Simply pleasure. This year Mexico on the west coast near Manzanillo.
The last four years Nicaragua. S
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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
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Simply pleasure. This year Mexico on the west coast near Manzanillo.
The last four years Nicaragua. S
Instead, might I recommend Boccaccio's Decameron, or Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe (yes, that Daniel Defoe, the chap who wrote Robinson Crusoe).
Oh yes! One of the few mandatory reading in school which I actually enjoyed.
And, as I wrote to an Italian friend (and former colleague) earlier today, I am impressed by, and envious of, an educational system that is of the view that timeless classics of this nature are what we should study at school (along wth much else that is relevant and necessary and contemporary) and are well worth study.
Agreed. However, I have quite a few friends back in Italy that are teachers and they all say that the curriculum is now so dumbed down that they barely read anything, let alone the classics.
Twin Peaks and Philosophy (2018). A pretty interesting collection of philosophical essay on David Lynch's TV series (and movie) about the world of Twin Peaks. The book covers all three seasons, and Fire Walk With Me, so it covers about 25 years of real-world and fictional world timeframe. Some of the essays were incredibly interesting, others were meh. Very uneven work, but an obsessive fan like me (or @Mefisto ) will rejoice in reading this work.
Still immersed in (and enjoying immensely) The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.
This is a book to savour slowly. Superb.
This is a book to savour slowly. Superb.
Exactly.
Savour with a good wine.
Actually, Hilary Mantel's book is brilliant; just brilliant. A superb retrospective of the first two books (and some seriously clever foreshadowing), knitting all those strands together like a subtle and immensely complex tapestry.
Some sections of dialogue are laugh out loud funny, yelped laughter, they are so sharp, while the book as a whole is reminiscent of those pantomimes where you want - badly - to shout up at the stage, and advise the characters - "Noooo!! Don't.....".
Actually, it is a real tribute to her story-telling, (and historical accuracy and fidelity to sources) that while firstly, we know the story, the outcome and the end, and secondly, while she has largely persuaded us to see the character of Thomas Cromwell in a different - more nuanced - subtle and sympathetic light, (yet we still know what he did, and in this book, the wise and tolerant humanist of the first book is yet further compromised, souls rendered sordid in the selling) we still want to shout at him, an anguished off stage prompt, "Nooooo - don't, just don't...."
This one's going straight to the top of the shopping list. Thanks a bunch, once again, for a very interesting recommendation!
I've been prowling around my magazine and newspaper subs out of curiosity about what their book review section contributors propose in the way of "reading your way through the time of the novel coronavirus."
I've collected more ideas than I'll ever have time to pursue, of course. Happy to see though I wasn't the only one whose thoughts ran to "how can I get outta here", i.e. books about going somewhere else, whether fictional or nonfictional journeys.
Got distracted by spending a few minutes on a favored distraction in The New Yorker... their virtual jigsaw puzzle feature. A great way to spend a coffee break now and then. I posted about it in a coronavirus-related thread but forgot it was a thread in PRSI, so herewith a reference that more folks might bump into. You don't have to be a subscriber to play. Three levels of difficulty, the puzzles are randomly presented cover art of past issues of the magazine. Enjoy!
I've collected more ideas than I'll ever have time to pursue, of course. Happy to see though I wasn't the only one whose thoughts ran to "how can I get outta here", i.e. books about going somewhere else, whether fictional or nonfictional journeys.
Got distracted by spending a few minutes on a favored distraction in The New Yorker... their virtual jigsaw puzzle feature. A great way to spend a coffee break now and then. I posted about it in a coronavirus-related thread but forgot it was a thread in PRSI, so herewith a reference that more folks might bump into. You don't have to be a subscriber to play. Three levels of difficulty, the puzzles are randomly presented cover art of past issues of the magazine. Enjoy!
I am reading The Mirror and The Light ever more slowly, savouring it.
Reading it, it is clear that Hilary Mantel is utterly on top of her material and was thoroughly enjoying herself while writing the book.
The scene where Henry decides to upend the arrangements to meet and greet Anna of Cleves when he announces his intention to anticipate her arrival by travelling in disguise to surprise her "to nurture and nourish love" is that brilliant blend of horrifying and hilarious. As is Cromwell's reaction ("He closes his eyes.")
Reading it, it is clear that Hilary Mantel is utterly on top of her material and was thoroughly enjoying herself while writing the book.
The scene where Henry decides to upend the arrangements to meet and greet Anna of Cleves when he announces his intention to anticipate her arrival by travelling in disguise to surprise her "to nurture and nourish love" is that brilliant blend of horrifying and hilarious. As is Cromwell's reaction ("He closes his eyes.")
Update....Went back to giving Sharkbait another chance. Glad I did. It is written pretty well and I skipped places where he prattled on with poetry and some of the letters to his wife. It had a bunch of things it touched on that I had never previously come across. I recommend it. I got to where I just cut him some slack on his ego.....at one point he ever stated that he had a big ego. At least he admitted it. It won a lot of points with me.
Now reading ‘Skybolt. At Arms length’....by Nicholas Hill.
A Cold War period history of British Air to Ground missile and Inertial Navigation System development. All back in the ‘60s with Britain’s V- bomber Force. S
Thinking of taking a break and reading some spy novels.
There's a trilogy plus a fourth book in a series by Olen Steinhauer, the Milo Weaver stories. Has anyone read any of them? The add-on just came out recently and is titled "The Last Tourist".
I'm inclined to start with the first of the trilogy which is, yeah, "The Tourist". The other two are "The Nearest Exit" and "An American Spy."
There's a trilogy plus a fourth book in a series by Olen Steinhauer, the Milo Weaver stories. Has anyone read any of them? The add-on just came out recently and is titled "The Last Tourist".
I'm inclined to start with the first of the trilogy which is, yeah, "The Tourist". The other two are "The Nearest Exit" and "An American Spy."
Have you ever read any of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko (Gorky Park was the first) series?
Although somewhat uneven (the first three are excellent, the fifth and sixth are also very good, the later ones less so), at their best, they are excellent.
Ah that's a good idea, I have only ever read Gorky Park, which I liked a lot!
The Hobbit (1937)- I remember looking over a girl’s shoulder, at age 11 (5th grade, 1964) asking her what’s that your reading? I don’t remember why it caught my eye, I think I saw the cover of the paperback, and she said, The Hobbit. And I remember thinking, The Hobbit, what on Earth? Well that launched me into a life of among many genres, fantasy reading, followed soon after by Lord of the Rings, a much more serious affair.
I’m guessing this is the fifth time I’ve read this book. I used to say as soon as I opened the cover, but that no longer applies as I am digital now. As soon as I read the first sentence, In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit, the movie starts playing in my head, my movie, not the Peter Jackson abomination.
But since it’s been a long while since I read it last, just before the first Lord of the Rings movie was released, it’s not so familiar as I can’t enjoy it again, it’s magical!
The cover I have on my office shelf.
Speaking of genres, before The Hobbit caught my attention, I had already been hooked by science fiction, one of the earliest books that caught my fancy (3rd grade-ish) was a time travel story involving visiting the age of dinosaurs, but I’ve not been able to remember or successfully research that Title. There was a dino stampede, and one of the party members is trampled and all that is left is a bloody spot. I remember being shocked! It was not The Sound of Thunder.
I’m guessing this is the fifth time I’ve read this book. I used to say as soon as I opened the cover, but that no longer applies as I am digital now. As soon as I read the first sentence, In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit, the movie starts playing in my head, my movie, not the Peter Jackson abomination.
But since it’s been a long while since I read it last, just before the first Lord of the Rings movie was released, it’s not so familiar as I can’t enjoy it again, it’s magical!
The cover I have on my office shelf.
Started two books this evening; The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson and Nelson DeMille's Talbot Odyssey with a glass or two of French Foreign Legion red wine, vintage 2007.
Six Weeks - The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War - John Lewis-Stempel.