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What are we reading? 15/01/2024
The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra
was a superb Argentinian read by novelist Pedro MairalA mix of gentle mystery, memory and the fascinating river borderlands of Argentina and Uruguay, the novel asks many questions and charges the mind with possibilities but also manages to enchant as well. 116 pages felt like twice that, due to the depth and skill of the writing
During the Second World War, before she became a novelist and short story writer, Flannery O'Connor drew cartoons about her college. I've posted two, and one of her paintings.
And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it back onto the metal and the shelf dropped. The cost:
5 glass dessert bowls,
2 small jugs
1 serving dish
1 soup bowl
1 large packet of cornflakes!!
The whole of the kitchen floor was covered in shards of glass and crockery. I knew I couldn't bend to sweep it into the dust pan so rang my lovely neighbours. He came straight round, still in his pyjamas (don't know what the other neighbours thought!), and cleared it all up for me.
On the medical front all is still going well and I have moved on to include semis squats and tip toes on to my 4 times daily exercises.
On the literary front, I am now binge reading the fifth of Jay Nadal's Karen Heath series. In York a male nurse from the Philippines is bludgeoned to death and his heart stolen. Days after an Indian Doctor is killed in his home in London in the same way and his heart ripped out and put in the cat's bowl! So far so gory.
Nadal's choices of murder methods do tend to be particularly nasty but I am enjoying the series, I can skip over the really nasty bits!
giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it back onto the metal..."
oh dear......glad you had some help with the clear up!
Robert wrote: "During the Second World War, before she became a novelist and short story writer, Flannery O'Connor drew cartoons about her college. I've post one."will have a look...thanks robert
giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it back onto the metal..."
AKA Pushy Broad here. After seeing my hairdresser clean up with a broom and long- handled dust pan, I broke down and bought a set from the dreaded amazon. Sorry to say that last week I also bought from Amazon a long handled grabber and so far have used it for picking up debris outside.
Just another 'perk' of getting old. Dammit.
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Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it back onto the metal..."
Oh, no! I can visualise that all too clearly. Thank goodness you had someone to sweep it up for you.
I have just finished Arthur Upfield's Man of Two Tribes which, while enthralling, was quite different from his other books. I have no idea how he thought of the book's premis and driving force as it seems more a fantasy than a mystery.At the same time I recall long ago reading a mystery that took place on a train crossing the Nullabor Plain from Perth to Adelaide and its scenery of nothingness.
Still it's hard to beat a 'two-fer' when history (because of its publication date) coincides with a good yarn.
I ma continuing to be dazzled by ambigious Nazi-collaborator Francis Stuart's 1948 novel The Pillar of CloudHe stresses throughout a sense of moral purpose in recovery from dark times, strengthened by restraint and faith in the goodness of others, a complicated christ and the moving towards some kind of light by two young refugee sisters in the novel who befriend an irish poet in the ruins of post-WW2 South Baden
Quite how Stuart managed to evade punishment for wartime service for Nazi propaganda remains a mystery to me but he did fall foul of the Nazi' towards the end of the war and possibly the Eire government took that into consideration.
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it..."
It look a bit like the result of an earthquake!
oh dear MK! i'm glad that you're recovering though.
giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it back onto the metal..."
Your neighbors sound like salt of the earth types.
Robert wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it..."
They absolutely are. They are the best.
MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a little to fit it..."
I got 2 long handled grabbers from my local garden centre. They have been essential in helping me get dressed. I will leave the rest to your imaginations
giveusaclue wrote: "MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "And it was going so well........Was in the kitchen this morning and the plastic bit of a shelf hinge came off. I tried to be clever and just raise the shelf a littl..."
am impressed with your determination!
Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: " I'm also re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon" And why not? My 101-year-old mother no longer wants to read anything new...
I often rea..."
Dorothy Sayers also left an excellent anthology, her "Omnibus of Crime." What a range of good stories she selected!
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"Dorothy Sayers also left an excellent anthology, her "Omnibus of Crime."......"
Thanks for the tip — "omnibus" indeed, I've just looked it up, a giant collection.
By the way, she apparently used to get very angry if one omitted the L from her name :)
I have tried to read the Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini during the last few days.It’s a complicated plot, maybe that’s the trouble, too complicated to make me believe in the characters. I found myself thinking such and such is going to happen’ ‘ how could anyone be that foolish…’ and so on and have only read about a fifth of the book. Have to give it a rest. ( protagonist tricked into helping woman commit suicide or was it murder).
Generally I have come to the conclusion that the book is not very well written, made me think of a creative writing exercise but maybe that’s a bit harsh. More likely I find it poor because I have been immersed in the Quirke books by John Banville where I delighted in the language. What to do? I scrabbled around the unread books on my kindle, tried a couple but then downloaded TheSea , another Banville that I haven’t yet read.
Robert wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: " I'm also re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon" And why not? My 101-year-old mother no longer wants to read anything new......"
I read all the books many years ago. The one that has always stuck in my mind is The Nine Tailors whichI remember finding quite horrifying. Still gives me the shivers to think on!
CCCubbon wrote: "I have tried to read the Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini during the last few days.It’s a complicated plot, maybe that’s the trouble, too complicated to make me believe in the characters. I foun..."
i read The Sea, last year, it was not bad but maybe didnt quite live up to its first half, though Banville's language and style is wonderfully consistent
On World Holocaust Day and in light of the Oct 7th massacres, it is vitally important to remember what Jewish people have endured in living and past memoryLast year, via reading a Greek novel set in Salonika(where i knew of the massive losses in the Jewish community during WW2), i looked into the fate of small, aincient jewish communities on the greek islands like Rhodes and Corfu. It is quite amazing how zealous the Nazi's were in hunting down communities of a few thousand on distant islands to eliminate, this lust for blood. Before i explored Jewish Rhodes, i never knew there were any Jews on the Greek Islands.
AB76 wrote: "On World Holocaust Day and in light of the Oct 7th massacres, it is vitally important to remember what Jewish people have endured in living and past memoryLast year, via reading a Greek novel set..."
It was only sometime after I moved to Seattle that I realized that there are different categories (if that's the correct word) of Jews. Seattle has one of the largest communities of Sephardic Jews in the US. Here is a mini-history of the life of Sam Israel who emigrated from Rhodes and 'made good' in Seattle instead of being a Nazi casualty - https://www.wsjhs.org/museum/organiza...
MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "On World Holocaust Day and in light of the Oct 7th massacres, it is vitally important to remember what Jewish people have endured in living and past memoryLast year, via reading a Gr..."
Very interesting MK, thanks
yes the Sephardi(Portugese-Spanish origin), Mizrahi(Arab-Africa Origins) and Azhkenzai(European origins) Jewish groups are fascinating. In modern Israel the Ashkenazi are about 60% i think, the other 2 groups 40%.
i found some info from Jerusalem in 1939 where 51% were Ask/13% were Sephardi/21% were Mizrahi. I was suprised at the Mizrahi numbers as they generally arrived post 1950, as life in the Arab states became too dangerous and many were airlifted out. One explanation is possibly the ongoing Ottoman migrations among these Jews before the British mandate, where traders from Baghdad and other Jewish Mizrahi communities established themselves in the Holy City and these were their descendents living under the British rule. Their origins were Iraqi, Iranian and Kurd
One thing leads to another and now it looks like I'm going to have to add a stop at my neighborhood library between rain drops today. It's a Sephardim thing. Sarah Abrevaya Stein. author of Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey Through the Twentieth Century is the niece of a neighbor that I met when we both volunteered schlepping books for the Seattle Public Library booksales. Here's a clip about the book - For centuries, the bustling port city of Salonica was home to the sprawling Levy family. As leading publishers and editors, they helped chronicle modernity as it was experienced by Sephardic Jews across the Ottoman Empire. The wars of the twentieth century, however, redrew the borders around them, in the process transforming the Levys from Ottomans to Greeks. Family members soon moved across boundaries and hemispheres, stretching the familial diaspora from Greece to Western Europe, Israel, Brazil, and India. In time, the Holocaust nearly eviscerated the clan, eradicating whole branches of the family tree.
Looks like there's a copy on the shelves waiting for me to come by.
MK wrote: "One thing leads to another and now it looks like I'm going to have to add a stop at my neighborhood library between rain drops today. It's a Sephardim thing. Sarah Abrevaya Stein. a..."AB Yeshoshua is possibly the most famous Sephardi Jewish writer living and is worth exploring. I thought Harold Pinter had Sephardi ancestry but it turns out he was Ashkenazi
Mod
AB76 wrote: "In modern Israel the Ashkenazi are about 60% i think, the other 2 groups 40%. ..."
You two were getting me interested in this — I found an article on The Conversation from November 2023 (don't remember who recommended this site or where). It says about 32% of the population, is Ashkenazi
https://theconversation.com/israels-m...
AB76 wrote: "On World Holocaust Day and in light of the Oct 7th massacres, it is vitally important to remember what Jewish people have endured in living and past memoryLast year, via reading a Greek novel set..."
I have much sympathy for the sufferings of the Jewish people. I remember vividly being in the cinema when the first reports and pictures of the British Army entering Belsen - must have been ‘45.
The audience froze in silence at the horror and those images have stayed with me even though then only a child.
But now I read about 26,000 plus deaths in Gaza the vast majority women and children. It does give the impression of genocide for that very reason for are children and women all terrorists? Indeed the maniacal glee of the Israeli leaders fill me with horror now.
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: AB76 wrote: "In modern Israel the Ashkenazi are about 60% i think, the other 2 groups 40%. ..."
You two were getting me interested in this — I found an article on The Conversation from ..."
Thanks - good read for me.
Looks like Sam has found his niche at Galley Beggar Press. There's a few days sale on which some might want to take a look at - https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/ (banner on top of page)
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: AB76 wrote: "In modern Israel the Ashkenazi are about 60% i think, the other 2 groups 40%. ..."
You two were getting me interested in this — I found an article on The Conversation from ..."
oh, a lot less ashkenazi than i estimated lol, i dont have any detailed census data save for the 1939 Jerusalem stats which i think i found in an obscure German study of the city
CCCubbon wrote: "AB76 wrote: "On World Holocaust Day and in light of the Oct 7th massacres, it is vitally important to remember what Jewish people have endured in living and past memoryLast year, via reading a Gr..."
Israel is not helped by the extreme right wing mob who Netanyahu used to return to power, they express a view that could easily be interpreted as the worst kind of racism and many are in the cabinet. The West Bank settlers are even worse, i saw a documentary where a 19yo settler female, with her baby, stared at the camera and emotionlessly said she didnt care about dead palestinian children...(this was before Gaza, filmed in 2023)
Bookmark this - https://www.grolierclub.org/Two online exhibitions!
Whodunnit which is up 'til 10 Feb in Second Floor Gallery (my first stop)
https://www.grolierclub.org/Default.a...
And
Judging a book by its cover 'til April in Ground Floor Gallery
https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibit...
Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRBAm very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obese old narcissist, he is a walking snake oil salesman but teflon with it. He seems, in a nation obsessed with justice and the law, to be making court appearences a badge of honour as he shrieks "WITCH HUNT" in all caps
As for the world, it will be the end of any unilateral western help for Ukraine, as NATO without yank dollars will be a sinking ship. Its very sad that a great nation like the USA should have such a rank gasbag as a presidential candidate, i just hope Biden gets it together and targets the marginal states.
CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: " I'm also re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon" And why not? My 101-year-old mother no longer wants to read ..."
The scene where the woman in the shadows warns Wimsey's nephew? No, that was in Gaudy Night. I read most of the book in a night, and was in early morning silence when the boy had his uncanny interview.
I've been enjoying William Gerhardie's Futility, recommended here. Quite charming farce, set in a Russia turned upside down, as seen from the interventionists' perch above. Like many Russian novels, Gerhardie introduces nests of gentlefolk. Indeed, three nests, whose inmates borrow twigs from one nest to shoulder up another.
It ought to be read with Bulgakov's The White Guard, which sets the opera in a different key. Once again we have a nest of gentlefolk-- the Turbin family, extended by their prep school mates, in-law, and lovers. However, Bulgakov's extended family of Turbins must take up arms to defend their home, or adapt to defeat.
Futility has charm, but I need to reread Bulgakov's work for its dark colors, flashes of satire, and moments of real tragedy.
AB76 wrote: "Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRBAm very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obese old narcissist, he is a walking snake..."
If Trump has caprice, Biden is a hollow figure offering lies and poorly packaged PR. Will either old gaffer survive until 2028? Only the one can conceivably make the other electable.
Political activists and the administration have pulled the courts into the fray, with all sorts of unique legal theories. Win by a lawsuit? Well, they're trying.
Meanwhile, an undeclared war against Iran and its surrogates is bubbling away, an extensive military commitment has been made in the Middle East, and it remains uncertain what the West's end policy in Ukraine is meant to be. And, yes, some saber rattling by the Chinese and the North Koreans. These foreign policy and military issues aren't being properly debated, because Biden, unlike either of the Bushes, refuses to go to Congress to explain his policies and seek authorization to use force.
It is a bad election year, with two useless contenders, and will be decided by attrition, money, and fear, absent the breakout of an actual war.
Yoicks!
Does Biden understand his own policies, or even remember what they are today?
Robert wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: " I'm also re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon" And why not? My 101-year-old mother no long..."
No not that, the thought of being killed by bell sound.
Robert wrote: "I've been enjoying William Gerhardie's Futility, recommended here. Quite charming farce, set in a Russia turned upside down, as seen from the interventionists' perch above. Like many Russian novel..."
glad you are enjoying Futility, i loved The White Guard too and also saw the play at the National about a decade ago. The same civil war but much closer to the frontlines in Kiev, than Vladivostok
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRBAm very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obese old narcissist, he is a ..."
it doesnt help that like in the UK, the electoral system needs a massive amount of reform. FPTP here gives the resting Tory 35 % of the population a chance for a majority in the commons every election, in the USA its the electoral colleges that baffle, when popular vote majorities dont win elections
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRBAm very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obese old narcissist, he is a ..."
Looks like I'll have to hope that the Queen Anne library has not had its January 18th copy of the NYRB before I comment in depth here.
Robert, I don't understand what you are saying here - because Biden, unlike either of the Bushes, refuses to go to Congress to explain his policies and seek authorization to use force.
1- Are you suggesting the US go to war in the Middle East?
2- Why would Biden ask Congress for a declaration of war he's not going to get? And when Congress (especially the House) keeps the US funded by continuing resolutions and cannot do its job as in debating and passing a budget.
giveusaclue wrote: "Does Biden understand his own policies, or even remember what they are today?"Yes, Biden does understand and remember. This from someone who has a couple of years on him.
Like many I'm sure, I would rather have different choices for President in 2024. However, it is no contest, Trump is not only unqualified, he is a danger to the USA and the World. Does anyone want the leader of the US to suck-up to Putin?
If anyone in this group wants another viewpoint on Trump and his legal issues, I suggest you sign up for Joyce Vance White's newsletter here - https://joycevance.substack.com/
And for more information on history, politics, and the rule of law, I suggest Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter - https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...
Here's a direct link to Joyce Vance White's most recent post which I think is worth a read - https://joycevance.substack.com/p/no-...
And here's the latest from Heather Cox Richardson - https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...
Finally, I hope that Nikki Haley keeps socking it to Trump because she is helping him dig a hole which I also hope he will not be able to get out of.
MK wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Does Biden understand his own policies, or even remember what they are today?"Yes, Biden does understand and remember. This from someone who has a couple of years on him.
Lik..."
lets hope something happens to stop Trump
Coming to the end of the brilliant Dissent or Conform a 1996 study of War, Peace and the English Churches from 1900-1945. Conclusions on a basic topic, ie faith, show that religion among the English fighting men was pretty scant in both wars though it seems even more marked in WW2. Attendance at chapels in the field was respectful but it seems while many servicemen were baptised Anglicans, very few were communicants or confirmed.I also finished my second "periphery of war" read of 2024, after the Russian Civil War novel Futility which Robert is now reading.
The Pillar of Cloud by Irish nazi sympathiser Francis Stuart was superb from page 1 till the end. Written in 1948, as Stuart waited to finish his interrogation by allied forces, it had none of the bitter ash of defeat that i expected, instead there was an embrace of a tentative, gritty hope in a new world. Stuart never apologised for his time serving the Nazi's and remained a very odd figure until his death
New book - memoir by Katalin Karikó- Breaking Through: My Life in Science is now of my hold list at the library. We all owe her a real debt of gratitude.Here's the blurb from Google - An outstanding memoir with a happy ending. A fine memoir from a biochemist whose decades of work contributed to the formulation of the Covid-19 vaccine. In this inspiring, riveting narrative, Karikó describes the science behind her work but also delves deeply into her childhood, education, and bumpy career.
giveusaclue wrote: "Does Biden understand his own policies, or even remember what they are today?"I think he believes his own circle's propaganda, which means the captain's map shows a flat earth.
Robert wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Does Biden understand his own policies, or even remember what they are today?"I think he believes his own circle's propaganda, which means the captain's map shows a flat earth."
i have a soft spot for Biden, his stint as a genial VP to Obama was a good one and i felt he was solid in his first 18 months. I dislike age-prejudice attacks on Biden, as i feel that the obese orange oaf shares the same age related issues and is technically denser than osmium(the most dense metal) but there is a huge disaster facing the USA if Trump is re-elected and Biden needs his A game or his strategists creating an A game...very soon.
I dont quite feel its been an administation led attack on Trump via the courts but i do feel its dangerous when first world countries descend into third world legal attacks on ex-leaders, it starts to look less than wateright. However Trump has been evading justice for decades and it was about time he was tied down for a few years, having money and good lawyers does not make you innocent of all charges!
AB76 wrote: "Quite how Stuart managed to evade punishment for wartime service for Nazi propaganda remains a mystery to me but he did fall foul of the Nazi' towards the end of the war and possibly the Eire government took that into consideration..."Never heard of Stuart - but if he was Irish I don't see under what law he could/would have been 'punished', since Eire was neutral during WW2 - perhaps not surprising after they had to fight a war of independence against the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_n....
CCCubbon wrote: "I read all the books many years ago. The one that has always stuck in my mind is The Nine Tailors..."Same here... my mother's favourite is 'Gaudy Night'.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
The Bangalore Detectives Club (other topics)Greeks Bearing Gifts (other topics)
Breaking Through: My Life in Science (other topics)
Busman's Honeymoon (other topics)
Busman's Honeymoon (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Sarah Abrevaya Stein (other topics)Sarah Abrevaya Stein (other topics)
Arthur W. Upfield (other topics)
Tony Hillerman (other topics)
Amitav Ghosh (other topics)
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Ha, thanks for that MK. I am already having outings for coffee, courtesy of my driver friends.
I go for Haiku no 3 too!