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[jlhoots]

Michael Connolly: The Closers

16 minutes ago, ejp626 said:

Kafka's Amerika (the newish translation).

 

Benjamin's The Immortalists has just turned up at the library, so that will be next.

I really liked The Immortalists.

[Brad]

[medjuck]

About collectors of blues 78s.

Edited July 11, 2018 by medjuck

[Utevsky]

Another novel about rich people and their problems.

[jlhoots]

J. Todd Scott: The Far Empty

[ejp626]

On 7/7/2018 at 11:16 PM, ejp626 said:

Kafka's Amerika (the newish translation).

 

 

I think Hofmann makes a number of inexcusable editorial decisions.  One character's name keeps jumping back and forth from Mack to Mak, and there is a point where Karl is told to head "east" to San Francisco, while he is in New York.  I just don't see the point of this, as it is super distracting and doesn't add anything to the enjoyment/understanding of the novel.  (Hofman's attempts to justify his choices just don't make any sense to me.)  I'll get through this but then donate my copy elsewhere and keep the Muir translation.

[Utevsky]

Post-Proust Parisian parlor drama, written by a teenager.   ("Count d'Orgel," by Raymond Radiguet.)

Edited August 11, 2018 by Utevsky

[paul secor]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 1:16 AM, medjuck said:

About collectors of blues 78s.

I hated this book. What's your take?

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I hated this book. What's your take?

I loved the first couple of chapters but it got too depressing for me by the end.  However it did nail the fetishism of us collectors.  Also name checked several good Paramount blues sides. Shortly after finishing it I did spend a couple of days listening to a friend's 78 jazz collection played on his special equipment.  I felt like one of the misfits in the book. 

[paul secor]

7 minutes ago, medjuck said:

I loved the first couple of chapters but it got too depressing for me by the end.  However it did nail the fetishism of us collectors.  Also name checked several good Paramount blues sides. Shortly after finishing it I did spend a couple of days listening to a friend's 78 jazz collection played on his special equipment.  I felt like one of the misfits in the book. 

The collecting parts didn't bother me. The rest did.

[Big Beat Steve]

2 hours ago, medjuck said:

 I felt like one of the misfits in the book. 

As bad as Joe Buzzard and John Tefteller? If I got your impressions right they must be prime candidates for this category.

@medjuck & Paul Secor:

Would you mind elaborating on your impressions/mixed-feeling reactions? To me, at first glance this sounds like a fun book to read, even (or particularly) if it is fictional. I guess I can poke fun and laugh a bit at myself and my (probably not THAT terminal) collectionitis and probably don't take myself 100% seriously in that respect. But I am eager to listen if my impressions I got from your comments are way off. So ... what is it that annoys you with this book? Where does it get unbearable? (Thx ..)

Edited July 17, 2018 by Big Beat Steve

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, Big Beat Steve said:

As bad as Joe Buzzard and John Tefteller? If I got your impressions right they must be prime candidates for this category.

@medjuck & Paul Secor:

Would you mind elaborating on your impressions/mixed-feeling reactions? To me, at first glance this sounds like a fun book to read, even (or particularly) if it is fictional. I guess I can poke fun and laugh a bit at myself and my (probably not THAT terminal) collectionitis and probably don't take myself 100% seriously in that respect. But I am eager to listen if my impressions I got from your comments are way off. So ... what is it that annoys you with this book? Where does it get unbearable? (Thx ..)

Here's my review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2115750751?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Not a long review, but I didn't feel that the novel deserved one.

[Big Beat Steve]

19 minutes ago, paul secor said:

Here's my review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2115750751?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Not a long review, but I didn't feel that the novel deserved one.

Thanks. Sounds like a book that indulges in clichés.

Any other opinions?

BTW: I had to snicker when I saw the "second" pic of the author you linked in the comments section of your review. THAT photo seems to say "Oh my god, what book did I write there??"

 

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Thanks. Sounds like a book that indulges in clichés.

Any other opinions?

BTW: I had to snicker when I saw the "second" pic of the author you linked in the comments section of your review. THAT photo seems to say "Oh my god, what book did I write there??"

 

Very magic realist/supernatural but within that genre ties things up at the end though not happily.   I liked it a lot more than Paul did. 

[ejp626]

On 7/7/2018 at 11:31 PM, jlhoots said:

 

I really liked The Immortalists.

Only just started this, but am enjoying it so far.  Another interesting book involving a prophecy (and how it impacted the lives of those who heard it) is The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma.

 

After I wrap this up and return to the library, it will be Mann's Felix Krull.  Or rather Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man: The Early Years.  (I had meant to pair this with Melville's The Confidence-Man, but the plans went a bit awry...)

[paul secor]

Simenon: Maigret and the Tall Woman

[Brad]

I read a couple of Simenon’s books that the NY Review of Books Classics issued, Act of Passion and Red Light.  Both excellent although I preferred the former. 

[Brad]

Jane Austen's First Buyer? Probably a Prince She Hated

A recent discovery indicates that the Prince Regent (son of George III) may have been the first buyer of her book. George IV wasn't her favorite person. 

Edited July 25, 2018 by Brad

[ghost of miles]

[Brad]

[jlhoots]

Justin Cronin: The City Of Mirrors

[mjazzg]

Very much enjoying this. Thanks Brad!

Reigniting my latent interest in things Spanish and memories of trips to both cities.

[Brad]

2 hours ago, mjazzg said:

Very much enjoying this. Thanks Brad!

Reigniting my latent interest in things Spanish and memories of trips to both cities.

Glad you are enjoying it. Not just a football book but it mixes history and politics skillfully. 

[mjazzg]

27 minutes ago, Brad said:

Glad you are enjoying it. Not just a football book but it mixes history and politics skillfully. 

It certainly does. The early Civil War chapters are particularly enlightening so far

[Brad]

Especially the part about how Real Madrid is viewed as Franco’s team even though Madrid held out against the Nationalist forces until the end.