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[ejp626]

In the end, I found Molly Keane's Good Behaviour frustrating.  I can see why a number of people would find the turn-around satisfying, though I certainly didn't, mostly because I found it improbable.  I can't go into details as it would spoil too much.

Just starting Cossery's Proud Beggars.

I'm probably going to tackle some Robert Coover next.  I haven't read anything by him in quite a while.

[Leeway]

Having just re-read Brave New World, it seemed a good idea to re-read Nineteen Eighty-Four as these books are so often twinned in the public mind. And it does seem as f the world oscillates between these dystopian visions. 

[ejp626]

Just 3 chapters into Cossery's Proud Beggars.  It's a strong start.  It reminds me of Mahfouz, particularly The Thief and the Dogs or perhaps The Cairo Trilogy, mixed with Camus's The Stranger.  Hopefully, he can keep it up.  I thought The Colors of Infamy petered out just a bit at the end.

[BillF]

Having just re-read Brave New World, it seemed a good idea to re-read Nineteen Eighty-Four as these books are so often twinned in the public mind. And it does seem as f the world oscillates between these dystopian visions. 

Both first read at age 16 and became lifelong favorites.

[BillF]

Drabble's first published novel and unsurprisingly showing signs of authorial immaturity. What, for example, are we to make of the first person narrator? Does she embody the author's views, or is she the target for authorial satire - or a mixture of both?

[Leeway]

I've always been interested in Huxley's life and career, and Nicholas Murray provides a serviceable, relatively concise biography. Murray is the most candid on Huxley's unusual conjugal life. Huxley and his first wife, Maria, shared female lovers, and Maria often procured women for Huxley's bed and her own. Indeed, Huxley's major biographer, Sybil Bedford, was also a lover of Aldous and Maria. Very brave new world I should say. 

[BillF]

I've always been interested in Huxley's life and career, and Nicholas Murray provides a serviceable, relatively concise biography. Murray is the most candid on Huxley's unusual conjugal life. Huxley and his first wife, Maria, shared female lovers, and Maria often procured women for Huxley's bed and her own. Indeed, Huxley's major biographer, Sybil Bedford, was also a lover of Aldous and Maria. Very brave new world I should say. 

Aldous Fuxley!

[Leeway]

NIGHTMARE ABBEY (1818)  & CROTCHET CASTLE (1831) - Thomas Love Peacock

Peacock is often cited as a progenitor of the satirical philosophical novel, a predecessor of Aldous Huxley's early works. His works are quite witty, although age and familiarity have taken some of the edge off them. I found Nightmare Abbey to be the stronger and sharper of the two. A dubious distinction: I read both of these on a Kindle (borrowed from my wife). I found it easier and cheaper to download them. (The KIndle is great for loading the complete works of early English authors for free or very little). But reading on a Kindle is different somehow from reading the book version. Not necessarily worse, just different. If I had the book texts available, I would have stuck with them I'm sure. 

[Head Man]

.... frightening!

[HutchFan]

I just finished reading Hampton Hawes' autobiography, Raise Up Off Me:

[paul secor]

Simenon: Inspector Cadaver

A very nuanced Maigret

[A Lark Ascending]

Two enjoyable thrillers from series I've followed a while:

And a history book:

[ejp626]

I finished Vladislavic's The Exploded View, which was good but not quite as impressive as The Restless Supermarket, which is really something else.

I'm reading Bruno Schulz now - The Street of Crocodiles and The Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, both of which are quite short.

[bluesoul]

Ragtime author E.L. Doctorow dead at 84

[johnblitweiler]

Like colonies in comparison to ex-colonies - the fall of the old dynasty in China resulted in corruption and mounting horrors. And here I remember that in childhood we were taught that Chiang Kai-Shek was a good guy. 

[Van Basten II]

Am very very slowly reading Infinite jest by David Foster Wallace. The content (more later on the packaging)  is not easy to follow with the constant changes of narration (Need to remind you that english is not my first language) , the level of  writing is high acrobatics although I guess you could make a case of being too witty for its own good. Although you gotta love his souci du détail with those detailed and quite often hilarious  footnotes. In  a way it reminds me a lot of some of Georges Perec's  work.

 

By the way this book begs to be read on those electronic devices as the thing is so heavy and not easy to manipulate  that you have a hard time finding a confortable way to read it for a long period of time especially outdoors , if you add the fact after reading two or three pages my head is going in stop or it will explode mode, I wonder if i'll finish it before I actually retire from my workplace.  On the positive side you don't need to read it in one stretch, you can go in and out without problems , each chapter being its own world so to speak and the writing has his ways of reminding you of occurences and comments taking place   in previous "chapters" .

 

For those who are more familiar with his work was it volontary that he mispelled fauteuils roulants , I think he wrote it roullents in his book ?  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by Van Basten II

[Leeway]

CROME YELLOW - (1921)- Aldous Huxley

(Having a lot of trouble inserting image from URL, so this will have to do). 

Continuing to delve into Huxley's work. Re-reading "Crome" and it holds up marvelously. Huxley's first book, and a fine novel by any standard. Humorous, witty, thoughtful. Already traces of Brave New World poking forth. 

[BillF]

The perfect jazz biography! Impeccably researched and high levels of intelligence and judgement applied to the findings.

[ghost of miles]

Jill Lepore's book on Wonder Woman, an anthology of essays about Miles Davis and American culture, Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, and Oxford's Very Short Introductions to Buddhism and modernism.

[Leeway]

 

 

Yeah, that's pretty much it. As far as her work on it's own, I consider her to be a lousy writer with morally bankrupt ideas, but probably wouldn't have made the comment if that was all there was.

 

 

About 200 pages in now, and I'm still not sure how it is offensive.

 

 

I guess the knock on Rand is that the plot is contrived, the characters wooden, and the philosophy a paean to utter selfishness. OTOH, she has many acolytes, so I suppose you'll have to read through and decide for yourself.

 

Still going, around 450 pages in now. I can only manage 10-20 pages at a time. I will finish, to claim the right to say I actually read it.

I should have given the other side, and said that her beleivers view her as the philosopher of rugged individualism, free enterprise, capitalism and limited government. Anyway, what do you think of the book? 

[BillF]

The second part of George Melly's autobiography. Always readable.

[Leeway]

ANTIC HAY - Aldous Huxley (1923)

Huxley's 2nd book and a very good one too. Post-WWI cynicism melded with sex, humor, ideas, social satire and the sort of fungible reality that Huxley seemed to specialize in. 

Edited July 27, 2015 by Leeway

[jlhoots]

Donoghue: Frog Music

[paul secor]

Howard Jacobson: The Finkler Question

[Brad]

Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of the New Yorker.

It sent me scurrying for some of his works.