What are we reading? 8/04/2024

[RussellinVT]

Possibly a bit drunk here, after an exceptional dinner, but I have to say that the Holy Land was only ever, for me growing up in mid-20C Britain, the place the Crusaders went to reconquer (is it called anything else in medieval histories?), and not a term used to refer to the land of three faiths even if Jerusalem was holy to all three, nor a term used to identify the area we knew in contemporary parlance as either Palestine or Israel-plus-West-Bank. Bit fuzzy on where Krak des Chevaliers fits in.

[Robert]

Logger24 wrote: "Possibly a bit drunk here, after an exceptional dinner, but I have to say that the Holy Land was only ever, for me growing up in mid-20C Britain, the place the Crusaders went to reconquer (is it ca..."

The French called it "The Land Over Seas."

[CCCubbon]

CCCubbon wrote: "Two books on the go at present

Femina 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 in..."

I read a little more of the Tom Mead book last night and it mentioned a book by John Dickson Carr called The Hollow Man (1935) where he listed the seven solutions to such mysteries. Years ago I read several books by JDC or Carter Dickson - another name he used - but I don’t remember this one. This morning I looked it up to see that in 1981 The Hollow Man was voted the best ever locked room mystery by a panel of 17 mystery writers.
Thought I should add it to my growing TBR pile.
Tom Mead obviously think there is yet another solution. It’s all very ingenious but the mystery seems to take precedence over characterisation which is a difficulty.

[Gpfr]

Robert wrote: "Logger24 wrote: " the Holy Land was only ever, for me growing up in mid-20C Britain, the place the Crusaders went ..."

The French called it "The Land Over Seas."

Outre-mer = the French overseas territories.

The Holy Land is la Terre sainte.

[Gpfr]

I'll close the thread at the end of the afternoon — in about 7 hours.

[AB76]

Logger24 wrote: "Possibly a bit drunk here, after an exceptional dinner, but I have to say that the Holy Land was only ever, for me growing up in mid-20C Britain, the place the Crusaders went to reconquer (is it ca..."

interesting....i am still trying to remember when i first used it, defintely since i was a teenager and always referring to the land of the three faiths

Wikipedia says:
Today, the term "Holy Land" usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern states of Israel and Palestine. Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Bahá'ís regard it as holy

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: "Robert wrote: "Logger24 wrote: " the Holy Land was only ever, for me growing up in mid-20C Britain, the place the Crusaders went ..."

The French called it "The Land Over Seas."

Outre-mer = the Fr..."

in the portugese empire, their overseas posessions were called the "ultramar", an area where portugese is similar to french, likewise with streets being called "rua"

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "Would, for example, a Hindu (excluding the current PM) ever use the term?"

Another question: would a Hindu be in the slightest bit interested in how Israel/Palestine is referred to by other people? (I accept that they would not themselves use the term, of course.) I rather doubt it, for the same reason that I as an atheist have no use for the term, but no real interest in how or whether it is used by others.

If you have no skin in the game, you don't care.

You may be right about the way in which 'the religious' use it as a code for 'my' Holy Land. That would not be surprising. But I don't really know how it is used outside the UK, and that mainly in the past.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "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."

I don't believe I have seen that film (La sirène du Mississippi) either... as for Belmondo, it was always claimed that he did his own stunts - like Tom Cruise in recent times.

I'm naturally sceptical about such claims, but it may be that the Belmondo legend has at least a fair amount of truth to it... he apparently quit doing this after being injured on the set of 'Hold-Up' in 1985.

FWIW, then, here is a link with a YouTube montage enclosed:

https://cinema.wisc.edu/blog/2014/10/...

Clearly some of the clips have cuts and others use back-projections, at least for the close-ups. How many are genuine stunts by Belmondo? I have absolutely no idea.

[scarletnoir]

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 ..."

Interesting stuff. FWIW - I have never read a book by Burgess (despite being encouraged to do so by a good friend), as in TV interviews he always came across as a pompous, self-opinionated arsehole.

I did 'enjoy' (if that is the word - perhaps 'admire' is better) the film of 'A Clockwork Orange', though. An interesting story.

I don't quite understand the way in which Burgess (and others) see the need to denigrate whole areas of music which don't appeal to them. I like a lot of classical music (but what does that mean? I don't like atonal stuff... 'classical' is too broad a term) and 'popular' (likewise: I'm not fond of rap or country - usually - but there are exceptions; I like a lot of blues and some jazz - but not all. And so on.)
It seems to me to be borderline crazy to reject a whole loosely defined category of music. Nearly always, within those categories, 'something' will - or may - appeal.

If you had asked me yesterday if I liked the music of Philip Glass, I would have replied that I have no idea, as I wasn't sure if I'd heard any. By chance (as usually happens with new discoveries) I caught a piece on Arte yesterday evening, played as an encore by pianist Yuja Wang giving a stunning performance of Glass's Études no. 6. From now on, I'll be listening to a good deal of Glass... and so it goes. Never say never.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJkeK...

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "I don't quite understand the way in which Burgess (and others) see the need to denigrate whole areas of music which don't appeal to them."

I think that Burgess discovered, after Kubrick's film brought him some level of fame and notoriety, that he could supplement his writer's income by being paid for his opinions, either on TV or in newspaper and magazine articles, and that the best way to maximize income from this source was to have an opinion on everything. Though, as a composer, he definitely had sincere opinions about music of all types.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "If you had asked me yesterday if I liked the music of Philip Glass, I would have replied that I have no idea, as I wasn't sure if I'd heard any."

My first reaction was to recall a Lindsay Anderson title, O Lucky Man!

Actually, Glass can be quite refreshing at shorter lengths, as would be appropriate for an encore. But in my experience he does often go on at length, especially in the pieces that brought him his initial fame. Einstein on the Beach is longer than Parsifal and, as far as I was able to listen (about a half hour I guess, though time dilates in that situation), less musically eventful than the first prelude of The Well-Tempered Clavier (which the late Peter Schickele cleverly used as the basis for his parody, Einstein on the Fritz).

I do occasionally give the minimalists a try to see if my tastes (which do alter, albeit at a glacial pace at this point) can now accommodate their music (so far, not really). My trials in this area have concentrated on Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Glass often tends to be too rock music-like for me (heavily insistent beat, electric instruments); some of his compositions are based on music by David Bowie.

[giveusaclue]

The Holy Land doesn't seem very holy at the moment!

I'm with Logger on this one, the Holy Land to me is back in the time of the crusades.

[AB76]

Rabans Coasting is a very enjoyable read, totally not the format i expected, its less a coastal trek around the UK, more a sort of selection of places and incidents.

His visit to Hull was interesting, a place where he studied at Uni, finding the Cod Wars had changed the packed docks into wastelands and a city without "the fishing". It reminded me of reading Priestley on his 1934 visit to the city, where he found it somewhat Hanseatic in its proud red brick, smarter and thriving compared to many other northern towns or cities.