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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 21 November 2022
Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "About Malta. I went there with a group of Brits about 15 years ago. It's a fascinating place (even if now quite corrupt)...."My family were in Malta during th..."
what the luftwaffe diaries reveal to me is that despite a large "fleet" of planes, the sheer size of the german occupied territories by 1941 meant that the Luftwaffe was constantly stretched to almost breaking point
Apparently the offensive on Malta was so effective that almost nothing was able to exist militarily, it was basically carpet bombing of the area. Just as this reached its zenith, the luftwaffe squadrons flying from Sicily and Greece were broken up and diverted to various other fronts, leaving what was a very efficient few months of attacks unable to continue, they didnt have the planes or the support of the German HQ.
This is a constant refrain, in the Battle of Britain they simply could not produce enough fighters to guarantee the safety of the bombers on their attack runs, while fighting redeployment of squardrons to other places. In Russia they performed valiantly but were unable to reach the Urals,due to having almost no long range bombers, so 2,000 soviet planes destroyed in the early weeks of Barbarossa were replaced by 5 times that, leaving the Luftwaffe stretched again
Even in the Blitzkreig of France, the Dunkirk area really pushed the Luftwaffe, at the far extent of safe flying range and exhausted by weeks of constant flying they were also hampered by bad weather at Dunkirk, regardless of the sudden stop of the German forces at the perimeter.
It strikes me that if the Luftwaffe had been more independent of the HQ(ie Hitler), they could have been far more flexible and cautious. The diaries include a sarcastic aside that by the invasion of Russia, the Luftwaffe seemed to almost be an armed wing of the Wehrmacht, supporting small advances at a whim
Lastly all Luftwaffe bomber crews reported that the flak over Leningrad and Moscow was even more fearsome than London, as they attempted to bomb these cities as they did London but again, they did not have the planes or the orders to sustain these blitzes.
Also Goering was an idle slob, with some very good generals who he sometimes listened to and sometimes didnt. He was an air force man and knew his stuff, having served in the Luftwaffe in WW1 but so often he seems a broad brush bully, winging it...
Berkley wrote: "The talk about spy novels or series set in Germany and written by Americans or Brits makes me wonder: are there any German-language espionage or spy-thriller writers that have been translated into ..."thats a good point, i cant think of any. maybe there were some propaganda novels that were written?
Coincidentally 'm about to start John Buchans Great War spy novel Mr Standfast
Mod
"My family were in Malta during the war...."
"were your family maltese or part of the british diaspora or neither?"
My father was in the army (regular army, not just because of the war).
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "About Malta. I went there with a group of Brits about 15 years ago. It's a fascinating place (even if now quite corrupt)....""My family were in Malta during t..."
ah ok, interesting, that solid core of regular soldiers, was he in the Battle of France too, evacuated from Dunkirk?
Closest my family got to this front in WW2 was my mothers uncles, all based with the Royal Artillery and Desert Rats in Cairo initially but then fought across Africa pushing Rommel back. My Great Uncle wrote in his typed memoir that when he turned up in a Cairo bar on leave, his own brother didnt recognise him due to his deep, dark tan from the desert(all three great uncles were in different regiments)
i will add a photo of my Great Uncle Frederick, in the mess at Cairo...typing something, its in the photo section now
Bill wrote: "Andy wrote: "Just done with The Curse Of The Wise Woman by Lord Dunsany
"I do like Dunsany, but I hadn't heard of this ..."
Yes Bill. I think it’s different than his usual fare.
I will seek to read more from him, Elfland for example.
Fuzzywuzz wrote: "I finished reading 'Anxious People' by Fredrick Backman. This really was a joy to read, a good blend of humour, relationship woes and the frailty of being human on a backdrop of a botched bank robb..."I’ve got this on my tbr list.
I really enjoyed Beartown, so I must get onto it…
Just watched the England match, can someone cheer me up please?Meanwhile back on topic, any Cormac McCarthy fans?
https://spectatorworld.com/book-and-a...
giveusaclue wrote: "Just watched the England match, can someone cheer me up please?Meanwhile back on topic, any Cormac McCarthy fans?
https://spectatorworld.com/book-and-a..."
90 mins of hell....what a bore...
Still Life – Sarah Winman (2021)
A transporting story of love and loss that shifts between London and Florence, from war-time to the Seventies. Funny-serious-touching done beautifully, in the contemporary way, interlaced with refined moments of high art, and culminating in a long, clever, Forster-ish flashback. Two characters are too knowing to be real, but that is part of the entertainment. This was a scrummy read.
A transporting story of love and loss that shifts between London and Florence, from war-time to the Seventies. Funny-serious-touching done beautifully, in the contemporary way, interlaced with refined moments of high art, and culminating in a long, clever, Forster-ish flashback. Two characters are too knowing to be real, but that is part of the entertainment. This was a scrummy read.
Mod
No, in Malta all through the war.
In The Land That Lost Its Heroes the author studies the history of the Falkland Islands in the opening chapter to set the scene for the dissent and acrimony from the 1840s until now between the British and the ArgentinesHaving read about Heligoland in the early summer, its another focus on a small isolated set of islands with a compact and fairly resilient island population. What i hadnt expected, though the author does use examples of the slow exit of young Falklanders to europe or Argentina, is the scale of the loss of native Islanders.
Based on the censuses between 1953 and 1986, the island born population fell every census, with no improvement and the British born % increased. The Argentine-Chilean population has risen steadily since 1953, though still only 4% in 1986. (of course the rise in british born could include the military garrissons)
The reading year opened with Darwin exploring the Falklands in the 1840s and now the circle has returned to those islands, where the great man saw a rather ruffian population of a few hundred settled on those remote islands.
very quiet on here again, hope everyone is ok!
AB76 wrote: "very quiet on here again, hope everyone is ok!"Most of us will have been asleep AB
giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "very quiet on here again, hope everyone is ok!"Most of us will have been asleep AB"
haha...good point....
Mod
I've just read Dying Fall in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider series and enjoyed it as usual. The chapter titles' terrible puns are always fun.
Now I'm reading Daniel Silva's Portrait of an Unknown Woman and I agree with giveusaclue that it's a return to form. I don't think having the hero being head of Mossad did the books any good. It's nice to be back in the art world.
In non-fiction, a short read, a book I've had for some time but only just started, It Was Snowing Butterflies, extracts from Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle, in Penguin's Little Black Classics series.
Andy wrote: "I have found some other (books by Simenon), and some have two or even more, titles, especially if they have been translated twice, or more."You're right to warn about this, as I have in the past... some of the Simenons, including Maigrets, have appeared under different titles and I've been caught out more than once.
AB76 wrote: "...its a great story, how that small island (Malta) stood firm under the Nazi and Italian bombing raids."The fortress in Valletta is astonishing, and well worth a visit... including the Lascaris war rooms buried deep within its walls. They also fire a cannon from the walls at (I think) midday every day - which is also worth watching.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascari...
Mod
From Slightly Foxed, a book that I'm tempted to get: The London Nobody Knows by Geoffrey Fletcher, first published in 1962. The author wanted to record a London that was fast disappearing. In addition to writng about the places he wanted to record, he also made drawings to illustrate his book. He'd studied at the Slade and his drawings first appeared in the Manchester Guardian in 1950. The book has been re-issued and there seem to be quite a lot of 2nd-hand copies available as well as an e-book.
I see that Tom Gauld has a new book out.
.
Mod
."Looks good!
Gpfr wrote: "The winter issue of Slightly Foxed has arrived — always a joyful moment.I've just read Dying Fall in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider series and enjoyed it as usual. The chapter..."
It looks like I may have been asleep and missed
. I don't know how that could have happened. But all is not lost as long as no one gets their filthy hands on it - before I get to my library today.Her next one
is already on order at the library. If anyone here is a The Founding Morland Dynasty fan, she says (on Facebook) that she is writing another one. I think because fans kept pestering her.
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "I see that Tom Gauld has a new book out.."Looks good!"
Here's a narrative for one cartoon that is right up Lisa's alley -
"How to Tell If Your Cat is Interested in the Novel You Are Writing."
Cat meows constantly at the study door. "The cat is not interested in your novel."
Cat watches you intently as you write. "The cat is not interested in your novel."
Cat goes to sleep on your manuscript. "The cat is not interested in your novel."
Cat repeatedly walks across your keyboard. "The cat is not interested in your novel."
Cat nests in your box of author copies. "The cat is not interested in your novel."
When 1 Jan rolls around, she might want to sashay over to Powells as it looks as if they have plenty of copies. 😉
John Buchan has always interested, since my first headmaster being a fanatic about the 1970s film of The 39 StepsI have just started Mr Standfast a novel from 1919, set during WW1, involving Hannay and the search for an undercover german spy. To be thrown back into WW1 and its tensions is fascinating, Hannay finds himself, deep undercover in a world of pacifists and idealists, somewhere in the midlands.
There are elements of war propaganda in its demonisation of those who seek peace, the men who avoid war and the fight for the bucolic shires of England against ghastly Huns, though i dont feel its overdone, its sharp but not sarcastic about people who may have objected to warfare and killing.
I see this as one of a small group of WW1 novels that covers the home front, HG Wells wrote a novel about this which is on my list, there is that removal from thje slaughter that seperated the Great War from WW2. In the Great War, artillery could be heard from Kent, the Kreigsmarine did shell the Yorkshire coast and Zepellins did reach these islands but there was never the same threat, as in WW2 and the Luftwaffe.
Just done with Laura by Vera Caspary
This is in so many ways ahead of its time, first serialised in Collier’s magazine in 1942, under the title Ring Twice For Laura.
Rather than being a detective story, it is more of romantic noir mystery more in the vein of Simenon than the ‘golden age’ of crime fiction that had influenced 30s literature.
Also because it features strong roles for women in a society in which men, largely, could not be trusted, and were often out to get ahead regardless of the trail of human wreckage left in their wake.
In the majority of women’s crime novels of the day the protagonist was a male detective, so straight away Caspary is bold and progressive. Her heroine is a fiercely independent and hardworking woman who dispels the conventions of a femme fatale.
If there’s a criticism to the plot, which is being harsh as in a book like this the plot is of less significance, then it’s how such a smart woman could get herself caught up with such nobbers as Lydecker and Carpenter.
I enjoyed the film, but the book more so. Albeit in the wrong order.
Vincent Price at his most slimy, is perfect for Shelby Carpenter.
Andy wrote: "Just done with Laura by Vera CasparyI enjoyed the film, but the book more so. Albeit in the wrong order.
Vincent Price at his most slimy, is perfect for Shelby Carpenter."
Great film - don't think I knew it was based on a book.
Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri (trans. Stephen Sartarelli)This is the last in the wonderful Inspector Montalbano series, published in 2020, though it was written in 2005 when Camilleri was 79 or 80... it is clear that it lies outside his usual realm, even though Salvo, Fazio and Catarella appear as usual... the author was not satisfied here to 'just' write a story, but wished also to illuminate the process of writing, and also to comment on current (2005) Italian society. To this end, he not only chips away at the 'fourth wall', but comprehensively demolishes it.
Early on, he has Montalbano commenting that the 'TV Montalbano' is years younger than he is, and looks totally different (I commented on this some time ago - Luca Zingaretti captures completely the Inspector's spirit and character, whilst being physically of a totally different type). Later, "The Author" intervenes with advice and discussions with Montalbano about how the investigation should proceed, and what the conclusion should be. We are offered two conclusions - one proposed by "The Author", and one pursued by "Montalbano".
Reading online reviews shows that this isn't what many of Camilleri's readers wanted - a reaction he anticipated in this comment in the book itself contained in a fax from "The Author" to the Inspector:
Do you realize how many (readers) keep asking me for 'a good mystery story' pure and simple - that is, one where neither politics nor the Mafia plays any part?
So, if you want or expect a 'pure and simple mystery story', I don't recommend this book. For my part - as someone interested both in the process of writing and in politics - I enjoyed it very much. I suppose you could say that Camilleri could have written a book about novel writing instead (I've read such books by several authors, including David Lodge and Milan Kundera), but perhaps he didn't feel that his comments could sustain a whole book - and also that by including his ideas inside what purported to be a genre novel they would reach a wider audience.
It was also interesting to compare the fictional 'Minister of the Interior' in the novel with the one in post at the time of writing, as a member of Silvio Berlusconi's 2001-06 government:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giusepp...
Mod
A story on the cancellation of Junot Diaz It took a bit of persuading to get the writer Junot Díaz to meet me at the McNally Jackson bookstore on Spring Street in Manhattan last Saturday. Once inside, he pulled his Detroit Tigers cap low over his eyes and pretended to browse the nonfiction paperbacks table.
“This is incredibly uncomfortable,” he muttered.
It was the first time Díaz had set foot in a bookstore in more than four years.
Díaz reached the pinnacle of literary success with the publication in 2007 of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The Times wrote that the book was “so original it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets ‘Star Trek’ meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West.” The novel won a Pulitzer Prize, and, miraculously, skipped into classrooms and into the canon. It turned the prickly, depressive writer into a major public figure and got him a tenured position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Then, in May of 2018, Zinzi Clemmons, a writer who he’d met at Columbia University when she was a graduate student, stood up at a literary festival in Sydney to make allegations she detailed later on Twitter: That he’d cornered her after a campus event to “forcibly kiss” her.
https://www.semafor.com/article/11/27...
Bill wrote: "A story on the cancellation of Junot Diaz It took a bit of persuading to get the writer Junot Díaz to meet me at the McNally Jackson bookstore on Spring Street in Manhattan last Saturday. Once insi..."Very interesting... it does show that in these days of social media, the possibility of a witch hunt is a real and present danger. People can be condemned for things they have never done, or never said, far too easily. I do think it's important to step back from mob rule, and to allow both the accusers and the accused their day in court - or whatever the appropriate forum may be.
In this case, it does sound from that link that the complaints against Diaz (totally unknown to me before this, in common with most of us in the UK - I suspect) were trivial and should never have been allowed to develop to such a point.
It reminds me of the craziness which we had (and maybe still have, though I hope not) wrt schoolchildren and teachers back when there were many horrific stories of child abuse - teachers were advised to not have any physical contact whatsoever with kids, even if they were clearly upset and crying, or even injured... as I visited schools regularly at the time, I did not stop the occasional 'well done' tap to the shoulder when it was warranted, despite these dire warnings. Sometimes, you just have to trust the common sense of humanity. To date, the police have not come calling at 6am.
There is a world of difference between assault (sexual or otherwise) and an encouraging or comforting hand... kids know if 'something feels wrong', I think. (I hope so, anyway.)
Edit: It occurs to me on re-reading this that I may have given the impression that stories of child abuse lie in the past. Unfortunately, this is not the case - anything but - though reporting and actions taken may have become more common. I hope so, anyway. I was referring to a time when awareness of such behaviours became much more significant.
Just done with Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson.
This is early Thompson, just his third novel, published in 1949 and is in the style of the sort of literary crime that had come before, Chandler, Hammett, Cain, etc; dramatic prose interspersed with low-brow slang, wisecracks and the jargon of criminals of the day.
Subsequent novels were more of his own thing - with his sinister throng of corrupt police, cunning con-artists and psychopathic murderers, moving away from the classic hard-boiled hero of the 40s.
Movie house owner Joe Wilmot is caught by his wife Elizabeth in flagrante with Carol, the housemaid. She makes him a proposition; she will quit town and leave them to their own devices so long as her death is faked and she receives the insurance money.
Its certainly a plan, but Thompson's problem is in having described his key characters, convincing the reader that they would be capable of planning and delivering such an arrangement.
Perhaps that's why it is not surprising when things go wrong.
Besides, there is limited value in srutinising plots for plausibility in Thompson's work - its missing the point when there is so much else to enjoy, the sharp rose, the wit. Its just about credible, and even, ultimately quite cleverly done.
Andy wrote: "Just done with Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson.This is early Thompson, just his third novel, published in 1949 ..."
I read this a while ago, and enjoyed it. Must get back to Thompson - the one I've liked best so far was Pop. 1280
My next Jim Thompson will be The Getaway, and I think I have Pop. 1280 coming up after that, unless I have the order mixed up. I'm trying to read the ones I already have copies of in the order of publication.
Bill wrote: "A story on the cancellation of Junot Diaz It took a bit of persuading to get the writer Junot Díaz to meet me at the McNally Jackson bookstore on Spring Street in Manhattan last Saturday. Once insi..."(wrote that before I read @scarlets contribution. Which makes mine almost superfluous)
Well, you must admit that we have come a long way.
Only think back: for thousands of years people were tortured and/or killed because a Tom, Dick or Harry denounced them. If they weren't killed by the authorities (the Church, the Nazis, Stalins terrorregime, to name but a few) they were killed by the mob (in the US under Jim Crow laws to name but one). Which suited those in power very well.
Nowadays we still don't give a shit about due process ("innocent until proven guilty") but we are not barbarians any more. We do not -physically - kill them, we do not -physically - torture them. We just tell them they are lepers, not worth to live in the company of/make their living off morally impeccable citizens.
Even if they were proved innocent in a fair trial, or after a thorough investigation by a neutral party: aliquid haeret. And it "haeret" stubbornly.
I think we really can be proud of the progress we made. We've left the likes of the Taliban far behind.
Sarcasm aside: I really feel despondent. A harmless, if unwarranted, attempt of a peck on the cheek nowadays seems to make you a dangerous and despicable sexual predator who should be shunned henceforth?
As long as I can think I have been a lefty and a feminist. Now I utterly despise large parts of my "tribes".
What would happen when (and this is a question of "when", not "if") somebody like Diaz would kill themselves? Would anybody who contributed their bit of moral grandstanding even recognize the part they played in that decision? I very much doubt it. And if they did: would they care? There is a crusade to fight, after all.
There was a link within the link. As it is I find it to be more revelatory about the accuser than the accused:
https://www.facebook.com/monicabyrne1...
Andy wrote: "Just done with Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson.This is early Thompson, just his third novel, published in 1949 ..."
i read The Killer Inside Me about the time it got the Hollywood treatment and of course i have never gone near the film. It was a shocking, intense read, with a real sense of danger and unease, impressive
Buchan's highlighting in Mr Standfast of the role of Conchies or "Conscientious Objectors" in WW1, was probably seen as a correct in 1919 when he wrote the novel but has made me think harder about the 16,000 or so brave souls in the UK, who refused to fight in WW1The best literary account of the world of the CO, is probably a few chapters in DH Lawrences australian novel Kangaroo where the narrator harks back to life as a undesirable living in Cornwall(based on Lawrence's real experiences).
Bill wrote: "A story on the cancellation of Junot Diaz It took a bit of persuading to get the writer Junot Díaz to meet me at the McNally Jackson bookstore on Spring Street in Manhattan last Saturday. Once insi..."i didnt realise this Bill...Diaz was everybodys darling only a few years ago...
AB76 wrote: "Buchan's highlighting in Mr Standfast of the role of Conchies or "Conscientious Objectors" in WW1, was probably seen as a correct in 1919 when he wrote the novel but has made me think harder about..."Have you been to Richmond Castle in Yorkshire AB?
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...
if you are a
fan, keep your eye out for the 5 December issue of The New Yorker, or maybe you can even read it here - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...Head's up - there is even talk of 🚕🚕.
giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Buchan's highlighting in Mr Standfast of the role of Conchies or "Conscientious Objectors" in WW1, was probably seen as a correct in 1919 when he wrote the novel but has made me think ..."no i havent, that looks like something for the list to visit nxt year, thanks!
AB76 wrote: "i didnt realise this Bill...Diaz was everybodys darling only a few years ago..."I was following Carmen Maria Machado, one of his accusers*, on Twitter at the time the storm of accusations broke and quickly decided to stop following her. Whether or not what she said was true, I just couldn't take the sense of "moral grandstanding" (as @Georg terms it) and endless victimhood (not just by Diaz and other men but also a former girlfriend / lover whose alleged abuse Machado evidently wrote a whole novel about).
I bought The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao back when it first came out in paperback, but of course haven't read it. In the article Diaz compares his situation to that of a character in Watership Down, which shows the kind of nerdish frame of reference which attracted me in reviews of the novel.
*of misogynist humiliation at a public event - the article links to an audio of the incident, which its poster claims refutes Machado's accusations.
scarletnoir wrote: "Andy wrote: "Just done with Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson.This is early Thompson, just his third novel, publi..."
Quite agree..
Berkley wrote: "My next Jim Thompson will be The Getaway, and I think I have Pop. 1280 coming up after that, unless I have the order mixed up. I'm trying to read the ones I already have copies of in the order of p..."That seems very logical.. and in hindsight what I should have done also. It’s good to see a writer progress.
As well as Pop. 1280, my favourites so far, 7 in, are The Grifters and Savage Night.
AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "Just done with Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson.This is early Thompson, just his third novel, publi..."
His 5th AB.
And I think that ‘style’, as you say unease and shocking, had emerged by then.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i didnt realise this Bill...Diaz was everybodys darling only a few years ago..."I was following Carmen Maria Machado, one of his accusers*, on Twitter at the time the storm of accusa..."
he has never interested me as a novelist but i am suprised i missed all the stuff back in 2018, i will be reading more about this, thanks for raising it Bill
⚽🥳 Commiserations to my Welsh friends here.
Nice to see Kmir on the G thread, buit sad news from glad and kmir, we can never be ready for loss and grief. one of the old folk at the day centre lost her husband in March and she is still struggling, she made a very good point that the world goes on around as she sits still in grief.thankfully, as yet, my only loss has been grandparents(good innings) and the weather for the funerals was clement and mild (August 1998 and Sept 2007). while i love rain and gloomy weather, i am glad both these funerals were free of it
my parents group of friends are all in their late 70s and going well but covid was a rude shock, though both my parents have yet to catch it, the sudden feeling of danger was very tricky and i did get a few words from my mother about mollycoddling but my brothers and i in that awful 2020, were deeply concerned for them, so far, touch wood, they have been ok
NellyBells wrote: "Lljones wrote: "So I've mentioned before that I resolved for 2022 New Year's to buy no books. I actually made three resolutions last year (perhaps for the first time-I'm not all that big on self-di..."I think is is great that you have decided to learn Yiddish, and brave. Will Mario learn too?
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My family were in Malta during the war. My 2nd..."
My dad , during WWII, was an RAF pilot. He used to deliver liberators to the North African front. From what I remember he had to fly via Gibraltar to Malta, to refuel, in order to deliver them. The Germans would regularly bomb the air strip in order to disrupt the delivery system. My dad wrecked at least one plane, on landing at Malta, as he was not able to avoid a bomb crater on the runway. In that way hanging on to Malta was crucial to the war effort. Its a fascinating small island with a lot of history. There is/was? a museum/airstrip on the island, run by volunteers, that covers quite a bit of this history.
I seem to remember that a lot of this part of the war is defined by technical stuff such as the size of the petrol tanks, and the speed of the planes. Britain didn't do very well in the early days of the war because the Germans had faster planes... 'Guns, Germs and Steel' perhaps?