Ersatz TLS discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Weekly TLS
>
What are we reading? 17/06/2024
Logger24 wrote: "Quite pleasant here in the mountains of the northeast, until this last week, when it turned steamy, with temps in the mid 90s (35C). Then thunderstorms came along to break that spell, and threaten ..."interesting about no a/c, same in UK ofc and with more need than ever with the longer hestwaves here. i have a large air cooler tower i havent used yet but i think sometime in next 10 weeks, i will need it
Mod
back in Barsetshire with Barchester Towers — renewing acquaintance with the horrible oleaginous Mr Slope, doing down poor Mr Harding (the Warden from the previous book) and ingratiating himself with Mr H's daughter, Eleanor. Mrs Proudie , wife of the new bishop, is another of the villains of the piece. They want to make many changes, "lower" church, stricter Sunday observance ...
Mod
Gpfr wrote: " back in Barsetshire with Barchester Towers — renewing acquaintance with the horrible oleaginous Mr Slope, doing down poor Mr Harding (the Warden from the previo..."my grandfather loved Trollope, as yet i have only read the brilliant The Warden but Barchester has been on my pile for a long time. My uncle always thought Barchester was based on Winchester or Salisbury
Mod
my grandfather loved Trollope, as yet i have only read the brilliant The Warden ..."
I've read all the Barsetshire novels and the Palliser, + some others. I felt it was time to re-read.
Mod
my grandfather loved Trollope, as yet i have only read the brilliant The Warden ..."
I've read all the Barsetshire novels and the Palliser, + some others. I felt it was time to re-read."
I first read The Warden years ago, after seeing the wonderfully slimey Alan Rickman as Slope on TV, and have been slowly re-reading that and the other Chronicles in more recent years. All excellent so far. Next up is The Small House at Arlington.
I quite enjoyed the early Palliser novels but got stuck on one (Phineas Redux?) and didn’t finish it.
I inherited fine sets of both from my English teacher father, so there's an extra pleasure when I pick them up.
AB76 wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "Quite pleasant here in the mountains of the northeast, until this last week, when it turned steamy, with temps in the mid 90s (35C). Then thunderstorms came along to break that spe..."Put the tower cooler on in the bedroom about 30 minutes before retiring!
Mod
I quite enjoyed the early Palliser novels but got stuck on one..."
I preferred Barsetshire. Of the Pallisers, I've only got Can You Forgive Her?, I must have had the others from the library.
As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling, obviously as a kid he was big part of my reading from a very young age but in my teens i was wary of his adult fiction and possibly scornfulSince then i have read a lot of his shorter fiction, enjoying especially Plain Tales from the Hills and Traffics and Discoveries , both at opposite ends of his writing career. I found a much darker and unsettled world than i expected, matched with his unusual style that sometimes felt totally original and suprised me as well. India wasnt a world of imperial cliches but a bizarre and realistic blend of horror, humour and hubris. While in his british based stories, the uncanny and the haunting were strong themes as well as the impact of The Great War
I just started Something of Myself a short unfiinished auto-biog, written at the end of his life and more of his character is revealed, even in such a short volume. Observations of diversity in his childhood in Bombay, a cruel, lonely time in Southsea(referred to often in studies of the man) and stays in the country with his Uncle, the pre-Raphaelite artist Burne-Jones, with William Morris a regular visitor, also visits from Stanley Baldwin his cousin, a childhood companion
I found this volume in Oxfam, alongside The Light That Failed which i aim to read next year. His poem If of course remains one of the best english poems.
Mod
I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and loved his poems – Mandalay, Recessional, If – and especially his longer ones, a discovery - McAndrew’s Hymn, Tommy, The Mary Gloster.
His colonialist/imperialist reputation of course still hangs about him. In our bookshop (open nearly two years now) we sell a surprising amount of poetry, especially in the neat little Everyman pocket series, but so far not a single one of his.
AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Almost finished White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners and its a very sad reflection of th..."Sounds an impressive, shocking book ...
On..."
Thanks to you, AB, for your many interesting posts - and to GP for keeping the show on the road.
It's a pity, but on the Guardian I often wonder these days if there is much point in posting, even about people I'd consider as major writers (say, Percival Everett) when there is little or no reaction - a bit like hitting a tennis ball against a wall. There is a distinctly cliquey feel about a lot of it... At least in Ersatz, you feel that people read the posts. Thanks to all of you.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and loved his poems – Man..."
good to see your bookshop still going strong, i must explore some of his other poetry, especially Recessional
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Almost finished White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners and its a very sad reflection of th..."Sounds an impressive, shocking..."
i can only agree that the G seems to have lost some of its shine since 2020 and the closure of the old set up. I would have thought Everett would be a major hit on the G but as you say, almost zilch
Tam wrote: "A digression for those that are interested in art. I have posted the piccies in photos.I had a meander around Kew Gardens, with a friend, and saw the giant flowering plant, titan arum, that has j..."
A tricky one - at least until I noticed that the names of the artists were above the photos of the paintings! FWIW, I more or less guessed right, with the Kandinsky take being more abstract... the greater use of blue (much loved by Marc) was a bit of a red herring. I am very fond of both artists, but have seen far more Kandinsky 'in the flesh' (if that makes sense).
Odd that you couldn't smell the arum - it's supposed to be exceptionally stinky:
The plant is famed for its revolting smell, which has been likened to smelly feet, stinky cheese and dead animals - hence its nickname of the Corpse Flower. The pointy spadix is where the bad smell is produced.
I won't be rushing down to the big smoke for a sniff. I think it only lasts for a short while - maybe the flower was still there, but the smell was finished, when you saw it?
AB76 wrote: "His poem If of course remains one of the best english poems."I rarely read poetry (especially the obscure sort - this isn't one)... 'If' has very many well known lines, so it was mostly familiar... many of the sentiments expressed are admirable, though I do have doubts about a few of them. It is an excellent poem - no question.
I was rather put off Kipling by being forced to read Stalky & Co by my father, who had a high opinion of it. First of all, the boarding school milieu was completely foreign to me (I attended a state grammar school, and lived at home), and secondly the final chapter according to Wikipedia:
...recounts events in the lives of the boys when, as adults, they are in the armed forces in India. It is implied that the mischievous pranks of the boys in school were splendid training for their role as instruments of the British Empire.
I was not impressed.
On weather... temperatures in England are forecast to reach 25-30C this week, and a 'yellow warning' has been issued to all areas except the north-east. People living in other countries must be laughing themselves sick!As for our part of Wales - the 'heatwave' will peak at 21C today and Thursday - apparently.
Mod
The forecast here has been revised upwards a bit: 31°/30°/31° the next 3 days. No yellow warning though.
Mod
In between trips to Barchester, I've read A Winter Grave. I think Peter May's books are rather uneven, as CC and give were saying about Robert Goddard. I like some of them a lot. This was a quick read and not bad.We're in Scotland in 2051, independent, having rejoined the EU and not suffering from energy problems due to great investment in nuclear power. The effects of climate change are making themselves felt, land in many countries has been lost to rising sea levels, migration has increased as increasing areas of the globe become uninhabitable. Scotland is colder due to the collapse of the Gulf Stream.
Cameron Brodie, a police officer, has volunteered to fly north (in a pilotless sort of helicopter), to investigate a murder. His estranged daughter is married to the local policeman.
I haven't read Peter May iirc.My current crime read is Midnight Atlanta - the third in a series by Thomas Mullen. These books seem to get better and better. Here, in 1956 Atlanta, ex-cop and now newspaperman Tommy Smith tries to find out who murdered his publisher. A number of the usual characters reappear, and the historical background covers some early forays into civil rights by Martin Luther King Jr.
Well written, carefully researched, intriguing... what's not to like? Strongly recommended.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and loved his poems – Man..."
I think he changed a bit after his only son died in WWI, and became less patriotically minded. Kipling senior used his influence to get him accepted into the army, despite him being rejected, medically, for severe short sightedness. He died at the Battle of Loos. I believe the death caused him severe grief, and guilt, for his part in his sons death. I cant think how he thought that severe short sightedness would be of much use in battle conditions!...
Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "On weather... temperatures in England are forecast to reach 25-30C this week, and a 'yellow warning' has been issued to all areas except the north-east. People living in other c..."24c here...still pleasent, next 3 days are expected to hit 27c, yellow warnings issued, i would imagine London will be quite unpleasent place to be
Tam wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and love..."
i think the Great War was leveller for a lot of the complacent jingoism that had formed in the 1890-1914 period. It changed the mindset of fathers and sons who gloried in military duty but then saw the slaughter and the pointlessness of it all
Mod
The Lewis trilogy is good and a follow-up is coming in September, 'The Black Loch'.
I liked his series set in China, too, 6 books originally published between 1999 and 2004. The Firemaker is the first.
In A Lonely Place if it sustains the first 120 pages i have read could be the best read of 2024, which is no faint praise as it beens a good reading yearWhile not a devotee of crime writing, you can become captured by the situations established, the possibilities and the procedures of hunter and hunted.
Hughes finds ways to deliver sentences that Chandler would be proud of, a main character who seems alive with contradictions and complexities and a constant sense of tension and unease
Mod
A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East's Long War, about Iraq.
High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia’s Haunted Hinterland
Mod
I think he changed a bit after his only son died in WWI, and became less patriotically minded. Kipling senior used his influence..."
Thanks, Tam. I knew about his son, and his change of attitude, but not about Kipling using his influence to get his son accepted. What a recipe for guilt and misery.
Logger24 wrote: "Tam wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I think he changed a bit after his only son died in WWI, and became less pa..."
Yes. It is very sad. But that was the norm in those days I guess, that children were expected to go along with whatever the parental expectations were. I have visited his house, Batemans, which is now a National Trust place in Sussex. It's a lovely house, and very atmospheric, and is kept in a way that you think he is still inhabiting it, but has just popped out for a bit!...
Tam wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "Tam wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I think he changed a bit after his only son died in WWI, a..."
sounds like Hardy's house, Max Gate near Dorchester, a lovely cosy place with books left out as if he was reading them
Tam wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and love..."
I visited Batemans, Kipling's home a few years ago and can remember reading about his son. Ultimate case of careful what you wish for!
"Kiplling's only son John was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, at age 18. John initially wanted to join the Royal Navy, but having had his application turned down after a failed medical examination due to poor eyesight, he opted to apply for military service as an army officer. Again, his eyesight was an issue during the medical examination. In fact, he tried twice to enlist, but was rejected. His father had been lifelong friends with Lord Roberts, former commander-in-chief of the British Army, and colonel of the Irish Guards, and at Rudyard's request, John was accepted into the Irish Guards.[80]
John Kipling was sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforcement contingent. He was last seen stumbling through the mud blindly, with a possible facial injury. A body identified as his was found in 1992, although that identification has been challenged.[85][86][87] In 2015, the Commonwealth War Grave Commission confirmed that it had correctly identified the burial place of John Kipling;[88] they record his date of death as 27 September 1915, and that he is buried at St Mary's A.D.S. Cemetery, Haisnes.[89]"
Mod
I've just been listening to an episode of A Good Read and the presenter, Harriett Gilbert, said that she'd spoken on a previous programme about In a Lonely Place which she thought excellent. After the programme, a listener wrote on Instagram that she should try The Expendable Man, so she did and thought it was even better.
giveusaclue wrote: "I visited Batemans, Kipling's home a few years ago and can remember reading about his son. Ultimate case of careful what you wish for!"John Kipling was sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforcement contingent. He was last seen stumbling through the mud blindly, with a possible facial injury."
"
I remember reading an account of this incident that was far more horrifying - it was an account by someone who claimed to have seen John Kipling stumbling through the mud, etc, but the facial injury as this person described it was so extremely drastic and severe that a quicker death would have been merciful. The details were kept from his father in an effort to avoid inflicting further pain.
All that's from memory, but I can't for the life of me recall when or where I came across this or who or what the source might have been, so perhaps I shouldn't even have brought it up. So apologies once again.
Earlier tonight I finished Eckermann's Conversations with Goethe, a book I started last month: it's divided into journal or diary entries, so it's a good one to dip into between other books. I found it absorbing for all kinds of reasons: Eckermann's own self-effacing appeal as author; Goethe's personality, as it emerges in this late stage of his life; the many references to other famous (then and/or now) people - and not only the ones I'd heard of before, though the frequent comments on Byron were especially interesting to me, having just read Thomas Moore's bio last year. It's a very rich book - so much so that I hardly know where to start.
Mod
Very interesting, thanks. The retired professor of German philosophy who lives upstairs from my wife’s bookshop said we ought to get it in. I was dipping into it in the shop just last week and your description exactly fits my impression. So I shall be buying it for myself. (I don’t get a break on the price – I have to pay full price.)
There's a very fine book by John Armstrong called "Love, Life, Goethe: How to be happy in an imperfect world" which we also have in the shop. Armstrong, I think, makes extensive use of Eckerman's work, which he describes as delightful.
I have been filling in time waiting for the second new oven, within a week, to be delivered! Last weeks blew up when we switched it on!Anyway it is a 'Modernist' art quiz (nine pictures, with a couple of questions per picture) in 'Photos'. I have always had difficulty replying to people in Photos, so if any one feels like giving it a go they can answer in Comments on Photos. I will put up the answers in a weeks time or so on there...
Mod
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: " In A Lonely Place if it sustains the first 120 pages i have read could be the best read of 2024, which is no faint praise as it beens a good reading year..."I've just been listening..."
thanks for that GP!
Gpfr wrote: "When doing a search for something, a reference to MK came up and I realised we haven't heard from her for ages, the last comment seemed to be in March."Georg has also been absent for ages too..!
Berkley wrote: "Earlier tonight I finished Eckermann's Conversations with Goethe, a book I started last month: it's divided into journal or diary entries, so it's a good one to dip into between other books. I foun..."this sounds interesting, there are a few books like this published, with a major literary figure the subject of another writers questions and queries.or simply conversation.my last such read was Seelig's Walks with Walser which i loved
Mod
Georg has also been absent for..."
But MK has some health problems, I think, which makes it worrying.
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "When doing a search for something, a reference to MK came up and I realised we haven't heard from her for ages, the last comment seemed to be in March."Georg has also be..."
oh dear...what was her last health update?
Mod
oh dear...what was her last health update?..."
She wrote this on March 6th:
"I recently became tethered - literally. Here in the states there are machines that grab oxygen from the house air and flit it through a long tube to my nose. That's me now. Luckily, you can also have a kinda (it's heavy) portable one so I'm not completely housebound. This is a major drat in one's life!"
Her profile says last active in April.
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "When doing a search for something, a reference to MK came up and I realised we haven't heard from her for ages, the last comment seemed to be in ..."oh gosh...that doesnt sound good...
Gpfr wrote: "When doing a search for something, a reference to MK came up and I realised we haven't heard from her for ages, the last comment seemed to be in March."That is a worry, for sure.
Tam wrote: "I have been filling in time waiting for the second new oven, within a week, to be delivered! Last weeks blew up when we switched it on!Anyway it is a 'Modernist' art quiz (nine pictures, with a co..."
We aren't having a lot of luck house wise this year are we? At least I now have a properly working shower in time for the hot weather!
giveusaclue wrote: "Tam wrote: "I have been filling in time waiting for the second new oven, within a week, to be delivered! Last weeks blew up when we switched it on!Anyway it is a 'Modernist' art quiz (nine picture..."
That is so true. I seem to have run out of energy. I have a new back door to fix, and keep putting it off. The three coats that need painting on. Then I have to find someone to put it in, and so I keep distracting myself, with things that really don't need to be done!... but entertain, at least for awhile. Enjoy your new shower!... I think it is best to be content with the simpler things in life, perhaps...
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and loved his poems – Man..."
It's interesting to note the difference in tone between the snatches of poetry Kipling uses as epigraphs to this short stories and the stories themselves. The poems are drawn from Kipling's love of the ballad form and are immediate. The stories may touch on the same things but are ironic.
Have you read Kipling's Mary Glouster? Rather a novelette in verse.
I have started to read Death under a little sky by Stig Abelland find this is the room for me;
There are some pleasant surprises. He soon finds the main power supply, and is able to get light in every room at night. The place is enormous, far greater than any one person could need, as superfluous as his old family home had turned out to be: draughty rooms scarcely furnished, with the musty taint of old, unbreathed air in them. But at the bottom of the foot of the L is a huge library, primarily of detective fiction, the sort of books that had been given to him throughout his childhood. All of the great English authors from the mid part of the twentieth century: Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey. And long shelves of Americans, their gaudy covers gleaming: Chandler and Hammett and Spillane (he and Arthur had always argued about his questionable status in the canon), then the sprawling modern series by Michael Connelly, Kathy Reichs, Donald Hamilton, Donna Leon, John D. MacDonald, Lee Child, Elmore Leonard, and so on. A Scandi Noir corner. A Tartan Noir shelf. Historical detective series, like the Cadfael books or CJ Sansom’s Shardlake novels. It is the most wonderful room Jake has ever seen, and he knows instantly it will be the place he spends his winter days and evenings. The whole room is wired with a sound system to play records, and Jake soon finds Arthur’s jazz stash. He picks one at random:
Robert wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "As an adult, i have found a lot to admire in the prose of Rudyard Kipling,..."I’m glad you’ve found Kipling satisfying. I came to him mainly as an adult too and love..."
Traffics and Discoveries is a good example of mixing poetry and prose, one of his last collections with some haunting tales, mostly set in England. Which collection was Mary Gloucster in?
Mod
One could while away some pleasant hours 😄
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
True Grit (other topics)Masters of Atlantis (other topics)
The Young Man (other topics)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (other topics)
Letters to Olga (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Annie Ernaux (other topics)Charles Portis (other topics)
Charles Portis (other topics)
Thomas Pynchon (other topics)
Robertson Davies (other topics)
Thanks for the new thread, GP. I don't have anything to contribute at the moment but hope to soon.