What are we reading? 1 August 2022

[[deleted user]]

Gpfr - I should have said before, thank you for very lovely intro.

[FrancesBurgundy]

AB76 wrote: "i would also mention Parades End but for another reason, i loathed the book(though my grandfather loved it) but loved the drama adaption which was high art ...... it might be that cos i disliked the book i was surprised to watch it and think, should i read it again?

In my mind the TV adaptation was very different from the book - more linear, as I suppose it would have to be. What I love about the books is the stream of consciousness, which would be hard to do on TV, and which makes me stop and think about much of what I'm reading, because it isn't always clear.

I'm not sure how many times I've read through Parade's End, but a year or so ago I read the four books straight off, and yet again there was stuff I'd never noticed.

You could always try a re-read, but with Benedict C and the others in your head I don't know how successful it might be, even supposing you did like it this time!

[FrancesBurgundy]

Russell wrote: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "M & C...sea battles... It really brought home what I think even Patrick O'Brian cannot describe in its absolute horror."

I'm resisting a re-read of the series, for the moment. I know that, once I start, domestic duties will be ignored, conversation will fall silent, and all other reading abandoned...."

My idea was to re-read without any gaps, so the whole series would be one long story. Interrupted by domestic duties for me though! But what happened was I picked up the first book in Henry Williamson's Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series - 15 books in all I think. I couldn't put it down. so decided I'd alternate a Williamson with an O'Brian, and curiously I had 13 of each to go.

But what's happened now is I went straight from Williamson no. 3 to Williamson no.4. I can see myself putting O'Brian on hold until I've finished all of Williamson. They are wonderful - a fictionalised history of the first half of the 20th century, but based very much on Williamson's own life.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "In reading the various source material for Hitchcock’s films, it was interesting to see how an idea from one source shows up in a later film when technology or budget allows it."

That seems absolutely right, though I can't think of examples offhand - maybe later.
I can think of a counter-example, though - as a youngster, I listened to a terrifying version of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' on the radio; many years later, I saw a totally unconvincing - and laughable - CGI hound in a TV adaptation. So - the technology existed, but it was used really badly.

[scarletnoir]

MK wrote: "All I remember is that I didn't get it and not only gave up on Shutter Island but also added Dennis Lehane to my DNR (Do Not Read) list. I am unforgiving. No second reading chances in this house."

Thanks for that - I saw the film of that book, and found it effective if not really my sort of thing.
Perhaps I won't bother with Lehane after all - I didn't care much for most of the authors consulted, after all!
(Most probably, I'll download a sample on the Kindle... that should be enough to get an idea.)

[scarletnoir]

Gpfr wrote: "If I remember correctly, the references in the article (or comments) were to the Kenzie and Gennaro (private investigators) series. I've been thinking recently of re-reading them."

Thanks a lot - if I do try Lehane, those sound much more sort of thing than 'Shutter Island'.

[Greenfairy]

In today's Thursday quiz (Bernard Cribbens special) Martin Belam claimed that Wuthering Heights is "The world's most miserable novel"
Some commenators disagreed, citing Russian novels and one chose Jude the Obscure. I would love to know what group members choose?

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "Thanks for that - I saw the film of that book, and found it effective if not really my sort of thing."

After a few tries, I’ve concluded that, whatever its other merits, it’s probably impossible for me to like a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

I have a question for those who have read Shutter Island or seen the film, but it needs a spoiler warning.

(view spoiler)[Though the “fake” story which is first presented as the main narrative in the novel and film is set in the 1950s, I came away from the novel with the impression that the “real” action takes place years later, in the 1970s or even 1980s. I pretty much transferred this belief to my viewing of the film a few years after reading the book.

Is there such a time shift between the “fake” and “real” stories or did I imagine that?

All of the online descriptions of the film I found (I haven’t found any of the novel that go into spoiler-level detail) state that the action takes place in the 1950s (1954 to be precise) with no qualifiers.

The particular reason that I ask this is because early in the film, we see the doctors in the asylum / prison listening to a recording of Mahler’s Piano Quartet. Now this piece of music had not been re-discovered in the 1950s when the action nominally takes place, but if it’s actually occurring in the 1970s or later, the piece of music would have been known and recorded. Was the choice of music here a subtle clue as to the real setting of the action or simply an anachronism? (hide spoiler)]

[Greenfairy]

Bill, have you seen the masterpiece Gangs of New York? I know that Day Lewis stole the show, but DiCaprio more than held his own .
I looked at at your spoiler and thought that you made an excellent point about the timeline in Shutter Island though.

[MK]

Bill wrote: "MK wrote: "All I remember is that I didn't get it and not only gave up on Shutter Island but also added Dennis Lehane to my DNR (Do Not Read) list."

I think I got the idea behind the narrative twi..."

🙄

[AB76]

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i would also mention Parades End but for another reason, i loathed the book(though my grandfather loved it) but loved the drama adaption which was high art ...... it might be that cos ..."

SOC could be achieved by a voice over i guess but it would a very wordy one....with classic literature....could detract from the effect of the film and if watered down, weaken the artistic depth

[Andy]

A catch up from me from a nook on the shores of Lake Vättern, the sixth biggest lake in Europe..

The Black Mass of Brother Springer by Charles Willeford

Willeford is a favourite of mine, his crime writing has a gritty style to it that is difficult to compare to anyone else.

This, one of his early novels published in 1958, is of particular interest.

The narrator and protagonist, an unsuccessful writer with a failed marriage, scams his way into a post as a white Pastor shepherding a black congregation in Jim Crow era Jacksonville, Florida. He’s written more as an opportunist than a militant racist and yet he uses his position to do some crappy things, which is still racist.

Before I continue, it is necessary to say that this is written as a biting satire of organised religion, and a send up of civil rights through the white perspective.

What’s clear, is that though the Reverend Springer comes over as more of an opportunist than a blatant racist, he is still painted as a pretty despicable character. He misuses his position, and he is a racist by association at the very least. Though, in the last part of the novel, he takes a flight to New York with a woman from the congregation he had been chasing, and shows her how different the attitude to race is. His short time amongst the Jax congregation has perhaps changed him.

It was only published after a change of title. The publisher objected to this one, to which Willeford suggested ‘N word’ lover, also rejected, then published as Honey Gal.

It’s significance should not be under estimated. It was one of the first novels to depict the civil rights revolution that followed the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ruling, that State laws establishing segregation in public schools were unconstitutional (1954).

Yet, it bears the hallmark of Willeford’s best; his black humour about which he said he just wrote the truth, and that they are neither wholly plot driven nor character driven, but have an eccentricity to them which provides all the fun.

[Andy]

Lip Hook - a tale of rural unease by David Hine and Mark Stafford

This was my fist graphic novel, or comic as they used to be called. A reason I had put it off was that almost all of my reading is on a black and white e-reader, and I had wrongly assumed it would be detrimental to the experience. Colour would have been better, and the speech bubble writing is small, but perfectly possible to read and enjoy.

This is folk horror, populated by a set of grotesque characters whose images verge on the disturbing. Straight away it’s a whole different experience to a novel, for which one’s mind does the job of conjuring that image.

Vincent and Sophia are hoodlums on the run from some unspecified crime. Their pursuers, who we never see, present such a threat that it results in them veering off the main road to the remote, forgotten village of Lip Hook, a place shut off from the rest of the world, caught in another twisted reality. As suggested by the subtitle, the sense of unease grows as we learn more about the isolated village, and its surrounding marsh with vast swarms of flying insects, and the seemingly ever present fog.

Illustrator Stafford perfects the technique a film maker might use, of letting the camera dwell to create a sense of dread and yet it is completely compelling. Surely his is the harder of the two roles.
From cricket on the village green, to the masks the villagers wear to protect themselves against the mist, the apparent idyll of rural village life contrasts with stranger practices. The atmosphere builds as it becomes clear something is clearly wrong, and a rewarding climax ensues.

For lovers of folk horror, this is a treat not to be missed.

There’s a sample page over at my blog.. (safereturndoubtful.tumblr.com)

[Andy]

and Naked in Garden Hills by Harry Crews

Crews is clearly a fan of carnivals and freak shows, and in this his second novel, published in 1969, he creates another. As ever, it has a strange set up..

Garden Hills is a town at the bottom of a phosphate pit in Florida, which is how it got its hills. It is owned by Mayhugh Aaron (known simply and pictorially as the Fat Man), six-hundred pounds and growing, and who drinks the diet milkshake Metrecal by the caseload. Working for Fat Man is ‘four feet of perfection’, Jester, a ninety-pound midget who dreams the horses he never rode and the races he never won, until his riding was cut short by a fall and from then on, fear. Dolly, once the Phosphate Queen of Garden Hills, is a young beauty who has recently returned from New York to set up a GoGo strip club.

Anyone who is new to Crews should beware about ignoring his literary pedigree at the expense of such madcap scenarios as here. Though this was only his second novel, he was 34, and a master of the narrative learnt from amongst others, Graham Greene.
I say that because he has become, until this year at least, somewhat forgotten. Much of his work is out of print, this being a good example. Though A Childhood: The Biography of a Place and The Gospel Singer have been reissued by Penguin Classics in the last few months.
This book really needs a publisher to rediscover it.

So think of Crewe’s literary influencers, Greene, Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson, stir in a healthy dose of mescaline, triple the serotonin level, and that is a measure of his wild imagination.
Some media reviews call it surrealism, but for me it is just tremendous entertainment.


Here’s a clip..

She was a great-hipped, heavy-legged woman with breasts that haunt the dreams of hungry men.
She was repulsed by Michelangelo’s Creation on the ceiling of the bathroom.
“The body is the work of the Devil,” she said.
But Fat Man’s father only laughed at her and lay superimposing her head onto the shoulders of Adam, pretending that naked Adam was his wife.
And he had sired his son with his wife fully clothed and shoed in a dark room in the middle of the night with her jaws clenched and her teeth grinding and her Bible clutched to her bosom with both hands.

[MK]

Especially for CCC - August 4th is International Owl Awareness Day: a day to celebrate these magnificent and mysterious raptors that fill our nights with wisdom and wonder. And a day to consider how we can help guarantee their future will be strong.

[Bill]

Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, have you seen the masterpiece Gangs of New York?"

I’ve seen Gangs of New York - a single viewing on DVD that didn’t bowl me over, though I liked some things such as the elaborate sets. I kind of remember a scene-chewing Daniel Day Lewis, but can’t say that I recall the other performances, even that of the generally memorable Jim Broadbent. Perhaps it was my mood at the time and I should revisit.

I thought the Asbury book on which the film was based, a kind of “cult classic”, is monstrously over-rated. A very good novel featuring the Draft Riots is Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York (it would have made a more interesting source for Scorsese); see Luc Sante’s Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York for a memorable non-fiction account of criminals in Old New York.

I may have a general problem liking movies made after a certain date; it may be that I now end up seeing them on home video, which generally has less impact than the big screen (even the not-so-big screens of a multiplex) – but I’ve also seen so many in-theater projection fiascos that I don’t consider theatrical showings to be very reliable.

But it’s not necessarily the format: I’ve discovered a number of older films for the first time on DVD that impressed me as great movies. My dissatisfaction really seems more related to a film’s vintage.

DiCaprio isn’t alone – I can’t name any young actors or actresses whose work has impressed me and who I want to see more of. I also generally hate the dominance of digital effects which movies seem to have gone overboard with since the original Jurassic Park. I think that the most recent movie I’ve seen that I thought was really good was Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and before that A History of Violence (2005!).

[AB76]

Andy wrote: "and Naked in Garden Hills by Harry Crews

Crews is clearly a fan of carnivals and freak shows, and in this his second novel, ..."

hope your travels are going ok Andy....?

[Andy]

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "and Naked in Garden Hills by Harry Crews

Crews is clearly a fan of carnivals and freak shows, and in this his s..."

Thanks AB. All well. Storm brewing and 4G signal not strong enough for cricket viewing, so radio instead,
Unlike England and Wales where I hear that rain is a thing of long ago.

[AB76]

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "and Naked in Garden Hills by Harry Crews

Crews is clearly a fan of carnivals and freak shows, and ..."

good stuff andy, its a drought here, the fields and verges look like Italy or Spain in June, riverbeds dry, resevoirs shrinking, if the heat had been accompanied by rain it would be less of an issue.

2022 has been a really concerning year of weather in the shires, a very mild winter, a balmy mild, dry spring,indifferent june and then a blazing hot july,we havent had a "cool" day, under 20c since late May

[Veufveuve]

I'm late to the party (as ever) but note there was a discussion of film adaptations. We watched "The Swimmer" a few nights ago. I read the story quite a few years ago while utterly in love with Cheever's short stories. The film is distinctly odd, but I was glad to have watched after many years of wanting to.

[Greenfairy]

Bill wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, have you seen the masterpiece Gangs of New York?"

I’ve seen Gangs of New York - a single viewing on DVD that didn’t bowl me over, though I liked some things such as the el..."
One of the things that I loved about Gangs of New York were the built sets. Scorsese mentioned that they were becoming a thing of the past. Thanks for the book recommendations.

[Greenfairy]

MK wrote: "Especially for CCC - August 4th is International Owl Awareness Day: a day to celebrate these magnificent and mysterious raptors that fill our nights with wisdom and wonder. And a day to consider h
I share your love of these marvellous birds☺

[Berkley]

This should be in the film thread but the only times I've liked de Caprio have been in the two Tarantino movies he did, Django and especially Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I could probably narrow that down to just the latter, since he wasn't spectacular in Django, merely less annoying than I usually find him. But I thought he did a great job as the actor whose career is on the wane in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Gangs of New York I haven't seen but plan to read the book some day - if I can find a cheap, pre-movie-version copy without the movie stills on the cover.

[Robert]

Bill wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, have you seen the masterpiece Gangs of New York?"

I’ve seen Gangs of New York - a single viewing on DVD that didn’t bowl me over, though I liked some things such as the el..."

Years ago, I read a good historical account of the New York Draft Riots. If I recall, the title was The Second Rebellion.

[Bill]

Berkley wrote: "the only times I've liked de Caprio have been in the two Tarantino movies he did, Django and especially Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

I'd forgotten he was in Django - yes, he's easier for me to loathe than to empathize with. Haven't seen Hollywood. I enjoy the audacity and energy of Tarantino's films, but don't feel there's much depth there.

[Robert]

Veufveuve wrote: "I'm late to the party (as ever) but note there was a discussion of film adaptations. We watched "The Swimmer" a few nights ago. I read the story quite a few years ago while utterly in love with Che..."

I too liked "The Swimmer." Good and odd movie.

[Robert]

Bill wrote: "Berkley wrote: "the only times I've liked de Caprio have been in the two Tarantino movies he did, Django and especially Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

I'd forgotten he was in Django - yes, he's ea..."

I haven't seen either of the Tarantino movies, but I liked de Caprio in The Aviator.

[CCCubbon]

MK wrote: "Especially for CCC - August 4th is International Owl Awareness Day: a day to celebrate these magnificent and mysterious raptors that fill our nights with wisdom and wonder. And a day to consider ho..."

They are wonderful birds. The four owlets have almost fledged now. They come back into the box during the day to sleep and are off flying at night. It’s been such a pleasure to watch them grow.

A barn owl hit the overhead wires a couple of years ago - I tried to save it but couldn’t. When you hold them they feel like crinkly paper.
Wrote a poem about it once. If I find it I will post it on poems for you.
Many thanks

[AB76]

Scullys Reminiscences of a South African Pioneer is a dark memoir of imperial cruelty, his intentions are not to explore this however, he is a product of his time and lets the world that is emerging in the late19c Cape Colony, emerge without criticism

The violent, drunken activities of Cape Militias raised to fight the Basuto and Tembu tribes shows the scars the british left on societies where "civilising" was very far from the agenda. These volunteer troops plunder and drink their way through the vast, underpopulated colony in the 1878-80 tribal wars. Scully is an officer critical of this lack of discipline but happy to burn down tribal hamlets and kill natives, he observes five volunteers boiling a native head in a pan, to preserve the skull but does not say anything else

The Basuto tribes prevailed in this war and Lesotho retains its individual rights to this day, agreed with the Cape Colony administration which realised its disparate, violent militias were not an effective fighting force.

The darker side of the violence and aggression at the heart of anglo-saxon society are rarely highlighted in our imperial misjudgements and the veneer when lifted reminds me of drunken football crowds and squaddie violence in Cyprus and Gibralter to this day. The masculine anglo-saxon urge to fight, drink and revolt, unleashed on people thousands of miles away.

Spanish, French, and Portugese colonial violence always gets more coverage than the British-American-Australian-South African-Canadian variations i think.

[[deleted user]]

I’m sorry to say I found the film of In a Lonely Place rather disappointing. I suppose I was still full of the complex characterization of the book. In my view, Bogart and Gloria Grahame do no better than all right with parts stripped of nuance, and the plot was so changed as to be barely recognizable. I would recommend anyone to try the book instead. I myself will certainly be reading others by Dorothy B Hughes.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "I’ve seen Gangs of New York - a single viewing on DVD that didn’t bowl me over, though I liked some things such as the elaborate sets. I kind of remember a scene-chewing Daniel Day Lewis, but can’t say that I recall the other performances."

I really didn't think much of this - one of Scorsese's weaker efforts for sure - IMO, of course! It says it all that you mainly remember the sets... all I can remember is some very dodgy accent work and the fact that the dialogue didn't ring true.

[scarletnoir]

Andy wrote: "Unlike England and Wales where I hear that rain is a thing of long ago...."

We had quite a lot of rain here in west Wales at the weekend and the beginning of this week... the further south and east you get in the UK, the less recent rain.

[scarletnoir]

Greenfairy wrote: "In today's Thursday quiz (Bernard Cribbens special) Martin Belam claimed that Wuthering Heights is "The world's most miserable novel."

I read that, too - no opinion on WH as I haven't read it.

My vote (of books I remember fairly well ) would go to Stoner by John Williams - I couldn't finish it - the character was in a downward spiral without applying any willpower to get himself out. (No idea if it ended in suicide, but it would not surprise me.) Note: he wasn't referred to as suffering from clinical depression, but seemed to think his life was ruled by 'fate'.

As for less well remembered novels: Kafka is a pretty big downer in 'The Trial' and 'The Castle'. 'Metamorphosis' is hardly a barrel of laughs... but worst of all in terms of misery is 'In the Penal Colony'.
(Kafka is a talented author but not one I'd care to revisit!)

[Bill]

OMG This cover is apparently real.
A Hero of Our Time

[MK]

I'm back on PNW weather and climate here. Before I post a link, here's some background information. Cliff Mass is a tenured professor in Atmospheric Science at the University of Washington. Originally from the East Coast, which in my mind at least makes him more likely to speak out, he was summarily fired from his weather segment at a local NPR station for not being a 'Chicken Little' on climate change.

I've been concerned about how much all our paving over or building on impacts heat which Prof. Mass touches on here - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/

Sorry for the degression, but I am at a standstill reading-wise. I had hoped to learn more about what I call 'the western (as in US) way of mind' by reading Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. It takes place in Utah when it was still a territory and depicts men (generally) as bullies and women as submissive. I couldn't handle much of that so it's going back to the library.

Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York came in the mail yesterday. Perhaps it will serve as an antidote.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "I really didn't think much of this - one of Scorsese's weaker efforts for sure - IMO, of course! It says it all that you mainly remember the sets... all I can remember is some very dodgy accent work and the fact that the dialogue didn't ring true"

In thinking back to what I remember of the film after @Greenfairy mentioned it, I recalled Daniel Day Lewis talkin' kind of funny. I tend not to be very sensitive to accents, at least when they are varieties of English pronunciation, so if I notice that one is being put on by an actor, I assume it's probably overdone.

[Tam]

MK wrote: "I'm back on PNW weather and climate here. Before I post a link, here's some background information. Cliff Mass is a tenured professor in Atmospheric Science at the University of Washington. Origina..."

You might be better off trying Owen Wister's 'The Virginian', which is the one that kicked off the 'cowboy novel', as a phenomena, I think. It has been many years since I read it, but have fond memories of doing so, unlike Zane Grey.

[[deleted user]]

Tam wrote: "...You might be better off trying Owen Wister's 'The Virginian'...It has been many years since I read it, but have fond memories of doing so..."

I enjoyed it too. A lot of stern Code-of-the-West stuff among the men is relieved by delightful humor, some of it literary, when a young school ma'am from Vermont comes on the scene.

[Greenfairy]

scarletnoir wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "In today's Thursday quiz (Bernard Cribbens special) Martin Belam claimed that Wuthering Heights is "The world's most miserable novel."

I read that, too - no opinion on WH as I h..."

I've been thinking about this, at first I tended to agree with the person who chose Jude the Obscure but that is just sad and tragic. I think I will stay with Hardy and say The Return of the Native.
While you are here Scarlet, I must tell you that I have abandonded listening to The Bass Rock on audio because the narrator's attempt to do a Welsh accent for a voluble vicar is excreble! Grounds for a complaint to race relations! However I wiil get a print copy as I do want to finish it.

[AB76]

In Unconventional Reminisces(1913) South African civil servant and writer William Charles Scully looks back at his life in the emerging republic from 1876 to 1900.

While in his younger memoirs, the cynical, aggressive nature of British colonial experience is strong, tribal battles, destruction and the avaricious lust of diamonds and gold is central to the theme, later on the memoir starts to change and become more focused on the question of the tribes and their future.

Scully is keen to make sure that "native welfare" must be a priority or the colonial exercise in Africa will fail, he laments what the british have done to native society via legal and social policies and spends time in his posting in a tribal area to talk with elderly warriors and transcribe their tales of warfare and tradition, while his wife notes down tribal songs and tunes.

The situation with the Pondo and Baca tribes was tense at the time and he plays a role in trying to keep things balanced, while observing the traditions and customs. Amusing incidents abound, including the fact that every "chief" needed an official "praiser" and he fell under the title of "chief", so he had a very loud voiced "praiser" follow him and deliver flattery at loud volume for months. His meagre figure became muscular in the words of the praiser, he was lauded as a mighty man, until he became bored of the flattery and tried to pay the praiser off, even as the praiser would depart into the hills, his praise could be heard by Scully in the valley.

Some details of the Zulu wars of the 1820s were fascinating as the mighty Shaka drove all other tribes before him and of a rival tribal leader called Madikane who from the descriptions of him seems to have been of possible dual heritage.

One notorious character who did not agree with Scully on the native question was the infamous Cecil Rhodes, a teenage companion of his in the diamond fields, now the head honcho in the colony. At his estate at Groote Schuur, Rhodes was furious when Scully mentioned his proposals for native relations and spoke quite angrily, a witness confided to Scully later that Rhodes had for so long been surrounded by yes men, he could no longer brook dissent, especially on the native question

[AB76]

Just finished the short book Jews Dont Count by David Baddiel

Brilliantly written, readable and poking a stick into the cobwebby depths of the anti-semitism situation in the UK over the last seven years

One thing i disliked however was the reliance on social media,especially twitter, where spats over any issue flare up on a rather unwieldy platform which seems to inflame rational discussion and is infested by trolls. Its a perfect sphere to frame examples of nonsense-speak and what aboutery but also a very low-intellect target, its beneath debate in some ways, a gutter of abuse and distraction...

[MK]

Tam wrote: "MK wrote: "I'm back on PNW weather and climate here. Before I post a link, here's some background information. Cliff Mass is a tenured professor in Atmospheric Science at the University of Washingt..."

Thanks for that. I just checked my library and it's available there - in three forms.

[scarletnoir]

Greenfairy wrote: "While you are here Scarlet, I must tell you that I have abandonded listening to The Bass Rock on audio because the narrator's attempt to do a Welsh accent for a voluble vicar is excreble! "

I had to check this out as I didn't know the book - set in Scotland, then, but with a Welsh vicar - is that right? My (least) favourite memory of actors doing 'Welsh' accents comes from a long-ago TV drama (I have completely forgotten the title), when half the cast spoke as if they came from the pits in the Rhondda valley, and the other half from Caernarfon or Bangor! Anyone with the slightest familiarity will know that N and S Wales accents are totally different - almost two different languages. There is even a classic book - William Jones - by T Rowland Hughes - in which a 'Gog' (a North Walian) splits from his wife and moves south to work in the pits - where there is mutual incomprehension. (Not only are the accents in English totally different - the same is true for Welsh, with even many different words for the same thing!). So, I wasn't impressed with that - except in a negative way, as I never forgot it!

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "Rhodes had for so long been surrounded by yes men, he could no longer brook dissent, especially on the native question..."

It seems that in certain quarters, it is believed to be a good idea to 'protect' the statues to Rhodes and his ilk against modern revisionist questioning of their morals and behaviour.

[Tam]

MK wrote: "Tam wrote: "MK wrote: "I'm back on PNW weather and climate here. Before I post a link, here's some background information. Cliff Mass is a tenured professor in Atmospheric Science at the University..."

Can't help you with what version as it was so long ago, but I see tere is 100th aniversary edition that includes background details which might be worth a look. It is a period piece, but has charm as well. I seem to remember a bit where some of the cowboys had to look after some babies, which was quite funny.

The TV series in the 60- 70's of 'The Virginian' was quite good, but really it was completely rewritten, as a series designed for the audience of those particular, times, using some of the characters. I was in love with actor James Drury's eyebrows, from what I can remember.

As a possible truly 'balancing' read, (this would be a matter of taste as, warning, it is quite harrowing), is the account of the Tahoe 'stuck' wagon train, of quite how terrible the trip west could be for early pioneer settlers, 'The Donner Party'...

[[deleted user]]

I like this news item. A manager of an Oxfam Books and Music shop in Scotland discovered a first edition of A Christmas Carol (1843) in a carrier bag half full of very tatty books. He thinks the donor knew what she was doing. He said she handed over the bag with a glint in her eye and said "there's one or two special things in there". What I want to know is if FrancesBurgundy has been to Scotland lately? Stirling, to be specific.

[AB76]

Having finished Scully and the excellent Benedetti novel, i now move on to two new books:

The Olives Trees of Justice by Jean Pelegri(1962)
A rare french novel by a pied-noir who isnt Albert Camus, this novel is set in Algeria during the war with France and has been on my pile for a while. I have read a lot about the french retreat from empire and hopefully this will be a good choice

Miami by Joan Didion(1987)
I was going to read Didion in chronological order but this leapt out at me, with my interest in Cuba and its exiles. I loved Slouching Towards Bethlehem in 2021

The superb french online records of the 1954 Algerian census, the last one conducted by the french have been a great source of info in my reading and studying the situation from 1948-1962. The entire nation is as a snapshot in these documents, the world that was soon to end.

[FrancesBurgundy]

Anne wrote: "I like this news item. A manager of an Oxfam Books and Music shop in Scotland discovered a first edition of A Christmas Carol (1843) in a carrier bag half full of very tatty books. .... if FrancesBurgundy has been to Scotland lately? ..."

My days of giving valuable books to charity shops are over Anne. I think I said at the time that those I'd already given may well never have realised their proper value. In future I shall find an expert on an internet forum who will guide me to the only shop that will be interested in whatever I've picked up, who will then give me a reasonable price which I shall do with as I think fit!

And I haven't been to Scotland for a very long time - I'm sure their charity shop workers are extremely conscientious, as I would be if I were in their shoes, but the process of actually getting good money for a rare book is time- and energy-consuming - I wouldn't wish it on many people, especially a charity shop manager who has to keep the shop running smoothly.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Rhodes had for so long been surrounded by yes men, he could no longer brook dissent, especially on the native question..."

It seems that in certain quarters, it is believed to be a go..."

I'd leave Rhodes where he is. His statue reflects the values of his time and reminds the viewer where the money came from. The viewer might then reflect on where the money comes from now.

[Bill]

AB76 wrote: "Just finished the short book Jews Dont Count by David Baddiel"

Does the book fulfill this criterion?

Every serious discussion of antisemitism includes this joke: an antisemite is someone who hates Jews more than is absolutely necessary. Attributed to British political thinker Sir Isaiah Berlin, the joke is wise as well as witty. Given the Jews' calamitous history, an ideological or pathological form of Jew-hatred can't simply be about not liking Jews or even treating them harshly. It must be a prejudice with no rational basis. Although often applied to any occurrence of hostility or discrimination against Jews, antisemitism originally entailed a conviction that the Jews are inherently evil. The word "anti-Semitism" was coined only in the late-19th century but has since been applied to Jew-hatred throughout history.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/...
I’ve read the Lipstadt book reviewed there and had a few more issues with it than the Austrailian reviewer (my review) , perhaps because I’m living in the US, where Lipsadt is writing from.

With the book I’m currently reading, Gustav Mahler by Jens Malte Fischer (translated by Stuart Spencer), I’ve been chewing over a section that begins:

Now we have to ask whether Mahler wrote Jewish music. The question has to be put even if it has repeatedly been posed by anti-Semites. But it has also been asked by Mahler’s supporters even during his own lifetime. And it continues to be discussed to this day – much the same is true of Schoenberg, whose music was examined from this standpoint by the American musicologist Alexander L. Ringer in his 1990 book Arnold Schoenberg: The Composer as Jew.

To me, raising the question in such a way seems to be allowing antisemites the benefit of setting the terms of the argument. Needless to say, I also have the Ringer book he mentions and have become sidetracked with re-familiarizing myself with its contents (I read it more than 20 years ago). Ringer tries to be more precise than Fischer in defining “Jewish music”, but I’m not convinced that the term has meaning once one goes beyond liturgical or traditional music associated with Judaism.