Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 18/12/2023
Gpfr wrote: "Seconded! I hope the champagne is flowing freely 🥂✨.."Thanks! We had a half bottle between us - but not only that. Finished with a tiny glass of Eau de ma Tante, a vanilla flavoured genever from Amsterdam.
MK wrote: "BTW, thanks to whoever mentioned Linda Barnes here, Her paperbacks are just right for bedtime reading and one gets to travel to Boston in the bargain. I have her The Big Dig a little further down the TBR pile. Should be interesting as Boston did over-runs and scandal (as I remember it) on a huge scale..."Your 'Big Dig' sounds remarkably like the British 'rail project' HS2 - meant to extend a fast railtrack to points north, it has ended up saving passengers between Birmingham and London (118 miles) some 10 minutes! In the meantime, money earmarked for the project in the North has been reallocated to fixing potholes... in London! Many people were kicked out of their homes by compulsory purchase orders to make way for the new - but now not to be built - railtrack; these have now been rented out at a profit of £9 million to the HS2 project.
You couldn't make it up!
https://buildingconstructiondesign.co....
Thanks to you and Gpfr for the mention of Linda Barnes - I may well try that author.
Finished reading
I've said before how much I have been enjoying this series. I thought this would be the last but it ended very abruptly and it transpires there is to be a final one called Beyond the Grave. The books are very entertaining, even if you do have to concentrate to remember who is who. Also the generals all have a tendency to swap sides as well!
The disadvantage of reading this sort of book on an ereader is that the maps don't show up too well. I would also have liked some illustrations of the battle set ups. But I will continue to recommend them to anyone interested in the period.
Mod
Yes, that is a big disadvantage of e-books. It's the same problem for travel books for example. I've got High: A Journey Across the Himalaya, Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China waiting to be read. I bought the e-book because it was a real bargain. I decided I needed an atlas (not just for this book) and have now got a new one.
Mod
May - Colm Toibin, Long Island, a sequel to Brooklyn
August - Kate Atkinson, a new Jackson Brodie, Death at the Sign of the Rook
September - William Dalrymple, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "The disadvantage of reading this sort of book on an ereader is that the maps don't show up too well..."Yes, that is a big disadvantage of e-books. It's the same problem for tr..."
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "The disadvantage of reading this sort of book on an ereader is that the maps don't show up too well..."
Yes, that is a big disadvantage of e-books. It's the same problem for tr..."
Haha, my friend got an atlas to help her with worldle because google maps on her phone wasn't too easy.
Tales of Unrest by Joe Conrad(1898) is a really interesting selection of his early short stories. I have read a lot by Conrad but never come across this volume before.The depth and detail of the stories is striking, especially The Return which i am reading in two parts. Its a slow burning tale of emotion and deception, despair, which feels like a novel. The Lagoon and An Outpost of Progress i would call two psychological studies, immense in the sense of stillness and power of foreign locations to unsettle and un-nerve, though the plots are very different.
giveusaclue wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "The disadvantage of reading this sort of book on an ereader is that the maps don't show up too well..."Yes, that is a big disadvantage of e-books. It's the same p..."
Nothing like going to retro paper for accuracy. Of course, I never left and still print out maps to get to b from a, but then my preferred device is a desk top.😉
PS - Although it's been some time since I mentioned 🚕🚕🚕, I am still seeing them out there.
scarletnoir wrote: "MK wrote: "BTW, thanks to whoever mentioned Linda Barnes here, Her paperbacks are just right for bedtime reading and one gets to travel to Boston in the bargain. I have her The Big Dig a little fur..."It is easy to compare Carlotta Carlyle, Linda Barnes heroine, with Kinsey Millhone - different coast, same persistent female (my favorite type).
Historians speak.Richard J. Evans gives a lecture on "Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories: Past, Present and Future?"
https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/20...
A podcast interview with Heather Cox Richardson: "What If We’d Been Mean To Robert E. Lee?"
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/...
Tam wrote: "Just got back from Spain yesterday, and not feeling too good this morning, so we both took a covid test... positive... alas, so we are under lock down. A friend will be delivering food parcels and ..."Oh Tam, sorry to read that.Get well soon.
I have a little good news in that my eye injections resume on the 16 Jan - I have been waiting and waiting …..
Happy New Year everyone
Diana wrote: "That‘s good news, CCC.."Thank you Diane, must confess a struggle
The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell(1941) has reminded me of his precise, non-ornate style of writing which is distinctive and should be studied moreOddly i have never read this essay, despite having read all his novels, most non-fiction and diaries. He presents an England that faltered and shamelessly appeased the Nazi's during the 1930s and is scathing about Stanley Baldwin, a two time British PM from this period
In his advocating a planned socialist economy, he predicts successfully the 1945-51 Labour government. His views on class and wealth in the England of 1941 still seem relevant, even if the dark shadow of war hung over his writing in 1941
Its sobering to realise that just as the Great War veterans thinned to a handful two decades ago, we now have very few left who reached adulthood in 1939. That generation is almost becoming a memory, time's arrow darts on and on
scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for the first time in a long*** time I read 80 pages in one sitting. Am reading The Last Ships of Hamburg and it fascinates me. I was raised by my dad and his mother. Oh how I wish I had asked more questions, not been so totally involved in my own life.
I knew my grandma had come to the US in steerage. And steerage - what I'd imagined was some barely nominally better condition than the Middle Passage of Africans. In actuality it was bunk beds, electrified (that, I'm sure unknown to her), adequate food, families together altho she was alone, age 15, the first to make the journey.
I had wondered how the $37 she carried with her was raised ($37 in 1900 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,352.49 today) - how did she get from Iasi, Romania, to Hamburg or Bremen. This book is giving me answers.
I am so happy to be reading again--not so distracted and unfocused. Going off meds was really hard but it is behind me. I still can't cry but I almost can. Seeing my doc in a few days and in an email I joked (Reader, she joked!) that I need someone to punch me in the stomach so I can cry and would she be willing--no, she said, but I'll hug you.
A new to me author and the first book in a series:
Suffice it to say, check my review!!
Mod
Glad to hear things are going better, Ruby, and you're back to reading!
That sounds an interesting book and I'm thinking about your grandmother travelling so far alone at such a young age. Was there family in New York?
Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for the first time..."
was she Jewish? Iasi was a multicultural city with a large Jewish population during those times
Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for the first time..."
Fantastic Ruby. I'm happy to hear it's all coming back to you. Happy New Year!
Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for the first time..."
Hi Ruby, Glad to hear you are reading again, I hope your recovery continues in 2024.
My family, from Lancashire has history in the USA as my great great grandparents on my paternal grandfather's side emigrated to New Hampshire/Massachusetts to work, presumably, in the cotton mills. My great grandmother was born there but all her younger siblings were born back in Lancashire so parents must decided the grass wasn't greener and returned home!
MK wrote: "It is easy to compare Carlotta Carlyle, Linda Barnes heroine, with Kinsey Millhone - different coast, same persistent female (my favorite type)."I'm not familiar with her either... indeed, I can't for the moment recall any female detectives I've followed for a while - since VI Warshawski - but that could well be a failure of memory.
CCCubbon wrote: "I have a little good news in that my eye injections resume on the 16 Jan - I have been waiting and waiting ..."I hope and assume they are still effective in your case... Happy New Year!
Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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I still can't cry but I almost can..."
Thanks for that...
Well done to come off the meds... that must have been hard. I'm not entirely sure why you 'want' to cry - I try to avoid it - but if it's in some way desirable I'd recommend some really beautiful piece of music. That usually gets me to well up, for no reason... Mahler is good, but not only. Everyone must have their own preferences. Fauré's Requiem is another...
Ruby wrote that she was minded to read a book in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith, following my 5* grading of some I've read recently... I hope she won't mind if I copy/paste here my response to her comment in the review section:Renko isn't a spy - he's a Russian 'investigator'. I don't completely understand the subtleties of the position, since in the book I'm reading just now - Three Stations - Renko says to his friend detective Vladimir that "detectives lead and investigators follow on" (or words to that effect). Maybe it's a bit like the French "investigating magistrate", but in truth whatever the position 'normally' entails, Renko behaves (misbehaves?) just as a detective or a PI would in most legal systems. In any case, Vladimir is often drunk and follows Renko's hints/advice/instructions!
The run-up to the holiday season was even more taxing than usual in many ways, and as I rediscovered the Renko series with Havana Bay - set, to no one's surprise, in Cuba - I have simply carried on with Wolves Eat Dogs (Chernobyl and Kiev), Stalin's Ghost (Moscow and Tver) and now 'Three Stations' (Moscow - so far). It's relaxing and enjoyable to read a well written series with an interesting protagonist. There is a fair bit of humour, as well as some exceptionally well researched information (geographical/social/historical) which is seamlessly blended into the narrative. (I do find it depressing when lesser writers drop lengthy passages which feel as if they've been lifted from Wikipedia into their stories.) Here, the material is introduced bit by bit where it fits the story.
Of course, there is crime and occasionally brutal language. I don't see any other reason why anyone who likes the genre would fail to enjoy these books, though. That isn't a big feature.
scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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I still can..."
Oh dear, memories of pre-menopausal days when I sometimes sat on the couch and just had a good cry. Nothing like a catharsis.
MK wrote: "Oh dear, memories of pre-menopausal days when I sometimes sat on the couch and just had a good cry. Nothing like a catharsis".I wish I could relate to this. When I was a child I would cry very easily. In adulthood, it is very rare. I seem to achieve catharsis by cleaning!
Fuzzywuzz wrote: "I seem to achieve catharsis by cleaning! You can come and achieve catharsis at my place anytime! I hate housework, especially dusting.
scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote that she was minded to read a book in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith, following my 5* grading of some I've read recently... I hope she won't mind if I copy/paste here my re..."I enjoyed Gorky Park but was disappointed with Polar Star then enjoyed Red Square again from what I can remember. Will have to try more.
Gpfr wrote: "Ruby wrote: "Today for the first time in a long*** time I read 80 pages in one sitting ..."My grandma was the oldest of something like 12-13 children. Some were not yet born or very young when she left for america. She was the first, then brought the next oldest, and they got some more and so on. Absolutely typical story. Last Ships from Hamburg next chapters on how they made the overland journeys to port cities. There must have been landsmen to meet her in NY.
AB76 wrote: "Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for t..."
Yes, she was. Yes, I am.
scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary I am semi-addicted to animal rescue stories--St. Louis Rescue is an amazing!!! organization. Some of the rescues on Utube are horrific and I dont want to know what was done. I get so close to crying (when a dog knows that it has been adopted) but I cant jump whatever brain hurdle is in the way. Yet. I love crying.
MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
----------..."
MK--all this time, I thought you were a he.
Not that it matters!
scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote that she was minded to read a book in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith, following my 5* grading of some I've read recently... I hope she won't mind if I copy/paste here my re..."Some years ago - ten years? - I read/listened to all of the Bernie Gunther books. He was a cop, not a spy; a cop in Weimar and later.
Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame.
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Today for the first time..."
I have that from the library. Always interested in people movement unlike 'the posh' who fear change. There's a great museum (it won a prize one year) in Bremerhaven - https://dah-bremerhaven.de/en
Auswanderer says it all.
Local author Claire Gebben has documented an ancester in The Last of the Blacksmiths The interesting tidbit here is he did not travel north to one of the usual ports but headed west. I asked the author he didn't go to one of the northern ports, and it seems he would have been picked up by a militia for service. Looks like it's time for a re-read.
Happy 2024 everyone. Hope for lasting peace in Middle East.Dont know the transition monikers from TLS to Ersatz so the people who were so awful to me years back--dont know who they are now. All is forgiven, except that I mention it. Ha!.
Ruby wrote: "MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Ruby wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Just signed in to mention that today was our 42nd wedding anniversary - best thing I ever did, Happy anniversary to you and Madame...."
Hah! I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I often tend to get the fish-eye from men as I am quite forthright. I first noticed this in the 1980s (early) when I was an intern and a budding COBOL programmer with the US Army. A flyer came around the office for Assertiveness Training and a male programmer vehemently stated that I sure didn't need to go. It stuck with me.
Fuzzywuzz wrote: "MK wrote: "Oh dear, memories of pre-menopausal days when I sometimes sat on the couch and just had a good cry. Nothing like a catharsis".I wish I could relate to this. When I was a child I would ..."
My next-door neighbor and friend cleans for catharsis. I only just recently realized it was therapeutic for her,
Mod
I don't think they're here, Ruby.
A good New Year to all, not socialising tonight, friends and family all seem to be going down with Covid or ' flu - it must have been the Christmas parties... Take care everyone :)
May I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year and that good health bestows you and your loved ones.It's going to be all quiet here in the Fuzzywuzz household, just Mr Fuzzywuzz and I and mini-not-so-miniFuzzywuzz (at 21 years old) and each of us doing the Guardian Quick Crossword for fun. I'm going to put on a disk of orchestral songs from the movies (Star Wars, Indiana Jones themes etc.)
At midnight I'll welcome the New Year with a glass of cola (the only time I drink the stuff).
I even managed to squeeze in some reading today (Mick Herron's Slow Horses - very good so far - ousted spies looking like they'll outdo their polar opposites).
I'm very much looking forward to the New Year and what reading I get upto (and hopefully shrink the TBR mountain before it takes over the house!).
Fuzzy :)
Ruby wrote: "Fuzzywuzz wrote: "MK wrote: "Oh dear, memories of pre-menopausal days when I sometimes sat on the couch and just had a good cry. Nothing like a catharsis".I wish I could relate to this. When I wa..."
Run of the mill housework can be quite irksome at times, but I had a great time a couple of days ago cleaning out the utility room. It's kind of hard to explain the buzz I get from this - if it's the movement/motion lulling me into a rhythm which is energising or seeing the product of the activity. I suspect it's a bit of both :)
MK wrote: "Ruby wrote: "MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Forthright is good, MK. You live in Wash right? Me, too, at the tippy top of Snohomish County.
happy new year celebrations to ye alllooking foward to starting Michael H Katers After The Nazi's
tomorrow, a cultural study of West Germany from 1945-1990.
Ruby wrote: "Fuzzywuzz wrote: "MK wrote: "Oh dear, memories of pre-menopausal days when I sometimes sat on the couch and just had a good cry. Nothing like a catharsis".I wish I could relate to this. When I wa..."
so does mine...almost OCD, cleaning is her way of recovery
A very 'Happy New Year' to everyone here. I have been watching Simon Sharma's 'History of Now' on I Player, for my New Year under lock down. What a strange species the human race is... He has turned into quite a cuddly old bear these days, much to my surprise...
Tam wrote: "A very 'Happy New Year' to everyone here. I have been watching Simon Sharma's 'History of Now' on I Player, for my New Year under lock down. What a strange species the human race is... He has turne..."enjoy your lockdown new yr Tam!
scarletnoir wrote: "Well done to come off the meds... that must have been hard. I'm not entirely sure why you 'want' to cry - I try to avoid it - but if it's in some way desirable I'd recommend some really beautiful piece of music. That usually gets me to well up, for no reason... Mahler is good, but not only. Everyone must have their own preferences. Fauré's Requiem is another..."I never feel inclined to weep when listening to music. Even when feeling down, I find “sad” music, such as that by John Dowland (“Sorrow, stay”, “Flow, my tears”) to be cathartic, even comforting.
Your mention of Mahler and tears reminds me of a conversation I overheard in a record store a number of years ago. A guy was holding forth to his companion about music, “Mahler was a crybaby. Look at Mozart, he had a much more tragic life than Mahler, but he wasn’t a crybaby.”
Happy New Year to all Ersatzers. TCM is showing movies with scenes set on New Year’s Eve, but I can’t come up with any literary examples except for Dickens’ “The Chimes”.
Ruby wrote: "MK wrote: "Ruby wrote: "MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Forthright is good, MK. You live in Wash right? Me, too, at the tippy top of Snohomish County."
Yep, I'm in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. The forthright part may be because I'm originally from the East Coast.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
Treaty Justice: The Northwest Tribes, the Boldt Decision, and the Recognition of Fishing Rights (other topics)A Lawyer in Indian Country: A Memoir (other topics)
A Promise Kept: The Muscogee Creek Nation and Mcgirt V. Oklahoma (other topics)
The Siberian Dilemma (other topics)
Wolves Eat Dogs (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Alvin J. Ziontz (other topics)Claire Gebben (other topics)
Richard J. Evans (other topics)
Heather Cox Richardson (other topics)
Linda Barnes (other topics)
Get well soon.
Interesting to hear that Herzog's book is like "a really bad cold". Some books I've read were definitely like a dose of salts! ;-)