Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 8/04/2024
Bill wrote: "..."Pop. 1280 (which was filmed, relocated to French West Africa, as Coup de Torchon).Thompson was also the screenwriter on two early Kubrick films: The Killing and Paths of Glory.
We've seen 'Coup de Torchon' - it's a good adaptation, and stars the excellent and regretted Philippe Noiret as the protagonist, alongside Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran. (rating 7.4 on IMDB). Noiret was an absolutely outstanding actor; the others are pretty good, too!
I may have known about the screenplays, but can't quite remember... those are two good films to have on your CV.
giveusaclue wrote: "Yesterday we had all the seasons in a day, strong winds, sunshine, heavy rain and hailAnd a neighbour called to tell me two of my ridge tiles were off!"
It's a bit like that here. Forecasts were for no rain all week - it's rained part of every day up until today (dry last time I looked). The temperature is barely above freezing at night - not what we want or need, with no central heating until the plumber returns to instal the heat pumps! We have two electric convectors, but they struggle.
scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Yesterday we had all the seasons in a day, strong winds, sunshine, heavy rain and hailAnd a neighbour called to tell me two of my ridge tiles were off!"
It's a bit like that ..."
where in france r u, sounds cold at night for a french april? unless your up north
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Yesterday we had all the seasons in a day, strong winds, sunshine, heavy rain and hailAnd a neighbour called to tell me two of my ridge tiles were off!"
I..."
The writers of the song "April in Paris" were confronted by a friend who spent a chilly month there. They explained that it should really have been "May in Paris," but the metering worked better with "April."
scarletnoir wrote: "Bill wrote: "..."Pop. 1280 (which was filmed, relocated to French West Africa, as Coup de Torchon).Thompson was also the screenwriter on two early Kubrick films: The Killing and Paths of Glory.
..."
It's interesting to watch foreign adaptations of American noir. There is a good French version of "I Married a Dead Man."
Bill wrote: "Robert wrote: "There were musical motifs in Waugh's work. Lady Metroland's name, for example, was a leitmotif for a kind of sophisticated (and costly) corruption."I haven’t read Waugh (only [book..."
My knowledge of Wagner's leitmotifs comes from Robert Donington's "Wagner's Ring and Its Symbols," recommended to me by a music teacher after my college days, and read and reread since. (My knowledge of the texts comes from Andrew Porter's translation.)
I am more familiar with Waugh. (I've read most of his works, except The Loved One.) Lady Metroland is introduced in the early novel Decline and Fall. Her name pops up in other Waugh novels, not as a character in scenes but as an aside or motif to readers who know what she was like. It struck me that Waugh used the names of characters as references-- giving a reader a hint as to a particular social milieu.
No knowledge as to Waugh's familiarity with Wagner.
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Yesterday we had all the seasons in a day, strong winds, sunshine, heavy rain and hailAnd a neighbour called to tell me two of my ridge tiles ..."
i didnt know that!
the paris climate is interesting, in my experience its a little colder in winter but certainly warmer in summer than London, though London is a warm summer city due to the heat island effect. (as compared to Berlin, which is markedly colder in winter but much warmer in summer with a longer summer season)
i have spent time in boiling paris summers and Paris first hit 100F about 10 years before london did
AB76 wrote: "where in france r u, sounds cold at night for a french april? unless your up north"Central Brittany... forecast for tonight is 2C minimum, rising to 12-13C maximum tomorrow. And yet madame insists it's 'warmer' over 'ere! (It isn't as we live by the coast in Wales. Forecast there is 3C minimum, 12C maximum...)
Robert wrote: "The writers of the song "April in Paris" were confronted by a friend who spent a chilly month there. They explained that it should really have been "May in Paris," but the metering worked better with "April.".."It's called 'poetic licence'!
I remember one boiling hot Easter in Paris, but who knows what the date was, as Easter is a moveable feast...
Robert wrote: "It's interesting to watch foreign adaptations of American noir. There is a good French version of "I Married a Dead Man.""Started an answer to this, then lost it by pressing the wrong button - ho, hum. Anyway:
I am not familiar with the American author Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish) or his book, and I haven't seen the French adaptation either - the cast, though, is excellent ('J'ai épousé une ombre' - I married a shadow - stars Nathalie Baye, Francis Huster and Richard Bohringer). So it would not be surprising if it was good.
Your comment made me think of a recent book adaptation - the latest shot at Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley - which has been serialised on Netflix as, simply, 'Ripley' starring the excellent Andrew Scott. I have a doubt, though: Scott is quite small - surely, the multiple murderer Ripley would need to be a bit bigger, even if we are not talking about the absurdity of casting Tom Cruise as man-mountain Jack Reacher here.
(Having said that, thought I'd check the height of Dennis Hopper who stars as Ripley in my favourite adaptation from the books - 'Ripley's Game' filmed as 'The American Friend' by Wim Wenders - which also stars Bruno Ganz. Turns out Hopper is exactly the same height as... Scott. But he seems bigger! What can I say...)
I mainly linked to Ripley, though, because I knew there was a very highly rated adaptation of the first book starring Alain Delon - who seems perfect casting for the role - handsome but dangerous - in 'Plein Soleil' (absurdly translated as 'Purple Noon'). Don't think I've seen it, but it surely has to be better than the excruciating 'The Talented Mr Ripley' starring Matt Damon and Jude Law. (This is highly rated for some odd reason. I don't get this film at all.)
As for the books - the series started well, but (I assume because of her alcoholism and maybe need for money) the quality drops off - disastrously towards the end. The last two books are pretty poor.
AB76 wrote: "the paris climate is interesting, in my experience its a little colder in winter but certainly warmer in summer than London..."The thing to remember here is that although Paris is south of London, it is also much further from the sea. It can at times get very cold in winter. In November 1989, a day or two after our daughter (no.1) was born, it was absolutely freezing! The clinic had an interesting architecture, where guests were supposed to access the new mothers' rooms via (outside) balconies, but it was so cold the 'powers that be' fortunately allowed us to go to the rooms via the indoor corridors!
I'm halfway through Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn (17-Feb-2005) Paperback by Nick Flynn... poet, writer and university professor. The book was published in 2004 (by Faber in the UK) and I have absolutely no idea where it came from. Did I buy it? (In a certain mood, the title may well have appealed...) Did a friend or guest leave it or pass it on? It's a mystery - I usually remember the books I buy, even and including those I end up not reading. Anyway... I am enjoying it. Short, concise chapters where Flynn sets out (aspects of) his life, and that of his parents. (It's a memoir as opposed to an autobiography, and focuses on specific aspects and personalities - he has hardly mentioned his brother, so far anyway.)
More later, but... you know how Amazon regales us with tempting tips along the lines of:
"People who bought THIS also bought THAT..."
This set me thinking: I wonder how many people who bought Days at the Morisaki Bookshop followed up with Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn (17-Feb-2005) Paperback?
It amuses me to think of the shock that might cause! (I do have eclectic tastes, admittedly.)
Mod
The Black Lizard by Edogawa Rampo, Penguin Modern Classics Crime and Espionage.Edogawa Rampo is a Japanese rendering of Edgar Allen Poe. It's sometimes written with 'n' which apparently is the closest match to the Japanese characters, but 'm' is said to resemble Japanese pronunciation more closely. It's the psedonym of Taro Hirai (1894 - 1965), a pioneer of Japanese mystery writing.
This book dates from 1934, translated in 2006 by Ian Hughes. I was surprised to see the original publication date isn't cited, only that of this translation.
It's a short, fast-paced read, with a detective, Akechi Kogoro, determined to foil the 'Dark Angel', queen of the underworld with her black lizard tattoo, who threatens to kidnap the daughter of a jewel merchant.
Mod
Well, it's decidedly chilly now, but last Saturday it was summertime! April is a very variable month.
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "the paris climate is interesting, in my experience its a little colder in winter but certainly warmer in summer than London..."The thing to remember here is that although Paris is so..."
yes, its influenced by the continental climate more than London. I find the north coast french climate very similar to the shires, especially Normandy and Nord-Pas De Calais
scarletnoir wrote: "I am not familiar with the American author Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish)"I recall that in the 1980s or late '70s I read an article that grouped three crime novelists as representatives of literary noir: Jim Thompson, David Goodis, and Cornell Woolrich. The latter seemed particularly apt as he wrote 6 books, unrelated to each other, with "Black" in the title.
I mentioned that Black Lizard was publishing Thompson at that time. There wasn't a lot of Goodis available then, other than Down There, reprinted by Black Lizard under the Truffaut title Shoot the Piano Player (and which I still haven't read, or seen, for that matter).
Woolrich was the best served of these authors: Ballantine published a number of his books with very attractive film noir-inflected covers. I bought them all and have read most of them over the years and also seen many of the adaptations. There is a biogrpahy of Woolrich which I haven't read that has the memorable title Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die (the author wrote the introductions for all the Ballantine reprints).
Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "I am not familiar with the American author Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish)"I recall that in the 1980s or late '70s I read an article that grouped three crime novelists as..."
i would imagine "Rear Window" is best known work, i hadnt heard of him b4
Gpfr wrote: " The Black Lizard by Edogawa Rampo, Penguin Modern Classics Crime and Espionage.Edogawa Rampo is a Japanese rendering of Edgar Allen Poe. It's sometimes written w..."
There was a Japanese film called Rampo or Mystery of Rampo in the 1990s that I watched on tv. I remember it as interesting enough that I had meant to look for one of the English translations of Rampo if I could find one but I never did ao this is a welcome reminder.
AB76 wrote: "i would imagine "Rear Window" is best known work, i hadnt heard of him b4"Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black seem to be his best known works, no doubt because of the adaptations. He seems to have been better known during his lifetime under the "William Irish" nom de plume. I believe the Truffaut films credits the original novel to Irish, and I recall watching a Japanese crime film from the 1960s where William Irish is mentioned during a discussion of American writers.
Robert wrote: "My knowledge of Wagner's leitmotifs comes from Robert Donington's "Wagner's Ring and Its Symbols," recommended to me by a music teacher after my college days, and read and reread since. (My knowledge of the texts comes from Andrew Porter's translation.)"I've read the Donington many years ago and, later, its sort-of sequel Opera and its Symbols: The Unity of Words, Music and Staging. I forget in which book it was (perhaps both) where he talks about Hofmannsthal's psychological mishandling of the symbolism in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Recalling that helped clarify for me why I found certain aspects of Lincoln in the Bardo unsatisfying.
My introduction to Wagner's lieitmotifs came from Deryck Cooke's recorded lectures An introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen. This had the great advantage of actually hearing the motifs played (from the Solti recording). Cooke's analysis is unusual in that it doesn't follow the chronological order of the operas but discusses the themes in "family" groups. This gave more of a sense of Wagner as a symphonist rather than a dramatist, though Cooke always mentions the dramatic contexts of the thematic transformations.
The Comedians by Graham Greene is a mixed bag as i reach the half way stage, no Greene novel is complete without some adultery but this novel seems to focus less on the guilt and sin, than Greene normally does. Haiti also feels a bit underplayed, or Haiti-by-numbers. Its by no means a bad novel but maybe below Greene's high standards for meComing up after Greene i have Buzzatti's Short Stories (thanks to Paul). a WF Hermans novel set in 1940 A Guardian Angel Recalls and then Howards End by EM Forster. if the reading gods align, a great trio of books
I cant speak highly enough of WF Hermans, one of the post-war Dutch big three (with Reve and Mulisch), he feels a league above the other two with his scope, range and approach to storytelling in classics like The Darkroom of Damocles and Beyond Sleep
Given all the talk of Zola here recently, I was looking forward to reading Geoffrey Wheatcroft's review of Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair in the latest but one NYRB. I really knew little of the affair other than that Dreyfus was convicted in a court martial based more on antisemitism than any actual evidence of guilt, and I'm finding that the review fills in a lot of the story for me. But I was rather taken back by Wheatcroft's opening sentence:
One of the indirect consequences of the latest horrifying bloodshed in the Holy Land has been to intensify responses far away.Does anybody here refer to Israel / Palestine and environs as "the Holy Land"? I don't think I've ever used the phrase except with irony. It seems to me that the straight-faced use of such terminology only serves to reinforce the passion and irrationality involved in the long running real estate dispute that characterizes the region
Bill wrote: " Given all the talk of Zola here recently, I was looking forward to reading Geoffrey Wheatcroft's review of Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair in the latest but one NYRB. I really knew little of the affair other than that Dreyfus was convicted in a court martial based more on antisemitism than any actual evidence of guilt, and I'm finding that the review fills in a lot of the story for me.But I was rather taken back by Wheatcroft's opening sentence:
One of the indirect consequences of the latest horrifying bloodshed in the Holy Land has been to intensify responses far away.
Does anybody here refer to Israel / Palestine and environs as "the Holy Land"? I don't think I've ever used the phrase except with irony. It seems to me that the straight-faced use of such terminology only serves to reinforce the passion and irrationality involved in the long running real estate dispute that characterizes the region "
I think the phrase was used pretty routinely at one time but I agree, it's a very bad idea to prolong its currency. I just tried to have a quick look at Wheatcroft's background but couldn't find anything conclusive. He was born in 1945 so possibly the term is so ingrained in his mind that he uses it without reflection as one of many ways to refer to that particular region.
His book The Controversy of Zion won a National Jewish Book Award in 1996, but I couldn't tell from the goodreads description what kind of stance it takes on the controversy of the title, or if the award's sponsor, the Jewish Book Council, has any particular religious or political biases.
Bill, the expression "The Holy land" is probably generational, some of my mother's friends used to refer to israel and Palestine that way they would h
try again. ( my cat is helping me type) They would have been born in the late 1920s
Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, the expression "The Holy land" is probably generational, some of my mother's friends used to refer to israel and Palestine that way they would h"
Going by memory, I believe it was once so widespread that even newscasters and so on would use it. I assume that's changed by now but I'll keep my ears open next time I'm watching or listening to any news reports on the region.
Berkley wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, the expression "The Holy land" is probably generational, some of my mother's friends used to refer to israel and Palestine that way they would h"
Going by memory, I beli..."
It was called 'The Holy Land' on this map, which seems to have been British https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/11585... The larger middle portion is called Judea, to the south along the coast is called Philistine. To the north is Samaria on the coastal side, and to the east, Gilead, which is now part of Jordan. The Dead Sea is called The Salt Sea, and the bottom part of the bank of the Dead Sea, on the Jordan side, is called Moab. You can blow the map up for more detail. Couldn't see a date though I suspect in was early in the British mandate (1918?, or the 1906 could have been an actual date in the address?) The main name, if judged by how heavy the ink is, is Judea!... Oh, and the Mediterranean is called 'The Great Sea'... "The past is a foreign country etc...."
Basically, in those days, it was referred to as 'The Holy Land'... I have actually been to Gamorrah, its a sad sort of place, with just a few Bedouin, who got locked out of their nomadic territory when the Sinai was handed over to Egypt in 1982.
Mod
Roma Agrawal is a professional engineer. In her first book, Built, she explained, for amateurs like me, the engineering involved in a selection of monumental edifices, ancient and modern. Here she deploys her expertise to explain the history and importance of seven small and apparently simple inventions on which, to function, our modern world is completely dependent: nail, wheel, spring, magnet, lens, string, pump, and their various evolutions. Again the style is pleasant, personal, and free of pretention, while still giving you some understanding of the scientific rudiments. I found it absorbing.
The bibliography was a reminder that there is a whole universe of specialist literatures out there.
Bill wrote: "...Cornell Woolrich...Goodis... Down There, reprinted by Black Lizard under the Truffaut title Shoot the Piano Player (and which I still haven't read, or seen, for that matter)."
I have seen the Hitchcock "Rear Window" many times - one of my favourites, with Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr ('Perry Mason') giving a good turn as the murderer - but I had no idea it was adapted from a book, or that Woolrich was the author. A good tale.
As for Goodis, 'Tirez sur le Pianiste' is a very good Truffaut, with Charles Aznavour proving he could act as well as sing. I did know that one was adapted from an American noir, but had forgotten the author was Goodis.
Mod
Went to London, Took the Dog: A DiaryA light, enjoyable read: 60-year-old Nina has a "sabbatical year" in London, living as a lodger in novelist Deborah Moggach's house.
Not one for people who haven't read Nina Stibbe before, particularly Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life, or at least seen the TV series, Love, Nina, about her experiences as a young au pair in the household of Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the LRB.
I'm continuing with the long book about the Countess Greffulhe, having now read about her activites in the domaines of music and science. She didn't have money of her own, but excelled in fund-raising, bringing people together, arousing interest, whether to get Wagner's operas performed in Paris, to get a laboratory for Marie Curie or many other projects.
Tam wrote: "Berkley wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Bill, the expression "The Holy land" is probably generational, some of my mother's friends used to refer to israel and Palestine that way they would h"
Going b..."
Tried to find the original post and failed. Been a little distracted ….
I wondered if ‘Holy Land’ name would date as far back as the Crusades?
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i would imagine "Rear Window" is best known work, i hadnt heard of him b4"Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black seem to be his best known works, no doubt because of the adaptations..."
'The Bride Wore Black' is another good film, starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Claude Brialy.
Bill wrote: "Given all the talk of Zola here recently, I was looking forward to reading Geoffrey Wheatcroft's review of Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair in the latest but one..."i personally call it the holy land quite often and i have heard it often referred to as such since i was a child. Many visits by friends to the area used the term as well. A song by australian rock band INXS from 1984 has a line "another war in the holy land"
I guess my use of the term is reverence for its christian links, rather than an emotional bond
Bill wrote: "Wagner's leitmotifs.."Now, this is an idea/concept/word whose exact meaning had escaped me until very recently. It goes to show that, even up to an advanced age, things can pass us by...
I must have been aware, subconsciously, of the use of leitmotifs in the very many films and TV episodes I've watched, but not given it any analytical thought. I didn't know, either, that their use was developed (invented? popularised?) by Wagner until this discussion.
Edit: taking a longer look at the Wikipedia entry, I was reminded of my earliest encounter with leitmotifs - Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf', which was played to me when I was a child. The wolf's leitmotif is truly scary! So, sometimes it takes a very long time to catch up...
In the book I'm reading, there is a quote from Benjamin Disraeli:
To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.
and I think that it's important - if you are interested in learning new stuff - to admit ignorance. How different to some current politicians, who seem to take pride in knowing nothing, and to prefer their own 'alternative facts' to real ones!
I had forgotten the page where that aphorism was quoted, and had to track it down online. In so doing, I came across a host of quotes from Disraeli, who was clearly a very bright and witty person. I did like these three (current politicians should take note):
Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People.
There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.
A Conservative Government is an organized hypocrisy.
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/b...
Note to non-British readers: Disraeli was a Conservative, and twice Prime Minister of the UK.
AB76 wrote: "The Comedians by Graham Greene... Its by no means a bad novel but maybe below Greene's high standards for me.."I agree... it's not one of my favourites.
Two books on the go at presentFemina by Janima Ramirez
This book is about the overlooked women in medieval history, their accomplishments glossed over as deemed not suitable for a woman.
Very interesting it is, too. The first chapter is set mostly in Northumbria and three powerful women, the Loftus Princess, Hild, Ælfflæd and others.
The seventh century was a time of change from the Germanic gods of the Anglo Saxons and the rise of the Catholic Church ( it’s politics, power and influence).
A mention aside which made me smile was with reference to shells used as Christian symbols;
In the classical Roman religion shells were connected to Venus, goddess of love and fertility. She emerged from the sea fully formed when the titan Chronos castrated his father Uranus and tossed the genitals into the sea. Venus was not born from a woman but was miraculously incarnated in the waters.
- it just struck me as funny!
Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead
Imust admit to be struggling with this at night. It’s very much a locked room puzzle set in the 1920s but somehow it just doesn’t flow for me and that’s my problem. I cannot bring myself to care two hoots about the characters as they don’t seem to have any depth. I shall continue just to find out the solution to the puzzles ….
Mod
Greenfairy wrote: the expression 'The Holy land' is probably generational"
Berkeley wrote: I believe it was once so widespread that even newscasters and so on would use it. I assume that's changed by now"
AB76 wrote: i personally call it the holy land quite often ..."
AB, I'm really surprised by a person your age calling it the Holy Land. I can't recall hearing anyone using the term 'in real life' so to speak.
Concerning 'newscasters and so on', looking at the Merriam-Webster site, there are some recent quotes including this one:
Easter in the Holy Land overall was a somber affair this year given the war. — Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 1 Apr. 2024And here, but used in a rather different way:
The extent of death and warfare in the region, considered the Holy Land for Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, has been staggering — and has hit close to home. — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2023
Gpfr wrote: "Bill wrote: "Does anybody here refer to Israel / Palestine and environs as "the Holy Land"?..."Greenfairy wrote: the expression 'The Holy land' is probably generational".."
It's not a term I would use - not surprisingly, as I'm not religious - but must admit that I wasn't clear on whether its use reflected a 'Crusader' mindset (i.e. it was a specifically Christian reference), or rather was in use to reflect the multi-faith nature of the area where three (great?) religions were founded.
If the former: I can see it's a problem. If the latter: then, surely, it only offends atheists such as myself. I have never noticed much sensitivity towards the feelings of atheists in the mainstream media.
scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Bill wrote: "Does anybody here refer to Israel / Palestine and environs as "the Holy Land"?..."Greenfairy wrote: the expression 'The Holy land' is probably generational".."
It's not..."
i think its the holy land exactly for its multi-faith pligrimage sites
Atheists do get forgotten in the grand scheme of things scarlet, which is odd considering they a significant majority of western society.
Gpfr wrote: "Bill wrote: "Does anybody here refer to Israel / Palestine and environs as "the Holy Land"?..."Greenfairy wrote: the expression 'The Holy land' is probably generational"
Berkeley wrote: I believ..."
i'm trying to remember who influenced me in using the term, i like it as its quite neutral, though i treat Israel and Palestine as two different countries, as they should be.
AB76 wrote: "i'm trying to remember who influenced me in using the term, i like it as its quite neutral, though i treat Israel and Palestine as two different countries, as they should be."Two different countries that occupy the same physical space, at least to many involved in the conflict as well quite a few long-distance kibitzers in the matter.
Seeing “the Holy Land” as a neutral phrase strikes me as an odd way of looking at it.
From my perspective, the phrase is only neutral (to the extent of referring to 3 religions, for me a questionable kind of neutrality to begin with), ironically, when used by a nonbeliever. Would, for example, a Hindu (excluding the current PM) ever use the term?
If used by a Muslim, Christian, or Jew, on the other hand, I hear “the” as an implied “my” before “Holy Land”, which carries with it a sense of possession. For the most part, modern Christians seem willing to outsource direct stewardship of the land to the Jews. In the case of US Evangelicals, at least, this stewardship is seen as temporary, until the event Andrew Marvell refers to as “the conversion of the Jews”.
scarletnoir wrote: "'The Bride Wore Black' is another good film, starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Claude Brialy."There’s another Truffaut / Woolrich adaptation, Mississippi Mermaid, based on Waltz into Darkness. The main thing I remember about the film is a long take in which Jean-Paul Belmondo is out of frame for a few seconds, during which he is, one has to assume, replaced by a stunt double; the switch is done smoothly and unobtrusively so that the lack of a cut in the shot makes it looks like Belmondo is climbing up several floors on the exterior of an apartment building.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i'm trying to remember who influenced me in using the term, i like it as its quite neutral, though i treat Israel and Palestine as two different countries, as they should be."Two dif..."
Holy Land for the Abrahamic faiths, i never use it as a specifically christian term
The TLS is a less consistent journal than the NYRB or LRB but does have some excellent content in the 5 weeks i have been subscribing, though i dont think i will continue after my 12 wk dealOf interest for you Bill is a piece on Anthony Burgess and his first love: music. I was disappointed to see him being snobbish about popular/rock music though, its a shame people cant appreciate both like i do. Though i must confess in the last decade i have lost enthusiasm for the classical and have preferred old hymns and folk music, alongside a lot of rock music
AB76 wrote: "Of interest for you Bill is a piece on Anthony Burgess and his first love: music. "Eventually, I'll have to get hold of the book under discussion: The Devil Prefers Mozart: On Music and Musicians, 1962-1993. The rather steep price for a paperback has kept it out of my hands for now, but I suppose, at over 500 pages, I will end up justifying it.
Burgess' dislike of rock (and rock musicians) comes across in a few of his novels, such as the group Yod Crewsy and the Crewsey Fixers in Enderby Outside. A search for that fictional group brought this article on Burgess and pop music to my attention:
https://www.anthonyburgess.org/blog-p...
Burgess’s scorn for pop music was nothing compared to his loathing of the people who he believed foisted it on the unsuspecting public: the disc jockeys. ‘They corrupt the young,’ he wrote in 1967, ‘persuading them that the mature world, which produced Beethoven and Schweitzer, sets an even higher value on the transient anodynes of youth than does youth itself. For this, they stink to heaven’. This scorn did not wane. In You’ve Had Your Time, Burgess writes about a specific disc jockey who ‘had been noted for bipartite hair-dyes and his love of the young’ and ‘boasted of the “quids” he had earned in his promotion of musical garbage’. This man was a villain in Burgess’s eyes long before the rest of us cottoned on.That reminded me of Alex Ross' latest blog post:
https://www.therestisnoise.com/2024/0...
The pop hegemony is all but complete, its superstars dominating the media and wielding the economic might of tycoons. They live full time in the unreal realm of the mega-rich, yet they hide behind a folksy façade, wolfing down pizza at the Oscars and cheering sports teams from V.I.P. boxes. Meanwhile, traditional bourgeois genres are kicked to the margins, their demographics undesirable, their life styles uncool, their formal intricacies ill suited to the transmission networks of the digital age. Opera, dance, poetry, and the literary novel are still called 'élitist,' despite the fact that the world’s real power has little use for them. The old hierarchy of high and low has become a sham: pop is the ruling party.
Burgess was a strong influence on my tastes in my later teens, but mainly in literature. By the time I discovered him, I was already slooshying luscious Ludwig Van as indulgently as Alex in A Clockwork Orange. He might have reinforced my prejudices against pop a bit, but I really didn't need any encouragement. My own sense of the relative merits of the music put me firmly in the "élitist" camp. It very possibly worked the other way around: my involvement in classical music probably made me more receptive of Burgess' musically informed literary art.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Of interest for you Bill is a piece on Anthony Burgess and his first love: music. "Eventually, I'll have to get hold of the book under discussion: [book:The Devil Prefers Mozart: On ..."
i prefer alternative rock music, though obviously as a child of the 80s i loved a lot of pop too but like my reading, i like music to ask questions and make me think.
Burgess has passed me by as a writer really, i did the Clockwork Orange pilgrimage as all good teens must and read the novel but i wasnt too impressed, except for the language. Since then i have avoided him, every novel seemed too "busy" with a fad or an idea, which i loathe, rather than telling a good story
AB76 wrote: "i prefer alternative rock music, though obviously as a child of the 80s i loved a lot of pop too but like my reading, i like music to ask questions and make me think."Have you attended many live rock music events? I found that, the few times I was persuaded to go to one (never a big stadium event, only at clubs) I found that the volume level created pretty acute physical discomfort and my ears rung for hours afterward. So I guess the only thing it made me think is: that was way too loud.
I think Burgess appealed to me because, though he tended to build his plots on serious issues, his books always had a sense of play about them: both in his humor and language games. Very much influenced by Joyce, who Burgess persuaded me to read.
Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i prefer alternative rock music, though obviously as a child of the 80s i loved a lot of pop too but like my reading, i like music to ask questions and make me think."Have you attend..."
i have a strange ability to not be affected by noise, i'm not sure what it is and my tinnitus is developing steadily but i have always loved the volume and the sound at live rock events. Although i may need a hearing aid in my 60s to listen to it!
I do agree though that the amplification can be overdone....an example is my local park, a small meadow which in my first decade after i moved in was a nice quiet spot. since about 2011, they have about 16 ahem "concerts" a summer, where loudly and badly amplified music is delivered to the neighbourhood on Sunday afternoons, whether you want to hear it or not. I dont actually mind the volume but its whats being played that shocks me, the worst versions of songs i love ever served up, to be forced to listen to music you love, murdered, in summer, is hell. Lol
Burgess is an important figure for me, one of the many novelists i'm not a fan of but like to read their opinions and non-fiction.
scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "It's interesting to watch foreign adaptations of American noir. There is a good French version of "I Married a Dead Man.""Started an answer to this, then lost it by pressing the wr..."
Woolrich's short story "It Had to be Murder" was the source of Hitchcock's "Rear Window." "Strangers on a Train" was based on a Highsmith novel.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
A Clockwork Orange (other topics)The Devil Prefers Mozart: On Music and Musicians, 1962-1993 (other topics)
Waltz into Darkness (other topics)
Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair (other topics)
Went to London, Took the Dog: A Diary (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Deryck Cooke (other topics)Cornell Woolrich (other topics)
Stieg Larsson (other topics)
Jim Thompson (other topics)
Margaret Atwood (other topics)
Is that the one with the small circular saw..."
Not sure - it's too long since I read it - but Hiaasen certainly had fun with plastic surgery and (as I found out when checking the reference) based at least part of the plot on the 'exploits' of a real-life unqualified surgeon!
There are several parallels between Rudy Graveline and Reinaldo Silvestre, a fake plastic surgeon operating in Miami Beach who was exposed in 1999; like Graveline, Silvestre had no qualifications as a cosmetic surgeon (or any medical qualifications at all), yet managed to convince many patients of his skills through social interaction; despite repeated grisly mistakes, his victims were often too embarrassed to admit the cause of their disfiguring injuries, while new patients - swept up by the culture of Miami Beach - never bothered to investigate Silvestre's qualifications or review any of the malpractice complaints against him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_Ti...