Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 11/03/2024
Russell wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Russell wrote: "Jack Sheppard – William Ainsworth ..."... i love addisson and steele..."Me too. I’d forgotten that bit of Macaulay. I shall have to re-visit.
Years ago I found a lov..."
i dont think he covers them in detail but if i remember they feature at the very end, leading into the last years of Queen Anne and just before the Hanoverians emerge on the scene
i may be wrong and it could be another source where i first heard of them!
Pankaj Mishra has written a controversial essay in LRB on Gaza I will need to fact check a few of his references to events but in terms of ideas, its good to explore all perspectives and he seems to see the rightward turn in Israeli politics in the 1970s under Begin leading to the Holocaust becoming a pillar of the right and anti-semitism being used to accuse anyone who attacks Israel. He suggests Ben-Gurion was far less sympathetic to the Holocaust "idea" of victimhood
he also makes the point that in the non-western world the holocaust is far less significant reference point when compared to all the colonial and national violence in the emerging world since WW2. I myself feel that the Jews are seen as a protected and privileged group by the third world, without enough empathy with their status for centuries before the creation of Israel. In terms of race, i feel labelling the Jews as "white" in the third world is odd in many ways, considering their origins, despite centuries of racial mixing and in can be a pejorative term
scarletnoir wrote: "Well, Moriarty first appeared in:...the short story "The Adventure of the Final Problem", first published in The Strand Magazine in December 1893. He also plays a role in the final Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear, but without a direct appearance. Holmes mentions Moriarty in five other stories: "The Adventure of the Empty House", "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter", "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client", and "His Last Bow". (Wikipedia)
and so predates Nikola by a couple of years... unless you feel his appearances in several works is too fleeting."
I wasn't thinking of villains who sporadically reappear in series dominated by other characters, but rather of villains who are the series' raison d'être and dominate every entry, like Fu Manchu or Tom Ripley.
Even so, Moriarty's precedence as a serial character might be argued. It's widely understood that his first appearance in "The Final Problem" was meant to be his, as well as Holmes', last.
The resurrection of Holmes and second reference to Moriarty in "The Empty House" did not appear until 1903, after Boothby had already published 5 novels featuring Nikola.
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The problem with Ainsworth's use of older language is that in his hands it feels self-conscious and unnatural, always trying for a grander effect."This is a tricky skill to handle..."
In historical novels broke his fast is another overused expression.
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The problem with Ainsworth's use of older language is that in his hands it feels self-conscious and unnatural, always trying for a grander effect."This is a tricky skill to handle..."
Best Maigret ever!
Bill wrote: "I wasn't thinking of villains who sporadically reappear in series dominated by other characters, but rather of villains who are the series' raison d'être and dominate every entry, like Fu Manchu or Tom Ripley.Even so, Moriarty's precedence as a serial character might be argued. It's widely understood that his first appearance in "The Final Problem" was meant to be his, as well as Holmes', last.
The resurrection of Holmes and second reference to Moriarty in "The Empty House" did not appear until 1903, after Boothby had already published 5 novels featuring Nikola."
Fair enough.
giveusaclue wrote: "(Rupert Davies in the 1960s) Best Maigret ever!"Oh, indeed - no question - and the charming Helen Shingler is also the best Madame Maigret by a long way. In addition - and counter-intuitively - the series also has the most authentic locations, with real location shooting in Paris, Nice, Honfleur, the canals and a number of other towns and villages, which were all near enough the real period to look much as they must have done when Simenon wrote the novels, the war having delayed too much modernisation. Plus there is amazing attention to detail in the studio interiors, with genuine signs and advertisements in French as appropriate to the sites.
The Maigrets 'made in France' have been all had their weaknesses: Pierre Richard was a dreadful actor (I don't remember who played his 'madame'); Bruno Cremer is good, but the 'madame' was played by a gloomy and charmless actress - a very bad choice - plus, given that France by that period (1990s on) was so much changed, exteriors were shot in eastern Europe - and looked wrong as a result. That series also fatally stretched the stories to 2h, which meant a glacial pace.
The weaknesses of the 1960s BBC Maigrets are few: some scripts are a little unclear (editing the stories down to 1h), and some bit players aren't great actors. But overall - the best.
scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "(Rupert Davies in the 1960s) Best Maigret ever!"
Oh, indeed - no question..."
And the 1960s Maigret was all the better for being shot in black and white, with theme music that oozed authenticity. Who remembers any other Maigret music?
Oh, indeed - no question..."
And the 1960s Maigret was all the better for being shot in black and white, with theme music that oozed authenticity. Who remembers any other Maigret music?
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "An odd feature of the very readable The Last Days of the Spanish Republic..."
i've read all the greats about the civil war except for Beevor, it was a huge interest of mine in my late teens, via Orwells Homage to Catalonia..."
The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. Devoured it in a week before a trip to Franco-era Catalonia in 1968.
Then it was on to Gerald Brenan’s Spanish Labyrinth. I believe he said later that he thought he had been too harsh on the Church, but if only half of what he said was true it was still terrible.
Thomas made such a strong impression that I actually think I’d rather re-read that than Beevor, and re-capture my 19-year-old self.
I read a short history of the war recently by Helen Graham, organized more round themes than chronology. Not bad, but marred by desperate academic jargon.
i've read all the greats about the civil war except for Beevor, it was a huge interest of mine in my late teens, via Orwells Homage to Catalonia..."
The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. Devoured it in a week before a trip to Franco-era Catalonia in 1968.
Then it was on to Gerald Brenan’s Spanish Labyrinth. I believe he said later that he thought he had been too harsh on the Church, but if only half of what he said was true it was still terrible.
Thomas made such a strong impression that I actually think I’d rather re-read that than Beevor, and re-capture my 19-year-old self.
I read a short history of the war recently by Helen Graham, organized more round themes than chronology. Not bad, but marred by desperate academic jargon.
Russell wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "An odd feature of the very readable The Last Days of the Spanish Republic..."i've read all the greats about the civil war except for Beevor, it was a huge ..."
thats great to see we both arrived at the Spanish Civil War via Orwell and at a similar age. i think another attraction for me was i hadnt "sullied" the period via history lessons in school or college. a lot of school history i loved but i came to the Spanish Civil War as a topic i chose, virgin territory, spain was not so well known to me, living in a Francophile family over 2 generations (i was the only Germanophile in my family , though i now am a Spanophile too. I cant quite say i'm a francophile...to this day)
With the Keilson novel finished, a 5 star read, superb, i have now moved onto an Oxfam browse find, which is The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler.I was inspired by the non-fiction Father and Son by Gosse, to seek this novel out but until i found this Penguin Popular Classics version, it had been a fruitless search.
I have just started it and the prose has surprised me, being a little less modern than i expected, that is because, as i just found out, despite being an "edwardian" era novel, published in 1903, most of it was written a good 20 years earlier. Like with Gosse it focuses on a religious paternal figure and the conflict between him and his son. It should be interesting, i have not read enough Victorian literature in the last 2-3 years, when on the periphery of well trodden paths, there is much gold to be mined.
Russell wrote: "...the 1960s Maigret was all the better for being shot in black and white, with theme music that oozed authenticity. Who remembers any other Maigret music?."Indeed - I should have mentioned the music - England-based Aussie Ron Grainer showed superb judgement in developing both the theme and incidental music as authentic-sounding pastiche of 'real' French music:
... he was commissioned to write both the theme and incidental music for a new detective series - Maigret (1959) - based on the books written by Georges Simenon. In using harpsichord, banjo and clavichord, Grainer perfectly captured the Gallic atmosphere and, in doing so, contributed enormously to the ultimate success of the series. This proved to be a major landmark in Grainer's own career. His work on Maigret, which began in 1960 with Rupert Davies in the title role, was directly responsible for him securing his first recording deal with Warner Bros., who issued both a single and an EP featuring musical extracts from the BBC series.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006112/b...
Russell wrote: "The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. "I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not during the civil war, but in the aftermath? An author I grew to love - Juan Marsé (b. 1933) - was heavily influenced in his writings by growing up in post-war Barcelona, but the war references are indirect. What did it feel like to grow up fatherless, as one of the 'defeated'? So - the war isn't foregrounded, but its effects are always there - almost tangible, but not quite. I wrote quite a few comments about those books as I tracked them down - I managed to find five, though only two seem to be easily available. Here's a link to an author's comments about one of those:
https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/20...
My bedtime reading has been the last copy of books in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries series by Arnaldur Indridason namely Reykjavik Nights and Oblivion. It was some five years ago I read the earlier ones. They are slow burners, rather plodding, I suppose, but with enough interest to keep one going. I find the snippets of Icelandic life fascinating and have learned about the British and US forces stationed there during and after WW11. Last night I was reading about a dish mentioned, one popular there consisting of fermented skate and melted dripping. It is said to smell of ammonia and the odour linger on you and your clothes - the small of rotting fish! It is considered a great delicacy in Iceland and is also popular in South Korea.Don’t fancy it myself even though enjoying fried skate when one can get it.
On a more serious note I am working my way through Michael Ondaatje latest book of poems which is lovely - A book of last things.
Still reading around Emma of Normandy and Alice Roberts latest Crypt.
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "...the 1960s Maigret was all the better for being shot in black and white, with theme music that oozed authenticity. Who remembers any other Maigret music?."Indeed - I should have..."
didnt grainer do dr who as well? bbci iplayer have all the episodes to view from 1960s and i watched 4 series from 1970 with Pertwee over last few months, the Grainer theme in 1970 rocks!
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. "I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not during the civil wa..."
i have read quite a few modern spanish civil war novels by Cercas, Llanzaraes, Marse and Rivas and i have on my pile a catalan classic by Joan Sales Uncertain Glory which i will start in a few weeks. I read The Snares of Memory last year and loved it
CCCubbon wrote: "My bedtime reading has been the last copy of books in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries series by Arnaldur Indridason namely Reykjavik Nights and Oblivion. It was some five years ago I read the earlie..."i loved the early novels by Indridason, i read one of his on the ferry to the Vestman Islands about 20 years ago. It was a typical Icelandic June day, about 11c with a fierce wind and i decided i would sit in a sheltered spot on deck and kill a few hours with one of his novels!
Mod
i loved the early novels by Indridason"
I've given up on Indridason, although I liked his earlier novels. In December 2022, after reading 'Le mur des silences' in the Konrad series, I wrote this:
Although the book is well-written and I persevered to the end, I didn't really enjoy it and I'm not inclined to read any more Indridason, I think. By the end of his first series, Erlendur got depressing and I'm finding the same thing now with Konrad. There's a French word "glauque" which I think is hard to translate exactly in English; suggestions in Linguée are gloomy, murky, sleazy, seedy, sordid ... Anyway, I find the atmosphere in the book and its hero "glauque".
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "My bedtime reading has been the last copy of books in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries series by Arnaldur Indridason namely Reykjavik Nights and Oblivion ..."i loved t..."
Yes he is rather on old misery
CCC, you are big poetry fan i think, well via a recommendation by Simon Heffer, i am going to be slowly digesting Four Quartets by TS Eliot and i just read the first peom Burnt Norton and was impressedI dont really read poetry but 11 pages of intelligent qeustioning of passing time went down well, although i maybe focused more on passing time, than the idea of the present,
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. "
I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not during the civil war..."
I have one by Javier Cercas on the list, The Soldiers of Salamis, recommended a while ago by AB, which I believe is set during the war. Looks like I should add Marsé.
I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not during the civil war..."
I have one by Javier Cercas on the list, The Soldiers of Salamis, recommended a while ago by AB, which I believe is set during the war. Looks like I should add Marsé.
Russell wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. "I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not..."
i will report back on the Joan Sales novel when i start it, probably in April or May, written in catalan, 1950s, its been on my radar a while. Merce Roderada is another writer who lived through the war who is worth exploring
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "...the 1960s Maigret was all the better for being shot in black and white, with theme music ...."
In using harpsichord, banjo and clavichord, Grainer perfectly captured the Gallic atmosphere ..."
Funny, what I remember most is not so much those instruments, though they’re there, but the accordion. I’ve learnt since that the sound typical of French cabaret accordion music comes from a "musette”, which produces what is called a wet sound, as opposed to the dryer sound produced by the larger accordions that might be used, for example, for Polish polka music. I’ve never properly mastered a musical instrument but am close to buying a musette. I’m on the search for one that’s relatively cheap and suitable for an absolute beginner.
In using harpsichord, banjo and clavichord, Grainer perfectly captured the Gallic atmosphere ..."
Funny, what I remember most is not so much those instruments, though they’re there, but the accordion. I’ve learnt since that the sound typical of French cabaret accordion music comes from a "musette”, which produces what is called a wet sound, as opposed to the dryer sound produced by the larger accordions that might be used, for example, for Polish polka music. I’ve never properly mastered a musical instrument but am close to buying a musette. I’m on the search for one that’s relatively cheap and suitable for an absolute beginner.
AB76 wrote: "didnt grainer do dr who as well? bbci iplayer have all the episodes to view from 1960s and i watched 4 series from 1970 with Pertwee over last few months, the Grainer theme in 1970 rocks!"I only knew of Grainer from his theme for The Prisoner series, which I've always found impressive and appropriate.
Do readers here try to figure out the approximate year in which a book is set when that information is not explicitly stated? I find myself doing this all the time - I remember doing quite a bit of investigating when the Guardian Reading Group did Jane Eyre trying to figure out that novel's time frame.
My current book, Dr. Nikola Returns, was published in 1896, a year after its predecessor, and I was reading both installments with the idea that the novels were set more or less at the time of their writing, a year or so before the publication date. But in chapter 1 of the current book, Doctor Nikola tells the narrator,
"You were present at the meeting at Quong Sha's house in the Wanhsien on the 23rd August, 1907, if I remember aright, and you assisted Mah Poo to evade capture by the mandarins the week following."(As far as I can tell, the name "Quong Sha" is Boothby's fabrication. "Mah Poo" is the name of a convicted murderer executed in Australia in 1883, so would not seem to be the referent here.)
So far there's no other indication that the action is set in what would be the future at the time of the novel's writing and it doesn't seem that the date was modified by a later editor (the Project Gutenberg copy has the same date.)
AB76 wrote: "CCC, you are big poetry fan i think, well via a recommendation by Simon Heffer, i am going to be slowly digesting Four Quartets by TS Eliot and i just read the first peom Burnt Norton and was imp..."It was Burnt Norton that really got me hooked, AB. It is still one that I return to again and again. It hooked me on the meaning of time, too, and I have collected several books. This led me on to spacetime and thinking about any instant in our planets travels are past , present and future all contained…. There’s a thought to conjure with….
Another favourite of the last few years are the last couple of lines from Wallace Stevens The Snow Man. It’s only a short poem - you might like it as well.
CCCubbon wrote: "AB76 wrote: "CCC, you are big poetry fan i think, well via a recommendation by Simon Heffer, i am going to be slowly digesting Four Quartets by TS Eliot and i just read the first peom Burnt Norton ..."great to hear you loved it, i am looking foward to the other three and more Eliot maybe. before this it was Old Possums Books of Cats of course, not the musical, that came later, it was my mother who introduced to Macavity. Funny how he wrote such witty, comic poetry so well later in life
AB76 wrote: "Started reading Paul Prestons The Last Days of the Spanish Republic detailing how the Casado coup in March 1939, virtually destroyed the last embers of the Republican forces in face of the advance..."I have read elsewhere that cheering crowds greeted the Francoists as they drove into Madrid. Were they glad to see the Fascists? Or were they just glad to see the end of the war?
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Hugh Thomas is indeed a great read, which I likewise came to via Orwell, and Hemingway. "I wonder if you have any interest at all in reading novels set not during the civil wa..."
I can also recommend a favorite movie, "The Spirit of the Beehive," set in 1940, and released in Franco's time. Child actress Ana Torrent gave a great performance.
My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines.
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Started reading Paul Prestons The Last Days of the Spanish Republic detailing how the Casado coup in March 1939, virtually destroyed the last embers of the Republican forces in face of..."i have attached a photo of the Francoist entry into Madrid and it looks like happy crowds. i would guess that maybe only 40 or 50% of the cities in the Republican zone were pro-Republic and the other 50% were the ones to emerge when Franco marched in. But relief in general may be the key, a final end to uncertainty
Prestons book is great in its focus on a few months, something i prefer to a sweeping period of 3-4 yrs, as i get older. I want to explore deeper in small historical periods, which is rare outside the University presses. BUT and its a big BUT, the pro-commi line from Preston is scandalous and should have been picked up by the editors.Despite his reputation this is history firmly from a pro-communist viewpoint in a war where they only caused death and disaster. He then has the cheek to call out the Anarchist "checa's" and their violent repression units as if nothing similar existed in the communist checa's. Unbelievable, i should just stop reading but Jan-May 1939 is a fascinating micro-period and i will just counter balance Preston's pro-communism in my head
Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."Oh no. the thread has moved on from house disasters to cars, We are all doomed!!
Hope it gets sorted quickly
giveusaclue wrote: "Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."..."
For some reason, this bit of doggerel pops into mind:
You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you want to.
You can' t take a shower in a canary cage
You can't take a shower in a canary cage
You can't take a shower in a canary cage
But you can be happy if you want to.
CCCubbon wrote: "My bedtime reading has been the last copy of books in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries series by Arnaldur Indridason namely Reykjavik Nights and Oblivion..."Strictly speaking, the final volume of the Erlendur series in 'real time' is Strange Shores. In which (view spoiler).
Reykjavík Nights: Murder in Reykjavík is a prequel featuring the 'young Erlendur', as is Into Oblivion.
The Erlendur series does give a good picture of life in Iceland over a period of time, as well as creating a convincing - and, indeed gloomy (cf. Gpfr) character.
I rate Indriðason as the most consistently 'good' (whatever that means) Icelandic crime writer - though for a country with such a small population, they have produced several other contenders. Maybe being home to the sagas helped! But he does have his off days, and isn't a cheerful read.
Can't recall if I have read the Konráð series, but the two translated Flovent and Thorson books are pretty good.
So, despite agreeing with Gpfr about the 'glauque' nature of the character, I don't feel that the quality of writing has dropped off noticeably - yet. If it does, I'll stop.
Russell wrote: "Funny, what I remember most is not so much those instruments, though they’re there, but the accordion..."It certainly is an accordion (piano type?) in the theme tune... it appears that the series is available on YouTube, and I'll post a link - though the version of the theme seems 'not quite' as it usually was on BBC TV - and as I've been re-watching those, including yesterday, that's not a memory problem! It seems as if you need to watch an episode on 'Talking Pictures' (channel 82 on Freeview in the UK) to catch the original as I remember it. Here is a version not too different - at around 2:30 into the story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LBct...
(Another possibility is that they used different versions in different series... or that this version was used in other places such as the USA.)
This is maybe a better 'authentic' version, if you omit the first few bars which weren't used in the TV films I saw iirc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JRMg...
Bill wrote: "Do readers here try to figure out the approximate year in which a book is set when that information is not explicitly stated?I find myself doing this all the time..."
Oh, indeed. As I am mainly interested in what might be termed 'realistic' fiction, I respond far more positively to novels with clear settings and time frames. Usually (in the books I read) these are easy to identify or guess at...
I understand that sci-fi or fantasy books eschew those constraints - fair enough. I can't come to terms with tales which though pretending to be realistic, leave the reader in a fog of uncertainty regarding setting or time period. A couple of years ago, I read a book (in French) which seemed to be based on the experience of Vietnamese 'boat people' - but this was never stated, and neither was the country where the protagonist ended up identified. I just could not buy it... a frustrating experience, even though it wasn't terrible by any means.
Much, much worse was the unreadable The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle*, in which the time period (based on the first 50 pages or so) could have been any time between 1850 - 1920, and the setting could have been the USA, Canada, England - or god knows where. It seemed as if a 'death' had occurred, but whether it was murder, accident or something else was kept from the reader.
In other words - it was a puzzle, not a novel - and unreadable for someone like myself. I bailed. It was impossible to care what happened to anyone as the 'characters' never came to life.
(If I want puzzles, I'll have a shot at a crossword.)
*This book scores a 4* rating on Amazon, which I suppose proves how out of step I am with the majority!
Robert wrote: ".I can also recommend a favorite movie, "The Spirit of the Beehive," set in 1940, and released in Franco's time. Child actress Ana Torrent gave a great performance."Oh, indeed - we had a previous exchange about this wonderful film. I wrote a comment/review in the Film thread on 21 April 2023 - you responded.
Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."Sod's law being what it is ("Everything that can go wrong will go wrong") our heating went off again today. I decided to take out my frustration with a bike ride, only to find when I'd driven 8 miles out of town to a 'safe-ish' road (not a trunk road with loads of traffic) that I had a puncture. So, re-load bike and back to the house for a top-and-tail wash in the sink. (One good discovery - I could still just about contort myself to wash my feet in the sink!)
I also bashed the valves in the airing cupboard a few times, as demonstrated by our lovely deceased neighbour - an ace handyman (I'm useless).
So, we went out and walked the dog, as you do.
On our return - magic! The heating was back on. No idea if it was down to my crude 'encouragement', or just a fluke - but it'll do for today.
As for 'The Importance of Being Earnest' - one of my mother's all-time favourites. I used to play it for her on DVD regularly, until her eyesight became really too poor to enjoy it - 1952 version, of course!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044744/...
as you know i am wary of most modern novels, especially modern crime novels but i am reading a very interesting Korean novel of old age and changing times called Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye Jin.While the author is 40 and i'm not in my 70s, i think she does a great job of portraying the confusion and fatigue of old age in the mother character in the book, who has her daughter move in with her and her lesbian partner. The old lady spends lots of the novel exhausted and fustrated as she tries to negiotiate a modern world.
She works in a care home where the staff are told to save materials, for example cutting diapers in half and low level stress is a constant feature. The work is hard and hazardous, a female worker fails to stop a client falling over and is sacked, while the narrator wonders what will be there for her when she is in need of care ( i do think with care work, that where 80% of staff are female, the physical demands of holding up and supporting much bigger male clients must be very hard. )
It has the serious and dark tone of much Asian literature of the last 15 years, always confronting realistic situations in somber prose.
AB76 wrote: "i have attached a photo of the Francoist entry into Madrid and it looks like happy crowds."FWIW - and I claim zero expertise in this - it seems to me that a majority in Madrid did indeed support Franco, whereas the majority in the second city of Barcelona (Catalonia) was opposed. This political history appears to have been carried over into the intense rivalry between the football teams Real Madrid and Barcelona... but maybe I'm reading too much into that.
scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."..."
glad its all ok, just been putting up a moth house for my mother at my parents place with my dad and middle brother. Glorious sunshine and a cold wind, good healthy weather and the moth house is now complete
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i have attached a photo of the Francoist entry into Madrid and it looks like happy crowds."FWIW - and I claim zero expertise in this - it seems to me that a majority in Madrid did in..."
Barcelona and Catalonia is a fascinating example in the civil war of being almost totally different to the rest of Republican Spain. Green Spain in the North had similar industry to Catalonia but no tradition of anarchist collectives or organisations at anywhere near the same level. Mix that in with the minority Catalan tongue and culture , still re-emerging in the 1930s and it seems like the most anti0Franco region of Spain, even more so than the Basque Lands
It seems anarchism in Catalonia was strong going as far back as the 1880s, where it emerged alongside Socialism and to a much lesser extent Communism. It explains for me why the Stalinist groups in the region were so keen to purge the anarchists and the Trots as it was a key pillar of Catalonian society and culture. It still remains the only place in the world, as far as i can recall, where for a period of maybe 12 months, anarchist ideals,forms of governmant and beliefs were embedded into a large population. This faded with thethe communist purges of 1937 and finally with the fall of Catalonia in early 1939
In his book Preston makes clear that up to the end in May 1939, the anarchists still had a presence in Madrid and the Republican areas but a lot less followers than in Catalonia
The diaries of Josep Pla covering 1918-1919 in Catalonia is a really valuable source of information about the region and its people, a good 15 years before the civil war
I should add that Catalonia also had its own regional government at the time(1936-39), with various factions represented
Found some images by Nationalist photographer "Kautela" of General Yague's entry into Barcelona, Feb 1939.Will add them to the photos section, Kautela, Francisco Martinez Gascon, was embedded with Yague's troops as they advanced to take Barcelona
There was one image i didnt include of what i thought was Spanish Franco troops, it turns out it was a Morrocan unit of the Army of Africa(who fought with Franco) and showed me how similar Morrocans and Spanish people can look.....the influence of Moorish Spain still lasts
scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."..."
The old advice was to hit the central heating pump with a hammer.
On the subject of feet, I can now put my left sock on without using the sock aid, but can't quite manage the right sock yet. I'll get there.
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percenta..." Moth house? 😱 I have a severe case of mottephobia. Butterflies no problem. but moths!!!!
scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "Funny, what I remember most is not so much those instruments, though they’re there, but the accordion..."
It certainly is an accordion (piano type?) in the theme tune... it appears..."
Fantastic, thank you! I started listening to the music and then of course had to watch the whole of episode #1. I think the same story must have been done in another series more recently, because I eventually realized the details were familiar. Good acting, quite a subtle script, and terrific atmospherics. I shall now be watching all of them. And on the music I think you're entirely right - the original theme was surely the one in the second link minus the first few bars.
It certainly is an accordion (piano type?) in the theme tune... it appears..."
Fantastic, thank you! I started listening to the music and then of course had to watch the whole of episode #1. I think the same story must have been done in another series more recently, because I eventually realized the details were familiar. Good acting, quite a subtle script, and terrific atmospherics. I shall now be watching all of them. And on the music I think you're entirely right - the original theme was surely the one in the second link minus the first few bars.
scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "My car ignition died. For lack of any better plan, I began re-reading "The Importance of Being Ernest" while waiting for the tow truck. Surprisingly high percentage of witty lines."..."
Eventually, Sod's Law may go into reverse, and things spring back to life! Enjoy it whenever it happens!
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Started reading Paul Prestons The Last Days of the Spanish Republic detailing how the Casado coup in March 1939, virtually destroyed the last embers of the Republican fo..."American sportswriter Dave Boling published "Guernica" a few years ago. (Boling's wife is Basque and his father-in-law had an archive on the Spanish Civil War. I understand that the Spanish version was quite successful.)
Boling's publication of the English version started one of those only-in-Seattle conversations at a sports press conference. Boling was congratulated by Seattle's US football coach, Mike Holmgren, a former history teacher fascinated with the Second World War. Holmgren got a copy of his own, I believe.
AB76 wrote: "Found some images by Nationalist photographer "Kautela" of General Yague's entry into Barcelona, Feb 1939.Will add them to the photos section, Kautela, Francisco Martinez Gascon, was embedded wit..."
Spain's colonial army was largely Arab; the Spanish Foreign Legion, built up and led by Franco before the Civil War, had an international composition. Both forces had an exclusively Spanish officer corps. Both saw heavy fighting in the first year of the Civil War.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
Reckless Eyeballing (other topics)Darktown (other topics)
South from Granada (other topics)
Death's Other Kingdom (other topics)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (other topics)
More...
he was the first book i read on the war, a superb writer and more balanced than Preston.
i have a big french book, translated, on the anarchist collectives in Catalonia which i must read soon