Ersatz TLS discussion
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What are we reading? 18/11/2024
Gpfr wrote: "Anyone who enjoys reading Jay Rayner's restaurant reviews in The Observer, which will come to an end in February as he goes to the FT, may be interested in these 2 articles. Also in the 1st articl..."
Another one here. Do let me know if this is not allowed and I will remove.
https://archive.ph/WkORi
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"Another one here...."
No problem.
It's much the same as the article from the Jewish Chronicle.
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Logger24 wrote: "GP/giveus - Thanks for those articles. I wasn’t aware of the pending sale. It looks like something cooked up by K Viner and the CEO of Guardian Media Group, Anna Bateson. The CFO of GMG had better ..."i'm not keen on the Observer sale at all, i remember it as a sunday paper of great interest and its been merged with the Guardian for a while. I like Tortoise media idea but it doesnt look like a secure purchase and would remove the Obs staff from the Scott Trust security
Returned to Olmsted's The Slave States which were recommended by Bill, Robert or Logger last yearComing back to it fresh, i am drawn into the world of the 1850s south and he is now in South Carolina. I thought it stored the book well but evidence of moth damage, to a very worn second hand copy
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- Affairs in Syria
- The Waterloo campaign, in the light of some new documents
- Travels in Italy
- The colonial policy of France
- Picturesque literature
- The navies of Britain and France compared
- The novel in France, from Astrée to René
- A royal marriage project (this article by Guizot) from the time of Henri IV, who shortly after the accession of James VI/I sent an ambassador to London to propose the double marriage of (1) the Dauphin, later Louis XIII, with James’ daughter Princess Elisabeth, then aged 5, and (2) the Prince of Wales (Henry, not Charles), then aged 7, with Elisabeth de France, eldest daughter of Henri IV.
On the assumption that the antique store bought its stock locally, it seems there was at least one person in the slave states who liked to stay informed of current European thinking, and thought it worth paying for these 200-page volumes to be brought through the blockade.
Logger24 wrote: "Apropos slave states, I was visiting relations on the coast of Georgia some years ago and found in a most unlikely place, a small antique store on the sea front of a resort village, a few original ..."does make me wonder how significant the intelligensia of the Confederate States was. I remember i think an article or it may have been the excellent book Confederate Cities that i read, where it suggested the small intelligentsia was actually pro-union and quite at odds with the masses, questioning and curious
Fans of the BBC Xmas ghost tales will be pleased to know that an Edith Nesbit story will be adapted by Mark Gatiss, i look foward to it.The first two stories of the Henry James Ghost stories collection
have impressed me, dating from 1868 and 1874. One was a new england set tale of horror, the other a Roman tale of mystery, both well told and well paced, without too much Jamesian verbiage...
Katherine Mansfield has always interested, so much written in such a short life and her personality shines forth from my secondhand Letters and Journals, edited by Ck Stead. I very much feel that she would have been an interesting woman to be with, there is a wit and a very original style of expressing herself. I have covered 1910-1915 so far, mostly spent in NZ and France. In the latest section she witnesses a ghostly Zeppelin hovering over the city and mourns her youngest brother killed at the front. One feels sad that a talent such as this was lost at 34
I was unaware of how many lesbian relationship she had, none are mentioned so far in the Letters and Journals
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https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCyw7H...
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Tks, AB. I remember the book but hadn’t remembered that detail. The Revue belongs to an age when comfortably off people had the leisure to read periodicals where every article was a dense 20 pages. Today it seems to take quite a long time to read one 3 page article in the NYRB!
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I assume you've read her short stories, AB?
I've got a biography by Antony Alpers, described as "a definitive biography" — it dates from 1982 ... The Life of Katherine Mansfield. I don't know if there are more recent ones which are considered better. This is in fact Alpers' second biography of Mansfield and replaces his first, published in 1953. He says that it "is in no sense a revised edition".
She must have been as you say "an interesting woman to be with", but not an easy one and maybe not a very likeable one. Certainly a marvellous writer.
Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Katherine Mansfield has always interested, so much written in such a short life and her personality shines forth from my secondhand Letters and Journals, edited by Ck Stead..."I assu..."
yes i have, was impressed
she seems more likeable than i thought. i always find when reading diaries of writers you can get a sense of who they are , although most diaries are curated and chosen, filtered and picked, which means maybe the worst character defining stuff is ditched
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I've posted about this on WWR. Last week I was tempted by a little book in my local bookshop: Journal d'un marque-page by Thierry Fresne.
As the title indicates, it's a diary, the diary of a bookmark bought in the Gustave Moreau museum (Paris) by a young woman, Flore. The bookmark can think, feel, see, hear, smell — but not move or speak. It is able to read the pages in between which it is placed. When Flore begins to read War and Peace, the bookmark is happy because it'll be used for a long book, but frustrated because it only gets bits and pieces of the story. When used to mark a place in a telephone directory, it's worried it's going to be forgotten there and bored by only having names and addresses to read. A trip to Rome is a great adventure, because it marks the place in Flore's guidebook and gets taken round the city, able to see the sights when she takes it out of the book to read about the places she's visiting.
The premise of the book is fun. When I first posted I was halfway through and had my doubts about sustaining the idea for a whole book. Admittedly, it's a short book, but I think it would have been better as a short story — I got impatient with some later sections. Nevertheless, I enjoyed most of it. And I learnt quite a lot of new words. The bookmark is most erudite :)
Gpfr wrote: " I've posted about this on WWR. Last week I was tempted by a little book in my local bookshop: Journal d'un marque-page by Thierry F..."
What a lovely idea
Gpfr wrote: " I've posted about this on WWR. Last week I was tempted by a little book in my local bookshop: Journal d'un marque-page by Thierry F..."
It sounds a bit like an essay title given by our teacher for 'O' level English circa 1963... something like "Write the history of a penny..."!
Like any other subject, it can be written about well - or badly.
Not sure that this belongs here, exactly - but you may remember that I have often praised the 1960s BBC adaptations of the 'Maigret' novels, and further - that I have singled out the set design as being exceptionally accurate. I read in yesterday's Guardian that the designer responsible has just died - Eileen Diss - who iirc didn't even get a credit on the TV programme! So, at last, I know who deserved our thanks. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
scarletnoir wrote: "Not sure that this belongs here, exactly - but you may remember that I have often praised the 1960s BBC adaptations of the 'Maigret' novels, and further - that I have singled out the set design as ..."So she was responsible for the opening scene when Maigret strike a match against the wall to light his pipe?
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mai...
I can remember fancying Lapointe!
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That is some career, and I enjoyed reading about it, even though I don’t think I ever saw anything beyond the Maigret, and the Billy Bunter with sets which I remember as looking like cardboard cut-outs. What a talent, to be able to create a believable world with “one bloke and a hammer”.
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That is some career, and I enjoyed reading about it ..."
Me, too. I don't remember ever seeing the Maigret — I see it's available on YouTube, maybe I'll check it out. I've just looked at the striking the match on the wall mentioned by give :)
From the article, the only examples of her work I've seen, I think, are Jeeves and Wooster (watched not so long ago on YouTube) and the film of Pinter's Betrayal.
Texas and its envelopment into the USA in 1850 has always fascinated me, likewise the California situation a few decades laterIn Olmsted's Slave States he travels into West Texas along the new Mexican border and finds a fascinating realm far from the orthodox slaving south
Sparsely populated with most of the population in San Antonio, he finds a strong German presence, a Mexican majority and american second in number and rising fast(unlike east texas which was almost 100% american). The Germans and Mexicans are anti-slavery and dislike the practice, the americans are bringing more slaves into Texas by the month.
He witnesses shoot outs in the streets among ruffians, that can sometimes result in using "steel". Mexican entertainers tour, while americans make do with dour travelling plays. He admires the native mexican woman, dark and shapely, with their children that show a mix of heritages
Amid the lack of slaves, there is odious american hatred of the mexicans and attempts to drive them off the land. It is heartening to see this fail when a posse is summoned to effect some of this work and the local germans(with the most able bodied young men), refuse to join, ending the operation's effectivness.
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In Olmsted's Slave States he travels into West Texas along the New Mexican border.."
Interesting about all the German immigrants. You wouldn’t expect them to opt for such a hot and humid region.
giveusaclue wrote: "So she was responsible for the opening scene when Maigret strike a match against the wall to light his pipe?."I very much doubt it... I suspect that error was down to the director. Her work would have been on the incredibly detailed and authentic interiors seen in the series - bars, cafes, appartements, houses, garages, workshops, chandlers' stores... etc. But I don't know for sure.
Gpfr wrote: "I don't remember ever seeing the Maigret — I see it's available on YouTube, maybe I'll check it out."Obviously, I can't tell to what extent I'm viewing the series through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, since I grew up watching the series aged 12-15... but...
First of all, the screenwriters stuck very closely to the original stories, which is already a big plus. Secondly, rather than complicate matters wrt Maigret's sidekicks, they kept to just a few main ones - Lucas, Lapointe and Torrance*... and the excellent Madame Maigret* - never better portrayed than by the luminous Helen Shingler. Third - Rupert Davies was a good choice as a pipe-smoking drinker and lover of good food - not some skinny model type. He gave good 'bougon' and 'maussade'... quite capable of moodiness.
The settings, both interior and exterior, are the most authentic renderings in any Maigret series, including French ones*... for a simple reason: most of the exteriors really are authentic, and Eileen Diss performed miracles to reproduce the interiors with doors, locks, window frames, shutters, bar tops, bar signs.... and all that you would have seen in France in that period*.
If there are downsides, they are technical - in one episode, the camera looms into shot, and occasionally the actors fluff their lines - I'm not sure any editing was possible then or if they were reluctant to waste money on it! They were all professional enough to plough on regardless...
I've watched it recently on UK channel 82 ('Talking Pictures') though I don't think it's on at the moment and enjoyed it hugely. It still stands up* - IMO, of course.
*1: There were criticisms at the time that Janvier - who appears more often than Lucas in the books, iirc - was not included, but I don't think it really matters.
*2: Whereas Helen Shingler is charming and attractive, the choice for the role in the otherwise good French version with Bruno Cremer was Anne Bellec, who came across as a battleaxe. Incidentally, I just found out as a result of her Wikipedia entry that Shingler was mother to well known actor Anthony Head and actor/singer Murray Head:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_S...
*3: The Bruno Cremer series was often filmed in Eastern Europe - the doorways, windows, shutters etc. are all wrong!
*4: How do I know? because my parents travelled to France - or via France to Germany, Italy etc. - from the early 1950s onwards, so I was there. Plus, I've lived in France with many of those 1950s and earlier fittings, and have seen very many French films from the era.
*5: Unlike 'van der Valk' - I much enjoyed this series starring Barry Foster when it came out, but a recent attempt to watch it again was spoiled in part by too many interior scenes shot in what looked like more or less empty office spaces with extremely minimal attention to detail. I was unable to continue.
scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "I don't remember ever seeing the Maigret — I see it's available on YouTube, maybe I'll check it out."Obviously, I can't tell to what extent I'm viewing the series through the rose-ti..."
I only managed half an episode of the remake of van der Valk, it was so bad.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Texas and its envelopment into the USA in 1850 has always fascinated me, likewise the California situation a few decades laterIn Olmsted's Slave States he travels into West Texas alo..."
yes, there was only a few thousand but that was a lot in a sparsely populated region in 1850. It looks within 20-30 years they became a very small minority in Texas overall but "texan German" was spoken for decades afterwards. Many settled in the hill country of texas which was a similar climate to Germany, i'm not sure why there were so many in the San Antonio area around the shift from it being the capital of Mexican Texas to becoming a large city in the Republic of Texas
Some further light on the Germans in the San Antonio area, it seems they were sold a pup by speculators, so that when 2,000 or so reached the flat gulf coast, they travelled towards the area with high hopes, only to find the land strip[ped by the mexican war and they suffered horriblyHowever in the next few years or so leading into the late 1840s, they managed to gain a foothold on the land and bring the settlemernts of New Braunfels and Federicksburg to fruition and it was these survivors, now prospering that Olmsted found
He believes there was British government assistance in the first settlements, hoping to establish new markets in the disputed Texan lands
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Hymn to Murder by Paul Doherty.Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal and Edward II's personal envoy, comes to Devon to investigate events linked to the theft of the crown jewels, including the famous ruby, Lacrima Christi, and its casket, from Westminster Abbey 10 years previously in 1303 (a real event).
Locked room murders, ship wrecking, criminal monks and more ... all set on Dartmoor — an exciting story :)
Gpfr wrote: " Hymn to Murder by Paul Doherty.Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal and Edward II's personal envoy, comes to Devon to investigate events ..."
Sounds good.
a few more authors you may like or have already come across.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/ma...
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/s-...
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/ed...
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/be...
I'll stop now!
I'm currently reading
Ellie Reckless has left the police force after being acquitted of killing her lover, a police informant. She now works doing "favours" for the wrong side of the justice system on the basis that she can call the favours in any time it suits her. All in an attempt to nail the person who really killed him. Very odd premise but the books are decent. Best read in order.
Before that I read
the latest in the Tom Raven series set in Scarborough. Very enjoyable books especially when you have been to the area. A local MP is murdered during a civil war re-enactment in the run up to an election. Shady politicians (no change there then) shady lawyers, and shady Russian business men.
next one up will be https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
This is a hardback I will be reading and at over 650 pages not one I will be able to read in bed! A little aside - Helen Castor was Dan Jones' supervisor at Cambridge, but in the acknowledgements at the end of this book are reference to two of Dan's own books. I guess it must have given her some pleasure to know that she had helped set him on this path.
https://fortheloveofhistoryhome.wordp...
giveusaclue wrote: "I only managed half an episode of the remake of van der Valk, it was so bad..."It was certainly extremely different, and I nearly switched off as well... but then decided to treat it as if it was about a completely different character. Treated like that, it was quite entertaining!
I'm less invested in the character of 'van der Valk' - are there books? I have never read any... whereas I've devoured most or all of the Maigrets, starting aged 12 or 13 and continuing until I moved to France and re-read them in French in my 30s as a means of improving my vocablulary. Simenon is a master novelist (on his day).
So, I was less offended by the portrayal... perhaps those who have never read the novels will quite enjoy the slim, toned 'new' Maigret, but I don't think I could swallow it.
Gpfr wrote: "Edward II's personal envoy, comes to Devon to investigate events linked to the theft of the crown jewels..."A far greater theft was that perpetrated by Edward's father, Edward I* - who stole Wales from the Welsh and installed his son as the first (English) 'Prince of Wales'! ;-)
*Described, I see, as "an efficient bully" by Prof. John Gillingham.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_...
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Yes, by Nicolas Freeling. The first one is Love in Amsterdam.
I've written about Freeling fairly recently, but I've been re-visiting his Castang series (set in France) rather than the Van der Valk ones. I will re-read some of these soon.
When I first discovered Freeling most of his books were out of print, I got quite a few 2nd-hand, and then they started re-issuing them.
I've also got his Kitchen book;, bought when sold off by the British Council library. About his experiences working as a cook.
scarletnoir wrote: "A far greater theft was that perpetrated by Edward's father, Edward I* - who stole Wales from the Welsh and installed his son as the first (English) 'Prince of Wales'! ;-)*Described, I see, as "an efficient bully" by Prof. John Gillingham.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_...."
Weren't most medieval kings bullies Scarlet?
So, I was less offended by the portrayal... perhaps those who have never read the novels will quite enjoy the slim, toned 'new' Maigret, but I don't think I could swallow it.
I really couldn't stand Rowan Atkinson as Maigret, he was dreadful. Michael Gambon wasn't bad though
I'm less invested in the character of 'van der Valk' - are there books?
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/ni...
Fortunately, we are allowed to go off topic here. Even as a non-religious person, I find this news delightful:https://archive.ph/UkLA6
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https://archive.ph/UkLA6"
More pictures here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gal...
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Haven't read these — lots to investigate!
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I'm enjoying Dino Buzzati's Contes de Noël et autres textes which I've posted about on WWR. Italian title: Il panettone non bastò, translated into French by Delphine Gachet.
Buzzati was also a journalist for the Corriere della Sera and this book consists of 33 pieces published at Christmas time from 1934 - 71.
I'm reading one each night when I go to bed. The piece from December 1940 describes the creche made by the sailors on a cruiser on which he was sailing as a war correspondent.
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Fortunately, we are allowed to go off topic here. Even as a non-religious person, I find this news delightful:https://archive.ph/UkLA6"
More pictures here:
https://www.thegua..."
Fabulous. Let us hope that it is well alarmed and sprinklered now!
I remember a programme about the fire fighters, a woman fighter, called out to her first job, going up the towers with her boss, and they had one chance to save them collapsing. And did it, at great risk to themselves.
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "a few more authors you may like or have already come across..."Haven't read these — lots to investigate!"
We do keep one another busy reading!
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https://archive.ph/UkLA6"
More pictures here:
https://www.thegua..."
Those are all lovely pictures. The restored interior reminds me of a movie which came out in maybe the 1960s/70s. It might have been The Lion in Winter. It was in colour and there was a scene in a cathedral. I remember being completely surprised at how the stone was clean and bright, which of course it would be 8-9 centuries ago - and how empty it was, with no pews.
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I'm enjoying Dino Buzzati's Contes de Noël et autres textes which I've posted about on WWR...."Following in your tracks. Got it on Kindle.
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All very interesting, thanks, AB. I'm going to watch out for any evidence of a German culture surviving in today's Texas.
Logger24 wrote: "The restored interior reminds me of a movie which came out in maybe the 1960s/70s. It might have been The Lion in Winter. It was in colour and there was a scene in a cathedral. I remember being completely surprised at how the stone was clean and bright, which of course it would be 8-9 centuries ago - and how empty it was, with no pews."
A brilliant film. Of course, the phrase "going to the wall" comes from the fact that cathedrals had no seating in those times. A ledge along the walls was provided for the elderly or infirm (and therefore likely to be not long for this world) to sit on.
Wonder if the aristos had to stand too?
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The restored interior reminds me of a movie ... there was a scene in a cathedral. I remember being completely surprised at how the stone was clean and bright, which of course it would be 8-9 centuries ago - and how empty it was, with no pews."
A brilliant film. Of course, the phrase "going to the wall" comes from the fact that cathedrals had no seating in those times...."
I didn't know that was the origin of that phrase — interesting!
I find the cleanness and brightness of the restored Notre Dame in the photos disconcerting, particularly the floor. I'll see what the effect is in reality when we're allowed to go in.
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Now I'm reading and enjoying William Boyd's The Romantic.At present the hero is in Italy associating with the Shelleys and Byron, having been wounded at Waterloo without actually having got as far as taking part in the battle, but nevertheless getting a medal and a pension, and then having to leave the East India Company's army after refusing to shoot surrendering villagers in Ceylon.
Lots of adventures still to come!
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Good one, giveus. I’d forgotten it. The old editions of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable used to be full of excellent origin stories like that. Then an efficient editor got hold of it and removed every explanation that was plausible but to a degree speculative, and destroyed all its charm at a stroke.
Logger24 wrote: "Good one, giveus. I’d forgotten it. The old editions of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable used to be full of excellent origin stories like that. Then an efficient editor got hold of it and removed every explanation that was plausible but to a degree speculative, and destroyed all its charm at a stroke."What a pedantic misery. I'm all for a bit of pedantry in the right place, but not to take the fun out of things.
Logger24 wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Some further light on the Germans in the San Antonio area..."All very interesting, thanks, AB. I'm going to watch out for any evidence of a German culture surviving in today's Texas."
i hope there is some but of course what was a diverse border country in the 1850s would have probably become very Anglo within the next 30 years, thouigh now that area probably has become increasingly Latino since Ww2
I spent yesterday in London, visiting graves of relatives stretched in the north and east of the city from over 100 years agoI was especially beguiled by Tower Hamlets Cemetery(once Mile End Cemetery) which is one of the "Magnificent Seven" victorian cemeteries established in 1841, as church burial grounds became overwhlemed.
Set in wooded glades,packed with graves, literally graves on graves, from ornate mini-temples, to tiny stumps in the undergrowth and handsome tall headstones weathered by damp into mossy dark green. Overhead parakeets screeched and tower blocks hovered between bare branches of mighty trees
I really didnt expect it to be so grand and it was nice to be there before darkness fell to appreciate its beauty....
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Ersatz TLS
Books mentioned in this topic
The Romantic (other topics)Contes de Noël et autres textes (other topics)
Contes de Noël et autres textes (other topics)
Love in Amsterdam (other topics)
Kitchen book; (other topics)
More...
Also in the 1st article is the opinion of the until-recently editor of The Obs on the sale of the paper. The 2nd gives another reason for JR's move ...
https://pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/m...
https://www.thejc.com/news/revealed-j...