti-semite text that I forget the title of was basically lifted nearly word for word from a Eugene Sue novel in which the screed is directed against not a world-wide Jewish conspiracy but, you guessed it - the Jesuits!

Nietzsche of course explicitly refuted and indeed ridiculed anti-semitism in the sense most people would understand the term. And equally of course, there are many self-appointed guardians of rectitude who will tag any criticism whatsoever of the Judaeo-Christian tradition or of Jewish culture as anti-semitic.

[Fuzzywuzz]

scarletnoir wrote: "Fuzzywuzz wrote: "These are library books that are going back tomorrow:

White Jazz by James Ellroy and The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger."

Do you mean that you couldn't finish them? Ellroy ..."

No, I didn't finish them. I think it's more to do with a lack of energy on my part, rather than the books themselves.

I'll doubt I'll be getting much reading done today either. Mr Fuzzywuzz and I are going to do a bit of gardening today. We're getting a new garden shed on Wednesday so we need to clear some space for it.

[Fuzzywuzz]

scarletnoir wrote: "The supposed Franzen/Weiner collaboration reminded me of the continuing word factory that is James Patterson.

I once read a book by Patterson, a while ago - at least, I assume it was by him, as th..."

That gave me a good chuckle :)

JP is one of those authors whose books I have no interest in reading.

Hope your belly has settled?

[scarletnoir]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "Hope your belly has settled?"

Pretty much - time will tell - Imodium is magic...

This morning's problems are more of the mental health variety - Amazon has been driving me nuts and I have wasted hours this week attempting, and failing, to sort out a problem with Alexa voice dialling, which my mother needs as she's nearly blind. They take your money, but they don't have great customer support...

[scarletnoir]

Berkley wrote: "Nietzsche of course explicitly refuted and indeed ridiculed anti-semitism in the sense most people would understand the term."

He certainly had little time for Wagner, or his views!

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "The coup that pre-dated many of the other CIA-backed operations in Latin America by a good decade, happened exactly 58 years ago on 1st April 1964. "

Interesting comments from you, AB... I am a little surprised that I don't remember this, whereas I do have a clear recollection of Allende's overthrow by Pinochet in Chile and the 'dirty war' in Argentina. Was it because I was younger and less politically aware? Was there less reporting of these events? I really don't know.

[scarletnoir]

WRT Tsypkin's , it was remiss of me not to list the translators - Roger and Angela Keys - who seem to have done an excellent job as far as I can judge, having no Russian!

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "The coup that pre-dated many of the other CIA-backed operations in Latin America by a good decade, happened exactly 58 years ago on 1st April 1964. "

Interesting comments from you, AB..."

i think it was softer and less impactful on world opinion scarlet, it was also fairly complex in its slower pace than events of 1973. In Chile and later in Argentina, the violence was almost endemic and publicised, in Brazil the elements the resembled the later military violence further South didnt manifest themselves as a routine until the premiership of Garrastazu Medici and then Ernesto Giesel from 1969-1979.

Secondly, events in pre-military ruled Argentina and Chile were substantially de-stabilised by the USA (via the CIA), so that society was being undermined and violence normalised, in Brazil in the period just before 1964 the CIA used political de-stabilisation but not as forceful or as damaging.

Sadly the legacy of military rule is trumpeted by the buffoon Bolsanaro and many of his cabinet. He is of the generation that fondly recalls the "ordnem" of that era(1964-79) and was far less concerned with the "progresso"

[AB76]

Mach: re Mario Benedetti

I see one of his early highly rated novels "The Truce" is available in translation and have just put it on my list, while i didnt like "Springtime in a broken mirror", i am keen to absorb as much latin american fiction as possible, especially as so much is newly translated and it doesnt necessarily have to be soaked in local culture...

[giveusaclue]

Sorry to hear of various out of sortsednesses from folks. I am well on the way now coming out of covid. Today I don't feel so tired as I have been doing. Apparently you can escape from isolation after day 10 even if you haven't tested negative yet, which I haven't, so am looking forward to Monday.

I'm progressing well with:



but have to agree with other readers that have commented on the lack of diagrams/illustrations. One thing I have learned about the favourite of the crime novel - the hyoid bone, doesn't always break during strangulation, in fact mostly it doesn't. And it can actuall be broken for a multitude of other reasons, particuarly as we age. How's that for a bit of useless information?

[[deleted user]]

Women of the French Revolution – Linda Kelly (1987)

Mme de Staël, Mme de la Tour du Pin, Mme Roland, Mme Tallien, Mme de Beauharnais, and several others - I was familiar in a general way with their roles and personalities, and have read a fair amount of the writings of the first two. So often treated as figures on the periphery of the real action, here they are the central focus. LK does not seek to argue that there was a powerful women’s movement, and indeed, apart from the mostly anonymous women who marched from Paris to Versailles and dragged back the King and Queen, and later Mlle Charlotte Corday, it is not evident that the role of any of them was truly determinative. Rather, as she says, her chief concern was with women as individuals. It is a brisk and entertaining read (160 pages), and a lively refresher on the course of the Revolution itself.

Even in this short compass there are a lot of names to remember. I liked the mot of Lord Clark about all the characters in the Revolution: “worse than a Russian novel.”

[Bill]

Lljones wrote: "Seriously?! (My Twitter has been hacked, can't be bothered to try and get it back.)

Btw, I'm 400 pages (of 580) into Crossroads. Some parts are enjoyable, others a slog. This morning I picked up another book instead of continuing on - sure sign I won't finish it."

How do you keep up with the latest mockery of Ted Cruz without Twitter?

From reviews of Crossroads, it seems that it is in part based on Franzen's own experiences in a Christian youth group, as narrated in a section of The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History. With his father's dementia, another real-life incident he fictionalized, I found his nonfictional account in How to Be Alone more compelling than his fictional version in The Corrections.

[[deleted user]]

Bill wrote: "... With his father's dementia, another real-life incident he fictionalized, I found his nonfictional account in How to Be Alone more compelling than his fictional version in The Corrections..."

I agree. I thought How to Be Alone was impressive and concrete and strongly felt, and I will re-read it some day. The Corrections was all right but discursive, overlong and not very involving, and it’s put me off reading any other of his novels.

[Hushpuppy]

giveusaclue wrote: "Apparently you can escape from isolation after day 10 even if you haven't tested negative yet, which I haven't, so am looking forward to Monday."

Glad to hear you're on the mend give!

Really sorry to be a killjoy next though: don't trust what the government says. If you still test positive using an antigen LFT, you are still infectious. This means you can still contaminate (vulnerable) people... So I'd either wait to come out of isolation for a negative LFT, or wear an FFP3 if getting close to people.

[MK]

Bill wrote: "Lljones wrote: "Seriously?! (My Twitter has been hacked, can't be bothered to try and get it back.)

Btw, I'm 400 pages (of 580) into Crossroads. Some parts are enjoyable, others a slog. This morni..."

The only place I go on twitter is to check on how the Bath Peregrines are doing this nesting season - 4th egg laid on 24 March! The end of April things should really heat up.

[AB76]

Hushpuppy wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Apparently you can escape from isolation after day 10 even if you haven't tested negative yet, which I haven't, so am looking forward to Monday."

Glad to hear you're on the men..."

i second that, this government is not to be trusted on covid policy since last July, freedom day and them ludicrous abandoning of all precautions a month ago

Glad you feel less tired

[AB76]

Charco Press have really found some gems, am half way through The Rooftop by Fernanda Trias and its my second unsettling female latin american novel of the last month.

With Schewblin's "Fever Dream" it was eco-poisoning at the heart of the anxiety and dread, with Trias it seems to be the outside world and the corrosive effect of bad memories/experiences.

Colin MacInnes is engrossing me too Mr Love and Justice is a smart, rather quirky tale of corruption in 1950s london, from two perspectives that seem to be crabwalking towards each other. A merchant seaman turned pimp(mr love) and a CID copper going rotten(mr Justice)

[Fuzzywuzz]

giveusaclue wrote: "Sorry to hear of various out of sortsednesses from folks. I am well on the way now coming out of covid. Today I don't feel so tired as I have been doing. Apparently you can escape from isolation af..."

Good to hear you are on the mend. :)

I read an earlier work of Sue Black - 'All That Remains' which was rather excellent. I am very tempted by what you mentioned. Sunday browsing in a bookshop, just my cup of tea.

[giveusaclue]

Hushpuppy wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Apparently you can escape from isolation after day 10 even if you haven't tested negative yet, which I haven't, so am looking forward to Monday."

Glad to hear you're on the men..."

Thanks for that

[giveusaclue]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Sorry to hear of various out of sortsednesses from folks. I am well on the way now coming out of covid. Today I don't feel so tired as I have been doing. Apparently you can esca..."

Yes Fuzzywuzz, I now have that one in my sights. I just wish I had saved my notes from the forensic science courses on Futurelearn, the diagrams would be very useful.

[Lass]

@Russel…your recommendation of Women of the French Revolution looks inviting. I see you’ve mentioned Lucie de la Tour du Pin, so I take it you’ve read Caroline Moorehead’s Lucie biog, Dancing to the Precipice? I found it fascinating, and have read several of her books since, including A Train in Winter, Village of Secrets, and Martha Gellhorn biog.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Berkley wrote: "Nietzsche of course explicitly refuted and indeed ridiculed anti-semitism in the sense most people would understand the term."

He certainly had little time for Wagner, or his views!"

He was quite close to Wagner, for a time; that's why his break with the composer was so bitter.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "

Summer in Baden-Baden by Leonid Tsypkin

(Thanks to Mach and others for the recommendation.)

First of all - this is quite unlike any other novel I can re..."

Thanks for posting this passage.

[[deleted user]]

@Lass – Lucie de la Tour du Pin – I haven’t actually read the Caroline Moorehead bio, but will look out for it. Years ago I came across the original memoirs by the lady herself in a nice old HB translation put out by Brentano’s in the US in 1920. I can really recommend them – stylish and quite exciting. They were published here as “Recollections of the Revolution and The Empire”, though the actual French title when they first appeared, in 1906, was “Journal d’une Femme de Cinquante Ans”. The image that sticks in my mind is Talleyrand (in exile, like her) turning up unannounced in her farmyard in the then very rural Troy, New York, when she was busy trying to chop off the head of a goose.

[Robert]

Lljones wrote: "Anne wrote: "Hello, everyone...."

And hello to you, Anne. We missed you."

Wecome.

[Veufveuve]

After a slightly slow week of reading I finished "The Radetzky March." I hardly need (or dare) to add to the excellent discussion of this book in the last thread (and continued in this one). I thought I'd responded to the question of parody when I said it was certainly written with a degree of ironic distance. That was meant to be a response anyway. It is indeed often ridiculous ... but with the most serious of purposes, culminating in the crushing pathos of the conclusion (amidst atrocities against civilians committed during war in Ukraine).

I've started Carsten Jensen's "We, the Drowned." I understand from Danish friends that he divides opinion, but I'm not yet sure why or how. The book has got off to a rollicking start.

[Gpfr]

Lass wrote: " Caroline Moorehead’..."

Thanks for the Caroline Moorehead tips. I've still got her Iris Origo biog. to read - have had it a while ... And concerning Martha Gellhorn, Travels With Myself and Another is on the TBR pile.

[AB76]

In Danger: A Pasolini Anthology by Pier Paolo Pasoloni

What a mind, what a thinker Pasolini was, whether writing novels, poetry or directing films he left an impact and was a strident critic of 1960s and 70s Italy. His life cut short in a brutal murder on the beach at Ostia in 1975.

There is a contrarian element to some of his discourse, evidence also of a man who loved to debate and discuss the world he was thrown into. A young man at the end of WW2, fascism was always a beast he sought to slay, a fervent Communist, though critical of Italys communist party, which with its pragmatism emerged as a great survivor during the cold war.

Essays on poetry collections and politics are interspersed with his own poetry in italian or the dialect of the Fruili region where he spent much of his youth. There is also a very poignant last interview, hours before his death on the beach at Ostia, where he realises he may have important enemies. He was incensed by the violence creeping into late 60s and early 70s Italian life, though i suspect he didnt realise that the people commiting the violence were from fascist and communist or anarchist backgrounds as well as the men in power.

Actual footage of the man in cdiscussion of his ideas is not abundant, i watched a clip where his gaunt face and piercing dark eyes create a rare intensity, as he comments on christianity and the gospel. He died far too young and this collection, though uneven(the poetry is so-so but then i'm not a fan of poetry) but valuable all the same

[Veufveuve]

Gpfr wrote: "Lass wrote: " Caroline Moorehead’..."

Thanks for the Caroline Moorehead tips. I've still got her Iris Origo biog. to read - have had it a while ... [book:Travels Wi..."

I'd be very interested in this, having loved "The Merchant of Prato" last year.

[Georg]

From The Graun's interview with David Peace:

What have you been reading lately?

Vladimir Sharov, who won the Russian Booker and passed away in 2018, has been a big revelation for me this past year. His novel Before and During, published by Dedalus and translated by Oliver Ready, is narrative within narrative within narrative; it’s very stimulating in structure, voice, and in how it engages with memory, and Soviet and post-Soviet history. Finding a writer like this is what I live for, to be honest.

I did a bit of DuckDuckGoing and was really intrigued by this review:

https://www.themodernnovel.org/europe...

A lunatic asylum, Tolstoy, Mme de Stael, Stalin...not as historic, but purely fictional characters....

Sounds like Sharov had many prominent "fathers" who influenced him, from Tolstoy to Dostoyevsky, from Gogol to Bulgakov...

Has anybody read this? Or another novel by Sharov?

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "He (Nietzsche) was quite close to Wagner, for a time; that's why his break with the composer was so bitter.

Yes, indeed.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: " In Danger: A Pasolini Anthology by Pier Paolo Pasoloni."

I haven't read Pasolini's writing, but saw a good number of his films - 'The Gospel according to Matthew' is brilliant - and must be one of very few, or possibly the only, film directed by an atheist to win a Catholic prize, maybe because Pasolini's is one of the most effective films on a religious theme I have ever seen, perhaps because it was made by a nonbeliever who did not preach, glorify, underline, sentimentalize or romanticize his famous story, but tried his best to simply record it. (Roger Ebert at https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...). According to Wikipedia, It is based on scripture, but adapted by Pasolini, and he is credited as writer. Jesus, a barefoot peasant, is played by Enrique Irazoqui. While filming it, Pasolini vowed to direct it from the "believer's point of view", but later said that upon viewing the completed work, he realized he had expressed his own beliefs.

I'd say that it not only reflects to some extent Pasolini's beliefs, but also his sexuality - he was gay - although there is nothing explicit in the film. It is a remarkable piece of work, and impressed me more than the other films I've seen (Theorem, Pigsty and I think one or two others).

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: " In Danger: A Pasolini Anthology by Pier Paolo Pasoloni."

I haven't read Pasolini's writing, but saw a good number of his films - 'The Gospel according to Matthew' is brilliant - and ..."

that film is remarkable, telling one of the greatest tales in his own original way, i hadnt realised it had won a catholic prize. certainly in conservative country like Italy, Pasolini was certain to create unrest and indignation.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: " In Danger: A Pasolini Anthology by Pier Paolo Pasoloni."

I haven't read Pasolini's writing, but saw a good number of his films - 'The Gospel according to Matthew'..."

Ebert's commentary is well worth reading, IMO.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "He (Nietzsche) was quite close to Wagner, for a time; that's why his break with the composer was so bitter.

Yes, indeed."

In 1877, when Nietzsche was beginning to develop his apostasy from Wagnerism, Wagner wrote to Nietzsche's doctor suggesting that N's health and eyesight problems were a result of chronic masturbation, which no doubt aggravated the breach.
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/b...

[AB76]

Ukraine War and previous wars (reading)

Shocking images from Bucha and Irpin, this war is a rolling horror show, i do feel like turning to some Snyder and Applebaum to study the effects of the conflicts they studied on subsequent ones in that central-eastern european area but while i am never keen on ignoring or trying to avoid a modern conflict, i dont think i can read those grim books and watch Putins terrible crimes on 24/7 news at same time.

a whole swathe of my reading has been nullified due to this, as i said, i am not squeamish and discuss the war daily with friends but i dont think i can double up and read about the previous conflict war crimes that the damned Russian army doesnt seem to have learned anything from. Chechnya, Katyn, etc

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Ukraine War and previous wars (reading)

Shocking images from Bucha and Irpin, this war is a rolling horror show, i do feel like turning to some Snyder and Applebaum to study the effects of the con..."

The Spanish Army fought their civil war using much the same tactics that they'd practiced against insurgents in Spanish Morocco. Putin's troops are fighting the same sort of war in Ukraine that they fought for years in Syria.