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What are we reading? 26/08/2024
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The Night of the Mi'rajSet in Saudi Arabia, a girl from a wealthy family has disappeared just before her wedding.
I saw this recommended somewhere, but I definitely don't recommend it.
The writer, Zoë Ferraris, has lived in Saudi Arabia, but the book has mistakes which even I, without any in-depth knowledge, recognised. For example, she writes of a young woman being so pious that she has made the hajj several times in a couple of years — difficult when it's a once-yearly pilgrimage.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Has anyone else here read any Heinrich Boll?..."I've read The Clown and Billiards at Half Past Nine and The End of a Mission, but that was all 50+ years ago and I don’t remember anyt..."
glad you enjoyed it Logger and i agree the 1930s standard of writing does seem to have been very good
Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Has anyone else here read any Heinrich Boll?"I've read only one, The Train Was on Time, which was short but effective. I have another one lined up for (I hope) the near future, Billi..."
Billiards is possibly his best
I am sad to report books read this last month... 0! But on book related matters I spent 3 days in Bloomsbury last week and thought I'd visit the cafe/cake shop at the London Review of Books. I'm sad to report I was too late, it closed down on the 8th August. The British Museum was rammed to the hilt. Had a nice walk through Hyde Park to the Serpentine Gallery to see Judy Chicago's exhibition, and afternoon tea at The Wallace Collection. I did really enjoy the musical 'Hadestown' and I'm not really a musical goer at all, so it was nice to be surprised at how good something can be that you don't think that your into that much. It's a take on the myth of Orpheus and Euridice which is what drew me to it. A trip to 'Forbidden Planet' was rather puzzling, I didn't recognise most of the stuff in there, apart from quite a few books on the science fiction shelf. Whereas 35 years ago a lot of it seemed very familiar. And finally, we were staying in an Art Deco Hotel. The Bar was called 'The Woolf and whistle', after Virginia Woolf. I've tried to find out what the whistle bit referred to. I'm not a fan of Woolf. The only book I read of hers was Mrs Dalloway, which bored me. I preferred some of the others of the Bloomsbury Set. Still I'm curious. Does anyone else here have any ideas about the whistle? A not very through search on the internet did not enlighten me.
We are off to Devon today and I am hopefully taking 'Square Haunting' by Francesca Wade along with me in the hope that a bit of sea air will perk up my reading interest. Otherwise its back to my fill-ins which are articles in the LRB and Prospect... And Katy Hessel's 'The Story of Art' for back up... Happy September everyone...
Tam wrote: "I am sad to report books read this last month... 0! But on book related matters I spent 3 days in Bloomsbury last week and thought I'd visit the cafe/cake shop at the London Review of Books. I'm sa..."Glad you had a good time. I guess you must be feeling much better.
I'm currently on a week's holiday in Somerset
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I liked it a lot.
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I think it's the Woolf bit, not the whistle bit. I’m guessing it’s a reference to the nursery rhyme about the three little pigs and the wolf who said he would blow their house down. A lot of pubs are called The Pig and Whistle. Still seems a bit contrived.
Logger24 wrote: "Tam wrote: "...The Bar was called 'The Woolf and whistle', after Virginia Woolf. I've tried to find out what the whistle bit referred to...."I think it's the Woolf bit, not the whistle bit. I’m guessing it’s a reference to the nursery rhyme about the three little pigs and the wolf who said he would blow their house down. A lot of pubs are called The Pig and Whistle. Still seems a bit contrived."
There's also the term "wolf-whistle" - which however would also seem contrived and inappropriate in reference to Virginia Woolf.
Tam wrote: "A trip to 'Forbidden Planet' was rather puzzling, I didn't recognise most of the stuff in there, apart from quite a few books on the science fiction shelf."What is Forbidden Planet? There used to be a bookstore in NYC with that name that specialized in science fiction. I assumed the establishment you mention was the same thing, but your reference to "the science fiction shelf" implies that other wares predominate. (The entire store in New York was essentially one big science fiction shelf, with some fantasy and horror).
Bill wrote: "Tam wrote: "A trip to 'Forbidden Planet' was rather puzzling, I didn't recognise most of the stuff in there, apart from quite a few books on the science fiction shelf."What is Forbidden Planet? T..."
It’s a shop for science fiction horror and fantasy stuff. Lots of fan based stuff and merchandising stuff, but 30 years ago in was a lot of Star Trek and Star Wars stuff. Today, I guess with the rise in gaming, it’s a lot more full of branding and imagery that I have no idea what it is about.
Berkley wrote: "There's also the term "wolf-whistle" - which however would also seem contrived and inappropriate in reference to Virginia Woolf..."That was my thought too - it's just a joke, and not a particularly good one.
Bill wrote: "What is Forbidden Planet?"Tam confirms that this is a shop with a lot of SF (I don't know it as I hardly ever get to London nowadays), but hasn't explained what I assume to be the basis for the name.
The 1956 film 'Forbidden Planet' is loosely based on Shakespeare's 'Tempest' - I like it a lot, and it's a very well regarded SF movie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidd...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/...
scarletnoir wrote: "I wonder if there are any admirers of 'Nicholas Blake' out there?We have been watching the series 'The Beast Must Die' on ITVX, and before starting found out that it was based on a book.."
An update on this... according to a synopsis of the book, many of the plot points were retained, but the ending may have been changed - I don't know. In any case, the final episode was poorly judged with an awful lot of weeping and grizzling by several characters... I got fed up with it! In addition, the male lead (Billy Howle) didn't seem to have the charisma needed to carry this role (contrast, for example, Shaun Evans who is brilliant as the young 'Endeavour' Morse). So I don't recommend the series to admirers of the Nicholas Blake books.
Started reading Dispatches from the New York Tribune covering the journalism that Karl Marx did in the 1850s, after his work was spotted in Cologne by Charles DanaWritten in English with some of the articles penned by Engels, this volume contains articles by Marx only and so far they are fascinating, especially the first three reports in the state of China as the Allied Powers(Chiefly the Brits) start trying to move upriver and exploit trade. He wonders if the conflict will cause a crisis with all trade from China, which will affect Europe(how relevant to today). He also looks at the Russian land routes for trade to Peking and suggests that Russia may gain from the conflict, rather than the maritime powers.
I'm not a Marxist but i always gain pleasure from reading about or reading the man himself, a great 19thc mind
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Apparently it'd never been published before Penguin did so in 2011. I've added it to my wish list, together with Plain Murder. As I've said before, I enjoyed Payment deferred and like you this was a first as I've never read Hornblower either (although I like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series a lot).
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Apparently it'd never been published before Penguin did so in 2011...."
Hornblower - Yes, after Aubrey-Maturin you think nothing could be as good. Now that I see what a neat writer Forester is, maybe some day I’ll try one out.
The interesting notes at the back of The Pursued explain that it was accepted for publication but with the first Hornblower out and another one planned they thought it wouldn’t fit between the two, and then it just got lost.
AB76 wrote: "Started reading Dispatches from the New York Tribune covering the journalism that Karl Marx did in the 1850s, after his work was spotted in Cologne by Charles DanaWritten in English with some of..."
Fascinating - I'd no idea Marx had written for this newspaper!
Logger24 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "CS Forester’s The Pursued..."Apparently it'd never been published before Penguin did so in 2011...."
Hornblower - Yes, after Aubrey-Maturin you think nothing could b..."
Forester also wrote a good novel about WW1 called The General which i enjoyed.
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Started reading Dispatches from the New York Tribune covering the journalism that Karl Marx did in the 1850s, after his work was spotted in Cologne by Charles DanaWritten in English ..."
the volume i have was published in 2007, which suprised me as i hadnt heard of it until last year
Logger24 wrote: ".Hornblower - Yes, after Aubrey-Maturin you think nothing could be as good. Now that I see what a neat writer Forester is, maybe some day I’ll try one out."I haven't read either, though have a vague memory of enjoying the TV series based on the Hornblower books with fellow countryman Ioan Gruffudd in the title role around the turn of the millenium:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblo...
With the AFD gaining strong votes in Saxony and Thuringia, the LRB has a timely article in its summer double issue by Wolfgang Streeck on the BfV, the federal agency created at the birth of West Germany to safeguard "free democratic basic order"Streeck observes how the AFD have so far evaded slipping into territory where they could become a banned party and have contested in court any allegations against them. The BfV and the federal govt are not keen on party bannings but did ban two parties in the 1950s, one neo-Nazi, and one Communist.
My question for the BfV now, in light of these elections, is whether they will monitor the AFD for hate speech and incitement even more stringently.It seems unlikely that in either state the AFD will govern, which is a relief, as the other parties will not collude with them
I wonder if the slobbish, lazy and sly Boris Johnson would have survived a BfV probe(it can now investigate individuals) in his pomp as a lying, cheating, inciter of hatred, Farage would be another candidate for the BfV, if it existed in the UK.
the BfV was explicity formed as a non-police organisation and has no police authority and does not carry guns, but it is part of of the gathering and using of undercover information, like many surveillance agencies
I have just finished reading
The latest on one of the Welsh crimes series I love. I am sure other crime novel readers here will love them too. And might not have to resort to google translate from time to time
In this book a man is found murdered in an abandoned house on the Sennybridge Army Training grounds. He has recently been released from prison after serving 20 years for an attempted rape that he didn't commit but would not be released because he refused to admit it. (Don't get me started on that!) His mother had also recently gone missing. The investigation covers not only his murder but also the failings of the original investigation
A series best read in order if possible.
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Started reading Dispatches from the New York Tribune covering the journalism that Karl Marx did in the 1850s, after his work was spotted in Cologne by Charles DanaWritten in English ..."
Editor Horace Greeley had eclectic tastes.
Having finished Absent Without Leave a collection of 1960s stories by Heinrich Boll, i am left a bit underwhelmed Cologne born Boll was one of the best West German writers after WW2, his post-war novels and stories dealing with the legacy of war, Nazism, a damaged urban landscape and the way foward.
These stories, his first 1960s works i have read, were readable and interesting but left me wanting more. More about the Germany he observed in WW2 and less of the apologia dominated writing that Gunter Grass was famed for. Quirky events and characters all seemed like ways to allieviate the seriousness of the topic,a narrator kissing a pretty Jewish girl in Iasi made me want more of how that occurred,(as he was a German soldiier etc)
I didnt find this reading dragged or made me want to put the book down but the overall impression now i have finished it, is, could we have a bit more seriousness and less opaque quirkiness?
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The latest on one of the Welsh crimes series I love. I am sure other crime novel readers her..."
I'll have a look :)
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I am about to start Canadian classic Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso, set in 1920s Manitoba.In the 1920s, the middle region of Manitoba where the novel was set had a large Scandinavian population(of which Icelanders were a large part) and was at the height of the prairie boom that saw european farming methods slowly devastate the open plains(as Wallace Stegner wrote about from Saskatchewan, to the west)
But totally by chance, i stumbled on an earlier period, around the 1870 census of what was to become Manitoba and its fascinating to see of the 12,000 or so enumerated persons, 80% were "Metis" or half first nations peoples-half white descendents of fur traders and pioneers. This Metis population was to become famous or infamous in Canadian history when a Franco-Metis called Louis Riel led two rebellions between the 1860s and mid 1880s.
One other interesting fact of the census was that 40% of these Metis, were Anglo-Metis , Protestant and english speaking and a number became prominent in Manitoban politics, including John Norquay who became Premier of Manitoba.
The Franco-Metis, Catholic and French speaking were less influential , though numerically larger,sadly all Metis numbers dwindled after the late19c (Franco and Anglo) and while they remain, their influence on the plains has faded.
The Metis had a variety of appearences, from fair haired and blue eyed, to darker skin and eyes(reflecting their dual ancestry) but apparently there was no hierarchy based on skin colour differences and they had strong communal solidarity, it seems that by the mid 19c, the Anglo and Franco groups were started to develop a common solidarity in the face of the Canadian settlers and state moving West into their lands
Metis Numbers in the 1870s show 11,000 in Manitoba and maybe 5,000 in what became Saskatchewan to the West. In this area wer also maybe 12,000 first nations peoples
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We have been watching the series 'The Beast Must Die' on ITVX, and before starting found out that it was based..."
I've just been reading the article on film noir and in the comments BTL found this:
another fantastic Argentinian noir, The Beast Must Die (La bestia debe morir, 1952). Not in the least because it’s based on an Irish detective novel by Cecil Day-Lewis.
Gpfr wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "I wonder if there are any admirers of 'Nicholas Blake' out there?We have been watching the series 'The Beast Must Die' on ITVX, and before starting found o..."
and i just checked that it seems the entire series of detective novels that Day Lewis wrote under the Nicholas Blake pseudonym is in print, inc the beast must die
Gpfr wrote: "I've just been reading the article on film noir and in the comments BTL found this:another fantastic Argentinian noir, The Beast Must Die..."
The premise of the book is very good - and remarkably early in 1938: someone's child is killed in a hit and run. The cops fail to identify the driver, so a parent (father in book, mother in the TV series I saw) sets out to identify and murder the driver. It could have been very good, but the last episode was a disaster, with what seemed like half the time taken up with half the cast weeping for some reason or another. Poor screenplay.
It's quite possible that the Argentinian adaptation is much better.
Gpfr wrote: "Some recommendations for new fiction from Stanfords:https://mailchi.mp/stanfords/27-11495..."
Thanks for the link G there are some interesting looking books there.
Well, it is the last day of my holiday in Somerset today and it is absolutely persisting down. I've been into Somerton for a wander round and lunch and driven back to the cottage on water covered roads. So the rest of the day will be spent reading and packing I think.
giveusaclue wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Some recommendations for new fiction from Stanfords:https://mailchi.mp/stanfords/27-11495..."
Thanks for the link G there are some interesting looking books there.
Well..."
been lovely and wet today, no sun at all, wonderful. finally summer could be over!
AB76 wrote: "been lovely and wet today, no sun at all, wonderful. finally summer could be over!"Bet you weren't saying that when you were hay baling!
🤬
giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "been lovely and wet today, no sun at all, wonderful. finally summer could be over!"Bet you weren't saying that when you were hay baling!
🤬"
glad we got it all baled in a timely manner, the young farmer who does all the cutting and laying for us since covid seems to always pick the right 3-4 days
if it was in the fields today, it would have been totally ruined, so yes, i wasnt saying that back then!
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Has anyone else here read any Heinrich Boll?..."I've read The Clown and Billiards at Half Past Nine and The End of a Mission, but that was all 50+ years ago and I don’t remember anyt..."
Of the Hornblower series, one I particularly remember liking was Hornblower and the Atropos.
Wild Geese
by Martha Ostenso, is almost 100 years old and i am finally getting round to reading it.Prairie fiction, especially Canadian, has been a favourite of mine, the novels of Stead, Grove, Laurence, Mitchell and the non-fiction of Stegner(on Saskatchewan) have given me strong impressions of the wild lives led in this demanding wilderness of ice and heat, by season.
I am suprised to find out that Ostenso was only 25 when she wrote the novel, her voice is far more mature than 25 years would expect. Interestingly my secondhand, worn copy of the novel (from BetterWorldBooks), is crammed with notes made i assume by a canadian studying the novel at university or school. They can be a little distracting but also can act as a guide or for me to bounce ideas of! 50 pages in and i'm loving it.
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Had to look up Atropos. She is one of the three fates in Greek mythology, the one who renders the decisions of the other two (Clotho and Lachesis) unalterable. She is also the one who cuts the thread of life. Charming!
both here and the G have gone very quiet, suprised me as the holidays are over and things should be returning to normal
Bill wrote: "Tam wrote: "A trip to 'Forbidden Planet' was rather puzzling, I didn't recognise most of the stuff in there, apart from quite a few books on the science fiction shelf."What is Forbidden Planet? T..."
It's still there on Broadway. I just visited 2 weeks ago. It's both less squalid and less enticing
Logger24 wrote: "Robert wrote: "Of the Hornblower series, one I particularly remember liking was Hornblower and the Atropos."Had to look up Atropos. She is one of the three fates in Greek mythology, the one who r..."
It's also a small warship under Hornblower's command, assigned to a treasure hunt. (A ship carrying British gold sank in a storm, and grounded in shallow water.) Intrigue in the eastern Mediterranean.
AB76 wrote: "Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso, is almost 100 years old and i am finally getting round to reading it.Prairie fiction, especially Canadian, has been a favourite of mine, the novels of Stead, Grove, Laurence, Mitchell and the non-fiction of Stegner(on Saskatchewan) have given me strong impressions of the wild lives led in this demanding wilderness of ice and heat, by season."
I'm Canadian but you've read more prairie fiction than I have, by the sounds of it. We had to do some in school, which possibly turned me off from it a bit. Also, it always felt a bit alien to me, growing up in a completely different sort of environment in Newfoundland, physically and culturally.
However, I did finally get around to W.O. Mitchelll's Who Has Seen the Wind a year or two back and enjoyed that one, so I plan to try all the more well-known titles one of these days.
Recommendations welcome, as always. Wild Geese is definitely high on the list, as it sounds like one of the more unusual examples of this sub-genre. I remember finding Mitchell's Vanishing Point one of the better Canadian novels I had to read for school, so he's a writer I'll continue to look out for.
I am quite enjoying Massie's Dreadnought. I did a talk on the Anglo-German naval rivalry for our small historical society years ago, so the outline of his story was familiar, but the scenes and character sketches in this book are fine, and much was new to me. How did a handful of German foreign office men convince a vain autocrat like Wilhelm II to make a pointless visit to Morocco, where he rode a white stallion unfamiliar with both rider and the racket of a military ceremony? Not a good situation for a man with one good arm. Holstein, the Foreign Office intriguer who dreamed this up, was a would-be master of diplomacy who hated meeting foreign envoys, did his best to dodge meetings with his royal master, and preferred sitting alone in his office scribbling to anything else.
Even Wilhelm realized how little benefit came from this jaunt-- the French defied his ministers' bluff and the British backed up the French, exactly the opposite reaction from the one predicted by these masterminds.
I put the book back on our little library's shelf, but soon took it back again, to read of another exploit dreamed up by these back-room boys: to send a small warship, the Panther, underarmed and undergunned, to a fishing village in southern Morocco, where there were no German interests to protect, and no Germans either. The one German civilian involved was a businessman delayed by difficult ground, who arrived in the village after the Panther did.
Ah, never mind. History buffs intrigued by the period will find characters of several nationalities to puzzle over.
I'm juggling other books. More later.
Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso, is almost 100 years old and i am finally getting round to reading it.Prairie fiction, especially Canadian, ..."
NFL is so very different, a fascinating place, for me there are almost three Canadas, the Prairies and BC, the two big central states and then the eastern seaboard aka Maritimes, where it always feels like a wilder place, in a good way. Maybe 4 Canadas if you include the cold North and some would say Quebec is not Canada(Brian Moore wrote a good novel about the crisis in 1970)
Three more i would recommend are:
The Stone Angel(Laurence)
Grain(Stead)
Settlers of the Marsh(Grove)
All three are Manitoba set, Mitchell and Stegner cover Sask(though Stegner is non-fiction) , i tjhink O'Hagan covered Alberta with "Tay John"), for BC, i recommend Ethel Wilson, who you probably know(though not a prairie novelist)
I've always been interested in the Dominion Lit as i call it, novels from Aus, Can, NZ and South Africa and have found a good variety of novels in the last 15 years. Canada sadly has a lot out of print, the New Canadian Library has been my go to publisher
Robert wrote: "I am quite enjoying Massie's Dreadnought. I did a talk on the Anglo-German naval rivalry for our small historical society years ago, so the outline of his story was familiar, but the scenes and cha..."i read this about 22 yrs ago and feel i should revisit it, i am always interested in naval books
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Logger24 wrote: "Anyone here read the Robert Harris Cicero Trilogy? Comments I’ve seen range from “one of the great triumphs of contemporary historical literature” to “good enough for some holiday reading”. The que..."i liked Fatherland, having fully expected not to! but i havent read any other Harris
Logger24 wrote: "Anyone here read the Robert Harris Cicero Trilogy? Comments I’ve seen range from “one of the great triumphs of contemporary historical literature” to “good enough for some holiday reading”. The que..."I've read Pompeii and The Ghost (and seen the film). Might have to try the Cicero trilogy. Gave up on Concave and Oblivion.
An anecdote - having studied Latin at school I always pronounced it Cicero as in sister but a friend who didn't but learned Italian always pronounces it Chichero as it would be in modern day Italian. Will have to ask her Italian husband.
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wild Swimmers (other topics)I, Claudius/Claudius the God (other topics)
Fatherland (other topics)
Selling Hitler (other topics)
Wild Geese (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Christa Wolf (other topics)Volker Kutscher (other topics)
Volker Kutscher (other topics)
Volker Kutscher (other topics)
I've read only one, The Train Was on Time, which was short but effective. I have another one lined up for (I hope) the near future, Billiards at Half Past Nine.