Now reading...

[paul secor]

I post on https://www.goodreads.com/. Today, when I logged on, there was a recommendation posted for me - by Goodreads, not by an individual.

It read: Because you enjoyed For the End of Time - The Story of the Messiaen Quartet

 

You might enjoy:

At first I thought, wtf. But then I thought I probably might enjoy reading it. I just wondered where the recommendation came from. I doubt that a human being was behind it, so that leaves a computer. Are they developing computers with senses of humor?

[Leeway]

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MODERN ART - Katharine Kuh (finished and edited by Avis Berman). 

The reminiscences and reflections of an art dealer, curator and critic. Enjoyable and interesting behind- the -scenes accounts of modern artists and the art world.

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, Leeway said:

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MODERN ART - Katharine Kuh (finished and edited by Avis Berman). 

The reminiscences and reflections of an art dealer, curator and critic. Enjoyable and interesting behind- the -scenes accounts of modern artists and the art world.

Is the art biz as nasty as the music biz? I would imagine so.

[jlhoots]

On July 16, 2016 at 6:03 AM, paul secor said:

Helen DeWitt: The Last Samurai

There's an article about her in the current issue of New York Magazine. Sounds like a challenging book & a complex person. 

[BillF]

2 hours ago, Leeway said:

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MODERN ART - Katharine Kuh (finished and edited by Avis Berman). 

The reminiscences and reflections of an art dealer, curator and critic. Enjoyable and interesting behind- the -scenes accounts of modern artists and the art world.

Sounds interesting. The cover picture, Fernand Léger's Le mécanicien, is very familiar. I bought a postcard of it in Paris in the 50s (groan, groan) and still often display it on my bookshelf.

[Leeway]

3 hours ago, paul secor said:

Is the art biz as nasty as the music biz? I would imagine so.

Rest assured it is. 

2 hours ago, BillF said:

Sounds interesting. The cover picture, Fernand Léger's Le mécanicien, is very familiar. I bought a postcard of it in Paris in the 50s (groan, groan) and still often display it on my bookshelf.

Kuh was a fan of Leger, and there is a good chapter on Leger in the book. 

[fasstrack]

https://www.amazon.com/Westies-Inside-New-Yorks-Irish/dp/0312362846

Gruesome stuff. I guess entertaining if you like reading about dismemberments and beheadings ...

[A Lark Ascending]

"The Origin of Species" (mentioned above) would be too much for me but I wanted to know a bit more about Darwin, more from the historical/cultural impact point of view than the science (my brain can't take in too many finches' beaks before wandering). The Johnson book is a short but compelling survey of his life and influence, achievements and limitations. 

My scientific knowledge is very poor (I blame jumping between four different secondary schools) but every now and then I get curious because of things I come across in my historical reading. Bryson would probably drive readers with a strong scientific education nuts but his jokey manner works well for what I need. 

Also just started:

 

David is an excellent military historian writing for the popular history market. Detailed and analytical but never losing the sense of narrative that carries the non-specialist reader through. 

[BillF]

Was very enthusiastic about this in the early stages of reading, but 475 pages later I see it as verbose and somewhat self-indulgent. The work of a by-then-highly(over?)-acclaimed author. Many individual paragraphs are exemplary, but it could have done with some serious editing IMHO.

[alankin]

Charles Simic – Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell (Ecco Press)

 

[Brad]

Almost done with Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum.

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, alankin said:

Charles Simic – Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell (Ecco Press)

 

I saw a Cornell exhibition at MOMA about thirty years ago. Unique art.

[paul secor]

Haruki Murakami: A Wild Sheep Chase

[Leeway]

On July 22, 2016 at 3:33 AM, BillF said:

Was very enthusiastic about this in the early stages of reading, but 475 pages later I see it as verbose and somewhat self-indulgent. The work of a by-then-highly(over?)-acclaimed author. Many individual paragraphs are exemplary, but it could have done with some serious editing IMHO.

Pretty much agree with that estimate. 

Just finished:

Wharton has created a memorable character in Undine Spragg, a monster of vanity, selfishness and ambition. The novel suffers a bit from an over-reliance on coincidence and sketchy turns of plot, but Undine pulls one along. I think I still prefer Wharton's House of Mirth with another memorable female character, Lily Bart. 

[BillF]

5 hours ago, Leeway said:

Pretty much agree with that estimate. 

Just finished:

Wharton has created a memorable character in Undine Spragg, a monster of vanity, selfishness and ambition. The novel suffers a bit from an over-reliance on coincidence and sketchy turns of plot, but Undine pulls one along. I think I still prefer Wharton's House of Mirth with another memorable female character, Lily Bart. 

House of Mirth is the only Wharton I've read. My memories of it are pretty positive.

[ejp626]

Just about to wrap up Willa Cather's My Antonia.  I'm enjoying it a fair bit.  Some good insights in there about the transition from rural to urban lifestyle, as well as how immigrants fit into (or didn't) the vastness of the prairies.  I'm a bit sorry I didn't encounter this sooner (I probably should have read in high school but I skipped over American literature).

I've just started Sinclair Ross's As For Me and My House.  My initial reaction is very positive -- I think this is one of those underrated classics.  The tone (and topics covered) in the few pages I've read put me in mind of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, which is a surprisingly good novel.  If you are a fan of Gilead (or the others in that series), you probably would also like As For Me and My House.

(Actually, I may have to qualify this, in that I may have pre-judged the resolution of the novel, which may be considerably more depressing, while Gilead is more uplifting.  The writing is still sharp though.)

After this, for a complete change of pace, Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater.

Edited July 28, 2016 by ejp626

[BillF]

6 hours ago, ejp626 said:

Just about to wrap up Willa Cather's My Antonia.  I'm enjoying it a fair bit.  Some good insights in there about the transition from rural to urban lifestyle, as well as how immigrants fit into (or didn't) the vastness of the prairies.  I'm a bit sorry I didn't encounter this sooner (I probably should have read in high school but I skipped over American literature).

I've just started Sinclair Ross's As For Me and My House.  My initial reaction is very positive -- I think this is one of those underrated classics.  The tone (and topics covered) in the few pages I've read put me in mind of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, which is a surprisingly good novel.  If you are a fan of Gilead (or the others in that series), you probably would also like As For Me and My House.

(Actually, I may have to qualify this, in that I may have pre-judged the resolution of the novel, which may be considerably more depressing, while Gilead is more uplifting.  The writing is still sharp though.)

After this, for a complete change of pace, Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater.

Once tried to read Willa Cather's O Pioneers!  but didn't get very far with it.

On my re-reading list is Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus of which I have good memories.

[Leeway]

Re-read this novel to get a firmer recollection of Wharton's writing. Very rewarding. 

[Leeway]

"THE VANISHING VELAZQUEZ: A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece" by Laura Cumming. The story of John Snare and a supposedly lost portrait of Charles I by Velazquez, and a larger appreciation of the artist himself. An entertaining account, although occasionally beset by a surplus of supposition and speculation, as well as hero-worship of Velazquez. . 

[paul secor]

Haruki Murakami: Wind/Pinball

His first two works. He was just beginning, but Pinball, 1973 is a worthy effort. By the time he wrote his next book, he was off and running.

 

[fasstrack]

Re-reading Robin Kelleys Monk biography---for the 3rd time...

[ejp626]

I finished Sinclair Ross's As For Me and My House, which turned out to be super depressing.  It is almost a complete inversion of Gilead -- bitter, small town residents and an embittered minister's wife and the minister who doesn't believe in what he preaches.  It's still good, solid writing, but I felt soiled at the end.

I ripped through Jonathan Lethem's Men and Cartoons, which was slight and disappointing.

I'm now into a much more substantial book: Sabbath's Theatre and I'm also reading Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart.

(I'll definitely need to read something more cheerful soon!)

[BillF]

14 hours ago, fasstrack said:

Re-reading Robin Kelleys Monk biography---for the 3rd time...

A great jazz biog, tho' I wouldn't have the time for 3 reads!

11 hours ago, ejp626 said:

I finished Sinclair Ross's As For Me and My House, which turned out to be super depressing.  It is almost a complete inversion of Gilead -- bitter, small town residents and an embittered minister's wife and the minister who doesn't believe in what he preaches.  It's still good, solid writing, but I felt soiled at the end.

I ripped through Jonathan Lethem's Men and Cartoons, which was slight and disappointing.

I'm now into a much more substantial book: Sabbath's Theatre and I'm also reading Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart.

(I'll definitely need to read something more cheerful soon!)

Death of the Heart is a fine novel.

Now reading:

A very strange book. Ostensibly a novel, it is a ragbag of - admittedly readable - musings on the French author. I guess postmodernism has something to do with this game playing. In the end, the adjective I always come up with for Barnes - and Ian McEwan for that matter - is "slight".

[fasstrack]

Just started Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (Walter van de Leur).

As the title implies, the volume delves into (and analyzes) Strayhorn's works. David Hajdu's biography Lush Life does not, though it gives tremendous insight into Strayhorn the man (and his complex relationship with Ellington)...

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=something+to+live+for+the+music+of+billy+strayhorn

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?/topic/79455-something-to-live-for/#comment-1501595

 

Edited August 4, 2016 by fasstrack

[ejp626]

On 8/3/2016 at 1:44 AM, BillF said:

Death of the Heart is a fine novel.

 

I have gotten just under halfway through.  I have to say it reminds me a lot of Elizabeth Taylor's A Game of Hide and Seek, which I enjoyed a bit more.  They are both well-written stories about juvenile love (or at least a love story that started in youth) but they focus on characters that bore me terribly.  I wouldn't want to spend more than half an hour in Portia's company, as she seems like such a dullard.  In the U.S. context, we have nothing but contempt for college age boys (and Eddie's just a bit past that) that hang around high schools, trying to date the sophomores and juniors.  I just can't shake that revulsion...

Anyway, I have just put this on my library hold list and should have it by September: Tim Murphy's Christodora

The write-up seems pretty intriguing.  http://www.groveatlantic.com/?title=Christodora

I don't know quite how I feel it being optioned for TV already before it has even hit the bookstores and found an audience.  Well, the TV series may or may not become a reality.