What are we reading? 15/01/2024

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "Last year, via reading a Greek novel set in Salonika(where i knew of the massive losses in the Jewish community during WW2)..."

This same atrocity is also covered in Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series... Greeks Bearing Gifts

[scarletnoir]

CCCubbon wrote: "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."

Absolutely - I was just a kid when I saw those pictures, either in a newspaper or a book covering the war in photographs. The horror stays with you... nowadays, I think the media are pretty squeamish about showing atrocities, which maybe makes people either ignorant or indifferent... though too much can also desensitise an audience.

As for the Israeli leadership (not 'Jews' or 'Israelis' - there are many who abhor Netanyahu) - they should be ashamed of themselves. Awful policy and behaviour.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "in the USA its the electoral colleges that baffle, when popular vote majorities dont win elections."

There's no perfect system, but in France they have two rounds - in the first, all presidential candidates stand, and then the top two go forward to a run-off. So far this has worked after a fashion, since the extreme right have failed to win second rounds. Let's hope that continues after Macron, but it's not guaranteed.

(The British system is clearly unrepresentative; the US system has been gamed and gerrymandered.)

[scarletnoir]

And now for a book review...

The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra is a mystery set in a different city to those India-set books I've read before - Bombay/Mumbai and Calcutta/Kolkata. (Bangalore is now called Bengaluru - as I guess it was earlier! My parents spent some time there, as my father had a research collaborator in the city.)

Kaveri has moved to the city after an arranged marriage to doctor Ramu; fortunately for her, he is a kind and understanding husband and is happy for her to pursue her studies in maths and, indeed, to investigate a murder for which an innocent party has been charged. This is in contrast with the experience of most protagonists in those other India-set books! It's easy to read... perhaps some of the themes are familiar to me by now from those other authors, and so there was a slight sense of 'the law of diminishing returns', though some different issues were explored - forced prostitution, for example. The period is 1921, and the independence movement is building up steam.

I enjoyed it well enough, and may read any follow-ups - after all, it is the author's first book. Some plot elements were pretty far-fetched, but that's par for the course, usually.

[Robert]

MK wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRB

Am very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obese old narci..."

We have drifted into an undeclared war in the Middle East. The same sort of thing happened with Clinton and Bosnia, and with Obama's air campaign in Libya. I don't want a war in the Middle East, but whatever Biden thinks he's doing should be aired.

[Gpfr]

I'll close this thread this afternoon.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "MK wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Interesting Fintan O'Toole article on Biden in the NYRB

Am very concerned Trump will be back for another 4 years, nothing seems able to stop the absurd, obes..."

the military base attack yesterday that killed 3 US troops and injured 34 is a bad sign for the situation. not sure why they were sleeping in tents mind you, not the best security against drone strikes

its a very dangerous world right now

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "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 t..."

the neutrality of Eire was always a sore point in that period, the IRA were involved with German intelligence, as was Stuart before WW2 and collaboration is collaboration. In Ireland there was concern over Stuart and his anti-semitic views. He was a deeply odd character, found a brief RTE clip where he revisits Berlin and his accent sounds German in places.

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "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 man..."

When I read the reviews of The White Guard, I sincerely wished that I had a window to London. Would have loved to see this production, which sounded excellent.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "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 abo..."

it was brilliant, state of the art stage, great acting and i had read the play before the novel in fact, so they came together well. The National is a treasure, sadly covid disrupted a good decade of attendance by me and i must get back to it!

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "collaboration is collaboration."

OK, but that's a term applied to citizens of an invaded state - such as France - who 'collaborate' with the invaders.

Eire was never invaded by the Nazis, and as you say, certain elements within the IRA etc. were more sympathetic to the Nazis than to the British (for obvious reasons).

So I stick to my point: AFAIK, Stuart broke no Irish laws...

(Of course, I do not sympathise with him in the least - but that's a different matter.)

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "When I read the reviews of The White Guard, I sincerely wished that I had a window to London. Would have loved to see this production, which sounded excellent.

Nowadays, a lot of major theatres stream their productions to far-flung cultural centres (such as our local Arts Centre)... so I googled this, but no luck for you.

Major concerts and ballet productions are also shown.

I admit to never having attended one of these showings, as the prices seem a bit steep for what are, after all, screened (not live) performances.

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "collaboration is collaboration."

OK, but that's a term applied to citizens of an invaded state - such as France - who 'collaborate' with the invaders.

Eire was never invaded by the N..."

there might be rules about breaking neutrality but im not aware of any

[Gpfr]

Just a reminder, I'll close the thread in about 2 hours.