Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[Scepticalscribe]

I have just read the news this evening that one of my favorite authors, the brilliant, gifted, fiercely intelligent, insightful but rigorously fair, and impressively compassionate, the wonderful writer, Hilary Mantel has died.

I loved her work, (especially her outstanding Thomas Cromwell trilogy), for its exquisite prose, meticulous scholarship, devastating wit, all of which was seasoned by an innate decency, humanity and sense of fairness.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oh, NO.....!! She is a magnificent writer. Oh, this news makes me very sad......

 

[pachyderm]

I have just read the news this evening that one of my favorite authors, the brilliant, gifted, fiercely intelligent, insightful but rigorously fair, and impressively compassionate, the wonderful writer, Hilary Mantel has died.

I loved her work, (especially her outstanding Thomas Cromwell trilogy), for its exquisite prose, meticulous scholarship, devastating wit, all of which was seasoned by an innate decency, humanity and sense of fairness.

That's a shame. RIP.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oh, NO.....!! She is a magnificent writer. Oh, this news makes me very sad......

Agreed.

Absolutely magnificent, - exquisite and precise prose, astonishing insight, meticulous research, all combined - and she was also exceedingly generous with her time, warm encouragement and support to young writers, (especially women), scholars, libraries, literary publications, those who wished to interview her, the actors who played the characters she wrote, and so on.

The warm (and total) respect in which she was held by her peers is striking; some of the tweets written since her death was announced are wonderful to read.

 

[Clix Pix]

When I glanced at the Washington Post again last night I noticed that there was an article, but I didn't take time to read it then. Today when I'm doing my usual daily thorough consumption of the paper I'll definitely be seeing what they have written. The article included a nice photo, too.

 

[obeygiant]

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

 

[Crowbot]

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

"Picture", I believe. Wonderful story.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Portrait of Dorian Gray

"Picture", I believe. Wonderful story.

A gripping, haunting and brilliant story.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I’ll be brief on this one, just to continue my series on the breviaries I am collecting (previously Monastic Diurnal, Monastic Matins, and the Eastern Anthologion).

I recently purchased the 1979 Book of Common Prayer used by the Anglican (and Episcopalian) Churches, which is an update to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which is in itself a quite natural derivative of the English Reformation. I do not own the 1662 edition (I will), but my understanding is that the 1979 simplifies some structural elements and that the language is updated to a more modern English. As other breviaries, it contains several tables and a definite structure to guide the liturgical sessions.

As for the physical book itself, I won’t hide that it’s nothing special, especially if compared with the other breviaries. It’s just… a book. The print is just that. Now, the good, great news compared to other breviaries is that it’s really really cheap. You can find good copies for less than $10, as compared to the $70-$500 range of the other breviaries.

Some pictures below, as you can see my kitten was helping me in analyzing the structure of the book however he’s really pissed that the book has no ribbons to chew.

Ps: out of respect of the mods, since the cover picture is nothing worth of note but it contains just a religious symbol, I put it under the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

The Good Shepherd.

 

[jdb8167]

How was Middlegame? I have that one too but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Weird but very good. Sequel is coming out soon.

I just finished Seanan McGuire’s sequel to Middlegame called Seasonal Fears. Another weird but good read. Same universe as Middlegame with the attendant Alchemists but with new characters and a cameo by the characters in Middlegame. Recommended if you like the urban fantasy genre.

 

[satcomer]

I finished reading an older book by Stephen King's The Stand the extended version! Trash Can' pyromaniac ways on dusty Kansas City! The voices in his head was creepy in but I couldn't put the book down!

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I finished reading an older book by Stephen King's The Stand the extended version! Trash Can' pyromaniac ways on dusty Kansas City! The voices in his head was creepy in but I couldn't put the book down!

His books are quite addictive. I read one in high school that freaked me out, but I couldn't put it down. Can't remember the name, but it was so bizarre/frightening, I just was hooked and read the whole thing. (Haven't read another of his books since *shrug*)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I’ll be brief on this one, just to continue my series on the breviaries I am collecting (previously Monastic Diurnal, Monastic Matins, and the Eastern Anthologion).

I recently purchased the 1979 Book of Common Prayer used by the Anglican (and Episcopalian) Churches, which is an update to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which is in itself a quite natural derivative of the English Reformation. I do not own the 1662 edition (I will), but my understanding is that the 1979 simplifies some structural elements and that the language is updated to a more modern English. As other breviaries, it contains several tables and a definite structure to guide the liturgical sessions.

As for the physical book itself, I won’t hide that it’s nothing special, especially if compared with the other breviaries. It’s just… a book. The print is just that. Now, the good, great news compared to other breviaries is that it’s really really cheap. You can find good copies for less than $10, as compared to the $70-$500 range of the other breviaries.

Some pictures below, as you can see my kitten was helping me in analyzing the structure of the book however he’s really pissed that the book has no ribbons to chew.

Ps: out of respect of the mods, since the cover picture is nothing worth of note but it contains just a religious symbol, I put it under the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

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Fascinating shots and thanks for sharing.

I especially love the image of the cat's paw holding down/open the page - doubtless the first page of that chapter - wonderfully (and aptly?) entitled "The Reconciliation of a Penitent".

Meanwhile, I shall not dare - or deign - to enquire whether the person of the penitent takes a cat or a human form.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I have a really old German bible. It looks like it was pressed, not offset printed. I should probably dig it out and see if it's worth anything. *shrug*

EDIT: Fixed error...

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

I have a really old offset printed German bible. It looks like it was pressed, not offset printed. I should probably dig it out and see if it's worth anything. *shrug*

You might be surprised. A work colleague once asked me to value a book that they had acquired from a family member. Some 20 years ago it was over $16,000.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I finished reading an older book by Stephen King's The Stand the extended version! Trash Can' pyromaniac ways on dusty Kansas City! The voices in his head was creepy in but I couldn't put the book down!

One of my all time favorite books. I’ve read it several times.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Meanwhile, I shall not dare - or deign - to enquire whether the person of the penitent takes a cat or a human form.

From the cat’s perspective - which is the only perspective that matters in my household - the penitent is obviously me. That’s why he put his paw on that page, and looked at me with a stare that would make Torquemada shiver out of pure, primal fear. Thankfully the penitent - me - was able to obtain temporary forgiveness through the proper payment of an indulgence, that is I gave him a tuna treat.

 

[yaxomoxay]

You might be surprised. A work colleague once asked me to value a book that they had acquired from a family member. Some 20 years ago it was over $16,000.

Hopefully you told him that it was worth $16 but were willing to give him $20 as a favor.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

From the cat’s perspective - which is the only perspective that matters in my household - the penitent is obviously me. That’s why he put his paw on that page, and looked at me with a stare that would make Torquemada shiver out of pure, primal fear. Thankfully the penitent - me - was able to obtain temporary forgiveness through the proper payment of an indulgence, that is I gave him a tuna treat.

But in my experience of being owned by cats (we are all staff, aren't we) they are the most judgy animals. They seek to shape their world all around their needs and desires. I've had dogs be a little judgy but they usually forget it very quickly where a cat will usually make you regret your slight for days, if not weeks.

Growing up, my brother had a cat that was such an A$$. I swatted him off the kitchen table while he had designs on the nightly entree and he hopped on my bed and peed in me early that next morning. He sure knew what he was doing...

So judgy, so vindictive...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

From the cat’s perspective - which is the only perspective that matters in my household - the penitent is obviously me. That’s why he put his paw on that page, and looked at me with a stare that would make Torquemada shiver out of pure, primal fear. Thankfully the penitent - me - was able to obtain temporary forgiveness through the proper payment of an indulgence, that is I gave him a tuna treat.

While the pictures were lovely, the meticulously placed paw of that cat - was what made the image.

To my mind, it is almost akin to those exquisite little marginal notes that medieval monks busy copying scripts in scriptoria used to pen as asides, witty, speculative, simple commentary, or otherwise.

 

[yaxomoxay]

While the pictures were lovely, the meticulously placed paw of that cat - was what made the image.

To my mind, it is almost akin to those exquisite little marginal notes that medieval monks busy copying scripts in scriptoria used to pen as asides, witty, speculative, simple commentary, or otherwise.

That’s actually a lovely connection I didn’t make. I read somewhere that marginalia was actually a mnemonic method, a sort of aide to create a memory palace and that using “shocking” images made the effort easier. Some of them are indeed interesting:

This is the only way I can memorize a text:

As a person that suffers from strong migraines, I can relate to this clearly advanced medical and natural cure:

Finding a good, reliable babysitter has always been a struggle. Here’s a reminder of how the best babysitters present themselves:

No electricity or gas this winter? Problem solved.

As for the cat, I am not joking that he kept his paw on that page, however he moved it a few times. After the reading session - and my praise of His Majesty the cat - I actually gave him the tuna treat.

 

[pachyderm]

That’s actually a lovely connection I didn’t make. I read somewhere that marginalia was actually a mnemonic method, a sort of aide to create a memory palace and that using “shocking” images made the effort easier. Some of them are indeed interesting:

This is the only way I can memorize a text:

View attachment 2096669

As a person that suffers from strong migraines, I can relate to this clearly advanced medical and natural cure:

View attachment 2096670

Finding a good, reliable babysitter has always been a struggle. Here’s a reminder of how the best babysitters present themselves:

View attachment 2096671

No electricity or gas this winter? Problem solved.

View attachment 2096672

As for the cat, I am not joking that he kept his paw on that page, however he moved it a few times. After the reading session - and my praise of His Majesty the cat - I actually gave him the tuna treat.

This is a painting I did a long time ago... I was trying to match the above era of painting style.

 

[jfayre]

If god was a banker

 

[yaxomoxay]

This is a painting I did a long time ago... I was trying to match the above era of painting style.

I love it!!!!