Reading the 20th Century discussion
General
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Welcome to The Midnight Bell (a virtual pub and general discussion thread) (2025)
G wrote: "Phrodrick is determined to clear a growing backlog wrote: "Mussolini-era That is a term for which the US will have a lot of use."
I should probably read up on Mussolini. I know a lot more about ..."
If you want something straightforward and very readable could try Caroline Moorehead's Mussolini's Daughter: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe and A Bold and Dangerous Family together they'll give you the basics. Sound as far as info goes but meant for more general readers.
Ben wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Was anyone else locked out of their account for a while? GR wouldn't recognise my email as valid, seems okay now but have set up a backup GR acct and friended myself just in case! ..."
I've been meaning to as well but this made me finally get around to it. Won't repeat the actual reviews now but enter the books as I read them plus ratings/dates so can move stuff across later if need be.
But this week seems pretty much a blighted one, couldn't get hold of a friend who's in the middle of medical treatment as she was on the network that crashed. Managed to injure my wrist. Was woken up in the middle of the night by a bizarrely loud crash so was checking the front/back garden with a torch, in my pjs, in the wee, small hours - rushed out before I realised it was also raining!
As for Trump, he's really outdoing himself, as are his supporters. Can't believe so many people would rather have "segregated" loos than access to medical treatment, reproductive rights, and even the right not to be tried and possibly even executed for having or being suspected of having an abortion. Think you have the right idea Nigey the news this week has been fairly awful across the board, wish I was one of those people who could switch off from it.
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It takes a while to export the first time, after that it's faster - I try to remember to do it every few months.
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Me too, but I'd be more anxious not knowing what Trump and friends were doing. Also, I need the scant comfort of reinforcement that other people are as appalled as we are. Active engagement is what stops me from sliding into a completely bleak mood.
Hey, I want credit too! See "export" in Msg 51. 😂
Roman Clodia wrote: "Does everyone know there's a really easy export function which you can access via the 'My Books' tab? From there, the bottom item on the left-hand menu is 'tools' then 'import and export' from ther..."Very helpful, thanks. I did this earlier today, but I cannot how to access my reviews. There's a cell for them in the spreadsheet, but only room for about 5 words, and I do not know how to access the rest. Any one able to advise me? (I have an older version of Excel because it comes with 365 Office, but don't really know how to work with it.)
Alwynne wrote: "Can't believe so many people would rather have "segregated" loos than access to medical treatment,..."I think most people don't want what is happening. I think there are a lot of people with grievances, some of which are legitimate, and the great majority of them convinced themselves that T would only do unto "those others", somehow without harming them.
Personally, I think one of our underlying problems here is that the right has been undermining education for decades, and especially has demeaned and devalued the humanities. Combine that with the ridiculous cost of higher education, and the privatizing of what used to be public access to that (Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together was eye-opening on this topic for me when I read it last year) plus the on-going effects of the 2008 financial crisis (which seems to have reinforced the idea that college/university is vocational training for a specific career path), and we have huge swaths of population who have never learned to think critically or put anything into a larger context. And an awful lot of people working 2 or 3 jobs to pay rent and medical costs, which leaves very little time for reading up on anything. I've also noticed an alarming amount of sloppiness and gullibility among many people I know in the evangelical Christian world (a good many of the folks I know are there, because that's where I grew up, and spent my adult life till about a dozen years ago, when I finally said "enough" and left for a more progressive church) when it comes to stories pertaining to "persecution" and "moral decline", and I think that it's not really possible to stop thinking critically in only one area. There's also an awful lot of wanting two incompatible things without admitting that they are incompatible. Surely there's a term for that, but I don't know what it is.
Also a willful ignorance about the consequences of what they want. One of my friends, my longest-standing friend, in fact, posted last fall in regard to the rigid abortion bans that a number of states have passed that certain outcomes of pregnancy don't count as abortion. Well, they are not things that one would think of as abortion, but some of them are called abortion in a medical context. She wants her private definition of "abortion" to guide everyone else. Problem is, the laws are not being written that way. Also, medical terminology doesn't work that way. I understand what she's getting at; she means "I never wanted pregnant women to die because they are pregnant and can't get medical care", but she's not willing to face up to the reality that she is supporting a political movement that advocates for poorly designed laws that reduce a complex and nuanced field to a binary choice, and impose draconian penalties on anyone whom the movement decides has made the wrong decision.
Too many people who voted for T see the world as binary in every respect, not just with regard to gender.
For what it’s worth, I am coping by creating: knitting and writing. I'm designing a scarf which I may wind up calling my "Hell, No!" scarf, because I thought of the project explicitly in rejection of the fascist taste for brutality and cruelty. I've also started publishing short bits on Substack, something I'd thought of doing for a long time. I'm not planning to write political commentary. We have plenty of that, by people who are more able and experienced in that than I. But how can any of us write as if the political situation isn't there, destroying everything good that has happened in the last 70-100 years in this country.
Alwynne wrote: "But this week seems pretty much a blighted one, couldn't get hold of a friend who's in the middle of medical treatment as she was on the network that crashed. Managed to injure my wrist...."I meant to say that I hope your friend is ok. How is your wrist?
I got carried away on my soap box and forgot. Sorry!
G wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Can't believe so many people would rather have "segregated" loos than access to medical treatment,..."I think most people don't want what is happening. I think there are a lot of ..."
Thanks G, that seems a more than fair summation, and you're right so many struggling to keep their heads above water there's probably little to no headspace for anything else. But do feel terrible for the many, many moderate to liberal Americans now saddled with this nightmare administration. Although good to see pushback happening already. Obviously not the same but there'll be consequences here too, with the changes in climate policy, trade etc
And yes have had run-ins with Christian fundamentalists too, and no reasoning with them as far as I can see. I thought Marian Budde was very brave to stand up for a more tolerant brand of Christianity which seems to have been shunted aside, although reading her sermon in the Guardian not sure how easy it is to find common ground with people who are potentially so directly damaging. I'm glad you found a church community that's a better fit for you. My impression is that when that kind of fellowship works it can be a very positive thing, certainly Quaker and Jewish friends who attend synagogue say that's the case.
It's quite dispiriting, I think, when friends make choices that have such disastrous consequences without thinking them through. And must have been hard for you to hear.
My wrist is okay-ish, I was lifting heavy plants/plant pots and held one at the wrong angle so sprained my left wrist, it's quite achy but only at certain angles when it just gives way. But sure it will heal soon enough. My friend had her tests but now needs more tests has some issues that seem to be kidney related but doctors seem a bit stumped, as she doesn't fit the profile of someone who should be having these kinds of problems. She's super fit, doesn't drink or smoke and eats a horribly healthy diet, so has been a bit thrown by suddenly feeling very ill.
Knitting and writing sound like positive options, I tend to go for lots of walks and try out new recipes - I find cooking very relaxing. I think anything that requires concentration like that - imagine knitting similar - is good for distracting and relaxing the mind.
Well this has turned into quite the healing thread for me to read--thank you all. I agree with G that most people don't know what's happening. Those of us that keep up are wringing our hands and tearing out our hair, while a large swath of the population is just not into it. But as she says, most are struggling just to stay afloat.I recently read Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America, which spells out how the US economic disparities have been exacerbated since the 80's, due to some (evil) political moves, and I think there was a selfishness that took over then too, a "greed is good" mentality. The idea of people voting their own interests has surpassed any idea of concern for the whole, of shared sacrifice. When I was in college many of us wanted to save the world, but in the 80's I noticed a huge shift to business majors. All that to say, I completely agree about your humanities point too, G.
I'm just trying to keep one foot in, looking for ways to fight back, and one foot out, trying to keep my sanity. Nature, knitting and cooking all sound like great ideas, but my go-to has always been a good novel. :-)
G wrote: " I did this earlier today, but I cannot how to access my reviews. There's a cell for them in the spreadsheet, but only room for about 5 words, and I do not know how to access the rest...."I will try it myself later and let you know, but I hope, based on some other comments and prior experience with Excel, that even though the words aren't easy to see in the cell they will be visible in the edit line above the grid and can be seen even in the cell if you change the formatting to enlarge the cell.
But I will do the export and check it out myself to confirm my assumption.
Thanks for the comments here on coping with the beginnings of the T***p era. Budde was very brave in her remarks and even though T***p's ears were certainly closed I'm sure they had an impact on some others. We all want things that turn out to be incompatible with each other. A mature, wise mind sees the difficulties. A child wants it all, NOW.Right now we're drowning in the flood of executive orders, firings, press releases and appointments of monsters to take over essential government functions. It's impossible to comprehend it all. And effective resistance to the whole exercise is impossible with MAGA control of all three branches of government.
But points of resistance will emerge, such as the district court in Washington saying there is no possible constitutional basis for T***p's order ending birthright citizenship. And this is from a judge appointed by Reagan! The midterm elections are just 22 months away.
My coping strategies include limiting myself to news that explains exactly what is happening and avoiding 90% of the endless opinion pieces expounding on (or celebrating) the outrages or trying to predict what the next ones will be. Jamelle Bouie in the NYT has been excellent, as are Joyce Vance and Paul Krugman on substack and JCO on Bluesky and Twitter. I want to understand and not become lost in the sense of doom.
Immersing myself in Proust rather than NYT editorials also helps a lot.
I saw a play this week "What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank" based on a short story by Nathan Englander and unfortunately it didn't help me at all. Listening to the secular Jewish couple and the fundamentalist ultra-orthodox couple argue about everything, decaying to a physical fight in the penultimate scene, was just more of the same for me, without any transcendence or pointing to a way through. And without giving away the final scene, the resolution didn't undo the limitations of the rest of the play. Not all art is restorative.
I have to believe that T***p will overreach himself and lose popular support, but my fear is that failure will only make him double down on the hate and the culture wars and turn to violence and even more repression.
Great discussion . I was raised a Quaker by socialist parents who were post war pacifists , in a chaotic and difficult household ( parents health problems , no money , violence etc ) . Free university education was my salvation, The Pill and abortion rights my liberation as well as the cheap housing, good rent laws, a welfare safety net and unshakable expectation by myself and society that I would be independent at eighteen . It was the nineteen seventies then the eighties and the great wrecking ball of neoliberalism was describing its relentless arc across the North as factories closed , mines abandoned and the welfare state creaked and groaned . It was , effectively , a civil war in the eighties , and the rigid block of mainly white male collectivism gave way to individual rights campaigns and action for women , sexuality, disability and race . I participated in protest, engaged in politics , worked hard in my profession , raised a family . The battle was lost in the nineties ..we were now supposed to be content with eating out , choice and choice choice , exotic holidays , eating out again , plastic surgery , buying shares , eating out again , gym membership and five fruit a day . No more youth clubs , adult education , no more strong local councils , no more renters rights , no more employment rights as temporary contracts replaced regular employees .no more free anything excepting the Church of the NHS which always needs a new roof , or if you can crawl on all fours to to an impersonal assessment centre to demonstrate your desperate need for help . I claimed benefit in the naughties and it was brutal and dehumanizing . I appealed and won but it took a year out of my life . I have also had to acquire informal expertise in such riveting areas as pension rights , utility choices , welfare benefits , insurances , parking hacks , and education options as I now need to be an expert consumer in the fullest aspects of everyday life . Its relentless, dull and time consuming ..There is no longer a compassionate safety net , It's all on you , baby . Go to the food bank , practice mindfulness , eat five a day , listen to a celebrity who has solved their addiction while you huddle in your damp cold house . It's all about heros and villains. Good and evil . Innocent and guilty . Blame them , blame yourself, Blame . Blame Blame . The structure supporting us are fragile .Need a stable home . sorry. We have a rentier class who can turf your family out without reason . Need a chance to educate yourself without debt . No sorry. Need a good local school within walking distance . Only if you can afford to live there. Need help with the care of a dependent relative. No sorry . No respite. Need to find sanctuary in a country that is a thousand times safer than the one you've fled. No sorry .Need simply to speak to someone on the phone who can grasp your problem and your desperation and offer a solution. No sorry . Oh and constantly remind us all there is no money as the immigrants / dissolute poor are gobbling it all up . Unless , of course , there's a war or a pandemic . Then we're all in it together Mr Cameron. Mr Johnson. My decades long solution to this madness, like others here , has been to resist . Trouble is now that most of us are either too busy keeping heads above water without support or caring for those we love to have much time for anything else . What sustained me despite being a single parent and carer for decades and working ridiculous hours was my local community : social clubs , gigs , neighbours , Quaker meeting , walking club relentlessly pushing my anger in front of me across the windswept moors and feeling it pulse away in the wild winds with the cry of the lonely curlew .I was very lucky to be able to do that .
I have no answers I'm afraid . I only know that reading, and friendship is my salvation, music, walking and swimming to take me out of myself , football to bring belonging, joy and passion and frustration and mostly a brain I see as my favourite plaything , no longer harnessed to work .I live in a beautiful but poor town where the local council struggles to keep the most vulnerable safe . I am getting old and getting tired and the news is often more than I can bear . But I am an optimist and I don't know why . Perhaps because the future looks grim but so has it at so many times in the past . That's all ... I'm reaching across The Pond to you all my American friends to say all this . We are stronger together.
We have overlapped Ben . great advice about switching off the 24 / 7 opinions . It's simply a device to keep you engaged and enraged.
Thank you Hester for your very personal post. It's great to hear your story. (Edited to be clear I was responding to Hester's first post 😉)
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Yes, thank you, Hester (and Ben), especially for these wise words. It's all too easy to get overwhelmed with helplessness - and that's exactly what the Trumps of this world want.
It's important that we look after ourselves and others - self-care is all the more important under these grim circumstances. We should recognize the difference between knowing enough about what is going on to inspire action and resistance, to provide moral and physical energy, and the kind of doom-scrolling that drowns us.
It's a cliche but even friendship, support, calm and laughter are ways of fighting back against the out spewing of hate with the target of division. Kindness, too, in our daily lives is a way of fighting back. As is allowing ourselves space to take comfort where we can. Reading in general and this group in particular is a haven of generosity, wit, empathy and open-heartedness - so thank you to everyone here for making it such an ongoing pleasure.
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G, as Ben mentioned, if you click in the review cell it will open up and you will see your review in full. Depending on which version of Excel you have, it may appear at the top of the spreadsheet.
Alternatively, if you go to the top of the sheet where each column is given an alphabetical label, you can hover at the dividing line between your review cell and the next and drag your cursor to widen the review cell - that will open up the size of the cell. You can also hide any cells, like ID, by right clicking them selecting 'hide' - this gives more room for what you do want to see.
Oh, and I should have said that the export is in csv. format - from the file menu, choose 'save as' then make it an Excel sheet as this makes it clearer and easier to format.
I treat these downloads as a storage rather than reading reviews from them. It means they're all saved and, if you needed to, you could always copy any reviews into a Word doc.
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Hahaha, if my colleagues and work IT staff could read this their jaws would drop! I want to print out your post and stick it over my desk 🤯
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Stand Up to Racism and their associated trade unions and others were out in force, Socialist Worker is back on the streets with a young contingent chatting to locals, and BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) have reviewed and updated their active campaigns: Amazon is a pressure target rather than a boycott target given how hard it is for many people to find alternative places to buy essentials - and it was interesting to see that they've set up an unofficial placard outside my local Waterstones suggesting people buy books, if possible, from there rather than Amazon (if only Waterstones had the books I wanted in stock!)
Too bad book businesses such as Barnes and Noble in the US or the strongest booksellers in Europe didn’t come up with the Bezos model first. If I want to buy a book I have been using reseller sites like Abe’s and only using Amazon as last choice. Local booksellers are few and rarely have what I want.
Ben wrote: "But I will do the export and check it out myself to confirm my assumption."Yes, confirmed. It works just as RC described.
Susan_MG wrote: "Too bad book businesses such as Barnes and Noble in the US or the strongest booksellers in Europe didn’t come up with the Bezos model first. If I want to buy a book I have been using reseller sites..."I hate to say this but are you aware AbeBooks is owned by Amazon? As is Goodreads. You can't avoid Bezos that easily.
Ben wrote: "But points of resistance will emerge, such as the district court in Washington saying there is no possible constitutional basis for T***p's order ending birthright citizenship. And this is from a judge appointed by Reagan! The midterm elections are just 22 months away."Indeed, and others like ACLU already filed the lawsuits. The 14th amendment, section 1 is clear: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
It originated in reaction to the previous ruling by the Court (Dred Scott case) that made a freed slave born in the US or a free man born to a former slave ineligible to be a US citizen. The amendment categorically repudiated it.
Martin wrote: "Susan_MG wrote: "Too bad book businesses such as Barnes and Noble in the US or the strongest booksellers in Europe didn’t come up with the Bezos model first. If I want to buy a book I have been usi..."So is The Book Depository, Audible, and Avalon Books. This is one of the reasons I refuse to use Audible.
I'd forgotten that they own MGM studios. Knew they owned IMdB.
I use this Wikipedia entry when I want to check on what they own:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
Vesna wrote: "Ben wrote: "But points of resistance will emerge, such as the district court in Washington saying there is no possible constitutional basis for T***p's order ending birthright citizenship. And this..."Yes. I'm equally upset by the fake proclamations revoking LBJ's executive order intended to prevent discrimination and stopping the work of the civil rights division of the DOJ. The DOJ was founded to protect the civil rights (and, by taking down the KKK, the lives) of formerly enslaved Black Americans.
Hester wrote: "Great discussion . I was raised a Quaker by socialist parents who were post war pacifists , in a chaotic and difficult household ( parents health problems , no money , violence etc ) . Free univers..."thank you, Hester. Appreciate your sharing your personal story as much as I do your encouragement,
My thanks to RC and Ben for the instructions on saving my download and accessing the reviews within the spreadsheet.I just wanted to be sure the full text of the reviews was preserves. These days I compose them in Word, then copy and paste, which gives me a readable record. Sometimes, though, I make some changes after pasting. And the older reviews were written up within GR, so this is their only backup.
Thanks for this technical hack Roman C . really useful . I'm also pleased to say that a friend has given me an unused Kindle Paperwhite , thus solving my dilemma about e books . While I wanted to be able to download books from Borrowbox and Libby I am delighted to have my ebook needs solved in such a generous and unlooked for way . Besides I've already got too many unread books and access to a wonderful back catalogue at Leeds Library .
G wrote: "Martin wrote: "Susan_MG wrote: "Too bad book businesses such as Barnes and Noble in the US or the strongest booksellers in Europe didn’t come up with the Bezos model first. If I want to buy a book ..."I frequently buy from Powell's - an independent (I think) bookstore located in Portland, Oregon. They started in Chicago but split off from the Chicago store.
To be honest, I buy where I find it cheapest. And I definitely buy too many Kindle books. And am stuck with Fire TV. I don't think I knew about MGM or IMDb.
Oh yes, Powell’s is a good one. I lived within walking distance of. The famed City Lights book store when I lived in San Francisco.I loved the magic of the place.
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The wait is over and we are thrilled to reveal the Special Guests for the 2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the world's largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction taking place 17-20 July.
Among the star-studded line up curated by 2025 Festival Programming Chair Mick Herron, with the programming committee, are Attica Locke, Irvine Welsh, Kate Atkinson, Kate Mosse, Lee and Andrew Child, Mark Billingham, Paula Hawkins, Steph McGovern and Val McDermid.
From an exclusive preview of the 30th Jack Reacher novel to topical talks with leading US crime writer and New Blood alumna Attica Locke, we'll bring crime writing icons to the heart of the crime fiction community, with witty murder mysteries, dynamic double acts, and an unmissable lineup
Obviously, some I know. I need members help with:
Irvine Welsh - where to start? Any thoughts outside of Trainspotting
Kate Mosse - I never knew she wrote crime, which I assume are historical mysteries. Any ideas or suggestions?
Well, it's been an exciting night here in Philadelphia. I am completely amped up from watching some of the live coverage. I am not directly affected, nor is anyone that I know personally. That's a relief to me personally, but it's no help to all the people affected by this horrific plane crash. We still don't know how many casualties. Nor are they saying yet how many homes have burned, though apparently the fires are all under control or extinguished.I have 100 items out from the library at the moment (every time I return 8 books, 12 more show up. Should I stop returning books and see if that slows down the attack of the library holds?
Right now, I'm too wound up to read any of them.
G wrote: "Well, it's been an exciting night here in Philadelphia. I am completely amped up from watching some of the live coverage. I am not directly affected, nor is anyone that I know personally. That's a ..."I saw this earlier tonight. They figured out how to get me back watching the news - have a plane wreck every couple of days. Haven't heard why this plane went down - probably have to wait until they have time to investigate.
But peeved with the orange idiot blaming the Washington crash on DEI. Yeah, right!
Jan C wrote: "G wrote: "Well, it's been an exciting night here in Philadelphia. I am completely amped up from watching some of the live coverage. I am not directly affected, nor is anyone that I know personally...."Philadelphia has a Black female mayor. I imagine he'll blame her for causing this crash. It'll be complete rubbish like all the other DEI stuff. He's also releasing millions of gallons of water in California, just letting it run down rivers without benefitting anyone, because he can. Farmers are going to need that water in a few months.
It's completely unclear what happened, but the plane was in the air for about 30 seconds and came down like a missile at a 45° angle just 4 miles from the airport, so it sounds like some kind of major mechanical issue.
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www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/202...
Roman Clodia wrote: "A good comment article from Rebecca Solnit today on everyday resistance: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/202..."
Thanks R. C. and, unrelated, an article that confirms some of my suspicions about Rachel Cusk that might be of interest:
https://thelondonmagazine.org/article...
G wrote: "Jan C wrote: "G wrote: "Well, it's been an exciting night here in Philadelphia. I am completely amped up from watching some of the live coverage. I am not directly affected, nor is anyone that I kn..."Glad you are okay in Philadelphia, G. Two horrific events. And our president gets away with being a cruel idiot.
Everything he said about California was a lie. He didn't release anything. From the CA Dept of Water Resources: “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days,” the agency posted. “State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”
I think so many of us keep thinking this is just too ridiculous to actually be happening, and yet, it is.
And just a reminder the new mini-series related to the life of Jane Austen starts tonight and should be on iplayer later:https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/m...
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Thanks, that's such a great article making persuasive arguments - it left me feeling quite uncomfortable about bypassing some of those concerns in my reading of Cusk.
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Oh, that's tonight? I wasn't impressed by the novel as I felt it left both Jane and Cassandra as personality-free vessels but I'm sure the actors can fill in those gaps.
Edit: all four episodes are already available on iplayer. Mr RC is a recentish convert to Austen and has been slowly making his way through the novels - we even went to Bath for his birthday last year, so looking forward to watching this.
Roman Clodia wrote: "Just seen the news from America - a horrible confluence of events. Good to know you can always rely on your leader to choose the most aggressive, unhelpful, downright wrong response!"Yes. As if planning (and now starting) a trade war with our closest neighbors and biggest trading partners wasn't enough. Or a coup that has allowed a private citizen previously denied security clearance unrestricted access to government computer systems, including personal and banking records for every single American who interacts with the government. Or the invasions he seems to be genuinely planning.
And an opposition party who seems to think it's required to "work with" an administration bent on destroying democracy.
Personally, I don't get the fascination with dictatorship. It worked out so well for Germany, Spain, Italy, to say nothing of the current situation in Russia and Hungary.
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I read the essay on Cusk and was surprised that it didn’t mention Annie Ernaux. How would she be thought of under this type of analysis?
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Emma (other topics)Sea Now (other topics)
Decline and Fall (other topics)
A Handful of Dust (other topics)
Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Evelyn Waugh (other topics)Elizabeth Taylor (other topics)
Celia Fremlin (other topics)
Sylvia Townsend Warner (other topics)
Adrian McKinty (other topics)
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Only friends ca..."
I've had other problems with my account but not that one. Probably a good idea to export and backup your account to save your considerable body of reviews. I keep meaning to do that, and now I will!