Now reading...

[ejp626]

Launched into Mann's The Magic Mountain.  I suspect this is a novel I will admire/respect more than really enjoy, if for no other reason than I don't like reading about illness and hospital settings (though in this case it is simply a sanatorium, though one that appears exceedingly difficult to check out from -- the main character, Hans, shows up for a 3 week visit that then stretches into months, then years...). 

Apparently, this almost happened to Mann himself.  His wife was at one of these sanatoriums.  He visited for 3 weeks, and by the end the director tried to convince him he was quite ill and should check in for a long-term stay.

[Matthew]

The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by Frank Deford

[Dave James]

On 1/7/2020 at 9:13 AM, bresna said:

I just finished Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher book, "Blue Moon". Over-the-top-Rambo is pretty standard for Child's Reacher books but this one goes way, way over the top... maybe even to the moon.

Even though the bullets were flying and blood was spraying all over the place, I actually laughed out loud at one of the gun fights because I was picturing Weird Al the whole time.

 

The recent Reacher books have been borderline over the top.  It's like Child has to keep upping the ante to keep things interesting.  If you want to read the best of the bunch, I'd recommend "61 Hours".  I've heard if they do another movie, it will be based on this installment. 

[ejp626]

On 2020-01-08 at 8:09 PM, ejp626 said:

It looks like it will be Mann's Magic Mountain

At 700 pages, this really outstayed its welcome, especially section 7, which I didn't care for at all.  Somewhere around page 350 or 400 I just lost all interest in the characters, particularly the main character, Hans, whom I never warmed up to.

Probably The Good People of New York next and then back to William Maxwell: Time Will Darken It and some of the stories collected in the LOA volume.

I do have the recent translation of Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling on hold at the library and that will be coming up soon as well.

[jazzbo]

It's been thirty years or so since I read The Magic Mountain. I don't remember really disliking it. I like a lot of Mann; about 8 years ago I re-read all the Joseph novels, which I really enjoy.

[erwbol]

[jlhoots]

John Branch: The Last Cowboys

[soulpope]

[Matthew]

Essays: Montaigne

[Jim Duckworth]

I read some of this decades ago by accident.  I've been searching for an affordable copy and now there is a new and affordable edition.

[ejp626]

On 2020-01-31 at 9:34 AM, Matthew said:

Essays: Montaigne

I got through a shorter selected version and thought many of them were quite interesting.  I then ordered this complete version, though it will be a while before I tackle the essays again.

I generally enjoyed The Good People of New York.  I got 100 pages from the end of Maxwell's Time Will Darken It and finally bailed.  The main character makes a couple of horrible decisions, almost entirely because he wants people to think well of him (and he's a pushover).  That would be bad enough, but when his wife and close friend try to dissuade him from this path, and he just ignores them...  I am no longer going to read fiction about morons or near-morons (and probably not about weak-willed pushovers either).  Life's too short.

[JSngry]

Syl Johnson. Better grab it now if you're going to grab it at all.

[Dave James]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:12 AM, Jim Duckworth said:

I read some of this decades ago by accident.  I've been searching for an affordable copy and now there is a new and affordable edition.

Jim, are you aware of this? Szukalski is now the subject of the critically acclaimed 2018 Netflix documentary Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski directed by Irek Dobrowolski 

[Jim Duckworth]

Well, I must somewhat sheepishly admit that it was that very documentary that reminded me that I had actually spent a weekend with that book way back in October of 1981.  It was certainly unusual and I retained some of it to this day.

[Marzz]

Just finished reading The Tempest from this new hernia inducing 'book'. It's a facsimile of Shakespeare's first folio (Norton). Definitely didn't need any more Shakespeare, but my wife knew I'd love it anyway and bought it for me for xmas! 

[Matthew]

1 hour ago, Marzz said:

Just finished reading The Tempest from this new hernia inducing 'book'. It's a facsimile of Shakespeare's first folio (Norton). Definitely didn't need any more Shakespeare, but my wife knew I'd love it anyway and bought it for me for xmas! 

Love the look of the book! I've always had trouble reading a facsimile of the first folio, I'm impressed you can make it through without any headaches!

[David Ayers]

7 hours ago, Marzz said:

Just finished reading The Tempest from this new hernia inducing 'book'. It's a facsimile of Shakespeare's first folio (Norton). Definitely didn't need any more Shakespeare, but my wife knew I'd love it anyway and bought it for me for xmas! 

Nice. Wish I’d got the time but - well, the day job...

[Brad]

Soldiers of Salamis, a novel of the Spanish Civil War, by Javier Cercas. It reads like non fiction but is actually fiction.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Brad

[mjazzg]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

Soldiers of Salamis, a novel of the Spanish Civil War, by Javier Cercas. It reads like non fiction but is actually fiction.

I remember being very taken with that one but can't remember much detail.

[Brad]

Just now, mjazzg said:

I remember being very taken with that one but can't remember much detail.

It’s a story about an important Falange prisoner in Barcelona who in the final days of the War is to be executed, he runs away, a Republican soldier spares his life and he manages to survive in the forest, with the aid of a few “forest friends,” three Republican soldiers who have deserted. I’m about halfway through the book. 

[mjazzg]

4 hours ago, Brad said:

It’s a story about an important Falange prisoner in Barcelona who in the final days of the War is to be executed, he runs away, a Republican soldier spares his life and he manages to survive in the forest, with the aid of a few “forest friends,” three Republican soldiers who have deserted. I’m about halfway through the book. 

Thanks Brad. I nearly wrote in my first response the words "Falange" and "forest" but wasn't sure it was that one. It was. Different cover in the UK didn't help. I do remember it being a good read.

Hope you enjoy the rest of it

[Marzz]

On 2/4/2020 at 4:45 PM, Matthew said:

Love the look of the book! I've always had trouble reading a facsimile of the first folio, I'm impressed you can make it through without any headaches!

Oh definitely a few headaches for me, especially with the original pronunciation! I've grown up with the 'modern' versions, so i translate as i read along. I'd love to see a production with original pronunciation some day.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Marzz

[ghost of miles]

On 3/14/2019 at 8:32 AM, Brad said:

Did you read the recent one where he revisits The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and Smiley makes a brief appearance. I didn't read a lot of the early books and have started to read them found them very good, such as Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality. Among the ones I have read over the years, Little Drummer Girl and The Russia House stand out. 

Thanks for these recs, Brad. Watching Smiley’s People has got me on another le Carre jag. Just resumed reading Adam Sisman’s bio as well. I have to confess that I bogged down with A Perfect Spy but will try returning to it too. Intrigued by an earlier Smiley novel, The Looking Glass War... how’s that one, if you’ve read it?

[jlhoots]

[erwbol]

Re-reading Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost in this Folio Society edition, bought in last month's sale (50% off).