What are we reading? 26 June 2023

[Gpfr]

After seeing a film at lunchtime, I walked towards home through the Montparnasse cemetery and was struck by a statue by Niki de Saint-Phalle — posted in Photos.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "I was amused, though, that Tartt found it necessary to point out that the book was “humorous”; those who may not have realised as much will now be able to see the ‘humour’ but are not likely to be ‘amused’ by it: “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”."

Did you find humor in The Secret History? (I don't know that any was necessarily intended, but since Tartt mentions it here as a sort of hidden feature to some readers, perhaps there was and I missed it.) I didn't find that novel very engaging, and most of it slipped from my memory shortly after I finished it.

[Berkley]

A question for the rugby fans and experts: is there a history of rugby tactics along the lines of Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics ? I haven't read the Wilson book but it's been recommended to me by friends.

[AB76]

Berkley wrote: "A question for the rugby fans and experts: is there a history of rugby tactics along the lines of Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics ? I haven't..."

not that i know of Berkley, which is a shame, especially as comparing the evolution of rugby league and rugby union would be a good starting point

would have loved to see the early games where it was almost 75% an endless scrimmage, leading to scrambled points and 3-0 scorelines. i love tight rugby matches, muddy fields and a score of maybe 3-3 after 35 mins and i played in the backs, well away from the scrum!

[giveusaclue]

Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr. Makes me very glad our police aren't routinely armed.

Back from Madeira - I had forgotten how vertical it was! Phoned doctors to make appt about the ongoing hip problem (over 4 months now) and two days later it started feeling much better. Typical.
Reading has been a bit slow going but did enjoy reading


which the Welsh amongst us may find of interest!

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "I shall almost certainly edit and (I hope) 'improve' this review later, but this is a first draft:

‘True Grit’ by Charles Portis, with an introduction by Donna Tartt

The title was already known t..."

The book is worthy of Tartt's praise,
Portis does a remarkable job of character draftsmanship; Mattie's choice of words outlines her Puritan personality beautifully. The book's humor builds beautifully, as in Mattie's conversations with the horse dealer, or Rooster in his cups, in a shooting contest. It is a winter story, with many gothic touches. As the film commentary on the earlier film predicted, setting the story in eastern Oklahoma in winter, instead of the traditional wide-open-spaces of a normal Western, gives it a much different flavor.

Despite this, the 1969 True Grit film is better than the Coen brothers' film; it has a better cast, and a surer grip on Mattie's personality. It is odd that the Coen film, which is closer to the original story's Indian Territory, gives so little voice to the Choctaw policeman, whose dry humor is typical of the region. The Coens simply do not understand LeBouef; his is a regimental military personality, which plays off against Rooster's, which is a guerrilla's. Neither film mentions the Texan's service in Lee's army; a man who crossed the Confederacy in winter to join in the last big battles of the Civil War is a type as determined as Mattie.

[AB76]

300 pages into Travelsby Paul Bowles, a collection of his non-fiction and its the gift that just keeps giving, his splendid style brings a certain stoic realism to wherever he ends up and whatever tiresome limitations are imposed on comfort and enjoyment. I particularly enjoyed a long piece on his travels in Morrocco in search of folk music from the Berber tribes of the hills, with not very enthusiastic assistance from the Morroccan authorities, now free of French and Spanish rule. The Morroccans are very suspicious of the pro-Berber interests of Bowles, as they clearly do not wish for this significant minority to be given any special treatment by western observers. Bowles finds various comical local signatories, appalling hotel conditions and some very interesting musical instruments and ideas.

I cannot praise Paul Bowles however, without addressing the darker side of his residence in North Africa.Like some fellow american tourists Burroughs and Ginsberg, he seemed to enjoy the exploitation offered as westerner in relations with local youths and even boys, something that he avoids carefully in his writings, there is very little of his own life included, although constant much younger male companions are always present. With the modern focus on colonial sexual exploitation, its an uneasy part of a great writers life, i havent explored this topic beyond a few articles but with Burroughs and Ginsberg, Tangier offered a freedom and a status that maybe they didnt share in the west.

[Bill]

The virtue illustrated in Book 6, the last completed Book of The Faerie Queene, is “Courtesie”, personified in Sir Calidore, a knight newly introduced in this Book. Spenser’s concept embraces more than what is currently meant by “courtesy”; it constitutes a mode of behaving and interacting with others that takes into account both a shared humanity and the obligations pertaining to equality or inequality of station. The proper observance of “courtesie” is what keeps a society functioning as a self-sustaining entity, as is most clearly demonstrated in the opposing figures in Book 6: a tribe of cannibals, outlaw knights who commit rape and assassination, and a group of brigands where leadership and spoils go to the strongest and that descends to anarchy when conflict arises within the group.

Spenser’s poem concludes with two additional cantos followed by two stanzas from an “vnperfite” Canto. These are numbered 6, 7, and 8, though the notes suggest that the numbers may have a symbolic purpose rather than signifying a definite position in an otherwise unwritten Book.

These final Cantos are called the “Mutabilitie Cantos”; they concern the efforts of a Titaness, Mutabilitie (Spenser’s creation), to wrest sovereignty over both gods and men away from Jove. She puts her case in a hearing before a personified Nature, in a trial that reads much like the scenario for a masque, with personified months, seasons, day, and night. Mutabilitie’s claims about the constant and unending transformation of all beings from one state of being or unbeing into another somewhat recalls the “Gardin of Adonis” episode in Book 3 – otherwise these Cantos have no obvious connection with the 6 finished books of the poem.

The authors of the notes in my Penguin edition find the two closing stanzas to have a “superb appropriateness as a conclusion”. At the moment, having just finished reading The Faerie Queen, I’m more of a dissenting opinion, seeing in them “a too easy acceptance of Christian consolation”, a characterization the editors reject but acknowledge to be the reaction of some readers.

[Berkley]

Bill wrote: "Did you find humor in The Secret History? (I don't know that any was necessarily intended, but since Tartt mentions it here as a sort of hidden feature to some readers, perhaps there was and I missed it.) I didn't find that novel very engaging, and most of it slipped from my memory shortly after I finished it."

I read The Secret History just a few months ago and I wouldn't say humour is one of its primary qualities but it isn't entirely absent, especially if you look at the antics of the various characters with the distance I imagine the author did. I think I would have appreciated it more - I mean the novel as a whole, including whatever humour it might contain - if I'd read it when it was first published in the early 1990s, when I would have been not too far removed from the age and experience of its young university-student characters.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "Did you find humor in The Secret History?"

I honestly don't remember - I read it too long ago. FWIW, I like Tartt's novels (all 3! - hardly prolific...). I have a feeling that there was definitely some humour in 'The Little Friend', but maybe someone who has read the books more recently - or who has a better memory than I do - can confirm or contradict.

[scarletnoir]

Berkley wrote: "A question for the rugby fans and experts: is there a history of rugby tactics along the lines of Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics ? I haven't..."

No idea, but there ought to be one... The tactics evolve in part to deal with changing laws and changing scoring conventions, with the 'try' now being worth far more points than at the dawn of the game. In my lifetime, its value has increased from 3 points to 4 and then 5.

[scarletnoir]

giveusaclue wrote: "Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr."

Sorry - I may have given the wrong impression. We lived in Paris from 1982-86, but I'm now back (more or less safely) in Wales, though we do visit France at least twice a year - Brittany, though - not Paris. We are due to go there in September.

Thanks for the Rhys Dylan tip - I have his The Engine House on my virtual TBR list but have yet to sample the author. Did you read/enjoy that one?

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "Portis does a remarkable job of character draftsmanship; Mattie's choice of words outlines her Puritan personality beautifully..."

Thanks for your illuminating comments.

I had intended to add a second comment regarding two aspects of the novel, which were 'educational' (for me) in the broadest sense - one was the use of many words which AFAIK have now disappeared but which I presume were in current circulation at the time in which the novel is set. For once, I regretted not having an electronic version which would have allowed an instant 'look-up' of these terms - the meaning was usually clear enough from the context, but I like to check etymology as well. Anyway, the online dictionary is not that great and most likely would not have helped much. Of words I did sort-of know, checking them out provided a lot of interest - for example 'bushwhacker', which I'd taken to mean an 'ambusher'. I was unaware of its specific root in the Civil War conflict:

Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the aim of attrition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushwha...

This leads to the second 'educational' aspect - the book mentions the involvement of Rooster and others with some historical figures. Some of these were known to me - the James brothers and John Wesley Hardin, for example; others were names I'd possibly dimly perceived although I'm not sure - William Quantrill and Bill Anderson amongst them. Reading about these individuals after finishing the book gave me more of a feel for some of the chaotic goings on during that period - not the large set-piece battles between the 'official' armies. It really was the 'wild West' back then.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "...a group of brigands where leadership and spoils go to the strongest and that descends to anarchy when conflict arises within the group..."

This group still exists in the UK: it currently goes by the name "The Conservative Party"! ;-)

[giveusaclue]

scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr."

Sorry - I may have given the wrong impression. We lived in Paris from 1982-86, but I'm now back (more or less safely) in Wales, though we do visit ..."

Thanks for the explanation. And, yes, I have enjoyed all the Rhys Dylan books

[scarletnoir]

A question for admirers of Charles Portis: to date I have read The Dog of the South and True Grit. I'd like to read more, but Portis wrote few books and they seem to be out of print, and second-hand copies are hard to come by.

There is an edition of his collected works - Charles Portis: Collected Works (LOA #369): Norwood / True Grit / The Dog of the South / Masters of Atlantis / Gringos / Stories & Other Writings, but it costs £29.49 and it seems as if the other novels aren't as good (with the possible exception of Norwood).

Is it worth it?

[[deleted user]]

Bill wrote: "The virtue illustrated in Book 6, the last completed Book of The Faerie Queene, is “Courtesie”, personified in Sir Calidore, a knight newly introduced in this Book. ..."

Just a note to thank you for all your discriminating comments on The Faerie Queene. It is the one great work of English literature which most of us never read, even in part, and with your encouragement I shall certainly attempt it in the near future.

[AB76]

Russell wrote: "Bill wrote: "The virtue illustrated in Book 6, the last completed Book of The Faerie Queene, is “Courtesie”, personified in Sir Calidore, a knight newly introduced in this Book. ..."
..."

i second that Bill, bringing a work like that to the forum has been fascinating, with your usual rigorous detail and interesting opinions. I remember reading The Beggars Opera , exploring the pre 1750 english writing but Spenser goes even further back

[Berkley]

AB76 wrote: "Russell wrote: "Just a note to thank you for all your discriminating comments on The Faerie Queene. It is the one great work of English literature which most of us never read, even in part, and with your encouragement I shall certainly attempt it in the near future.."

i second that Bill, bringing a work like that to the forum has been fascinating, with your usual rigorous detail and interesting opinions. I remember reading The Beggars Opera , exploring the pre 1750 english writing but Spenser goes even further back."

I echo these commendations. Bill's Faerie Queene posts have me thinking about reading it again too.

[AB76]

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson is a delight, the nordic world it describes is familiar as a lot of my early reading, as a genuine reader from my mid20s was from that regionl, chiefly Norwegian and Swedish novels but some Finnish too. I was curious about the culture and delighted to find great authors like Garborg, Hamsun,Dagerman,Skram, Hoel, Strindberg, Paasalina, Jansson and others.

With my own nieces and nephews descending in 24 hrs for a month of family based japes and tired uncles (moi!), the ineraction between little Sophia and her grandmother was wonderfully familiar, with Janssons clever wit and also serious and icier references behind the sugar coatings. Also the island culture of the skerries is familar to me from Strindberg and Dagerman. I got a feel of the wide open skies of the Nordic summer too, drenched in the long evening light, of which i have experienced on my travels.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Portis does a remarkable job of character draftsmanship; Mattie's choice of words outlines her Puritan personality beautifully..."

Thanks for your illuminating comments.

I had inte..."

"Bushwhacking" leads to a big argument between Rooster and LaBeouf. Rooster's leader, Quantrill, led a brutal raid on Lawrence, Kansas, a settlement founded by antislavery forces. At the start of the Civil War, US Senator Jim Lane, leader of the Kansas abolitionists, led a party of volunteers to Washington in response to Lincoln's call. Guerrilla war and retaliation were a regular feature on the Kansas/Missouri border, before and after the war's beginning. The killings in Lawrence, where there were so few men of military age, were a sore point for even pro-Confederates, then and later. LaBeouf, who served in the regular army, regards Quantrill and his crew as lawless men. "I served in the Army of Northern Virginia, Cogburn, and I'm not ashamed to say it." Neither movie follows this thread; how many people, even when the first movie was released, knew this little bit of Civil War history?

[Bill]

The Faerie Queene was written at the cusp of a lot of changes which are reflected in the poem. It obviously addresses the then fairly recent change of England from Catholic to Protestant, at that time still actively threatened on a number of sides symbolically presented by Spenser.

It was also the age of English discovery, the first stirrings of empire. In the prologue to Book 2 Spenser cites the newly discovered lands of America as a justification for his imagining the land of Faerie. An endnote informs me that the poem contains the first reference in English literature to tobacco, here treated as a medicinal(!) herb.

Specifically in the mutability cantos the poem hints at a dawning revolution in cosmology which would permanently discredit the Ptolemaic model of the universe. In sometimes, for me, surprising ways Spenser reflects medieval belief systems in the poem, such as when one female character becomes pregnant with twin girls by lying naked in direct sunlight, recalling Hamlet’s warning to Polonius

HAMLET For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion—Have you a daughter?
POLONIUS I have, my lord.
HAMLET Let her not walk i’ th’ sun. Conception is a blessing, but, as your daughter may conceive, friend, look to ’t.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Portis does a remarkable job of character draftsmanship; Mattie's choice of words outlines her Puritan personality beautifully..."

Thanks for your illuminating comments.

I had inte..."
Thanks for your observations.

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr. Makes me very glad our police aren't routinely armed.

Back from Madeira - I had forgotten how vertical it was! Phoned doctors to make appt about the ongoing hip proble..."

Hope doctor will suggest PT. It's my go-to for keeping original parts as long as I can. At this stage of my life, parts seem to get so cranky! Like my left knee. Thanks to Google, I found a simple exercise that it keeping it in check - at least for now which is all I can ask for.

[MK]

I see the Guardian has some summer reads up today. I checked my shelves and found Jess Walter's Citizen Vince which is certainly worthy of a re-read. His other works are excellent, as well.

[MK]

If anyone is interested in reading further about the troubles in France (gift read) - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/02/fr...

[AB76]

MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr. Makes me very glad our police aren't routinely armed.

Back from Madeira - I had forgotten how vertical it was! Phoned doctors to make appt about th..."

just read a Paul Bowles travel piece on Madeira and i can see why, he describes hills everywhere, drainage ditches, steep descents to the sea...

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "LaBeouf, who served in the regular army, regards Quantrill and his crew as lawless men. "I served in the Army of Northern Virginia, Cogburn, and I'm not ashamed to say it." Neither movie follows this thread; how many people, even when the first movie was released, knew this little bit of Civil War history?"

I get the impression that Portis knew the history of the period very well. iirc, Cogburn's reply was along the lines that 'women and children weren't killed' - since that had been claimed (apparently) - though killing non-combatants of any age would be regarded as a war crime nowadays. We are never given chapter and verse on exactly what Rooster did or didn't do himself, though.

(I guess that LaBeouf's comment was a jibe to indicate that Rooster should have been ashamed of his own involvement.)

[AB76]

Next classic novel is The Go Between by LP Hartley, which i studied at GCSE and before that, my memories are quite good but i dont count it as a re-read. Unlike 98% of other novels i studied at GCSE and A level, i dont remember disliking it, very rare

Many of these novels i have re-claimed, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I did enjoy The Brickfield by Hartley.

[Berkley]

AB76 wrote: "Next classic novel is The Go Between by LP Hartley, which i studied at GCSE and before that, my memories are quite good but i dont count it as a re-read. Unlike 98% of other novels i studied at GC..."

I've been saving it for later but since I haven't yet read anything by Hartley and this seems to be his most acclaimed book perhaps I should stop putting it off.

[AB76]

Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Next classic novel is The Go Between by LP Hartley, which i studied at GCSE and before that, my memories are quite good but i dont count it as a re-read. Unlike 98% of other novels i s..."

i think you would enjoy it Berkley, i meant to read it last summer but during that vile heatwave i had no urge to read about a historical hot summer, this time i'm taking the plunge whatever.

I think he is an interesting writer The Brickfield was superb, i just remember thinking it was so much more than i expected and features the fen country-south lincs-norfolk area (North East Anglia) where most of his novels are set

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "LaBeouf, who served in the regular army, regards Quantrill and his crew as lawless men. "I served in the Army of Northern Virginia, Cogburn, and I'm not ashamed to say it." Neither m..."

Even pro-Confederates who weren't at Lawrence had qualms about the place. The only comment Rooster makes comes when he's alone with Mattie, but seems to be speaking not to her but the sky: "We only had horse pistols! It was a war!"

[[deleted user]]

AB76 wrote: "Next classic novel is The Go Between by LP Hartley ..."

I was just thinking about Penelope Fitzgerald's abortive attempt at a biography of LP Hartley (I'm dipping into Hermione Lee's Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life), which led me finally to put The Go Between on my list. It's never appealed before (dunno why) but I figure all those many fans must have a reason why they love it so. I'll be interested in what you say about it.

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "Even pro-Confederates who weren't at Lawrence had qualms about the place. The only comment Rooster makes comes when he's alone with Mattie, but seems to be speaking not to her but the sky: "We only had horse pistols! It was a war!""

The comment about 'no women and children' must have come from somewhere else, then - as I mentioned, I did some background reading after finishing the book. Sorry for the error!

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "Next classic novel is The Go Between by LP Hartley..."

Never read anything by Harley, but I did enjoy the 1971 film version soon after it was released - directed by Joseph Losey, starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates, script by Harold Pinter. Can't be bad, surely?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067144/...

(A quick scan of the cast gave me pause - and a giggle - when I saw 'Herr Flick''s picture - Richard Gibson must have had a small role in the film, but (of course) they used a still from his best-known performance!)

[scarletnoir]

An article in the Guardian today - 'Translation is an Art'. Anyone who reads many translated books (as I do) and who is interested in the skills of translation may be interested in this. There are links to earlier articles on the same topic, too.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

I do try to remember to add the names of translators to my reviews, and where I have been especially impressed (or annoyed) to say so. Can't claim to remember 100% of the time, though.

[Gpfr]

Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century
This sounds interesting.
My maternal grandfather was in India with the army in the early part of the last century. My mother spent some of her childhood and teenage years there, though her parents didn't always take her with them. She and my father met in Ceylon (as it then was), my father also being there with the army.
There's a review by William Dalrymple whose own books I really like:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

[Greenfairy]

Studying Cider with Rosie and To Kill a Mockingbird at school certainly didn't put me off loving them, Lord of the Flies not so much however.

[giveusaclue]

AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Stay safe Scarlet and Gpfr. Makes me very glad our police aren't routinely armed.

Back from Madeira - I had forgotten how vertical it was! Phoned doctors to make ap..."

Absolutely AB. I am bad at heights but while I was being driven in the coach I was ok but had to stay on board at one view point when the others got off to take photos!

A heads up for the crime novels lovers here - I have discovered a new to me auther and read the first in one of her series:



The heroine is a profiler who sometimes works for the police. She successfully profiles a murderer at the beginning of the book but the credit is taken by another due to "office politics" in the police. Then the Jack the Ripper copycat murders start and the police are frantically trying to stop the next in the series. Very suspenseful with a very unexpected twist at the end. I really enjoyed it.

[scarletnoir]

Gpfr wrote: "Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century
This sounds interesting.
My maternal grandfather was in India with the army in the early part of the last century..."

The Guardian review is excellent, and if I was a more regular non-fiction reader, I'd be sorely tempted. As it is, it provided useful background to my recent fiction reading set in India in the run-up to independence - the 'Wyndham and Banerjee' series and currently The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey, which you recommended - thanks for that!

I think we had a discussion about whether there would be too much discussion of clothes, etc. - in fact, it's absolutely fine. There are no 4-page diversions into Indian female finery (or male finery for that matter). At most, a noun or qualifying adjective which (If you are lucky) is explained by the e-book link in terms of 'what it is, and its religious or social significance'. These are helpful but not always available.

It's not necessary to know these things, but whenever possible I do like to understand the exact significance of the words used when they are unfamiliar. In any case - it's a smooth and pacy read. I'll review when I finish.

[Lass]

Hope those of you in France are safe, and away from the current disturbances.

[Tam]

Gpfr wrote: "Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century
This sounds interesting.
My maternal grandfather was in India with the army in the early part of the last century. My mother spen..."

My maternal grandfather was also in India, originally he was in the army, but he might well have made the transition to the RAF by then, in the 1920/30's I think. My mother also spent a good proportion of her childhood there. I don't know much about their time spent there as all who knew about it have long since died. She was the much younger daughter in the family. Her two sisters, being much older, didn't get to go there at all as they were busy training as nurses. I have no idea where they were in India though. My grandad went on to become a wing-commander in the RAF. I guess its kind of sad that there is not much knowledge about our ancestors, in the family. I had no interest in family history as a young teenager alas, something I have come to regret... The book looks like an interesting read to me now...

[MK]

Once again I've flunked reading (listening) to fiction. In this instance it was a download from the library of Dennis Lehane's Small Mercies. I had thought that since it was about Boston (Southie in particular-a poor enclave of mostly Irish) and school bussing, it would be a good read. At less than half way in, I gave up. It was dragging.

I'm wondering if it's a wiring issue. Give me a mystery to solve or a history, and I'm fine. I remember a complaint here about red herrings which I'm okay with, but slow, as in Small Mercies, and I am outta here.

[Gpfr]

scarletnoir wrote: "The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey, which you recommended - thanks for that!

I think we had a discussion about whether there would be too much discussion of clothes, etc. - in fact, it's absolutely fine......."

There is more in the first one, though not long digressions.

[Gpfr]

Tam wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "My maternal grandfather was in India with the army in the early part of the last century"

My maternal grandfather was also in India ... My mother also spent a good proportion of her childhood there. I don't know much about their time spent there..."

I know very little about it, too, my mother didn't talk about it (and I guess we didn't really ask), although she apparently told her elder grandsons some stories. Sorting through some things we found her dance card from a regimental ball on Cyprus, she was 16 (1927). I too regret not having asked more.

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century
This sounds interesting.
My maternal grandfather was in India with the army in the early part of the last century. M..."

a bit like my interest in the roughly one million pied-noirs of french settlers in Algeria, i find the much much smaller band of Brits who passed through India fascinating too. Mostly involved with the armed forces, it seems we never had more than about 75,000 brits in india at any time, though the shared blood of the Anglo-Indians*(who include Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck), and who numbered maybe 300,000 suggests a larger legacy and William Dalrymple has some good writing on this.

* Meaning people with some Indian blood, not white settlers. Though i dont think one can call brits in the Raj settlers at all, they all seemed to be passing through

[AB76]

Lass wrote: "Hope those of you in France are safe, and away from the current disturbances."

i did an exchange in 1987, stayed with a french family in l'hay les roses, an unremarkable part of Paris, which has been dragged into things as the mayor of that suburb had a burning car driven at his house,injuring his wife.

i've never been back or ever heard it mentioned again, so this is a sign how the violence is spreading

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "An article in the Guardian today - 'Translation is an Art'. Anyone who reads many translated books (as I do) and who is interested in the skills of translation may be interested in this. There are ..."

The NY Times Book Review devoted almost all of yesterday's issue, which I have just started reading, to translation. There are several articles on translators and translation, the "By the Book" Q & A is with Jennifer Croft, who is featured in the Guardian article, and just about all the reviews are of translated works.

I would like reviews of works in translation to state, up front, the English title, author, translator, the original language, and the title in the original language. The NYRB provides this information; the NY Times only includes the first three in the heading, sometimes but not always mentions the original language in the body of the review, and seldom mentions the original title.

[Robert]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "Even pro-Confederates who weren't at Lawrence had qualms about the place. The only comment Rooster makes comes when he's alone with Mattie, but seems to be speaking not to her but th..."

Was it an error? I'd have to research it, too-- but that it was a terrorist raid, in response to some other long-forgotten incident in a guerilla war, I remember. Rooster's remark "We only had horse pistols! It was a war!" stuck with me because it struck my wife when I read "True Grit" aloud to her. It was one of the scenes she thought hard about.

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "An article in the Guardian today - 'Translation is an Art'. Anyone who reads many translated books (as I do) and who is interested in the skills of translation may be interested in this. There are ..."

its something i rely on too , the art of translating a novel so i cna enjoy it as literary experience..reading approx 40% books a year in translation, more when i first started reading a lot aged 24