What are we reading? 3 April 2023

[Andy]

CCCubbon wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy-re labs and water

they are a joy to watch in the water, in their element, occasional snorting and spluttering as they move ridiculous sized sticks around watercourse..."

CC and AB - my thoughts at time was that Ms Barker must have been had labs herself. I can’t see how you could write so powerfully and not have done.

It is one of my favourite books.
Am I right that it was recommended by Justine? I seem to think so.

[Andy]

scarletnoir wrote: "Andy wrote: "Enjoyed your review SN.
Thursday Night Widows is one I haven’t read, but must do soon, I’ve had it on tbr for a while. I think there’s one more, All Yours.
Both look good."

Thanks... ..."

Not me SN. Though I have one of his, The Dark Valley, on my tbr list. It’s been there for a while though..

[Andy]

A catch up from me, I’ve got quite behind with my reviews..here’s some highlights from the last week..

Starting with the best, Fools' Gold by Dolores Hitchens

This is a fast-paced and unostentatious tale of three young people, two boys just released from a juvenile detention, and an orphaned girl living with a seemingly wealthy foster parent. Steadily, they are torn apart by what starts as a simple plan of robbery.

It’s of the bracket of the classic American narrative of youth gone astray and on the run, but Hitchens excels in catching the rhythm of adolescent adversity. Her characters drive the plot and it isn’t long before things begin to spiral out of their control.

Published in 1958, this plot was original at the time and spawned much imitation that was to come after.
Before, kids regularly got into their street rumbles with their greased hair and the packs of cigarettes up their sleeve, but heists were strictly for adults.

What starts as a run-of-the-mill juvenile delinquent story mushrooms with the introduction of Uncle Willy and his gang, into an escapade of model hardboiled crime.

[Andy]

The Haunted Woman by David Lindsay

Lindsay’s skill here is in creating a set of conventional and moral principles that lulls the reader into a false sense of security amid the mundane goings-on of Runhill Court, an old country house in the Downs.
Be assured, unpleasant and disturbing things will happen.

Isbel Loment has a boring husband, and in an effort to squeeze some fun from life takes off travelling with her aunt. Runhill takes her fancy, at first she declares that she hopes it is haunted, a statement which she goes on to regret.

She meets the owner, a strange man, with whom she forms a disconcerting relationship.
Isbel seems to have what we call now, dissociative identity disorder, but this was the 1920s. She behaves as if she is two different women, in two different wings of the house, and Lindsay presents the plot in that regard also, as if it is written by two different writers.

It’s a book with themes well ahead of its day in other regards also, a theme is whether the protagonists able to control their sexual urges, made even more difficult in that their encounters are forgotten about when they leave the hidden room in which they occur.

Though Lindsay overdoes the mundanity, there are passages that grip and disconcert. It’s a fascinating piece of literature for anyone who enjoys reading the vast genre of fantasy and haunted house stories that were to follow, for which it acts as a cornerstone.


Lindsay himself was born to a Scottish Calvinist family and grew up in the Borders. After serving in the First World War in the Grenadier Guards he began to write as a profession, but struggled to make much money. With his wife, he opened a boarding house in Brighton. The first bomb to fall on Brighton in the Second World War hit the house while Lindsay was in the bath. He never recovered from the shock, and died from a tooth abscess shortly afterwards.

[Andy]

The Sleeping Car Murders by Sébastien Japrisot translated by Francis Price.

Set in the early 1960s, this evokes a sophisticated sense of tension and considerable intrigue, which begins with a woman’s corpse found on a train that just arrived in Paris from Marseille.
The attractive woman, who has been strangled in the sleeping car, seems to have lived the high-life, with expensive monogrammed possessions, and wealthy male suitors.

For a while it takes the pattern of a police procedural, albeit a smart one. But as it proceeds, it is clear that it is more than that, as it digs deep into each of its key characters and infiltrates their thoughts.
There is a self-conscious and vulnerable actress, a lonely bachelor, and teenage lovers who meet on the train, then flee, worried that they will become the killer’s next victims. Add to that on overworked detective, Pierre “Grazzi” Grazziano, trying to balance family life with the demands of the job, with a Corsican assistant, who therefore has a whole different network of informants.

The backdrop of Paris’s vibrant streets, its cafes and bars, make this into a very enjoyable few hours.

[Andy]

and, Fiskadoro by Denis Johnson

This is an adventurous, and I suspect experimental, novel from Denis Johnson, published in 1985 and set at some time around 2050.
Nuclear destruction has come and gone and left a few grimly primitive communities just about surviving on the Florida Keys. One such community is the focus of the piece, one that is in quarantine.
There are no machines, language is a slang hybrid and Spanish and English, pirates threaten fishing boats, and a form of cancer is common, and is pretty much a death sentence.

One survivor, Cheung, an ex-member of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, hangs on to the vestiges of civilisation and its culture, he has a small library of books now seen as being sacred, he maintains a bunch of musicians, though they have no instruments.
A 13 year old boy, Fiskadoro, arrives at his shack one day, with a clarinet, asking to be taught how to play.

This is a complex fantasy, packed with as many philosophical interpretations as the reader may choose to look for.
It’s best enjoyed by not looking too deeply for them as Johnson’s mind wanders, as to do so is ultimately disappointing. Rather, see it as a daring piece of writing, with some impressive parts that Johnson is renowned for in much of his earlier work.

It has relevance for today also.
Simply summarised, it’s an America with the American Dream taken away. There’s not a lot left.
He said himself of it..

That book is America made bleak. If you take away the TVs, what’ve you got?

[scarletnoir]

Gpfr wrote: "Just one Varesi :)
Giveusaclue first recommended this series,"

Thanks to both of you... I think the one I've picked up is the sixth - I sometimes deliberately don't start with the first in a series with the idea that the standard usually improves with practice - until staleness sets in, as can happen. 'The Unseen' is good so far.

As for the 'double Varesi' - I did think that was odd and probably wrong - it's what comes up when you search for the book by title on GR.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "Labradors are the the most patient dogs i have seen, as a kid they would sit quietly amid kiddie chaos and now a generation later, my brothers dog sits quietly amid 21st century kiddie chaos. i would imagine the lab in the doodle would create the same temperment."

Very likely - the lovely Lupus had to contend with my friend's two young sons. I found that my dog Teddy was calmer than usual when we went to walk the dogs together, no doubt picking up from his big friend's unruffled approach to life.

[scarletnoir]

I know many of you also read the Guardian's WWAR, but for those that don't, or who may have missed it, gladarvor posted a link to an amusing questionnaire:

https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/c...

The idea is that you place your cursor on a continuum between two characteristics - confusingly, they don't always feel like opposites - and when you finish, the machine spits out the fictional character with whom you have the most in common - supposedly.

It's good, harmless fun. If any of you post your results here, I'll do the same!

[CCCubbon]

scarletnoir wrote: "I know many of you also read the Guardian's WWAR, but for those that don't, or who may have missed it, gladarvor posted a link to an amusing questionnaire:

https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/char..."

Albus Dumbledore 81%

[AB76]

Andy wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy-re labs and water

they are a joy to watch in the water, in their element, occasional snorting and spluttering as they move ridiculous sized sticks a..."

i'm dogsitting on the weekend (my brothers lab) and looking foward to various lablike adventures. (photo in photo section of her during my summer labsit)

i think she must have owned a lab Andy, only people who know labs are familiar with the back leg afflictions that usually spell the end. Lab owners know that when that starts to affect mobility, its no life for the poor dog

[CCCubbon]

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy-re labs and water

they are a joy to watch in the water, in their element, occasional snorting and spluttering as they move ridiculous s..."

and their love of water and FOOD

[AB76]

CCCubbon wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy-re labs and water

they are a joy to watch in the water, in their element, occasional snorting and spluttering as they move..."

our last family lab was a total glutton, hoovering the kitchen lino for hours after a meal, crawling foward a milimetre at a time when forbidden to be under the table at dinner time, just to smell a little of the delicious food

as for water

[[deleted user]]

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy-re labs and water..."...Here’s a poignant passage from Barker’s O Caledonia that will long live with me AB, it is such a wonderful book..."

That is a lovely quote. I too thought O Caledonia was brilliant. Back in 1991 something alerted me to it and I bought a copy. I still possess that nice first edition, in fine condition – just like the one being offered on ABE for £675!

You make The Sleeping Car Murders very enticing.

[MK]

scarletnoir wrote: "MK wrote: "I know this is not the place for politics, but I wanted to share what I, having my fingers crossed, think will be the big story of yesterday. You can read it here - https://www.jsonline...."

Scarlett, take a look at this - https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...

I am a huge fan of Prof. Richardson. She is a historian at Boston College who specializes in 19th century in the US. When we went into lockdown, she (on bookleave) started sending out a newsletter (or maybe it took off then). She is a voice of reason in my book. I don't know if you are on Facebook, if so, she does a weekly politics round-up which can be watched later as I did today.

i'm sure I've mentioned her latest book (not the one going to press now) - .

[MK]

Wouldn't you know, I've found a huge hole in my world history knowledge. I have just finished - and now I've got to find a good book or two on how Japan became so militaristic and Chiang Kai-shek's leadership role during that same time.

One thing our Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor hammered home is the whole idea of 'face' as in saving face making people do irrational things so they don't look bad or weak. This concept seems to still hold sway in today's China.

[MK]

Up next for bedtime reading is one of the British Library Crime Classics, E. C. R. Lorac'sPost After Post-Mortem: An Oxfordshire Mystery.

On a more serious note is Reading the Glass: A Captain's View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships. One can never have too much weather knowledge, right? Plus, the author is on the faculty of the Maine Maritime Academy in lovely Castine, Maine (great place for lookey-loos to visit). My now deceased brother-in-law graduated from there and spent a number of years on tankers plying oil from the Middle East for Texaco.

Unfortunately, both are library books and dammit someone else wants to read them which means I'd better get busy.

[AB76]

I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of life, i dont think any passage of reading was a let down for me, the setting in the Belgian Congo too was perfect.

Next up is a Mach recommendation from a few years back Pigeons on the Grass by Walter Koeppen

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of life, i dont think any passage of reading was a let down for me, the setting in the Belgian Congo too was perfect."

I am delighted - it is my favourite Greene, along with (and maybe even a bit ahead of) 'The Quiet American'. Far better than some works that have gained more attention such as 'The Power and the Glory' and 'The End of the Affair' (my least favourite) - but even less satisfactory Greene beats most other stuff in my book.

[scarletnoir]

CCCubbon wrote: "Albus Dumbledore 81%..."

Rowling said she enjoyed writing Dumbledore because he "is the epitome of goodness."[5] She said that Dumbledore speaks for her, as he "knows pretty much everything" about the Harry Potter universe.[6] Rowling mentioned that Dumbledore regrets "that he has always had to be the one who knew, and who had the burden of knowing. And he would rather not know." (Wikipedia)

I don't know how Dumbledore is described on that questionnaire site, but you could have done a lot worse!

FYI, I ended up being linked to someone I'd never heard of - Brian O'Conner from 'Fast and Furious' - this is part of my response to that:

Well, that was a bit of fun... though maybe aimed at younger people than myself? I had to go down to no. 16 before I recognised a character I could actually remember ('Hawkeye' from M*A*S*H). I have no idea about the top 5, which might be either insulting or flattering:

1. Brian O'Conner from 'Fast and Furious' - never seen any of that franchise...
turning to my trusty friend Wikipedia, I find that O'Conner is described thus:

O'Conner, under the alias Brian Earl Spilner, first interacts with Dominic as an undercover police officer tasked with bringing him to the law. However, he helps him evade police capture twice, and also helps erase the criminal record of childhood friend Roman Pearce. These events help build many of his attributes: often the second in command to Dominic, Brian is shown to be honorable, honest, and protective, especially in regards to his family and wife, Mia Toretto. Brian is also respectful and believes in delivering fair justice. He is also a keen driver, and challenges Dominic, the implied strongest racer in the group, to races throughout the series.

I'd like to think the sentence relating to the family is accurate; less to my credit - I have been known to drive faster than is strictly sensible - so maybe there's something in this!

I am least like Mr William Collins (Pride and Prejudice) at 18%, though as I haven't read it that means nothing to me either!

As I say - all good fun, and not necessarily accurate!

[Gpfr]

Viveca Sten is the author of the Swedish Sandhamn Murders series and Hidden in Snow is the first in a new series set in a winter sports region. A teenage girl disappears after a party and the understaffed local police force investigates, enrolling a woman police officer from Stockholm who has lost her job.


Different Class: the last in a trilogy of dark, chilling and compelling psychological thrillers from bestselling author Joanne Harris is apparently the 3rd in Joanne Harris's series set in St Oswald's, an independent grammar school for boys, which we see mainly through the eyes of the long-serving Latin master. In this book the school is being dragged up to date by a new super-head (who turns out to be an old boy of the school) and his crisis team.
I say "apparently" because I was surprised to realise that there are 4 books. I started with Gentlemen and Players. The 2nd one is Blueeyed Boy which I haven't read and the 4th is A Narrow Door.
Looking further, it seems that Blueeyed Boy isn't set in the school, but in the town where the school is.

[Gpfr]

MK wrote: "Up next for bedtime reading is one of the British Library Crime Classics, E. C. R. Lorac'sPost After Post-Mortem: An Oxfordshire Mystery..."


Having read my way through all the E.C.R. Loracs I could find, I was pleased to find when at Smith & Sons on Wednesday, that the British Library has brought out another: Death of an Author.

[Lljones]

Hi, everyone!

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of life, i dont t..."

he is up there with the very best of the 20th century, with such a variety of novels, non-fiction and short stories. Some reviews i saw online complained about how depressing it was but i didnt think that once and it makes me wonder what people expect from reading sometimes, especially realistic fiction.

[Paul]

Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Hello!

[Andy]

AB76 wrote: "I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of life, i dont think any pass..."

You say only 192 pages AB, but for me, that’s about optimal.

Your positive words are duly noted… cheers.

[AB76]

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of life, i dont t..."

interesting point andy, i think 300 page novels are my ideal length but its interesting how a length of a novel and reading time can depend on so many things. i've read 200 page novels that took longer than 300 page ones due to style and depth.

[giveusaclue]

Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Hi there, hope you are well and have a happy Easter.


Meanwhile: 🥇🥇🥇🎉🎉🎉🍾🍾🍾🥂🥂🥂

Sorry, Burnley just got promoted!

[scarletnoir]

giveusaclue wrote: "Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Hi there, hope you are well and have a happy Easter.


Meanwhile: 🥇🥇🥇🎉🎉🎉🍾🍾🍾🥂🥂🥂

Sorry, Burnley just got promoted!"

Are you old enough to remember 1959-60 and 60-61? Burnley were a top team then, with the Jimmys - Adamson and McIlroy - leading the way.

[scarletnoir]

Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Greetings! I hope you are keeping well. Will there be Easter eggs in the garden?

[giveusaclue]

scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Hi there, hope you are well and have a happy Easter.


Meanwhile: 🥇🥇🥇🎉🎉🎉🍾🍾🍾🥂🥂🥂

Sorry, Burnley just got promoted!"

Are you old enough to remembe..."

Yes I am! Used to go to stay with my grandparents and watch them play. All the ups and downs since then! Next season won't be so easy to watch as this!

[Gpfr]

Lljones wrote: "Hi, everyone!"

Hello, Lisa. Hope you're having a pleasant Easter weekend.

[Fuzzywuzz]

Regarding not buying/borrowing books, every time I mention doing this, it usually results in doing the exact opposite. In the last month, I've bought 6 books. I must stop reading book blogs/reviews!

[giveusaclue]

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "Regarding not buying/borrowing books, every time I mention doing this, it usually results in doing the exact opposite. In the last month, I've bought 6 books. I must stop reading book blogs/reviews!"


I share your pain (?).

[Andy]

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "I have just finished A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene and it is a five star, brilliant read

Only 192 pages but with so many levels of depth, anxiety and questioning of l..."

Absolutely. Time taken to read them is a separate thing.
A straight forward crime thriller, that I read a lot twenty years ago, maybe 350 pages, but can be read very quickly.

[Gpfr]

I'm feeling like AB with 3 books on the go 😏.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.
Ll was disappointed by this one, but so far I'm enjoying it, even if I agree it's not as good as A Gentleman in Moscow.
We are in 1954, Emmett has just been released from a young offender's institution and returns to the family farm, on which the bank has foreclosed following the death of his father, to pick up his little brother and head off for pastures new. His plans don't quite work out as intended when 2 other inmates turn up, having escaped.

Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère. It's been translated into English.
A novel/biography of Eduard Veniaminovich Savenko, pen name Eduard Limonov. Born in Ukraine to a member of the KGB, in Moscow he was a young poet and member of the underground, then he went to New York where his struggles gave him material for an explicit autobiographical book, Le poète russe préfère les grands nègres, which was his claim to fame in Paris. He described himself as "the Johnny Rotten" of literature.
He sympathised with the Serbs in the war in ex-Yugoslavia and later in Moscow was the co-founder of the National-Bolshevik party; communist and fascist.
Not a sympathetic character but fascinating to read about. Carrère says "his romantic and dangerous life was telling us something. Not only about him, Limonov, not only about Russia, but about the history of all of us since the end of the Second World War."

And lastly, I'm still going on with Cromwell: Our Chief of Men. Up to p.585 now, 120 to go. I've just been reading about the question of whether Jews should be allowed back into England after being expelled in the 13th century. Quite a lot had in fact come to England following expulsion from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century. Known as Marranos, they weren't openly Jewish, just Spanish or Portuguese.

[Andy]

Two from me..

The Port-Wine Stain by Norman Lock

There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for legitimate fiction.

This is the third in Lock’s American Novels series, in which he bases his ideas around a major literary character, or book. It is the first I have read, but some of the others look enticing also.

This is structured as a memoir of an aging doctor, Edward Fenzil, working in New Jersey in 1876. Fenzil tells a story about his life in Philadelphia 32 years earlier, when he worked as an assistant to Thomas Dent Mütter, a surgeon and collector of medical oddities, which Fenzil is put in charge of. He then also became acquainted with Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe’s charisma and preoccupation with death and the grotesque drag Fenzil into the occult despite his protest, and, significantly, into the mind of a killer who was the exact lookalike of Fenzil. All the while, Poe observes, scribbling and observing the “strange beauty in suffering.”

It’s a homage to Poe, written in his style, with frequent references to work like William Wilson, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Premature Burial, the latter from which the opening quote is from.
That initial quote has been much referred to by me over the years, since I first read Poe, and that story in particular, at the age of 15. It has driven a lot of my reading and fascination in horror since.

I’ll finish with another favourite Poe quote, from William Wilson..

…I have been, in some respects, the slave of circumstances beyond human control.

[Andy]

And, an excellent new Scottish novel, Quinn by Em Strang

This is a refreshingly strange and quite distinctive take on what could otherwise be a run-of-the-mill crime story.

The eponymous Quinn is in the first part of the piece narrating from prison. He is convinced of his innocence in the murder of a young woman, Andrea, for which he has been convicted, though we have no detail of the crime. He has been receiving letters from the mother of the girl, who is now, years after, terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair. The letters are initially filled with hatred, but soften as over the years until she reaches a stage of forgiveness.
Quinn eventually gets parole, released into the care of the mother, for whom he is to act as carer.

Quinn’s account frequently raises doubt in its accuracy. In his solitary cell hours he convinces himself that Andrea is alive, and will return soon, and everyone will apologise to him. In the outdoor exercise area he is attacked by three crows.

This is a superb novel about forgiveness and redemption, with the astute Strang aware that readers are searching for signs of predictability, and continually wrong-footing them. She keeps us within Quinn’s fraught mind, just keeping us from condemning him, dispersing doubt liberally.

She avoids any linearity to the narrative, and it’s no surprise to learn that previously she has primarily been a poet.
Paragraphs are preceded by line breaks, which are surprisingly effective in making us read more slowly, with more attention.

Strang worked herself in the Scottish prison service for several years, which again comes as no surprise, such is her skill in the descriptions in the first part of the novel.

This is an extremely accomplished first novel and announces Em Strang as young talent with a hugely exciting future.

[MK]

If anyone one here has an empty shelf or toppling stacks in need of new books, here is John Sandoes (I always find something interesting) Spring book list - https://johnsandoe.com/product-catego...

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: "I'm feeling like AB with 3 books on the go 😏.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.
Ll was disappointed by this one, but so far I'm enjoying it, even if I agree it's not as good as ..."

lol....thanks fior the reference GP!

was wondering how many visit GR via smartphone, pc or either medium. I always visit via PC...i barely use my smartphone

[AB76]

Some interesting coincidences during my dogsit as i started Koeppens novof post-WW2 Munich, set in 1948, Pigeons On The Grass.

Koeppen wrly notes the newspaper articles venerating german veterans and the justice dealt out to others, hinting at the fact that a sort of "omerta" was starting to exist in the BDR, as it emerged into being a proper state.

On PBS i watched an show that looked into the Gehlen Organisation, the basis of BDR intelligence, stacked with ex-Wehmaacht, SS and Nazi's, who the USA all needed with their anti-communist pedigree.

It reminds me that even Konny Adenauer and his cabinet had probably come to a decision for the greater good out of all the disruption and chaos of that post 1945 to 1950 era. Some paid with de-nazification, others didnt. Apparently 26% of all de-nazified candidates in West Germany up to 1950 needed extra interrogation and served sentences(in Munich, where Koeepens novel is set, a quarter of the city;s civil servants lost their jobs due to DN, in Wurzburg it was 70%.

If those stats were re-produced nationally, the state would have been basically inert, hence i would imagine compromise was reached

[[deleted user]]

I’d heard of Nina Stibbe but not read anything by her. I picked up Man at the Helm, and apart from some slower patches it was a stitch. Told from the p.o.v. of a girl aged 9, it’s the story of how she and her older sister, aged 11, try to help their mother, who is recently divorced and lonely and drinks Bell’s. It’s the 1970s. Previously well off, they have moved to a village outside Leicester, and no one in the village likes having an unattached divorcee about the place. So the girls draw up a list of men to get her paired up pronto, from the plumber to the vicar. Then the village will see that everything is all right, because there is a man at the helm. They write letters in their mother’s name to each man in turn, inviting him over for a drink. The village itself is full of people feeding themselves fruit Polos or Nuttall’s Mintoes or Walkers’ Ready Salted. At one point the mother is in serious need of money and tells the ex-husband she has to take the children on holiday. She is enraged when, instead of cash, he delivers a second-hand caravan, an Eccles Topaz.

And so on, for 300 pages. The girls of course are unnaturally precocious, unless we are looking at a 9-year-old Nina. Here she keeps the depression and pathos mainly in the background, and foregrounds the fun. The ending is upbeat. A three-Mintoe read.

[[deleted user]]

I’ve been enjoying the Everyman pocket edition of the poems of Anna Akhmatova. Even in translation the power of her imagery and expression comes through. The one I have liked most so far, for its strangeness and beauty, is By the Seashore, which is quite early and quite long.

The translator of the whole collection is the late DM Thomas. For years I was one of those who felt cheated by The White Hotel. What a pity that he is likely to be remembered for that controversial book, and not for fine work such as this.

[[deleted user]]

Different topic altogether. Yesterday I heard someone use the word finalcy, and it took me a moment to get what they were saying. Normalcy has become normalized, and clearly it’s spreading. It can’t be long before banalcy and causalcy become the new realcy.

[Robert]

Happy Easter, Lisa.

[Gpfr]

Russell wrote: "I’d heard of Nina Stibbe but not read anything by her. I picked up Man at the Helm ..."

Also the only one I've read by her — fun.
I haven't read Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life but I enjoyed the TV series.

[Gpfr]

AB76 wrote: "was wondering how many visit GR via smartphone, pc or either medium. I always visit via PC...i barely use my smartphone ..."

I nearly always use my laptop — occasionally phone or tablet.

[scarletnoir]

Russell wrote: "I’d heard of Nina Stibbe but not read anything by her. I picked up Man at the Helm, and apart from some slower patches it was a stitch..."

I don't think that I have read the book, but loved the TV adaptation of her lightly fictionalised account of life as a nanny in a well-connected London family - the true life version is described thus in Wikipedia:

In 1982, she left Leicestershire to work as the nanny in the household of Mary-Kay Wilmers for two years, at 55 Gloucester Crescent, London, looking after Mary-Kay's two children with Stephen Frears, Sam and Will.[4] At the time Gloucester Crescent was the home of a number of notable artistic and literary figures, including Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, Claire Tomalin, Karel Reisz, Deborah Moggach and Michael Frayn.[5] This literary environment was completely new to her. During this time, Nina wrote letters to her sister Victoria, back in Leicestershire, detailing her experiences as a nanny amongst the literary elite.[5] These letters became the basis for Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year Award and won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2014 National Book Awards.

The TV series is described here:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4835514/...

For all I know, her new book may also contain significant elements of autobiography... no, forget that. I see the book was published just after 'Love, Nina' and is described thus:

In 2014, she published her first semi-autobiographical novel, Man at the Helm.[5] Stibbe had been attempting to write the novel for more than 30 years, having struggled to find her voice.

I do like witty, observational writing.

[AB76]

Reading about famous trials at the Old Bailey, inCourt No 1: The Old Bailey is a sobering experience, when you see the spectre of the death penalty above the heads of invidivuals who in the 2020s would probably have never been convicted.

Ruth Ellis, in 2023, would have had several mitigating cicrumstances in an abusive relationship, while the adversarial system seems hopelessly flawed in the gulf between class and education of defendant and barristers. These cases were still taking part before 1960, in class ridden, prejudiced Britain, however there is very little of the decency or morality in the methods of some barristers and the politicians petitioned for clemency

Nowadays we have a dog whistle tory government where harsher sentences is a common squeal, the govts of the 1950s were far more moderate, well intentioned and intelligent but let down many people heading for the hangmans noose

[giveusaclue]

AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "I'm feeling like AB with 3 books on the go 😏.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.
Ll was disappointed by this one, but so far I'm enjoying it, even if I agree it's no..."

Laptop 90% of the time, too small on a phone