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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Readme: the book thread.
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Kitten
Shipmate
# 1179
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Posted
I just finished 'The Shepherd's Crown'. A fitting swan song, tissues were needed.
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Maius intra qua extra
Never accept a ride from a stranger, unless they are in a big blue box
Posts: 2330 | From: Carmarthenshire | Registered: Aug 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Yes - but I had a curious aftermath (and in the ancient sense of the grass regrowing after the hay being made, too.) While reading "The Shepherd's Crown" I had noticed a few things which I couldn't tie up properly to what I had previously read, and had the awful feeling that either I had read "I Shall Wear Midnight" much too fast, and skipped bits, or that I had started to develop a loss of memory.
However, following a comment from someone elswhere about "Equal Rites", I checked that up on Wikipedia (having the recliner chair reclining at the time, and ER being downstairs, as well) and found a reference to Eskarina showing up in "Midnight", which I definitely did not recall, because wanting to know what happened to her was something I had thought about recently.
So I went downstairs and got both ER and ISWM, and found that the flap at the front of ISWM was inserted at the end of Chapter 3. Research by sampling further on suggested that I had not read past there, odd though this seemed.
Using hindsight, I think I had started it just before I went to family for Christmas, where I had been given a book, which I had switched to out of politeness. Why I didn't return to the Pratchett afterwards, I know not, but I spent Friday night reading ISWM into Saturday morning.
Which is why I am very tired now. But happy. And reading all of Tiffany again.
My great-grandfather was a shepherd on the Chalk. When he died, the local paper reported that he had loved his sheep as much as his family. (Or maybe more?)
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Jemima the 9th
Shipmate
# 15106
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Posted
Our church book group will now be tackling Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill. Crumbs, but it's hard work. I can only hope my reward will be in heaven....
Anybody else read it? How did you get on? (This is a thinly disguised, frantic plea for someone to say "It'll get easier once you get into it")
Posts: 801 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2009
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kitten:
I just finished 'The Shepherd's Crown'. A fitting swan song, tissues were needed.
I got it on Kindle and have just finished. A lovely finale indeed. Farewell, Terry.
I did feel that there was more of the genuine Terry in it than in the most recent, Raising Steam, which I felt was clearly not just Terry's authorship.
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I am going to have to reread Ken McNamara's "The Star-crossed Stone", which I am wondering if Terry came across. Non-fiction, it examines the history of the interaction between micraster fossils and humans - how they became the shepherds' crowns, among other things.
I have one myself, but it's not perfect.
Terry does women (and girls) very well, doesn't he?
[ 30. August 2015, 21:03: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I just picked up a used copy of Period Piece by Gwen Raverat. She was a grand-daughter of Charles Darwin, and this seems to be an innocuous memoir of life in the 1880s. Has anyone ever read it?
I belive that my mother was fond of it. Late C19 Cambridge, fairly intellectual, life, lots of Darwins and Wedgwoods (a formidable clan, still going strong)?
[ 30. August 2015, 21:47: Message edited by: Albertus ]
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I am about a third of the way in. I would say that any organizational gene skipped this generation, but otherwise well worth while.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I read Period Piece back in the heyday of the mini skirt - and was suitably gobsmacked by the detail of how many layers of underwear were considered proper in the Edwardian era. And also why these multitudinous petticoats were often a bit smelly.
Being in need these days of a lot of light distraction, I'm chomping through the Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Yesterday I finished a reread of Kim - I wonder how many times I have read it over the years?
Putting the book back on the shelf and wondering what to read next my eye was drawn by the cover of Armistead Maupin's Michael Tolliver Lives so this afternoon I finished that as well. A very evocative and funny book revisiting many of the characters from his Tales of the City series back in the last century - now older but not a whit wiser.
Not quite fair really, perhaps the wisdom is in no longer worrying if we appear foolish as we age.
Is that wisdom?
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Yesterday I finished a reread of Kim - I wonder how many times I have read it over the years?
I re-read Kim at the time when the Middle East started heating up. When I read it earlier, the whole spying business almost went past me.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
Have been reading my way through Miriam Drori's debut novel, Neither Here Nor There. Given the title, it's ironic that one my biggest bugbears about the book is that while it is set in Jerusalem, it's fairly lacking in a sense of place.
But if you like a light, dialogue-driven romance then I suppose it's OK.
Should finish it tonight, before I start on Albert Schweitzer's classic The Quest of the Historical Jesus.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
I've been Delderfielding again! Today I finished a reread of To Serve Them All May Days still as good, still as mushy - but I like well written mushy.
Gazing at my fiction shelf wondering what to take next and chose an early Le Carré Call For The Dead which I was enjoying immediately.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
As I recall To Serve Them All My Days is set at a boys' boarding school. Is there a great deal of school stuff, or does the plot revolve more around the teacher-protagonist's personal life?
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
I've been Delderfielding again! Today I finished a reread of To Serve Them All May Days still as good, still as mushy - but I like well written mushy.
Gazing at my fiction shelf wondering what to take next and chose an early Le Carré Call For The Dead which I was enjoying immediately.
May I suggest, for your next read, Le Carré's A Murder of Quality , which will very neatly bridge the worlds of the two books you mention.
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
As I recall To Serve Them All My Days is set at a boys' boarding school. Is there a great deal of school stuff, or does the plot revolve more around the teacher-protagonist's personal life?
Well I suppose the answer to that question rather depends on what you want it to be! I could make a case for either really, depending on what you want...
Given it's set in a rural 5th rate boarding school (I believe based on West Buckland) in the middle of nowhere it'd be difficult for there not to be a lot of school in it. On the other hand, the characters of both boys and masters are fully realised - I first read it when I was about 15 and the headmaster Algy Herries, and Judy Cordwainer have stayed with me ever since.
I think it's Delderfield's best book, but only because the Horseman Riding By trilogy sprawls so much - with a bit more editing and the judicious removal of the odd chapter here and there, that would have been much better.
I agree with Albertus about A Murder of Quality - sort of the missing third corner of the Delderfield-Molesworth-George Smiley triangle.
If you like Delderfield you might like the mighty-but-these-days-almost-forgotten Francis Brett Young.
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
Forgot to say, as a slightly more helpful answer to Brenda perhaps, the plot revolves around:
war, loss, regret, personal improvement, fire, pacifism, love, socialism, the struggles to write history at the same time as teaching it, local government politics, the depression, the General Strike, Englishness, Welshness, the English rural sensibility, shell-shock, bereavement....I could go on...
Oh, and school.
Being on a nineteenth century kick at the moment, I've this morning finished Framley Parsonage, and will this evening be embarking on RS Surtees' Ask Mama.
[ 06. September 2015, 16:15: Message edited by: betjemaniac ]
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Oddly I just got A Murder of Quality off the shelf as I returned Call for the Dead - it was excellent.
I have neither read nor even heard off Francis Brett Young but shall have a scout through my online secondhand book supplier and see what I can find.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by betjemaniac:
I agree with Albertus about A Murder of Quality - sort of the missing third corner of the Delderfield-Molesworth-George Smiley triangle.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Slightly surprised to discover that To Serve Them All My Days was written as late as 1972: if you'd asked me I'd have put it, from its style, in the late 40s (or indeed even the 30s, were it not for the fact that it ends during the Second World War).
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I just finished Só por hoje — e para sempre ("Just for Today — and Forever") by the late Brazilian rock singer Renato Russo. This book, which was published almost 20 years after his death, contains the diaries that he wrote when he was in a rehab clinic in 1993, as well as his answers to the exercises he did for the Twelve Step Programme: "Describe three situation where you didn't feel in control, and how you dealt with that", that kind of things.
I admit that I'm a big fan of the group Legião Urbana of which he was the frontman, so that obviously colours my reading, but I found that this book gave an interesting insight both of what goes on in such a clinic and in the mind of someone with obvious above-average intelligence trying to deal with his addiction. I enjoyed reading it, it gave me a lot to think about.
The title "Just for Today" obviously refers to the Twelve Step Programme, and became the brilliant song Só por hoje. This is one of a couple of songs he wrote about this experience.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
I am shocked!
Towards the end of A Murder of Quality I decided I'd follow it with Edmund Crispin's wonderful The Glimpses of the Moon but when I looked at my shelves I didn't have it! I must have let one of my brother's take it from my dad's collection when we were clearing the house.
Oh well, one more for the list.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Oddly I just got A Murder of Quality off the shelf as I returned Call for the Dead
I have neither read nor even heard off Francis Brett Young but shall have a scout through my online secondhand book supplier and see what I can find.
Prolific would I think be the word. Also, I've half an idea he was the best-selling British novelist of the 1930s (which is no recommendation but nevertheless impressive).
2 of his novels were filmed - My Brother Jonathan (which is good in a late 1940s British film sort of way, and contains some excellent footage of the last days of the Watlington branchline...) and Portrait of Clare.
His genre and writing style is all over the place though - covers horror, magic realism, straightforward family saga and other points. At least he usually settled on one per book. Some loosely connect with each other, but they can all be read as individual pieces.
Probably the best description I can think of is he sits somewhere between Galsworthy, Delderfield, and Arnold Bennett, with a slight dash of du Maurier.
I'd recommend starting with The Black Diamond and seeing how you get on.
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
Thanks for that - I was about to come and ask for a recommendation of where to start and there was one ready formed!
As I hadn't got the Crispin I picked up The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes, which I haven't read for probably 40 years, and I'm not yet sure - I'm a third of the way through - it seems a bit weird even for him!
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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TurquoiseTastic
Fish of a different color
# 8978
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Posted
After several years of good intentions Watchmen finally made it onto the TurquoiseTastic reading list this summer.
Lots of people rave about Watchmen and I think I can see why. I certainly found the denouement powerful and disturbing, in a John Wyndham sort of a way. The various threads of the narrative all add depth and I found myself thinking about many aspects of them for a while afterwards, which must be a good sign.
So I liked the final cake, but I wasn't so sure about some of the ingredients. I found various parts of the build-up flawed in different ways, which made it unexpectedly hard going sometimes. Nite Owl is preposterous as a superhero. Several episodes are rather heavy-handed and obvious (e.g. the bit with Rorschach's psychiatrist). And then there's the pirate story - well, whenever it appeared I inwardly groaned "Oh no - not the ghastly pirate story again...". OK, that was probably the intention, and the thread was very important to the general theme, but the fact that it was quite so horrible was, I think, an overall minus.
Still, there were lots of good things about it. It was interesting, for example, that despite Rorschach's obvious reprehensibility, eventually he's almost a genuine hero. The fact that some superheroes are totally outclassed by others is also handled well. And although Moore's art style isn't quite my cup of tea it's certainly got something about it.
It's not going to knock Maus off its pedestal though - now that's a stone-cold masterpiece.
Posts: 1092 | From: Hants., UK | Registered: Jan 2005
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I loved Nite-Owl. He is a more realistic Batman, if you will, open to all of the doubts and ageing that the Dark Knight will never know (because the movies are too profitable). Did you notice how Laurie, after years imitating her mother, begins to fallow in her Father's footsteps?
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Now reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. It's interesting to see an English writer describe 17ᵗʰ century Amsterdam. Most of the time, she seems to hit the nail on the head.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by TurquoiseTastic:
And although Moore's art style isn't quite my cup of tea it's certainly got something about it.
Dave Gibbons drew the art. Moore just did the plot and incredibly detailed descriptions of what he wanted in each panel and why and what other options Gibbons might want to put in.
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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Dafyd
Shipmate
# 5549
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Posted
Question for LeRoc:
Clarice Lispector. Should I read her? If so, where to start?
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we remain, thanks to original sin, much in love with talking about, rather than with, one another. Rowan Williams
Posts: 10567 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2004
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Dafyd: Clarice Lispector. Should I read her? If so, where to start?
Yes I heartily recommend her, but I'd like to warn you that it is rather complex reading. Lispector concentrates heavily on the inner dialogue of her characters, which is very interesting but they can go on for dozens of pages. These inner dialogues often follow very non-linear patterns; that's just like our own inner dialogues do, but it often made me having to go back several pages.
I haven't read all of her; I mostly remember A Maçã no escuro ("The Apple in the Dark"). My sig line is from that novel. I loved it, but it took me weeks to finish it.
So if you're up for a challenge take that one; otherwise one of her short story collections might be easier to begin with (I don't know whether they have been translated into English).
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
Now reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. It's interesting to see an English writer describe 17ᵗʰ century Amsterdam. Most of the time, she seems to hit the nail on the head.
That's good to know. I've just had this passed over from a friend and am looking forward to starting it. My Mum has first dibs though whilst I'm busy with 90's cyberpunk novel Teacup From an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Full Circle
Shipmate
# 15398
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Posted
I've just enjoyed 'The Drosten's Curse'. It is a Dr Who book by A.L.Kennedy. Great fun but I would wait till out in paperback
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Beware the monocausal fallacy (Anon)
Posts: 232 | From: UK | Registered: Jan 2010
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
Now reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. It's interesting to see an English writer describe 17ᵗʰ century Amsterdam. Most of the time, she seems to hit the nail on the head.
Gosh, I didn't realise you were that old!
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Sipech: Gosh, I didn't realise you were that old!
Hehe, me and my TARDIS
I have the feeling that she gets 'Dutchness' right, and that isn't easy to do for a foreigner. So I'm rather impressed by that.
There are one or two places where she gets it wrong, and those stick out like a sore thumb a bit, but overall I feel she's doing a rather good job of it.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Just started Death and Mr. Pickwick by Stephen Jarvis. This is not going to be one of those mile-a-minute action-packed plots, I can tell. But I am enjoying it.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
I'm reading The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua at the moment, the book version of web comic 2d goggles. The fictional stories of real life friends and colleagues Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Byron, and Charles Babbage, engineer and inventor of proto-computer: the difference engine with occasional appearances by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Queen Victoria.
It is a thing of wonder. I'm reading it a chapter at a time with other books inbetween to try and string out the experience. The illustrations are a steampunk joy and I'd read the footnotes by themselves. You may have gathered, I'm really enjoying this book
There is a BBC4 'Digital Season' documentary on Ada Lovelace on Thursday, interviewing Sydney Padua, for anyone interested.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Fell off of Death and Mr. Pickwick about 150 pages in. If the plot does not show up by now, the book is not written right. Far, far too many digressions; the author packed in all his research and neglects to keep the plot (if there is any) moving. It is like reading The Lord of the Rings only with The Silmarillion blended in.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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TurquoiseTastic
Fish of a different color
# 8978
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Posted
Recently finished The Man of Feeling by Mackenzie. I very much enjoyed it. But I think I must be a horrible person because I laughed and laughed in places where I suspect the author may not have meant me to do this.
It was somehow like a much, much nicer and sweeter version of Candide. Not unlike Forrest Gump, in a way. I would be sure that Voltaire had intended a merciless spoof of it, if Candide hadn't been written 12 years earlier.
[ 15. September 2015, 16:09: Message edited by: TurquoiseTastic ]
Posts: 1092 | From: Hants., UK | Registered: Jan 2005
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Brenda life's too short to read books you don't enjoy.
I'm meant to be reading The Madonnas of Leningrad for my book group but it didn't look interesting so I've misplaced it. (I don't do it on purpose, but if I don't like a library book it's the most likely one I will return late0.
Has anyone read it?
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Brenda life's too short to read books you don't enjoy.
Yes and there are far too many good books that you may not have time for. Since second grade when my teacher commented that I had read a hundred books that year and I thought I was in trouble for it, that was my average, two books a week. Until about ten years ago when my eyes got weaker and the internet hooked me. Now it's more like two books a month and all the more reason not to waste time with a dud. If I'm about fifty pages in and doubtful, I go to Amazon and see what the reviewers are saying . If I see a lot of, "It starts slow but then, wow," sort of things I keep going, but if I sees several people sharing my complaints about it I toss it.
Posts: 6817 | Registered: May 2002
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Brenda life's too short to read books you don't enjoy.
Yes and there are far too many good books that you may not have time for.
But how do you know which is which? There are many books I've come to with high expectations only to find they are very poor indeed (my top 3 hated books are Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi and Midnight's Children - largely because they were so highly rated by others).
Plus, I like to read books that challenge my worldview. I recently read Hayek's Road to Serfdom specifically to challenge my socialist views. As it turns out, it didn't, as it was littered with straw men, but I'm still glad I read it as it helped me to see how fundamentalist right-wingers view socialism.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
I'm at the stage of life when I don't often read new books but take great comfort rereading ones I've read before - not necessarily for anything to do with the plot but for the sheer joy of superb writing. I once told a Marxist friend about my love of Kipling and was treated to a mini rant about what a terrible old imperialist he was - and he may well have been but he was also a superb observer and writer.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sipech:
But how do you know which is which?
Again, Amazon can be your friend. Look up, say, "Life of Pi," and find someone who also hated it for the same reasons, then check his other reviews to see if he likes your sort of thing. Now you have someone who's recommendations you can trust.
I use this thread, too, ignoring all the genres I don't much like and finding people whose taste is similar to mine. For example, I would be happy to have Welease Woderwick choose all my books for me. He's never steered me wrong.
[ 16. September 2015, 14:21: Message edited by: Twilight ]
Posts: 6817 | Registered: May 2002
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
I'm reading A Rainha Ginga ('Queen Ginga'; I don't know if the book has been translated) by Agualusa, arguably the best Angolan writer of this time.
This novel sounds really interesting, but it doesn't seem to have been translated into any other European language, which is a great shame. I hope there's a good biography or historical account of this queen that I might read instead.
As for me, I've recently started 'Casanova' by Andrew Miller. It's not that I have a particular fascination for lotharios but that I want to learn more about 18th century London, especially in fictional accounts. It's an enjoyable read so far. Dr Johnson will soon be making an appearance.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Last month I was in Portland, OR, where I visited Powell's. Surely the greatest used bookstore in the world! There are far, far too many books in the world that I must and shall read. I do not have time for books that don't enthrall me. Life is just too short.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
I'm at the stage of life when I don't often read new books but take great comfort rereading ones I've read before - not necessarily for anything to do with the plot but for the sheer joy of superb writing. I once told a Marxist friend about my love of Kipling and was treated to a mini rant about what a terrible old imperialist he was - and he may well have been but he was also a superb observer and writer.
How is Kipling thought of, if he is thought of at all, in India nowadays? I'd imagine he might be seen rather ambivalently- as an imperialist but at the same time one whose love of India shines through what he wrote.
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
...I would be happy to have Welease Woderwick choose all my books for me. He's never steered me wrong.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
What a terrible responsibility!
OR
![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
What an amazing privilege!
* * * *
I'm not quite sure how Kipling is viewed here but certainly there are a fair number of his books on the shelves in the bookshops I frequent. I shall see if I can find a tame English teacher and ask about it.
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
Still ploughing my way through Albert Schweitzer's The Quest of the Historical Jesus. Not at all what I had expected. I've been reading it for a fortnight now and am only just over half way. ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
It has this curious property whereby you can read for a good hour and yet not seem to make any progress.
Das Kapital was a bit like that. Maybe it's something to do with German writers... ![[Snore]](graemlins/snore.gif)
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
A friend of mine wrote a dissertation on some aspect of eighteenth century German history. She said the contemporary documents were written in a much clearer style than the modern ones.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
I'm guessing your friend wasn't reading a lot of Hegel?
![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sipech:
I'm guessing your friend wasn't reading a lot of Hegel?
No, she was reading local history. She said it was written much more clearly than the same type of document two centuries later.
She said it seemed to be a change in fashion.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Jemima the 9th
Shipmate
# 15106
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Posted
My family & other animals, by Gerald Durrell. Yes, I know it's a children's book. My mum was always on at me to read it when I was a child, and I never did. So now I am.
It is, as they say, of its time. But it's also hilarious. Larry's protestations of the donkey tied up outside the villa made me laugh a lot, Gerry's endless cycle of tutors, the boats, the scorpions...
There are a lot of things you notice as an adult, and wonder about - where did they get all their money? Where was Pater Durrell? Isn't Larry a bit of a tit? It's all rather romantic about the peasants, and all a bit colonial in spirit, if you see what I mean.
Posts: 801 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2009
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