What are we reading? 7/10/2024

[Robert]

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Having finished the book on the end of Czechoslovakia, my mind casts back to the heady days of 1989 and the fall of the old regime in the East

I was..."

Good points.

[Tam]

I thought a few on here would enjoy this account of why my secular pilgrimage walk, 'in the steps of Aldous Huxley', is moving to a different date, the 29th, rather than on Halloween...

"We realise that what is to come next may be for some disappointing, and for others a bit strange. However, it is in line with the kind of event we are engaging in, so we hope you understand. Here we go...

On consultation with the spirit of Aldous Huxley, it became clear to his descendent Phoebe that it was not right to hold this sacred pilgrimage on the 31st, the eve of All Hallows. Our interpretation of this is that because the 31st is a day that is busy with trickster spirits and mischief, such a strong and serious soul deserves a more appropriate day, or rather any day around that time apart from that one. We are therefore moving it to the 29th October."

The sprog said well that's in line with him being a bit of an elitist!... Too much competition amongst all those wayward spirits on the loose!... I am looking forward to it, whatever spirits might turn up and cause mayhem...

[Bill]

AB76 wrote: "I'm really enjoying Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington(1929) and i thank Bill for the recommendation last year."

Here's another WWI novel you may not have heard of: Bretherton: Khaki or Field Grey?.

I became aware of it thanks to a Michael Dirda column several years ago; I haven't read it, but it apparently combines an accurate depiction of the Western front with a thriller / mystery plot that may also appeal to other Ersatzers.

[AB76]

Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "I'm really enjoying Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington(1929) and i thank Bill for the recommendation last year."

Here's another WWI novel you may not have heard of: [book:Bretherton..."

ah yes, i saw this when it was the 100 Yrs events 2014-18 but never got round to reading it

3/4 into Aldington and loving it.

[AB76]

Polish artist Jozef Czapski and his memoirs of WW2 have been on my radar for a while, since two of his volumes were printed in new translations by the NYRB Classics series

I have just started Inhuman Land published in Polish in 1951, which tells the extraordinary story of his path with the "Anders" army through the middle east and into Italy to fight with the Allies. The Anders army was formed of Polish POW's by the Soviets to fight on the Allied side.

However Czapski is horrified by the tales of the Polish POWS as they start to gather in their thousands at a town on the Volga in Autumn and Winter 1941. Stories of mass deportations of civilians from eastern Poland, of old men worked to death in camps and where are the 20,000 odd POW's from three camps near Katyn? (We know now of course that all were executed by the Soviets under orders of Beria and Stalin)

Czapski was an unusual Pole, born in Prague but raised in Imperial Poland and educated in St Petersburg, he served with the Poles in the wars of 1919-20 when Poland defeated the USSR. He then lived in Paris and only returned to Poland in 1931. Captured in 1939 as the Soviets invaded eastern Poland after doing a crafty deal with Hitler, he was interred in a Soviet POW camp, this book starts on his release as the Anders army starts to form.

[RussellinVT]

AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski and his memoirs of WW2 have been on my radar for a while, since two of his volumes were printed in new translations by the NYRB Classics series

I have just started Inhuman Land published in Polish in 1951..."

Thanks for those details of Czapski’s story, which I may have known but had forgotten. His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel.

[Gpfr]

Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski ..."

His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel...."

Oh, they are indeed.

[AB76]

Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski and his memoirs of WW2 have been on my radar for a while, since two of his volumes were printed in new translations by the NYRB Classics series

I have just..."

i guess these lectures were given in the camp he is released from at the start of Inhuman Land

[AB76]

Re Han Kang getting Nobel Lit Prize

I think this is an important recognition of the depth of female east asian writing in the last decade or so. China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan all have produced great female novels and produced a view from the other 50% or so of these populous nations

I feel that latin america is also a consistent producer of good modern fiction right now, i have read 6 or 7 novels since 2021 by mostly Southern Cone (Arg-Uruuguay-Chilean) female writers, which makes me hope Latin America may get the next Nobel Prize

[RussellinVT]

AB76 wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski and his memoirs of WW2 have been on my radar for a while..."

Yes, it was a Russian prisoner of war camp. Czapski was among the group of Polish officers who (unaccountably) were not executed.

[Gpfr]

Gpfr wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski ..."
His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel...."
Oh, they are indeed."

Interestingly, they were originally typed up in French in 1943/44 from his notebooks, and the French edition, Proust contre la déchéance. Conférence au camp de Griazowietz, has kept Czapski's original text, mistakes and all. It was translated into Polish in 1948.
I suppose the NYRB edition reproduces pages of the manuscript as my French edition does?

[Gpfr]

Gpfr wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski ..."
His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel...."

...reproduces pages of the manuscript..."

The cover of the book reproduces 1 of the manuscript pages:

[RussellinVT]

Gpfr wrote: "...I suppose the NYRB edition reproduces pages of the manuscript as my French edition does?"

Yes - they make for a very attractive little volume. Plus an excellent intro from the translator, Eric Karpeles, who worked from the French.

The NYRB cover is similarly eye-catching. I do believe I've successfully copied it over with a link:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/9...

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski ..."
His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel...."
Oh, they are indeed."

Interestingly, they wer..."

i wonder if all his notes were in french then?or just some? he was a polygot and i guess spoke Russian, French and Polish. Inhuman Land was originally written in Polish

The soviets really were scum from 1917 onwards, the crimes they committed in Poland, via a treaty with the Nazi's were extreme and they continued spreading misery wherever they went, after 1945 as well. General Anders himself knew he could not return to Poland but many fighters for Poland were lured back in 1946 only to be interned, tortured, executed or imprisoned after show trials and lest we forget the lack of help from the Soviets outside Warsaw as the uprising broke out, happy to watch the SS destroy the uprising from afar

[Gpfr]

AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Polish artist Jozef Czapski ..."
His prison-camp lectures on Proust, also in NYRB, are a small marvel...."

i wonder if all his notes were in french then?..."

No, as far as one can read them, they seem to be mostly Polish (I assume that it's Polish!).
I like this self-portrait:

[AB76]

Struggling with Waterland by Graham Swift. Its displaying numerous modern novel faults and particular modern english novel faults, despite it being over 40 years old

The potential was there, is there maybe, for a very interesting regional novel but the dead body and the slimy, dirty feel is putting me off fast , as is the style of writing. A shame but i will keep plugging on.

[RussellinVT]

AB76 wrote: "Struggling with Waterland by Graham Swift. Its displaying numerous modern novel faults and particular modern english novel faults, despite it being over 40 years old

The potential was there, is there maybe, for a very interesting regional novel but the dead body and the slimy, dirty feel is putting me off fast , as is the style of writing. A shame but i will keep plugging on."

It didn’t grab me either. The author seemed to be hard at work, trying to generate a watery image at every turn, and the story wasn’t overwhelming, yet another on a standard modern theme. I read it when it came out, and I’ve never re-visited Graham Swift, distinguished as he is. But don't let me put you off!

[AB76]

Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Struggling with Waterland by Graham Swift. Its displaying numerous modern novel faults and particular modern english novel faults, despite it being over 40 years old

The potential was..."

i fear i have lost the way with it, it will all depend on my next read, sadly after a really good "modern" read year, which is unusual, the standard seems to be slithering back to average

[RussellinVT]

Fantaisie allemande – Philippe Claudel (2022)

A slim collection of five varied stories spanning a century but all relating in one way or another to the German experience of 1933-45. They are well told, in precise language. This was for me an introduction to Claudel (who seems to be very eminent in French literary circles), and it was quite impressive. In a short space he made you interested in each of his characters. I shall be looking out for more of his.

[Robert]

Poking around in the current facility's small library, I found Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus." This fantasy novel is new to me; fantastic images and visual ideas, and strong enough characterization that I keep turning the pages. People who dislike magic in stories will find much to dislike, but I find it fresh and new. Rumors on the internet of a film, but "Night Circus" has too much story, too many characters, and far too many visual ideas for a feature film. It might work as a TV miniseries.
I enjoyed "Patriot Pirates" by Robert H. Patton. At the time of the American Revolution, the seaboard states enlisted hundreds of privately-owned vessels, ranging from longboats to armed warships, to attack British shipping. An age of fighting sail, almost all of it new to me, opens up.