Now reading...

[medjuck]

Giving the Martin Beck police series a try, with "Roseanna," the first one. Written by the husband-and-wife team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.

I'll wager you'll enjoy it once it reels you in. These were a great series of books to read. . . real and grim and with their own pace and "lighting."

They get better and better. One of the few serie i've read where our attitude to the characters changes from book to book. Two good films made about Beck: The Laughing Policeman

(American with Walter Mathau as Beck). And Man on the Roof (Swedish based on IIRC The Abonible Man).

[Harold_Z]

Reading Jack Finney's About Time. It's a collection of short stories about time travel by a master of that genre. Time travel has been a favorite of mine since I could understand the concept.

Edited August 30, 2010 by Harold_Z

[thedwork]

[A Lark Ascending]

Finished this yesterday (had a two week gap half-way whilst on holiday). Excellent account. Can't wait for the flurry of Battle of Britain docs due on TV in September.

Also finished:

Heard bits on 'A Book at Bedtime' earlier this year so I wanted to fill in the gaps. One of those dissolute lives amongst the well-heeled at Oxford books.

Now gripped by:

Wonderfully written - gets exactly the right balance between historical overview of what was happening and vignettes from the testimony of people who were there.

My god, we are so lucky to have been born after all of that!

Edited August 30, 2010 by A Lark Ascending

[BruceH]

Giving the Martin Beck police series a try, with "Roseanna," the first one. Written by the husband-and-wife team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo.

I'll wager you'll enjoy it once it reels you in. These were a great series of books to read. . . real and grim and with their own pace and "lighting."

They get better and better. One of the few serie i've read where our attitude to the characters changes from book to book. Two good films made about Beck: The Laughing Policeman

(American with Walter Mathau as Beck). And Man on the Roof (Swedish based on IIRC The Abonible Man).

I vaguely recall renting the Matthau film version of "Laughing Policeman" quite a few years ago. All I can remember is that I didn't care for it. Enjoying the book right now though; I've skipped ahead to it, and then maybe I'll go back to the second book in the series. Liked Roseanna BTW.

[Larry Kart]

C. V. Wedgwood's "The Thirty Years War." Lord, could she write.

[A Lark Ascending]

C. V. Wedgwood's "The Thirty Years War." Lord, could she write.

Gosh! There's a throwback. Remember reading that in the summer of '73, between 'A' Levels (last lot of school exams) and going to university.

[BruceH]

I haven't posted on this thread much lately; I'm too embarrassed over my revisit to SF turning into a rut, but what the heck...at least it's not Harold Robbins! Currently reading Old Twentieth by Joe Haldeman.

Why be embarrassed? I for one would love to hear what old sf book or collection you've been flipping through. (And Old Twentieth is recent, and by a respectable writer as well!)

Myself, I've actually been perusing some of the "Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories" paperbacks that came out during the 80's. Found three in a used bookstore. When they were coming out I turned my nose up at them, partly because I was already familiar with most of the stories, partly the perceived tackiness of the series. (And by the second half of the 80's I was going through a non-sf-reading phase, though I didn't know it was a phase at the time.) Now I marvel at what a good deal these books were; for the price of a cheap little paperback you could get a more than decent little anthology of some of the best sf stories of a particular year, from the late 30's to the early 60's. Wish I'd bought them at the time, though I probably would have sold them by now.

[ghost of miles]

Books about two great tenor saxophonists:

Edited September 7, 2010 by ghost of miles

[jlhoots]

Adam Ross: Mr. Peanut

[Jazzmoose]

I started reading Isaac Asimov's Gold. I've only read the first story, Cal, but I have to say it's one of my favorites of Asimov's stories! It would probably only be appreciated by someone who's read a lot of his robot stories, as it explores the only thing stronger than the three laws of robotics...

Edited September 7, 2010 by Jazzmoose

[BillF]

Re-read a couple of 1950s favorites:

[jazzbo]

[ghost of miles]

Re-read a couple of 1950s favorites:

That's some apocalyptic reading there, BillF!

[kenny weir]

First issue of "Lousiana Music" - all on the fabulous Nathan Abshire. Great story, super pics.

http://www.pinegrovepress.com/Home.html

[skeith]

Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen

[Matthew]

The Memoirs of George Sherston by Siegfried Sassoon. I keep reading that there is a Sassoon revival going on in England, but that has yet to make it across the Atlantic. I remember how excited I was when I finally found a copy of this in a Mount Vernon, WA used bookstore, I had looked for years and years for one. It really is about a world that is long gone, and I imagine for the English, it is a very powerful book. I have never found a book with Sassoon's poetry anywhere, but one day, hopefully, I will. I'm reading it slowly this time, just soaking in the beauty and fearfulness of the writing. I often wonder if any generation has suffered a more harsh disillusion than that 1914 European group, massively unprepared for what lay before them. Think I'll go all the way and read Good Bye To All That after I finish Sassoon.

[BillF]

The Memoirs of George Sherston by Siegfried Sassoon. I keep reading that there is a Sassoon revival going on in England, but that has yet to make it across the Atlantic. I remember how excited I was when I finally found a copy of this in a Mount Vernon, WA used bookstore, I had looked for years and years for one. It really is about a world that is long gone, and I imagine for the English, it is a very powerful book. I have never found a book with Sassoon's poetry anywhere, but one day, hopefully, I will. I'm reading it slowly this time, just soaking in the beauty and fearfulness of the writing. I often wonder if any generation has suffered a more harsh disillusion than that 1914 European group, massively unprepared for what lay before them. Think I'll go all the way and read Good Bye To All That after I finish Sassoon.

Time I re-read Sassoon! I have a hardback copy of the Faber Complete Memoirs of George Sherston, which I bought in 1968. My main source of his poetry was Men Who March Away: Poems of the First World War, but I see that there are current editions of Sassoon's poems. Time to re-read Goodbye to All That, too. My Penguin Modern Classics copy is dated 1966!

Edited September 11, 2010 by BillF

[A Lark Ascending]

The Memoirs of George Sherston by Siegfried Sassoon. I keep reading that there is a Sassoon revival going on in England, but that has yet to make it across the Atlantic. I remember how excited I was when I finally found a copy of this in a Mount Vernon, WA used bookstore, I had looked for years and years for one. It really is about a world that is long gone, and I imagine for the English, it is a very powerful book. I have never found a book with Sassoon's poetry anywhere, but one day, hopefully, I will. I'm reading it slowly this time, just soaking in the beauty and fearfulness of the writing. I often wonder if any generation has suffered a more harsh disillusion than that 1914 European group, massively unprepared for what lay before them. Think I'll go all the way and read Good Bye To All That after I finish Sassoon.

Not aware of any Sassoon revival over here. I read it c. 1978 and remember being very affected (the Graves too).

Worth remembering this is the view from the elite! In fact, if you've an interest in WWI I'd recommend reading 'Forgotten Victory' by Gary Sheffield. Gives a very different interpretation of WWI but starts with an excellent historiography of the war. One thing it points out is how the view of WWI as portrayed in Sassoon, Owen and Graves only began to take shape in the 30s and, particularly, with things like 'Oh What a Lovely War' and the BBC 'The Great War' series in the mid-60s. In the '20s it was generally viewed as a necessary sacrifice with people like Haig treated as heroes. The 'standard' view is actually a revisionist view!

Which doesn't alter what you say about the shock of the war. And if it got us bad, then its impact on France, Germany, Russia was many times worse.

[Matthew]

The Memoirs of George Sherston by Siegfried Sassoon. I keep reading that there is a Sassoon revival going on in England, but that has yet to make it across the Atlantic. I remember how excited I was when I finally found a copy of this in a Mount Vernon, WA used bookstore, I had looked for years and years for one. It really is about a world that is long gone, and I imagine for the English, it is a very powerful book. I have never found a book with Sassoon's poetry anywhere, but one day, hopefully, I will. I'm reading it slowly this time, just soaking in the beauty and fearfulness of the writing. I often wonder if any generation has suffered a more harsh disillusion than that 1914 European group, massively unprepared for what lay before them. Think I'll go all the way and read Good Bye To All That after I finish Sassoon.

Not aware of any Sassoon revival over here. I read it c. 1978 and remember being very affected (the Graves too).

Worth remembering this is the view from the elite! In fact, if you've an interest in WWI I'd recommend reading 'Forgotten Victory' by Gary Sheffield. Gives a very different interpretation of WWI but starts with an excellent historiography of the war. One thing it points out is how the view of WWI as portrayed in Sassoon, Owen and Graves only began to take shape in the 30s and, particularly, with things like 'Oh What a Lovely War' and the BBC 'The Great War' series in the mid-60s. In the '20s it was generally viewed as a necessary sacrifice with people like Haig treated as heroes. The 'standard' view is actually a revisionist view!

Which doesn't alter what you say about the shock of the war. And if it got us bad, then its impact on France, Germany, Russia was many times worse.

It's true, the "other ranks" weren't writing books about being in Oxbridge, playing cricket, and jumping around on their horses! Nor were they likely concerned about how they didn't learn war lessons at public school. I would imagine that in the '20s there was still a sense that WWI might still be "the war to end all wars," but in the '30s, with the rise of Hitler, it must have been a jarring realization that round 2 was coming up fast, and that all those deaths were, I don't want to say worthless, but the sacrifice of all those lives did not solve too much. Geesh, Haig! I wonder what was going through his heart-of-hearts when he looked back on the war...

[paul secor]

Carl Hiaasen: Sick Puppy

Perhaps if more people read Hiaasen's novels and took them to heart, we might have a lot less voters in this country. In my more cynical moments, I think that might not be a bad thing.

[A Lark Ascending]

I've been a Wallander fan since around 2003 - my favourite set of detective novels.

This is very strange and quite wonderful. Not a murder mystery but a strange story about ageing and dying, love and lies, aloofness and the need for human connection set against a beautifully desolate Sweden (both deep in the forest and on isolated Baltic islands), starting to fray at the edges through environmental carelessness. A whole series of unlikely twists keep you wondering where the story is going next. Brilliant!

[jazzbo]

For several reasons it's time to re-read some Jim Thompson. Reading this edition.

[jlhoots]

Cristina Garcia: The Aguero Sisters

[paul secor]

Jan Swafford: Charles Ives: A Life with Music