Now reading...

[johnblitweiler]

finally read Dream of Fair to Middling Women - 25-year-old Beckett with lot of very Joyceish jesting and more jesting rather like Beckett got to later in Watt and the 2 great plays. It's a sort of autobiographical novel about the loutish Belacqua (Beckett's alias) and his lady loves, whom he describes savagely. Light, mostly fun, concluding with a hilarious dinner party scene. Great, masterful writing.

[ejp626]

finally read Dream of Fair to Middling Women - 25-year-old Beckett with lot of very Joyceish jesting and more jesting rather like Beckett got to later in Watt and the 2 great plays. It's a sort of autobiographical novel about the loutish Belacqua (Beckett's alias) and his lady loves, whom he describes savagely. Light, mostly fun, concluding with a hilarious dinner party scene. Great, masterful writing.

Hmm -- it sounds like something I would like. Maybe I should read it in conjunction with reading (or rereading) some Flann O'Brien novels. But probably not in 2014...

[Matthew]

Parting The Waters: America In The King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch. I am amazed how little I know of Martin Luther King Jr., or the Civil Rights Movement, truly an abysmal ignorance, and I say that to my shame.

[paul secor]

August Kleinzahler: The Hotel Oneira

[ejp626]

August Kleinzahler: The Hotel Oneira

Is this a new one? I will have to check it out.

[paul secor]

August Kleinzahler: The Hotel Oneira

Is this a new one? I will have to check it out.

Relatively new - it was published last fall. Seemed to slip through the cracks. I only learned of it a couple of weeks ago.

[A Lark Ascending]

Watching Handel's Julius Caesar a few weeks made me want to get a one-stop narrative history of Rome. This one does Greece as well. Skates over the surface but does the job. Just got to the post-Alexander Macedonians.

[alankin]

Paul Auster - Winter Journal

[BillF]

Yours was the first post I saw when I opened up the thread to post my latest reading, Iris Murdoch's "Nuns and Soldiers." A Murdochian coincidence. I read Conradi's bio last year and generally liked it, although I thought it could have used some editing to slim it down. Plus I think he spends too much time on her pre-novel writing days, and too little on the period when she became a novelist. Still, I found it very informative and highly useful to understanding the novels. I've been on an extended traversal of all of Murdoch's novels. I've come to know most of her "moves" but I enjoy reading them quite a bit.

I had read a few Murdoch novels in the 60s, but recently read or re-read the first eight. I definitely thought there was a falling off in quality/character in the last two, The Unicorn (1962) and The Italian Girl (1964), so decided at that stage to go no further. However, on reading Conradi's bio I find him agreeing with me, but also praising the novels of what he calls her maturity in the 70s. So I expect to be reading The Sea, The Sea, The Black Prince and A Fairly Honorable Defeat sometime soon.

Yes, those last three are quite good, although "The Black Prince" is rather grim (although not without humor); it's her Dostoyevskyan mood it seems. I agree on "The Italian Girl," rather stunted, almost like a novel that failed to develop. I would say my faves so far are "The Philosopher's Pupil," and "The Book and the Brotherhood" (these two late works), and then "A Severed Head," "The Nice and the Good," and "The Bell." I've still got a few left to go though, then maybe re-read some

Well, Bill's walk through her books has intrigued me. I decided to get Under the Net (her first) and The Sea, The Sea. I guess this will allow me to judge her early and then mid-career peak to decide if she is an author I wish to follow or not.

Under the Net is excellent - picaresque novel transferred to London of the 1950s. Expect to be reading your second choice in a week or two. BTW my favourite so far is The Bell, which Leeway also selects.

Finally got to the end of the 500-page The Sea, The Sea. Frankly I was disappointed - my misgivings are nicely expressed in this review:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/feb/10/iris-murdoch-sea-booker

I see the tendencies I disliked in The Unicorn and The Italian Girl - a move from the realistic novel in familiar urban and rural settings to gothic emotionalism played out against wild nature - still very present in The Sea.

So I remain a fan of Murdoch in the 50s - which isn't surprising as this coincides with my enthusiasm for the 50s in jazz, art, film and theatre.

Edited February 9, 2014 by BillF

[jlhoots]

Wolitzer: The Interestings

[niels]

Paul Auster - Winter Journal

Nice, Paul Auster is one of those contemporary writers I almost allways enjoy reading!

I started with Leo Tolstoy - Resurrection yesterday. I'm only a few pages in, but i'm already completely sucked into the story. I always thought of myself to be more in the "Dostoevsky" camp, but the more I read from Tolstoy the more my appreciation for him grows, and the more I realize that it's insane to compare Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. They are both genius in their own right!

[Matthew]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

[Larry Kart]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

Powell's my favorite novelist of the 20th Century. I belong to the Anthony Powell Discussion List:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aplist/info

and had the great pleasure of doing a long telephone interview with him in 1984. Talking to him was like dancing with Fred Astaire.

[ejp626]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

I think we discussed Powell a few years back. I think it's unlikely I will read Dance again, but if I did I would stick to books 1-9. I did find them enjoyable and they moved fairly quickly. I am still slogging through Proust (very close to the halfway mark for the entire series) and I just don't think it lives up to the hype. The rewards are so miniscule compared to the effort. I do want to finish, however, and then will never crack this open again (so the volumes will be donated somewhere).

[Matthew]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

Powell's my favorite novelist of the 20th Century. I belong to the Anthony Powell Discussion List:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aplist/info

and had the great pleasure of doing a long telephone interview with him in 1984. Talking to him was like dancing with Fred Astaire.

That's amzing that you got to interview Powell, lucky man, and many thanks for the yahoo group link.

[Leeway]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

Powell's my favorite novelist of the 20th Century. I belong to the Anthony Powell Discussion List:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aplist/info

and had the great pleasure of doing a long telephone interview with him in 1984. Talking to him was like dancing with Fred Astaire.

That's amzing that you got to interview Powell, lucky man, and many thanks for the yahoo group link.

Another Powell fan here. I read "Dance" some years ago, and hope to reread it again soon. I think "Dance" is much easier to get through than Proust. More recently, I read Powell's "The Fisher King," which I very much enjoyed. Apparently, critics don't care much for it, but don't let that deter you. It's worth reading. I also share an interest with Powell concerning John Aubrey, 17th century antiquary and biographer, perhaps best known to readers for his "Brief Lives." Powell wrote "John Aubrey and his Friends." Reading Aubrey and Powell together is a pleasant way to pass the time.

[Matthew]

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. Making my way through Anthony Powell's novel series A Dance To The Music Of Time for the third time, I think CCR is no. 5. Each read-through I become more impressed at what a great achievement this series is, I pick up new and fascinating perspectives each time.

Powell's my favorite novelist of the 20th Century. I belong to the Anthony Powell Discussion List:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aplist/info

and had the great pleasure of doing a long telephone interview with him in 1984. Talking to him was like dancing with Fred Astaire.

That's amzing that you got to interview Powell, lucky man, and many thanks for the yahoo group link.

Another Powell fan here. I read "Dance" some years ago, and hope to reread it again soon. I think "Dance" is much easier to get through than Proust. More recently, I read Powell's "The Fisher King," which I very much enjoyed. Apparently, critics don't care much for it, but don't let that deter you. It's worth reading. I also share an interest with Powell concerning John Aubrey, 17th century antiquary and biographer, perhaps best known to readers for his "Brief Lives." Powell wrote "John Aubrey and his Friends." Reading Aubrey and Powell together is a pleasant way to pass the time.

Has anyone seen the tv adaption of ADTTMOT? Is it worth getting?

[ejp626]

Has anyone seen the tv adaption of ADTTMOT? Is it worth getting?

I borrowed them and sort of skimmed them. I basically agree with the reviews that the first 3 sets are pretty good and the last one goes downhill pretty fast. Partly because some of the events in the downfall of Widmerpool just seem ludicrous when put on screen, but more critically some of the actors involved were replaced between these series. At least that's what I recall.

[Larry Kart]

Has anyone seen the tv adaption of ADTTMOT? Is it worth getting?

I borrowed them and sort of skimmed them. I basically agree with the reviews that the first 3 sets are pretty good and the last one goes downhill pretty fast. Partly because some of the events in the downfall of Widmerpool just seem ludicrous when put on screen, but more critically some of the actors involved were replaced between these series. At least that's what I recall.

Hated as much of it as I could bear to watch. While the actor who played the young Nick at school was nicely cast, James Purefoy as the adult Nick was a disaster IMO. The same qualities that made Purefoy such an enjoyable Marc Antony in "Rome" -- the muscular, simmering eroticism, the indefatigable air of recklessness and potentially extreme self-indulgence -- all of these are as anti-Nick as could be and are not really traits that Purefoy can significantly alter or suppress (especially if one has seen him in "Rome"), anymore than, say, Russell Crowe could significantly alter or suppress his inherent aura of threatening explosiveness.

[Matthew]

Has anyone seen the tv adaption of ADTTMOT? Is it worth getting?

I borrowed them and sort of skimmed them. I basically agree with the reviews that the first 3 sets are pretty good and the last one goes downhill pretty fast. Partly because some of the events in the downfall of Widmerpool just seem ludicrous when put on screen, but more critically some of the actors involved were replaced between these series. At least that's what I recall.

Hated as much of it as I could bear to watch. While the actor who played the young Nick at school was nicely cast, James Purefoy as the adult Nick was a disaster IMO. The same qualities that made Purefoy such an enjoyable Marc Antony in "Rome" -- the muscular, simmering eroticism, the indefatigable air of recklessness and potentially extreme self-indulgence -- all of these are as anti-Nick as could be and are not really traits that Purefoy can significantly alter or suppress (especially if one has seen him in "Rome"), anymore than, say, Russell Crowe could significantly alter or suppress his inherent aura of threatening explosiveness.

James Purefoy as the older Nick Jenkins???? What kind of messed up casting is that?? I always pictured Jenkins more of a tall, thin, person, more along the lines of Jeremy Irons. I wished Amazon Instant had the series.

[Matthew]

Deadball Stars of the National League.

[jlhoots]

The Bully Pulpit

[ejp626]

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.

This was a fun book. I read it in a day and a half. I think the best way to think about it is DaVinci's Code if it was tackled by a group of programmers from Google. Certainly some implausibilities, particularly towards the end, but still entertaining.

Now I am in the middle of Lee Siegel's Love in a Dead Language, which is one of those convoluted postmodern books (think John Barth) with the footnotes disagreeing with the main text. It's droll, but not as fun as Penumbra. Still, both of them beat the snot out of Proust for pure entertainment.

[johnblitweiler]

just bought a replacement copy of William Carlos Williams' collected poems and discovered this on the back cover of Volume 2:

"And when the second and final volume of Williams' 'Collected Poems' is published, it should become even more apparent that he is this century's major American poet." - Larry Kart, Chicago Tribune

Yes. Still true 14 years into the 21st century, too.

[jazzbo]

Finished this interesting book about Minoan civilization:

Started