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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 10 October 2022
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I read all Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways series last year. For those who don't know, Nicholas Blake is the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate and father of Daniel.
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "Here's a picture of Seattle's air. It is the worst I have seen to date...."Wow, that's terrible. Stay inside indeed. I hope they're right that it'll improve on Friday."
worrying that wildfires are still an issue in late october...
My reading has had its ups and downs this week, but here’s the ups..Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham
If the title is a question, then it seems a rhetorical one, because it seems that no one does.
Indeed, midway through the novel, we realise how the title came about, when Carlotta herself suggests it as the title for a reality TV series.
After almost 22 years in Attica prison for her part in a botched (very much wrong time wrong place) robbery on a Brooklyn liquor store, Carlotta, a Black Colombian, formerly Dustin on incarceration, attempts to refind her place in society.
She was incredibly resilient when inside, her transitioning resulting in multiple incidents of abuse from inmates and officers, and it seems that indefatigability to make the best of a situation, and do it with a smile, prevails, as she attempts to settle.
Hannaham uses a technique in which Carlotta's narration breaks down into the third person mid-paragraph, and occasionally mid-sentence. It may seem clumsy, but after just a few pages it is barely noticeable. It helps the mix of humour and horror that Carlotta's way of dealing with the stuff thrown at her is to temper potential catastrophe or pretend it is far less serious than it actually is, as she did when in prison.
The plot centres around her attempts to comply with the terms of her parole, to avoid being close to alcohol during the Independence Day celebrations and to find a job. This takes the form of a series of sketches all related at a frenetic pace, but all with huge empathy for not just Carlotta, but the sexual minorities in general.
It is however Carlotta's voice that is most captivating. She is a sublime and original character and makes this an unforgettable story.
and, The Penalty by Gouverneur Morris
This is quite a bizarre psychological crime drama written in 1910 and first published in 1913, and now pretty much forgotten and out of print, other than it being adapted for one of Lon Chaney’s earliest silent films, in 1920.
The protagonist is Blizzard, legless after an unnecessary amputation when he was a young boy, who masquerades as a beggar on San Francisco’s streets, having made plenty of money as a hat maker in New York, then as a crime syndicate boss in the Barbary Coast area.
He has an ulterior motive to his begging, however. He stages a meeting with Barbara Ferris, a sculptor who sees him as an ideal model for the bust of Satan that she is working on. Her father just happened to be the surgeon who needlessly hacked off his legs when he was a youth.
I think the book suffers from its on screen portrayal, which is played out as something of a melodrama. It’s not easy in a silent film to recreate the quirkiness of the book, which I think as being tongue-in-cheek. I preferred to read this without taking it too seriously.
Its difficult to know what others, including the media, thought of the book, as there are so few reviews out there. It does seem to be a well and truly, forgotten book.
It’s available for free online through Project Gutenberg.
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "Here's a picture of Seattle's air. It is the worst I have seen to date...."Wow, that's terrible. Stay inside indeed. I hope they're right that it'll improve on Friday."
Like some others (I expect) I have a routine when I get online each day. Until our air went south? why south?, I started with the seven-day forecast, and beginning tomorrow (Friday) that will be my starting point once again. That's because the sun will have disappeared from the forecast as our rainy (and doom and gloom) season will have begun. What a way to end fire season!
My new mystery is one of short stories from the library - The Burglar in Short Order by Lawrence Block of Matt Scudder fame. I haven't read any Scudders as I'm under the impression that they can get pretty bloody. But if you like a good mystery without gore you might pick up his Bernie Rhodenbarr books. You might even begin with
as the author suggested in the intro to his short stories. From an email this a.m. I've found yet another nonfiction book to add to my list -
. Here is the link where I found this book which in on the short list for a book prize. ttps://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/blog/2...or a shorter link - https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.u...
Yesterday I read the review of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything in the latest-but-one issue of NYRB. Jeez, the future Ball and his fellow tech bros want to hurry up and get into sounds exceptionally dystopian to me: a combination of the insubstantial death-in-life existence of Ubik and the multi-corporate dictatorship of The Space Merchants.
Coincidentally, the same day, in reading through some old Marvel comics, I came across a scene in issue #7 of X-Men (1964) where the evil mutant Mastermind, whose power is the creation of highly convincing illusions, tries to seduce the Scarlet Witch by, essentially, offering her life in the Metaverse
”But see what I could do for you! At the slightest gesture, I give you a palace to reside in --- I can surround you with luxury!
What does it matter if it is merely an illusion? It will always seem real to you!”
“No! With you, even a palace would seem like a hovel to me!”
“Then I can offer you travel! With the snap of a finger, we could be in Europe, on an open-air terrace overlooking the Riviera, or the Swiss Alps!”
“Enough! You weary me with your empty images!”
NellyBells wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "Here's a picture of Seattle's air. It is the worst I have seen to date...."Wow, that's terrible. Stay inside indeed. I hope they're right that it'll improve on Friday."
I..."
sounds so bad...lets hope for some wind rain and cloud to sweep away the smog...
WH Auden was addicted to detective stories, and he had decided views about them – all murders should ideally take place in rural England – all detective stories require five elements (the milieu of a closed society; a victim with a bad character; a murderer who conceals his demonic pride; a range of suspects who must all be guilty of something; and a detective who is either celibate or happily married) – there are only three wholly satisfactory detectives (Sherlock Holmes, Inspector French, Father Brown) - Raymond Chandler didn’t write detective stories (he was interested, instead, in writing works of art about criminal milieux) - the typical reader suffers from a sense of sin - and to understand detective stories you need to be familiar with Socrates and Aristotle and to recognize the presence of dialectic and hubris and catharsis.
There is, it seems, no requirement for the story to be enjoyable! Personally, if it’s not enjoyable, I don’t think I would ever find out who the killer is.
I got all this from WHA’s entry in The Penguin Book of 20th Century Essays.
There is, it seems, no requirement for the story to be enjoyable! Personally, if it’s not enjoyable, I don’t think I would ever find out who the killer is.
I got all this from WHA’s entry in The Penguin Book of 20th Century Essays.
Bill wrote: "Yesterday I read the review of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything in the latest-but-one issue of NYRB. Jeez, the future Ball and his fellow tech bros want to hurry up and get into sounds exceptionally dystopian to me: a combination of the insubstantial death-in-life existence of Ubik and the multi-corporate dictatorship of The Space Merchants.Uncanny X-Men (1963-2011) #7 by Stan Lee
Coincidentally, the same day, in reading through some old Marvel comics, I came across a scene in issue #7 of X-Men (1964) where the evil mutant Mastermind, whose power is the creation of highly convincing illusions, tries to seduce the Scarlet Witch by, essentially, offering her life in the Metaverse
”But see what I could do for you! At the slightest gesture, I give you a palace to reside in --- I can surround you with luxury!
What does it matter if it is merely an illusion? It will always seem real to you!”
“No! With you, even a palace would seem like a hovel to me!”
“Then I can offer you travel! With the snap of a finger, we could be in Europe, on an open-air terrace overlooking the Riviera, or the Swiss Alps!”
“Enough! You weary me with your empty images!”."
Great references - PKD, Space Merchants, and 1960s Marvel Comics all in one post!
Love the extended quote of Stan Lee's melodramatic dialogue - and as it happens, I think that Stan (we call him Stan) put his finger on one of the problems with the whole idea: this hypothetical virtual utopia is provided by someone or something outside the individual's control, so it could conceivably by ended or altered - perhaps even from a pleasant dream to horrific nightmare - at any given moment and against one's will.
In the melodramatic, moralistically black and white world of the X-Men, this is highlighted by that someone being an evil villain named Mastermind, but I think it would be a questionable proposition no matter who or what exercised such power.
Russell wrote: "WH Auden was addicted to detective stories, and he had decided views about them – all murders should ideally take place in rural England – all detective stories require five elements (the milieu of..."Very interesting. I think Auden's POV is defensible but he is of course using the term "detective story" in a very restrictive manner, to refer to a very specific type of fiction.
I imagine Chandler would probably have agreed with him. The American hard-boiled detective genre borrowed something from the British tradition Auden talks about but as Auden implies, the emphasis usually isn't on the whodunnit aspect, though that's there too.
I started to read the latest Rankin but somehow couldn’t get into it and switched to an Icelandic noir called The Fox byby Sólveig Pálsdóttir and Quentin Bates .
It’s different. I’m three quarters of the way through and still don’t know how it will end. A young woman from Sri Lanka is tricked into travelling to remote Iceland for the prospect of employment with a non existent firm. Stranded she is helped by someone who takes her to an even more remote part of the country where she is kept prisoner by a crazy woman and her son……. Will she be rescued? I cannot guess - almost, not quite, tempted to read the end…..
Later I will tell you about a special book that arrived yesterday…..
Russell wrote: "WH Auden was addicted to detective stories, and he had decided views about them – all murders should ideally take place in rural England – all detective stories require five elements (the milieu of..."thanks russell, thats an interesting view from Auden, i wonder where Maigret or the swiss detective novels of Durrenmatt fit in with this....
Russell wrote: "WH Auden was addicted to detective stories, and he had decided views about them – all murders should ideally take place in rural England – all detective stories require five elements (the milieu of..."I found the whole Auden essay online:
https://harpers.org/archive/1948/05/t...
An interesting read for a fellow (ex) addict. A philosophical take, so many things I had never thought of before. A deft opinion of Chandler. And works of art vs escape literature.
When it was published in 1948 I imagine the scope of detective novels/crime fiction/noir/thriller was so much more restricted than it is nowadays. I'd love to know how he would see things from a contemporary perspective.
Some weeks ago I have finished a contemporary-ish novel (published in 2009) that is, on the surface of it, historical fiction written as a political thriller. I am still thinking about it. Because it is (imo) so much more: great literature, deserving to become a classic. I so much want to write a review of it because it is the best book I've read for some time. But its's complexity seems to defy my limited abilities.
Reading Auden's remark on "Crime and Punishment" served to sever at least one Gordian knot in my mind in that respect.
Gpfr wrote: "I read all Nicholas Blake's Nigel Strangeways series last year. For those who don't know, Nicholas Blake is the pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate and father of Daniel."I think I knew - once - but like so much else, had forgotten. I'm fairly certain that I once read an early 'Nicholas Blake' - probably A Question of Proof - but don't remember much about it, so it was neither great nor terrible!
Bill wrote: "Yesterday I read the review of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything in the latest-but-one issue of NYRB. Jeez, the future Ball and his fellow tech bros want to hu..."Glad you read this so we don't have to - I don't much like this from the blurb:
Bringing clarity and authority to a frequently misunderstood concept, Ball foresees trillions of dollars in new value—and the radical reshaping of society.
So it's all about money, then? Presumably, they foresee a world in which we are all wandering about in helmets... No chance.
(Interesting that you name-check The Space Merchants, one of the last SF books I read before losing interest in the genre. It's very good, as I recall.)
Edit: great and relevant Marvel quote - I like it (even though it's not usually my thing).
I have just finished reading
I have read Dan's non-fiction history books and enjoyed them all, I am a big admirer of his efforts in this genre. I was, therefore, looking forward very much to reading this, his first foray into fiction. Anticipation was raised by the rave reviews the book has received. However , I don't know if it was because I was hyped by the reviews but I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest.
My attempt at a review:
(view spoiler)
This is the first book in a planned trilogy starring the Essex Dogs. Will I read the next two? Yes probably, because it will be interesting to see how/if Dan's ability as a novelist develops successfully. I really hope so.
CCCubbon wrote: "I started to read the latest Rankin but somehow couldn’t get into it and switched to an Icelandic noir called The Fox byby Sólveig Pálsdóttir and Quentin Bates .
It’s different. I’m three quarters..."
That's a shame because I was looking forward to reading the next Rebus. Although I have to admit that I was disappointed with A Song For The Dark Times
scarletnoir wrote: "So it's all about money, then? Presumably, they foresee a world in which we are all wandering about in helmets... No chance."To be sure, I’ve only read the NYRB review of The Metaverse, and not the book itself.
The concept does seem to be mainly about money – unsurprisingly since a vast investment of money is needed to make the concept remotely workable. The review goes into some detail on the problem of consistency across different virtual environments: the example is that a user will not want to pay a lot of money for a fancy pair of virtual Nike sneakers for their avatar if the shoes cannot be displayed in virtual environments maintained by different corporate entities.
The whole concept of spending any money on virtual sneakers, let alone a lot of money would normally raise the question in my mind: “Are people nuts?” But the speculation in NFTs over the past few years has decisively answered that in the affirmative.
It seems to me that a number of people are already wandering around in a kind of helmet. On my daily walks, I see people walking their dogs or their young children while giving all most all their attention to their phones. I’ve taken to referring to the dogs’ instinct of sniffing at the trees and posts they encounter on these walks as “canine social media”.
Mod
"I was disappointed with A Song For The Dark Times..."
I think Rankin should drop story lines with Cafferty.
Russell wrote: "WH Auden was addicted to detective stories, and he had decided views about them – all murders should ideally take place in rural England – all detective stories require five elements (the milieu of..."The same issue of NYRB I referred to earlier contains a review of Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman, where Auden’s detective story essay is also mentioned. The review ends with the sentence
Forgetfulness, moreover, is written into her formula: the fact that “I forget the story as soon as I have finished it,” as Auden said of Agatha Christie, is part of her addiction.I was struck by Auden’s praise of a feature – being forgettable – that I consider a significant failure in a work of fiction.
Berkley wrote: "Love the extended quote of Stan Lee's melodramatic dialogue - and as it happens, I think that Stan (we call him Stan) put his finger on one of the problems with the whole idea: this hypothetical virtual utopia is provided by someone or something outside the individual's control, so it could conceivably by ended or altered - perhaps even from a pleasant dream to horrific nightmare - at any given moment and against one's will."While I’m confident crediting the melodramatic dialogue to Stan, thanks to the so-called “Marvel method” of creating comics I’m not sure whether Stan (the Man) or Jack Kirby deserves credit for the general concepts involved.
After reading True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, I’m inclined to give “King” Kirby most of the credit. After a burst of creativity in the first half of the 60s that created most of the Marvel characters that have gone on to make tons of money (currently for Disney), Stan never came up with any successful or even intriguing characters – the ideas he put forth after being cut loose from the Marvel “bullpen” make for pretty sad reading. On the other hand, his co-creators on those early comics, Jack Kirby and, to a lesser extent, Steve Ditko, went on to keep generating ideas for comics, with Kirby in particular coming close to (and to some minds, though not mine, exceeding) his early triumphs at Marvel.
(By the way, though I’ve seen the first two X-Men films, I have not seen any of the subsequent Marvel films, and have absolutely no desire to. I’m not sure whether this is in spite of, or because of my enthusiasm for the original comics, which, as noted, I still like to re-read.)
Later….I bought another hardback book yesterday and it is such a delight. Earlier I enjoyed Super-Infinite ;The transformation of John Donne by Katherine Rundell who also wrote my new book - but something different.
It is called The Golden Mole and other living treasure
I rarely buy proper books but the illustrations accompanying the twentytwo living treasures discussed are lovely, the edges to the pages touched with gold, a beautifully produced book, one to savour and keep.
The first creature is the wombat and I learn that Dante Gabriel Rossetti kept a large collection a animals in the garden of the house in Cheyne Walk where he lived. An elephant proved a mite too expensive but he did have two wombats. One was named Top after William Morris whose nickname was Topsy because he had a head of tight curly hair………
A proper treat this book.
Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. He was also complaining about sight oddities. I took him for an eye test on Tuesday. Its not his eyes. Rang the doctor Wednesday to ask if they could arrange for a specialist to assess him, at some not too distant point, for either aphasia or dementia. They told me to ring 999 and ask for an ambulance. Which I did, in some shock, I have to say. They also said I should have an ambulance, but agreed that I could ring my local practise for confirmation.
The doctor, having heard symptoms told me to take him to A & E, which I did. 6 hours later, and after a CT scan, blood test, and an ecg. We have an MRI booked in for tonight at 7PM at MK hospital It doesn't help that the internet has been down for 36 hrs over the last two days due to broadband work in the village, and am facing ongoing disruption until Tuesday.
The hospital are examining for a stroke/strokes it seems... I am in a somewhat 'strained' place at all at the moment... It never rains but it pours!... Other symptoms/side effects are irritability, and irrationality, and curiously, a wierd confidence that they he is completely right about everything!... which has got to be one of the most annoying symptoms to have to wrestle with.
Alternatively I am looking out the window and thinking how beautiful the colour of the falling leaves are at the moment. As strange co-incidence I am almost at the end 'of "The Living Sea of Waking Dreams' and it is a depressing read. I can't remember who recommended it, either on here, or on WWAR. A family tries to keep their mother alive at all costs with many things wrong with her, whilst they all wrestle with their own unacknowledged demons/experiences. I don't buy into the story somehow, and there is much shoehorning of climate change disasters into the backdrop of the story. I kept hoping for the promised parrot to turn up, for some much needed levity perhaps... but they all died... The parrots, that is, even before they properly appeared in the story. Ho hum... Not one I can recommend somehow...
Looking for some escapist, well of good-feeling to come from somewhere. That might have to be internal I think... Hoping for better days
Tam wrote: "Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. H..."Oh, i'm sorry Tam, that sounds absolutely horrible. I hope your partner is able to get a diagnosis and some help.
Tam wrote: "Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. H..."good luck with the diagnosis tam, i volunteer at a dementia day care centre and while very much a lay person,early diagnosis can be a good thing. maybe try some online dementia tests and see what comes back. the biggest dementia symptom i can relate to among clients is a brilliant long term memory(childhood, career etc) but a shaky to non existent short term memory, so that even the last hour can be totally forgotten
hope that helps
Tam wrote: "Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. H..."Oh Tam, that is so awful for you both. I, and I am sure all here, send you big hugs and hope that something can be done for Dave. xx
Mod
Dear Tam, crossing my fingers for you both, sending love.
@AndyI make batches of curry powder and store it in a container. You onlyneed to add a tablespoon or so at a time so lasts for ages, keeps well. Before you set off on your next long trip remind me and I will send you the recipe and some other spice ones. Real simple curry once you make the blend which takes a little time to measure out but a boon once made.
Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "So it's all about money, then? Presumably, they foresee a world in which we are all wandering about in helmets... No chance."To be sure, I’ve only read the NYRB review of The ..."
the whole idea of the metaverse concerns me, i just read the NYRB article and half way through, as my mind said "NEVER", i forecast foward and realised i will probably embrace some part of the "metaverse" as i will find, like with the internet as it emerged, something i like.
however zuckerberg is such a polarising little creep that i find anything he is slobbering over distasteful. i have no facebook presence at all, no account, no profile and have never been interested in it, although as The Zuck sucked whatsapp into his gaping facebook maw, i would imagine i do have some kind of presence now via whatsapp and all the tedious little permission twitches that have wormed their way into my phone.
re helmets, i imagined the virtual world would be helmetted in your own house, so you dont need to go out but i realise thats naive, as people will want to wander in fields of pink grass and yellow skies, once the real grass has all died and the skies are blocked with smog
lastly, they are gonna need world class 5G, bandwidth and all that jazz to keep this up and running, plates spinning....i'm not sure the UK will be capable of that, certainly urban areas will ...but rural? i think not
Tam wrote: "Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. H..."Let's hope that it is a minor stroke - one that with physical therapy can be overcome.💖💖💖
Georg wrote: "I found the whole Auden essay online:https://harpers.org/archive/1948/05/t...
An interesting read for a fellow (ex) addict. A philosophical take, so many things I had never thought of before. A deft opinion of Chandler. And works of art vs escape literature.
When it was published in 1948 I imagine the scope of detective novels/crime fiction/noir/thriller was so much more restricted than it is nowadays. I'd love to know how he would see things from a contemporary perspective.
Some weeks ago I have finished a contemporary-ish novel (published in 2009) that is, on the surface of it, historical fiction written as a political thriller. I am still thinking about it. Because it is (imo) so much more: great literature, deserving to become a classic. I so much want to write a review of it because it is the best book I've read for some time. But its's complexity seems to defy my limited abilities.
Reading Auden's remark on "Crime and Punishment" served to sever at least one Gordian knot in my mind in that respect."
Thanks for that link, I might try to read the Auden article too.
What was the 2009 book you were reading that impressed you so much?
Bill wrote: "While I’m confident crediting the melodramatic dialogue to Stan, thanks to the so-called “Marvel method” of creating comics I’m not sure whether Stan (the Man) or Jack Kirby deserves credit for the general concepts involved.
After reading True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, I’m inclined to give “King” Kirby most of the credit. After a burst of creativity in the first half of the 60s that created most of the Marvel characters that have gone on to make tons of money (currently for Disney), Stan never came up with any successful or even intriguing characters – the ideas he put forth after being cut loose from the Marvel “bullpen” make for pretty sad reading. On the other hand, his co-creators on those early comics, Jack Kirby and, to a lesser extent, Steve Ditko, went on to keep generating ideas for comics, with Kirby in particular coming close to (and to some minds, though not mine, exceeding) his early triumphs at Marvel. "
Yes, I see it much the same way. Kirby's solo work overflows with ideas and I think he was the main creative force behind those comics, though Stan Lee's talent for soap-opera and melodrama certainly lent a different flavour to the finished work.
CCCubbon wrote: "I started to read the latest Rankin but somehow couldn’t get into it..."I was rather disappointed by the previous Rebus - there's far less fun to be had from an ageing detective whose body is quite weak than a younger, fitter version. At that time, I suggested that Rankin should consider writing a few prequels or 'gap-filling' stories.
I expect I'll give this one a try eventually, though - when the price comes down - assuming you are referring to A Heart Full of Headstones
@Tam, so sorry to read about your ordeals. It must be very upsetting. I finished Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" last night. The ending - literally the last few sentences - is absolutely devastating in the way in which Okonkwo and his culture are simultaneously written into and out of history by the colonial administrator.
Tam wrote: "Things have gone a bit pear shaped here for partner Dave. He had been increasingly forgetting which, often simple, words to use, its been a while now, but it got really bad around Sunday I think. H..."Oh Tam, I am so sorry to hear that. As if you hadn't had enough on your plate this year already.
Wishing you all the best and hope the MRI didn't show anything worrying.
Berkley wrote: What was the 2009 book you were reading that impressed you so much?You'll have to wait for the review ;-). I am bloody determined to write one, and I will. In the near future.
scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "I started to read the latest Rankin but somehow couldn’t get into it..."I was rather disappointed by the previous Rebus - there's far less fun to be had from an ageing detective ..."
Yes, that’s the one. Think I must have been tired because I couldn’t make much sense of it.
I finished The Fox Satisfactory. There are another two in the series and think I shall read them at some point too, but now back in Tokyo with The Floating girl by Massey interspersed with The Golden Mole and An Immense World
a few pages at a time, both natural history really.
@ScarletIt’s been quite a political week over on Poem of the Week. carol posted this for me and I thought it wouls amuse you too.
The Maiden’s Vow
(A speaker at the National Education Association advised girls not to study algebra. Many girls, he said, had lost their souls through this study. The idea has been taken up with enthusiasm.)
I will avoid equations,
And shun the naughty surd,
I must beware the perfect square,
Through it young girls have erred:
And when men mention Rule of Three
Pretend I have not heard.
Though Sturm’s delightful theorems
Illicit joys assure,
Though permutations and combinations
My woman’s heart allure,
I’ll never study algebra,
But keep my spirit pure.
Perhaps amuse is the wrong word - always made me sad that so few girls went on to Further Math and beyond. Pure Math, wonderful algebra, logic, marvellous
The Soldier and the Gentlewoman by Hilda Vaughan(1932) is a welsh womens classics, set in rural West Wales.The soldier is a distant relative who stands to inherit a Carmarthenshire estate from the two widows and their sister in law who inhabit the big house.
The Gentlewoman is that sister in law who has seen her two brothers die in the Great War and now stands to lose the estate she has tended to and worked on through the war.
Vaughan works a fiery feminism into the developing plot, where there is only male power and influence the heroine can turn to, she is defiant and angry, i am enjoying it so far
Bill wrote: "The whole concept of spending any money on virtual sneakers, let alone a lot of money would normally raise the question in my mind: “Are people nuts?”..."Indeed... I'm still living in the 'real world' (whatever that is, and I'm perfectly happy to discuss the philosophical point) - but I'd not spend a fortune on a 'real' pair of sneakers, let alone a virtual pair!
Bill wrote: "I was struck by Auden’s praise of a feature – being forgettable – that I consider a significant failure in a work of fiction."H'm. I'm not so sure... when it comes to what might be termed 'serious' or 'literary' fiction, I think that to be any good the reader should be left with at least a vague idea of 'what it was all about'. On the other hand, if we are dealing with crime fiction - the stories are often so convoluted that it's very hard to recall with any degree of certainty what happened - Chandler is a good example. (I by now have a reasonable recollection of the plots of some of the better known works - after reading them several times!)
More important for me (never much interested in 'plots') is the feeling left by a book. Did I enjoy it? Did it enthrall, or puzzle, or set up moral conundrums? Or was it a drag, heavy lifting, precious, incomprehensible or pretentious? For that reason, it's more enjoyable (for me) to re-read Simenon/Maigret than Agatha Christie (though I have also done that) because the books are mostly about atmosphere rather than 'whodunit'.
CCCubbon wrote: "@AndyI make batches of curry powder and store it in a container. You onlyneed to add a tablespoon or so at a time so lasts for ages, keeps well. Before you set off on your next long trip remind me..."
Sounds wonderful CC.
Last year I discovered TheSpicery online, which sends you the various powders and a recipe for a couple of pounds. Some are very good. I’ve brought a couple of the ones that take just a half four to cook and are one pot away with me.
Many thanks
I’ve just finished The Night Reporter: A 1938 Lviv Murder Mystery by Yuri Vynnychuk translated from the Ukrainian by Michael M. Naydan and Alla Perminova
Written in the hardboiled dialogue style of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, this is a fast moving and exhilarating crime story with a strong emphasis on sense of place and period.
It is set Lviv, which at the time was part of Poland.
It was to be invaded by the Nazis the following year, just 16 days after the Soviets had invaded. At the time the town’s residents saw the Nazis as some sort to saviours, but that was short-lived. The town’s history, especially in the last hundred years, is enough to fascinate readers, so if Vynnychuk plans follow-ups they would be very welcome.
The plot of the crime part of the novel is nothing special, but the reader is carried along by the brisk pace and the backdrop to which it all pans out. The protagonist, Marko Krylovych, is an investigative journalist who does his research after sunset in the drinking dens of Lviv.
One day in the not too distant future I hope, it will be possible to sit in one of those dens, enjoy a Ukrainian beer, and recall the exploits of Krylovych.
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In the museum bookshop, I bought Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin, an essay first published in 1971, which "established the ground for feminist art history" according to the introduction.
Then, passing a 2nd-hand bookshop before getting the metro, I bought The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, described by The Guardian (according to the cover) as 'Spectacular ... fiendishly clever'. Sigmund Freud, on his only visit to the US, is enlisted with his American disciple to identify a murderer.
AB76 wrote: "re helmets, i imagined the virtual world would be helmetted in your own house, so you dont need to go out but i realise thats naive, as people will want to wander in fields of pink grass and yellow skies, once the real grass has all died and the skies are blocked with smog"As I should have noted in an earlier response, helmets may be optional, perhaps something to be ultimately associated with the less affluent. According to the review (by Sue Halpern):
Elon Musk’s answer to clunky face hardware is a neural implant—a chip embedded in the brain.Another madly dystopian feature that the tech bros assume, probably correctly, people will be lining up for with bags of cash (or cryptocurrency).
for the last two hours I've been writing, instead of reading, to a minor, but politically active news outlet in Seattle. We are in the midst of redistricting the city council based on the census for the first time as the council seats had previously all been elected at-large.My neighborhood seems to be on the chopping block for division which is quite distracting. The time-clock to get it finished is 15 November which cannot come too soon. However, if the neighborhood is split, I'm sure there will be a lawsuit. I have my fingers crossed that will not happen.
Because of the above, I haven't been spending time reading anywhere as much as I'd like, so let's talk about the weather instead. Here in the PNW we have done a 180° turn and have finally begun the dark and drippy season with gusto. The sun may appear at times on Sunday (no pun intended) but the rest of the week is gray and drippy as we continue to lose daylight hours. The only consolation is the drips tend to be small as we do not really have any precipitation close to thunder storms seen in other parts of the country.
PS - The fires are still going but are no longer as issue here as the rains have superceded them in our area.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "re helmets, i imagined the virtual world would be helmetted in your own house, so you dont need to go out but i realise thats naive, as people will want to wander in fields of pink gra..."Musk is out there with his ideas, geez, i think that neuro-implants will have huge health risks...
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives (other topics)Less Is Lost (other topics)
Shrines of Gaiety (other topics)
Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? (other topics)
The Interpretation of Murder (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Sue Halpern (other topics)Yuri Vynnychuk (other topics)
Gouverneur Morris (other topics)
James Hannaham (other topics)
Nicholas Blake (other topics)
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Wow, that's terrible. Stay inside indeed. I hope they're right that it'll improve on Friday.