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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 8th June 2022
Mod
"That was such a treat. Of course I've added to my TBR list. ..."
Oh, so have I! Several titles scribbled down.
...Susan Reed, a retired cultural archeologist, who decided to change her registration from Democrat to unaffiliated....I would be most grateful if anybody could enlighten me about this:
I have never understood why Americans have to "register" their affiliation to/sympathy for a party.
Who asks and why?
Is it compulsory to do so? If it is: why?
Are these records in the public domain? Could I find out what party my neighbous, friends, enemies vote for?
I do not think there is one single country in Europe that would even dare asking their citizens such a question. The "Wahlgeheimnis" is sacred. Only the person who votes will know what they vote for.
Georg wrote: "...Susan Reed, a retired cultural archeologist, who decided to change her registration from Democrat to unaffiliated....I would be most grateful if anybody could enlighten me about this:
I have ..."
Elections are supervised on a local level - county or city - generally under rules set by the state in which they're located.
State rules on elections vary - in some the winner is required to have at least 50% + 1 of the vote and there is an additional run-off election for the top two candidates - but I will speak for my state which I think is fairly common.
Elections are held in two steps, a primary (usually in the spring) and a general (in November). In the primary, people registered for a specific party choose the candidate who will run under that party's aegis in the general election. Only voters registered under a given party can vote in that party's primary election (this is not true of all states). In Pennsylvania, someone who is "unaffiliated" ("independent" is, I think the term used here) can not vote for any candidates in the primary election, only on referendum questions if any happen to be on the ballot.
If someone wishes, they can change their party affiliation from cycle to cycle, depending on which primary they wish to vote in. When I moved to my present home, the county was dominated by Republicans so I registered with that party in order to have some say in the primary, where candidates were chosen who were going to be the likely winners, at least in local offices; but I always voted Democratic in the general election. Since then, I changed to Democratic to have a vote in Senate and Presidential primaries, and ended up staying with that as the county turned to a Democratic majority.
Guardian notes that Sheffield Hallam university has suspended its English Literature degree course. The war on humanities continues, i studied History at university but was obviously a big fan of english literature and studied it at A level. Sad news....
Two from me from the last few days.. Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated from the Spanish (Mexico) by Heather Cleary.
In the small village of San Felipe in Jalisco province of Mexico, where traditional customs and beliefs are a present reality, Feliciana tells the story of her life as a curandera, or folk-healer.
Zoe, a journalist from Mexico City, worn out by multiple investigations into femicide and rape, still feels obligated to cover them, and agrees to report on the murder of Feliciana’s cousin Paloma, also a curandera.
The story emerges of Feliciana’s and Paloma’s struggles to become curanderas in such a male-dominated society. Paloma is a Muxe, or third-gendered Zapotec person, assigned male at birth.
This is a story of finding one’s place in the world in the face of the many obstacles in such a male dominated society. Lozano’s skill is in her descriptions of such contrasting characters and their fluid identities. The result demonstrates one of the great pleasures in reading international literature, to be so immersed in a different and fascinating culture.
and, Nettles by Adam Scovell.
I didn’t enjoy reading this at all, though I do appreciate that it is a powerful piece of writing. It was all a bit close to home.
The author makes no attempt to conceal the name of the school in Wallasey, on the Wirral, where this is set. For 7 years, until 1988, I taught at the neighbouring school, just a mile or so down the railway line. The school I attended myself was about 4 miles away.
The book is about bullying, and the long term effect it has on those involved on all sides, and is set about 10 years after I moved away to teach elsewhere. Looking back, if anything, the problems we had with bullying, disruptive behaviour in general, and other issues such as racism and homophobic abuse were worse. Many of the pupils who attended my school, and the school written about here, were from very deprived areas. People often think of the Wirral as being affluent, and certain areas are, but there are also some of the most disadvantaged housing estates in the country.
What makes a very difficult read a powerfully written one is the belief in knowing that the heart and soul of the writer is not only held within the story, but that it has been so closely examined, sealed and stamped, and acted out as a type of sacrifice, thereby allowing some pain from the author’s own life to be used as a cathartic exercise.
AB76 wrote: "I highly commend the Island by Ana Maria MutateMajorca in 1936 and the mysteries of life for a 14yo girl, her extended family and the distant war that drifts into Majorcan life. I didnt feel tha..."
Thanks AB. Interested in The Island.
Bill wrote: "Georg wrote: "...Susan Reed, a retired cultural archeologist, who decided to change her registration from Democrat to unaffiliated....I would be most grateful if anybody could enlighten me about ..."
And then there is me - who is not registered for either party. It's not that I am not interested, but where I live, it is 'true blue'! And sometimes just as extremely blue as the reddest of red states.
For anyone that might be interested here is what seemed to me to be an evenhanded critique of the January 6th Committee hearings so far - https://apnews.com/article/capitol-si...
MK wrote: "And then there is me - who is not registered for either party. It's not that I am not interested, but where I live, it is 'true blue'! And sometimes just as extremely blue as the reddest of red states."Where you live, do you have to register with a party to vote in their primary? In solidly "red" or "blue" districts, the primary is actually the more important election for local, congressional, and state representative elections, for example the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in NY.
Bill wrote: "MK wrote: "And then there is me - who is not registered for either party. It's not that I am not interested, but where I live, it is 'true blue'! And sometimes just as extremely blue as the reddest..."The situation here in WA used to be different and both parties had their own ways of nominating candidates in the past (foggy memory here), but now - this is how it will work this year.
Does my party affiliation matter when I vote?
No, not for the 2022 elections. No party affiliation is required in Washington except for the nominating primaries in a U.S. presidential election.
For the 2022 primary, the state uses a top-two primary system, whereby all congressional and state-level candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot and the top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of their party preference. All registered voters receive the same ballot.
Bill wrote: "Georg wrote: "...Susan Reed, a retired cultural archeologist, who decided to change her registration from Democrat to unaffiliated....I would be most grateful if anybody could enlighten me about ..."
Thank you, Bill.
Still a bit confused with primary and general, and Senate and and Presidential primaries (not to speak of midterm) elections.
But I think I have understood the registration thingy now: in the primary you vote for the candidate you want to see in the GE. So a Democrat would register as Republican (if the likely winner will be Republican) because s/he could then vote for a moderate Rep as opposed to a far-right one.
Please correct me if I am wrong
Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "I highly commend the Island by Ana Maria MutateMajorca in 1936 and the mysteries of life for a 14yo girl, her extended family and the distant war that drifts into Majorcan life. I di..."
i think you will enjoy it, am pleased to see new translations like this from Penguin, if you read it, make sure you also read "The Sea" by Blai Bonet. Its about Majorica, same setting and written in the 1950s like Mutate;s novel, except Bonet writes in Catalan
MK wrote: "Does my party affiliation matter when I vote?No, not for the 2022 elections. No party affiliation is required in Washington except for the nominating primaries in a U.S. presidential election."
Thanks for the explanation. Interesting that it's different for presidential primaries - probably the national party controls the eligibility to vote there.
Georg wrote: "But I think I have understood the registration thingy now: in the primary you vote for the candidate you want to see in the GE. So a Democrat would register as Republican (if the likely winner will be Republican) because s/he could then vote for a moderate Rep as opposed to a far-right one.Please correct me if I am wrong"
That's pretty much the case. There are some mischief makers who will register with the opposition party and try to elect primary candidates for the general they consider "unelectable" to give their true party's candidate a better shot. Though this strategy can backfire and the "unelectable" candidate ends up winning.
Since the 1980s, I have pretty much been a single-issue voter on the choice issue, as I knew the progress that had been made was precarious. Back in the 90s when I switched parties, there were still nominally anti-abortion Democrats and pro-choice Republicans and I considered these positions in choosing candidates in the primary. I've since come to realize that party affiliation far more often than not overrides whatever a candidate's stated position on the issue is.
AB76 wrote: "Guardian notes that Sheffield Hallam university has suspended its English Literature degree course. The war on humanities continues..."You may be right that this is a consequence of humanities subjects being undervalued - but the same sort of thing happened to the sciences as a result of underfunding of courses - unis find science courses far more expensive to run per student, in part because of the expense of equipment, materials, technicians etc. and also - maybe - because they are seen as 'hard' subjects and attract fewer students.
Both the Chemistry department where my father lectured and the Physics dept. where I studied were closed long ago, the latter around 2006:
The decision to closure Reading's physics department comes the same day as a worrying UCU report reveals that 10 per cent of UK science and maths courses have been axed in the last decade. Despite recent initiatives and warm words from the government to help UK science and innovation there has been a 10 per cent reduction in the number of core science and maths degrees offered by UK higher education institutions since 1998.
Today's report 'Degrees of decline' reveals that there are now just 224 single honours BSc courses in maths and science offered in the UK. Chemistry and physics have been worse hit by the cuts and the report shows that in Northern Ireland and north east England there is now only one institution offering single honours physics.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/2154/R...
Mod
You were at Reading, scarlet? Were we there at the same time? 1966-69 for me (doing English).
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers.
In the late 1970s and 80s pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, constructed circles in field crops using the most basic of tools, a plank and a piece of rope, and succeeded in creating mass hysteria that began in the tabloid media, suspecting alien communication, angelic warning, or simply, supernatural interference, as the cause. Of course, copycats followed.
In case they’d been forgotten, this is an imagined account of the pair.
Under the surface though, it is a fascinating study of male friendship, set against the land of the rural landscape, always a real feature in Myers's writing, and present in all of his novels.
The unlikely couple seem to be opposites, completely unsuited to each other. Redbone, a shagged out hippie who dreams up progressively complex geometric patterns, and Calvert, a grievously traumatised veteran of the Falklands War who does the more practical exploration of finding usable fields, reminiscent of Andy and Lance in the Detectorists.
Though nature and the environment is a common theme to all Myers's work, there is more new ground embarked upon here than is retrodden. Humour has more of a place, though its foundations are deeply serious.
Another feature that ultimately rewards is the refusal to enter into any form of explanation; how and why did the pair of misfits begin their madcap venture? Flashbacks to Calvert at Goose Green and Redbone at the Battle of the Beanfield are expected, but they never happen.
What appears a simple tale of the two men striving for perfection, turns out to be far more complex.
And something I don't think I've ever said before in a book review, it is so very English..
I am big Myers fan, and have read all his work. This may not be his best novel, but it is highly enjoyable, something a bit different.
This is what I call a real 'gotcha' of an opening paragraph - Women tend to fare poorly in religions created by men. Throughout history, male prophets have claimed divine authority to write laws that perpetuate male power and shunt women aside as intellectual inferiors or evil temptresses who threaten male glory.
How could I not read further in these post-Roe days? That paragraph opens the NYT review of The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land
. Of course I have put it on hold at the library. It particularly caught my eye because in an effort to understand the 'ethos of the American West' I have just begun
American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West which begins by going back to the origins of Mormonism. If the book's author is being evenhanded, I have to wonder why this religion gained such a foothold in this country. (Of course that is probably just my problem.)Note: The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land is about a renegade offshoot of Mormonism. If you haven't used up your 'free peeks' at the NYT this month, the review is here - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/28/bo...
MK wrote: "This is what I call a real 'gotcha' of an opening paragraph - Women tend to fare poorly in religions created by men. Throughout history, male prophets have claimed divine authority to write laws ..."
Hans Kung, a catholic theologian who is not popular with catholics wrote a very good book called "Women in Christianity", which explored the consistent and influential role that women played in the early church, before an organised Roman church started to slowly eradicate them from positions of influence.
I still find the tiny role that women play in Roman Catholic positions of power is shocking and the church does very little to address it. At a lower level very few faiths continue celibacy as an official line with men of god, i feel these pickled relics would benefit from some female influence in their lives and it might change their outlook on things
Heligoland by Jan Ruger, the first real micro-history of the now German island in the North Sea has started in a swashbuckling manner..Ruger describes the strategic position it held for the British during the Napoleonic Wars, when they seized it from the Danes. British intelligence agents used it as a base to gather info on the French in the North of Germany and to create unrest and uprisings amid the pro-British burghers of cities like Cuxhaven, Hamburg and Altona.
The islanders were given full rights by the British and some became skilled agents, moving to and from Hamburg in their vessels. The population was around 2,000 of mostly Danish and Frisian stock in 1806. Various cousins and nephews of King George 3rd were smuggled via the island to the safety of Britain, as well as a regiment of Spanish soldiers keen to travel back from Denmark to fight the French in Spain.
The neutral Danes and the French were a problem however and the coastline of North West Germany became trickier and trickier to infiltrate. Then Danes controlling the area of Holstein and the French the German Frisian coast and Hamburg. Due to the supremacy of the Royal Navy, the French never attempted any action against the island, only 25 miles off Cuxhaven
By happenstance this morning I turned on the TV while I was putting on my shoes and watched history in the making with Jan. 6th committee hearing. It was rather scripted, but that is much preferred to the usual political grandstanding done for later TV begging ads.If you are interested and have time, you can see a rerun at pbs.org/newshour.
I hope it will be history in the making. Note that US Presidents do not just show up to the Capitol as it seems Trump intended to do, the rule is they have to be invited.
PS The heat (89 for me) is gone! We are back to cool, breezey, a d grey.
MK wrote: "I hope it will be history in the making. Note that US Presidents do not just show up to the Capitol as it seems Trump intended to do, the rule is they have to be invited."Yes, they are like vampires that way.
by Donald E Westlake (1933-2008)Looking for a lighter novel to read in parallel with more serious stuff, I chanced upon this novel by Westlake - I vaguely remembered the name from long-ago browsing, but knew nothing about him. Turns out he was very prolific, and published under a number of pen-names. I had a look at an interview on his Amazon page... it started with a joke, and that - coupled with the wonderfully tasteless 1950s pulp fiction pastiche cover - convinced me.
This one tells the tale of a monastery improbably situated on NYC's Park Avenue, which is under threat from the developers. (The location - if not the building - appears to more or less coincide with that of St. Bart's -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bar... )
The monks' lease is soon to run out, and the landowner - a Mr. Flattery - is keen to sell the land so that a huge office block may be built. What to do? The monks seek a solution, both in appealing to Flattery's better nature and in looking for a copy of the lease - where they hope there may be a legal loophole to save them.
The main player in all this (apart from the Abbott) is Brother Benedict, a 30-ish monk who first notices the danger to the monks' lifestyle. He Travels (Travel, being something of which the monks disapprove and undergo with trepidation, is always spelt with a capital) with the Abbott to speak to Flattery, where - lo and behold - he and Flattery's daughter Eileen immediately sense a mutual attraction.
Can Benedict save the day, with or without the help of Eileen? That is the basis of this 300 page romp, which manages to be for the most part both interesting and witty. I enjoyed it... a light caper.
Points in favour: despite the lighthearted nature of the story, we do get some more serious points made - as usual, it's not possible to state with certainty whether these are the views of the author or his narrator (Benedict), but he has a bit of a rant about out-of-control building of ugly office blocks in central Manhattan, saving a particular ire for the PanAm building (now the MetLife building) and its effect on the view of the Grand Central Station terminus - what he means can be seen in a picture in the 'Critical reception' passage of the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetLife...
There are also some other interesting points and speculations - I remember in particular a complaint made about the use of nouns as verbs, for example 'to garage a car'... this makes me think that the phenomenon was maybe only just beginning in 1975 (the date of publication), but we'd need a language historian to confirm that. The narration also displays a distaste for unnecessary Travel and car use. Also, Westlake is clearly erudite and writes well.
Points against: at times, there is a certain amount of padding - for example, during his Travels we get a lot of information about how Benedict gets from A to B. There are a very few 'off' comments which feel insensitive in 2022 (par for the course in 1975) - for example, the 'short and swarthy' denizens of an area of Manhattan, where the monks encounter a 'Babel' of languages. In a book of 300 pages, I think only the most sensitive of the 'habitually offended' would blink, but who knows? Eileen Flattery's rich, spoilt and lazy friends are treated far less sympathetically than an overweight but jolly, friendly and generous Puerto Rican family...
To sum up, then - I'd say these books are good light reads. Not so great that I'll be rushing out to buy another, but certainly an author I'll consider if (as can happen) I get bogged down by books which are either heavy going or depressing. Worth considering in those circumstances.
Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Reading's physics department ..."You were at Reading, scarlet? Were we there at the same time? 1966-69 for me (doing English)."
1967-70 for me, so yes - we did overlap. Did you see Ten Years After play at the union? They probably did my hearing some early damage!
MK wrote: "Mormonism... I have to wonder why this religion gained such a foothold in this country."I have no answer to your question, but have you read a fictional account of a Mormon offshoot? I found it pretty interesting:
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth(1971) is a very stereotypical "male" novel, one that male commuters on trains would read, safe in the knowledge its sort of not "fiction".i expected a moderate return on my investment but around 160 pages in, i am enjoying the pacing, the complexity and the two sides of the story, the hunters and the hunted.
Hard to get the film and Teddy Fox out of my mind, which is a shame as the cheaper form of art(film)is so visually imprinted on life
Had to laugh when i saw this 50th anniversary edition has an intro by Lee Child, that name associated with anything would usually make me run a mile!
Mod
Did you see Ten Years After play at the union?..."
No, I didn't see that. My main musical memory there is from my 1st year: Sonny Rollins & Max Roach, on the London Road site. Opera there, too Gounod's Faust ...
The Who played at the union later, Pink Floyd...
Rizzio by Denise Mina.
I’m not sure where the idea came for Mina’s reimagining of the murder of David Rizzio (in her afterword she suggests Jamie Crawford from her publisher as having ‘commisisioned’ it), but from her pen, and in her very dark style, it works wonderfully well.
It is the first in a series from Polygon called Darkland Tales, using what they call, the best of the country’s contemporary writers.
It’s a sort of Horrible Histories for adults. For those, like me, whose knowledge of the history of the day may have fallen away somewhat since schooldays, it is a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours of reading.
Rizzio was private secretary to Mary Queen of Scots, and the tantalising opening salvo concerns a tennis match between him and his nemesis, Mary’s husband, Lord Darnley.
I’ve read much of what Mina has written, and always enjoyed it, but this format brings out the very best of her, the grizzly and the gruesome stirred in with occasional pinches of dark humour.
As the conspirators murmur..
“Got David Rizzio's blood all over his brand-new velvet hose"
"Blood? That's never coming out.”
The result, is a fascinating glimpse into the human psyche, Mary trying to outwit the Protestant nobles guilty of the killing, as she imagines their plans for her are not dissimilar.
It may attract criticism with regard to its historical accuracy, but this is fiction. How much of it is true, we will never know, but it leaves me enthralled, and hoping that Mina may do something more along these lines.
I have read most of Denise Mins’s books but not this one so thanks Andy
Andy wrote: "Rizzio by Denise Mina. I’m not sure where the idea came for Mina’s reimagining of the murder of David Rizzio (in her afterword she sugges..."
Thanks from me too Andy
Was it Scarlet who said they had been watching the Maigret tv series from the early 60s? I managed to find it and have watched three of them. Black and white with the unforgettable Rupert Davies striking a match on the wall to light his pipe! And the signature tune! I did have to laugh at the acting of some the villains who might as well have been walking round with "Guilty" or "Arrest me" written across their foreheads!But altogether a very enjoyable trip down memory lane.
AB76 wrote: "Guardian notes that Sheffield Hallam university has suspended its English Literature degree course. The war on humanities continues, i studied History at university but was obviously a big fan of e..."That is dissapointing AB does all education have to be focused on future careers?
giveusaclue wrote: "Was it Scarlet who said they had been watching the Maigret tv series from the early 60s?"I have to plead guilty - and have seen and enjoyed three episodes so far. The one this week had some strange moments... the story (I'm pretty sure) was based on a Simenon book, where the cops run a bar after the proprietor is murdered, to see who comes in... at one moment, with Lucas behind the bar and a crook coming in the door, I saw a large black object looming behind Lucas... what's that? It was a camera! It stuck out from behind the bar/scenery and wasn't edited out.
The other moment that shocked me had Lucas (the actor Ewen Solon) leaping off the balcony in front of the bar to chase someone who'd just shot a customer... it was a drop of around 3m onto a road surface, shot on location - and it was definitely Solon jumping, not a stunt double. In the story he hurt his leg and could not chase the evildoer - I couldn't help wondering if the actor had really hurt himself. It was a big drop.
But maybe not - he must have been an athletic guy, and at one point he uses a hooked walking stick to flick an old-style telephone from its stand, and caught it! Perhaps he'd had stunt or circus training.
Greenfairy wrote: "...does all education have to be focused on future careers?"Dullard politicians also don't much care for 'blue sky' scientific endeavours, ignoring the fact that research which initially has no applications can - and often does - prove to be invaluable some years down the line.
For example - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was first observed in 1938 (we learned about it at uni in the 1960s) but the first image using MRI was not produced until 1971, and it took much longer for the MRI scanners now fairly commonplace in hospitals to be manufactured and rolled out. (Noisy beasts - I had a scan yesterday!)
Gpfr wrote: "My main musical memory there is from my 1st year: Sonny Rollins & Max Roach, on the London Road site. Opera there, too Gounod's Faust ...The Who played at the union later, Pink Floyd..."
Obviously, I didn't see those from your first year, as I hadn't arrived... and missed the others you mention. I also missed Jethro Tull, who played a set at a hall of residence shortly before their breakout... The other stand-out group I remember was Family - brilliant live, but never quite managed to develop a successful recording career. I like this description from Wikipedia:
The group are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act when compared with other bands from the same period and have been described as an "odd band loved by a small but rabid group of fans".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_...
Greenfairy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Guardian notes that Sheffield Hallam university has suspended its English Literature degree course. The war on humanities continues, i studied History at university but was obviously a..."no it shouldnt, i like the european idea of a longer study at university with multi-disciplines if possible. In the Anglo_Saxon university system its all about study for your career s quick as possible to maximise future earnings, very short sighted and its been going on for decades.
Alongside the snobbery towards polytechnics in the 60s,70s and 80s, when in Europe they valued these institutions....
University should be about study and widening your knowledge of the world and the opposite sex(lol), or leather clad same sex if its our good friend leather, not a 3 year prep to be an oil exec
scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Was it Scarlet who said they had been watching the Maigret tv series from the early 60s?"I have to plead guilty - and have seen and enjoyed three episodes so far. The one this..."
Ha, I enjoyed the way the Inspector whose case Maigret usurped was left on the roof!
I used to be quite active on the Guardian's TLS a few years ago, but then got a new job with rather less free time, and slacked off. And I have never really got the hang of Ersatz TLS here on Goodreads, so I have been lurking rather than posting. I am still living in Russia, despite current events and the exodus of most Western foreigners from the country. Not that I support the 'special operation' as people refer to it here. So hear I am, a liberal Guardian reader in a decidedly illiberal country. As is my habit, I am reading 2 books, one fiction and one non- fiction, plus dipping into others.
The non fiction one is a big brick of a book that has been on my bookshelf for 20 years and I never really got my teeth into it. Citizens - Simon Schama's history of the French Revolution. Well, I read Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety early this year and enjoyed it, but felt I lacked the necessary historical background. Well, Schama certainly provides the background. 400 pages of the crisis of the old regime and the roots of the revolution, before we get to the fall of the Bastille, about half way through the book. I am taking it slowly, listening to each chapter in the audiobook, then reading the chapter, and taking notes. A chapter a day, an 80 day project. That feels like the right kind of pace. It's quite an immersive experience.
Also reading (again audiobook + written text) Andrei Makine's Le Testament Francais. A short, poetic novel about fin-de-siecle France as remembered/ imagined in a provincial Soviet town in the 1960s. So- a novel about memory, and longing for a vanished past. I've read it before but saw the audiobook on the Audible site and thought, I must reread this.
Makine is a Russian writer who lives in France and writes in French. A bit like a latter-day Henri Troyat, although fond as I am of Troyat, Makine is a more literary writer.
Still trying to overcome my habitual reluctance to express my thoughts in words, which is one of the reasons I have been so bad at posting.
FrustratedArtist wrote: "I used to be quite active on the Guardian's TLS a few years ago, but then got a new job with rather less free time, and slacked off. And I have never really got the hang of Ersatz TLS here on Goodr..."I enjoyed finding a review, whilst I was reading 'Fathers and Sons', by Turgenev which said "the best Russian novel of 'pre-abolition of serfdom' and nihilist Russia, as seen through a 'Parisian telescope'!... What is it with Russians and Paris?...
Tam wrote: "FrustratedArtist wrote: "I used to be quite active on the Guardian's TLS a few years ago, but then got a new job with rather less free time, and slacked off. And I have never really got the hang of..."My Russian friend was a Francophile-- which meant that she had strong mixed feelings about the place. Nevertheless, she said, "Every Russian wants to go to Paris. Not to live there, but to see it." There was a Russian film, "Window to Paris," about such dreams.
I would just like to add, a bit belatedly, that I am recovering well from my cataract operation, and to thank all those who sent good wishes along to me. They were much appreciated... though many drops still to go. When I spoke to the sprog, on the day of the operation, with my eye patch on, I told him that I hoped that would make me look a bit like a pirate. He replied with "you look a lot more like a Gekko". So here I am, Mama Gekko... who has thankfully just ditched the 'not so (k)nightly' eye patch...
FrustratedArtist wrote: "I used to be quite active on the Guardian's TLS a few years ago, ....Still trying to overcome my habitual reluctance to express my thoughts in words, which is one of the reasons I have been so bad at posting."Just to say I really enjoyed your well expressed post, and like others I'm sure, I'm imagining you in Russia at the moment and wishing you well. Many years ago I gave up on A Place of Greater Safety and have often felt guilty about it.
Over the last few days I've wanted an opportunity to express a thought of mine but didn't want to post it separately, so if I may hijack your post, and if Machenbach reads this can I say thank you to him once again for his wonderful advice to me earlier in the year. Getting rid of that rare old book has taken a load off my mind, and I'm glad I've been able to give the proceeds to a deserving cause or two, though I wish of course that those causes didn't exist. I constantly think about the whole process and how lucky I was to 'meet' him!
Tam wrote: "I would just like to add, a bit belatedly, that I am recovering well from my cataract operation, and to thank all those who sent good wishes along to me. They were much appreciated... though many d..."Good to know Tam
Tam wrote: "I would just like to add, a bit belatedly, that I am recovering well from my cataract operation, and to thank all those who sent good wishes along to me. They were much appreciated... though many d..."Good news. One small step for man, one giant leap from Gekkohood.
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Isak Dinesen (other topics)
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I'd put Let the Great World Spin ahead of several on this list.
Wasn't Rosemary's Baby (the film) shot in the Dakota? Tres NYC..."
The descriptions in the book sound like the Dakota, though I don’t think the building is mentioned by name. It provides an appropriately Gothicky setting for the action, which takes place almost entirely within the building. It’s that lack of engagement with the rest of the city that makes me want to dismiss this as an NYC novel – a papal visit to the city is something Rosemary watches on TV and reads about in a magazine, which are the only descriptions we get of the event. This is not a flaw in the novel: “opening up” the action would compromise the effect Levin is going for.
I can’t believe that one of the selectors said Rosemary’s husband is an actor, but there’s not much engagement at all with that milieu. Jeez, there must be a lot of more theatrically-oriented NYC novels out there; Mister Monkey to pick one I read relatively recently.
Here's a baker's dozen novels off the top of my head where the city comes across as more of a character than in those I mentioned earlier: