What are you reading at the moment?

[Missoni]

Thank you for posting this - an excellent review of an excellent book. I'm a big fan of Armstrong - and funnily enough - one of my choices later this week is likely to be by her. In my opinion you nailed it by highlighting the opposition - juxtaposition - of mythos and logos - this is key to understanding her theological world view - and to extend that - understanding humans in general. Thanks again - I look forward to whatever you choose next - cheers - I.
[/QUOTE]

...thank you; after reading a History of God, I also went on to purchase more of Armstrong's books - all terrific. Look forward to the next review.

 

[CjH]

Well I've not been a reader in former years but I've read more books in 2 months than I have read in 20 years...
Just on to the 4th of Gervais Phinn (dales books)
Very witty Yorkshire school inspector.

 

[Scotshave]

Day 4

Available in many different editions, MRJ's ghost stories may not satisfy those seeking sheer visceral horror in the style of, say, Clive Barker. However, such enthusiasts shouldn't be put off. The tales are of their time: mannered, even urbane; and, in many ways, this sets the scene beautifully.

James' protagonists tend to follow a type. Middle-aged men, often unattached and of independent means. They also have a (sometimes fatal ) curiosity: unearthing things that weren't meant to be dug up; searching for treasure; coming into possession of curious books, artwork and so on.

His revenants aren't the ethereal, chain clinking type of early Gothic writers such as Walpole or Lewis either; these are tactile, horrible things that often defy description. So no ghosts in winding sheets (although one of MRJ's most celebrated phantoms takes a decidedly Freudian approach, in a parody of the sheet ghost.

So, dim the lights, sit by the fire with something warming to hand. Yes, I'm sure (that's) just shadows in the corner at the far side of the room...

@Digimonkey, @patw @Barry Giddens , @Missoni , @Ferry-shave , @Blademonkey

 

[Digimonkey]

Seven days - seven books - day three -

'The Conquest of New Spain' - Bernal Diaz de Castillo.

Sorry a day late with my third recommendation - I'll do two today to catch up - this is the first.

Diaz was one of the 500 or so men that sailed under Hernan Cortes in 1520 from Cuba to the Yucatan peninsula - initially their intention was really just to steal anything of any value they could find - but ended up bringing about the destruction of one of the biggest empires in the world at the time - the Aztec. By anybodies standards this was a 'black swan event.' It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Cortes was a maniac - upon landing he destroyed his ships - the message was pretty clear - we go home in a coffin or rich men. It was in actuality a fairly stupid thing to do - it caused him severe problems later - apart from anything else he had to compensate the guy who owned the ships. The idea that 500 men could defeat an empire - is of course ridiculous - granted the Spanish had some singular advantages - to borrow a phrase from Jared Diamond - principally - 'guns, germs and steel.' They also had horses - the locals had never seen anything with four legs bigger than a llama - so a heavily armed mounted soldier charging at you must have been truly terrifying. Cortes sussed fairly quickly that a significant number of the locals hated being under Aztec rule and were more than happy to fight alongside the Spanish - this is why they succeeded. The book is written in the first person - Bernal has a beautiful eye for detail and description - it is vivid and engaging - even with the passage of time - the section when they first see Moctezuma's capital is particularly memorable - slack jawed at the scale and complexity of it - and of course - riches beyond the dreams of avarice. The narrative has a compelling immediacy about it - as we see the campaign unfold through Diaz's eyes. A unique testimony - highly recommended if the subject interests you. Cheers - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @patw @Missoni @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

 

[RussellR5555]

View attachment 48192

Seven days - seven books - day three -

'The Conquest of New Spain' - Bernal Diaz de Castillo.

Sorry a day late with my third recommendation - I'll do two today to catch up - this is the first.

Diaz was one of the 500 or so men that sailed under Hernan Cortes in 1520 from Cuba to the Yucatan peninsula - initially their intention was really just to steal anything of any value they could find - but ended up bringing about the destruction of one of the biggest empires in the world at the time - the Aztec. By anybodies standards this was a 'black swan event.' It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Cortes was a maniac - upon landing he destroyed his ships - the message was pretty clear - we go home in a coffin or rich men. It was in actuality a fairly stupid thing to do - it caused him severe problems later - apart from anything else he had to compensate the guy who owned the ships. The idea that 500 men could defeat an empire - is of course ridiculous - granted the Spanish had some singular advantages - to borrow a phrase from Jared Diamond - principally - 'guns, germs and steel.' They also had horses - the locals had never seen anything with four legs bigger than a llama - so a heavily armed mounted soldier charging at you must have been truly terrifying. Cortes sussed fairly quickly that a significant number of the locals hated being under Aztec rule and were more than happy to fight alongside the Spanish - this is why they succeeded. The book is written in the first person - Bernal has a beautiful eye for detail and description - it is vivid and engaging - even with the passage of time - the section when they first see Moctezuma's capital is particularly memorable - slack jawed at the scale and complexity of it - and of course - riches beyond the dreams of avarice. The narrative has a compelling immediacy about it - as we see the campaign unfold through Diaz's eyes. A unique testimony - highly recommended if the subject interests you. Cheers - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @patw @Missoni @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

Looks very interesting that one Iain

 

[Digimonkey]

Seven books - seven days - day four.

'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton.

There are books that become companions in life - this is one for me - I can't remember precisely - when I first became aware of it - I suspect strongly it was read to me as a bedtime story as a child - I have returned to it over the intervening years several times. In the same category is 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' by C.S Lewis - definitely a story my parents read to me - as a kid - an engrossing fairy tale - as an adult - I realise that it is a fairy tale wrapped around Christian allegory - Aslan was Jesus - that's obvious to me now - the scene where the mice gnaw through his bindings - still moves me. Anyway - sorry - I digress - 'Lost Horizon' - published in 1933 - three old school friends are taking dinner in Templehof airport in Berlin - talk turns to a lost colleague - the book's hero - Hugh Conway. Last seen as a British consul in Afghanistan - who mysteriously disappeared on an evacuation flight from Peshawar. One of the trio claims knowledge of his fate. Conway - and three fellow passengers are abducted and taken to a secret lamasery in the mountain fastness of the Tibetan Himalaya - Shangri-La. The locals - it becomes obvious - live unnaturally long lives - the head lama is several centuries old. Utopia - everything there is cool and groovy - the only catch - if you leave - you will age and die rapidly. I shan't give any more of the plot away. Much scholarly ink has been used in trying to work out Hilton's inspiration for Shangri-La - for me it is a conflation of sources taken with a corruption of 'Shambhala' - which turns up in Tibetan Buddhist scripture - seven hidden valleys that provided sanctuary in times of persecution - Hilton visited the remote Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan before he wrote it - also - bring in - early travelers' tales of Jesuit monks to the Himalaya - going back even to the medieval myth of Prestor John. Its a great book - what more can I say? - I heartily recommend it to you all - yours - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555

Oh - the strap line - about it being the first paperback published - is rubbish - ignore that claim.

 

[Missoni]

View attachment 48192

Seven days - seven books - day three -

'The Conquest of New Spain' - Bernal Diaz de Castillo.

Sorry a day late with my third recommendation - I'll do two today to catch up - this is the first.

Diaz was one of the 500 or so men that sailed under Hernan Cortes in 1520 from Cuba to the Yucatan peninsula - initially their intention was really just to steal anything of any value they could find - but ended up bringing about the destruction of one of the biggest empires in the world at the time - the Aztec. By anybodies standards this was a 'black swan event.' It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Cortes was a maniac - upon landing he destroyed his ships - the message was pretty clear - we go home in a coffin or rich men. It was in actuality a fairly stupid thing to do - it caused him severe problems later - apart from anything else he had to compensate the guy who owned the ships. The idea that 500 men could defeat an empire - is of course ridiculous - granted the Spanish had some singular advantages - to borrow a phrase from Jared Diamond - principally - 'guns, germs and steel.' They also had horses - the locals had never seen anything with four legs bigger than a llama - so a heavily armed mounted soldier charging at you must have been truly terrifying. Cortes sussed fairly quickly that a significant number of the locals hated being under Aztec rule and were more than happy to fight alongside the Spanish - this is why they succeeded. The book is written in the first person - Bernal has a beautiful eye for detail and description - it is vivid and engaging - even with the passage of time - the section when they first see Moctezuma's capital is particularly memorable - slack jawed at the scale and complexity of it - and of course - riches beyond the dreams of avarice. The narrative has a compelling immediacy about it - as we see the campaign unfold through Diaz's eyes. A unique testimony - highly recommended if the subject interests you. Cheers - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @patw @Missoni @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

I can see I am going to expand my reading list very fast. This resonates, especially as it is a first person account; accordingly I have just purchased the Kindle edition on Amazon although not sure yet regarding the quality of translation or layout - we shall see. Thank you.

 

[Missoni]

View attachment 48196

Seven books - seven days - day four.

'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton.

There are books that become companions in life - this is one for me - I can't remember precisely - when I first became aware of it - I suspect strongly it was read to me as a bedtime story as a child - I have returned to it over the intervening years several times. In the same category is 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' by C.S Lewis - definitely a story my parents read to me - as a kid - an engrossing fairy tale - as an adult - I realise that it is a fairy tale wrapped around Christian allegory - Aslan was Jesus - that's obvious to me now - the scene where the mice gnaw through his bindings - still moves me. Anyway - sorry - I digress - 'Lost Horizon' - published in 1933 - three old school friends are taking dinner in Templehof airport in Berlin - talk turns to a lost colleague - the book's hero - Hugh Conway. Last seen as a British consul in Afghanistan - who mysteriously disappeared on an evacuation flight from Peshawar. One of the trio claims knowledge of his fate. Conway - and three fellow passengers are abducted and taken to a secret lamasery in the mountain fastness of the Tibetan Himalaya - Shangri-La. The locals - it becomes obvious - live unnaturally long lives - the head lama is several centuries old. Utopia - everything there is cool and groovy - the only catch - if you leave - you will age and die rapidly. I shan't give any more of the plot away. Much scholarly ink has been used in trying to work out Hilton's inspiration for Shangri-La - for me it is a conflation of sources taken with a corruption of 'Shambhala' - which turns up in Tibetan Buddhist scripture - seven hidden valleys that provided sanctuary in times of persecution - Hilton visited the remote Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan before he wrote it - also - bring in - early travelers' tales of Jesuit monks to the Himalaya - going back even to the medieval myth of Prestor John. Its a great book - what more can I say? - I heartily recommend it to you all - yours - I.

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555

Oh - the strap line - about it being the first paperback published - is rubbish - ignore that claim.

Oh shit! another purchase. This book appeals from your review; not sure how well the story has stood up but will come back to this in time with my own feedback.

 

[Digimonkey]

Oh shit! another purchase.

Ha ha - I take your point about the importance of the translation of the Diaz book - the edition I have is by J.M Cohen - it reads fine to me - the only slight issue I had was keeping up with - and remembering - place names - as I didn't - and don't - have the faintest idea of how to pronounce them. Cuitlahuac? - that's not a city that is a crap Scrabble hand. The paper copy has excellent maps - so that helps in following their progress - but this might be more of a problem reading on a Kindle - it hadn't occurred to me, as I don't own one. I'll try to pick something willfully obscure today - just to save you some money. Cheers - I.

 

[Missoni]

Review 2



This is one of the few books that I immediately re-read after finishing and have returned subsequently. The last re-reading being in 2012/13 when I was based in Baghdad and part of an ex-pat, book reading club; there were not many entertainment options at the time!. Some will find the book shocking and indeed I think in some countries the book has been re-categorised as homoerotic fiction which denies the, holistic themes this book tackles. The book tells the story of a bi-racial, bi-sexual boy known as "Out in the Shed" or Shed who lives with his mother, a working woman, at the back of a brothel. Set in the American mid-west of the 1800's. The author Tom Spanbaur employs a "dangerous writing style" a style of fiction he himself has coined and advocated. He explains: "Dangerous writing means putting a piece of yourself in a work, going to the 'sore spot,' and discussing taboo topics, particularly sex and violence. It means writing for yourself, a concept that in the literary world was thought to make you go broke. It means exposing yourself to the tiger, not physically, but mentally." The book also features a writing style Spanbauer calls "going on the body" which has been described by others as involving the reader on a gut level. I will not give a plot synopsis but rather say that the book is a terrific read and at the very least will not leave you without some reaction. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon was a finalist for the 1992 Stonewall Book Award and won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. The book, has gone on to acquire cult status; being a slow burner at first, probably because of some of the themes, before achieving wilder acclaim; acclaim that I believe is entirely justified. I think the book will ahieve even greater recognition with the progress of time and that appears to be happening - a classic in the making for sure .

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555

 

[Digimonkey]

Sven days - seven books - day 5.

'Five Days at Memorial - Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital' by Sheri Fink.

This will not appeal to most - but it is one of the most affecting books I have read - a consummate piece of investigative reporting - the author has been the recipient of two Pulitzer prizes - one for the article in the New York Times this is based on. In places harrowing - it asks deeply uncomfortable questions about the ethical issues that medical staff face in a disaster scenario - before becoming a journalist Fink was a doctor in conflict and combat zones - dealing with the same sort of dilemmas - she is entirely nonjudgmental.

The 'Memorial' in the title was the Memorial Medical Centre in New Orleans - since renamed - and what happened there in the five days after hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005 - the second half of the book records the fall out of these events. When the storm hit - pretty much immediately the power failed - then the backup generators went down - leaving the 1000's trapped there - staff and patients - with no lights, no air conditioning, no clean water, no sewerage systems or life critical medical equipment. The flooding - once the levees had breached - most of New Orleans is below sea level - was 15 feet deep in that part of town - incredibly - it was three full days before any attempt was made to evacuate people - to describe the response of civil and government agencies as incompetent is being charitable - this is happening in a major city in the richest economy in the world. The efforts of the medical staff were truly heroic in trying to care for their patients - they had to improvise a triage system as best they could - those critically ill or who had signed D.N.R forms went to the bottom of the queue for evacuation - attempts started on day three. By day five - Fink alleges - some staff began to euthanise the most gravely ill - it remains an allegation - three medics were charged with second degree murder - but no-one has been convicted. It is a fact that of the 45 patients that died - 23 of them had lethal amounts of morphine in their system.

As I said - this is not an easy read - but it makes you think about the ethical decisions we expect medical staff to make on our behalves - in general - but particularly in crisis situations. Yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Scotshave @Ferry-shave @patw @Missoni @Blademonkey @RussellR5555

 

[Missoni]

Review 3



This is not a book to be read if you are feeling blue it is a deeply dark and full of bitterness - why read?' well Celine's use of language can be exquisite, razor sharp, brutally honest and the book has inspired many people to take up writing themselves . The novel is based upon Celine's own experiences during the First World War, in French Colonial Africa, in the USA and then as a doctor in Paris. I suspect the brutality and futility of World War 1 impacted profoundly Celine's view of other human beings. To me it is one man's utter contempt and disgust for humanity. With this book in particular, the best way for getting a feel is to detail a few quotes. You will know immediately if you want to read this book -:

“When you stop to examine the way in which our words are formed and uttered, our sentences are hard-put to it to survive the disaster of their slobbery origins. The mechanical effort of conversation is nastier and more complicated than defecation. That corolla of bloated flesh, the mouth, which screws itself up to whistle, which sucks in breath, contorts itself, discharges all manner of viscous sounds across a fetid barrier of decaying teeth—how revolting! Yet that is what we are adjured to sublimate into an ideal. It's not easy. Since we are nothing but packages of tepid, half-rotted viscera, we shall always have trouble with sentiment. Being in love is nothing, its sticking together that's difficult".

“Why kid ourselves, people have nothing to say to one another, they all talk about their own troubles and nothing else. Each man for himself, the earth for us all. They try to unload their unhappiness on someone else when making love, they do their damnedest, but it doesn't work, they keep it all, and then they start all over again, trying to find a place for it. "Your pretty, Mademoiselle," they say. And life takes hold of them again until the next time, and then they try the same little gimmick. "You're very pretty, Mademoiselle...And in between they boast that they've succeeded in getting rid of their unhappiness, but everyone knows it's not true and they've simply kept it all to themselves. Since at the little game you get uglier and more repulsive as you grow older, you can't hope to hide your unhappiness, your bankruptcy, any longer. In the end your features are marked with that hideous grimace that takes twenty, thrity years or more to climb form your belly to your face. That's all a man is good for, that and no more, a grimace that he takes a whole lifetime to compose. The grimace a man would need to express his true soul without losing any of it is so heavy and complicated that he doesn't always succeed in completing it.”

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555

 

[Scotshave]

Missed yesterday, so here's two offerings.

The Outsider is viewed as an existentialist classic: Mersault's non-conformity and lack of any obvious guilt in his actions is almost a theatre of the absurd. Not short of Christian allusion either'...so that it might be finished...' at the very end has a feeling of ‘consummatum est' about it. This Penguin translation is based on a 1954 recording of the work by Camus himself.

Staying with the absurd, Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus just pipped Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. They both have a carnival theme, of course; Elliott's focusses on clowns. Not alien shapeshifters that assume the familiar guise of a clown à la King's Pennywise; these are clowns, circus clowns and their form of slapstick can be both hilarious and revolting. I think it was Robert Bloch who said that clowns are funny. Providing they're not out of context...




@Digimonkey, @Missoni, @patw, @Blademonkey, @Barry Giddens, @Ferry-shave,
@RussellR5555

 

[Missoni]

Missed yesterday, so here's two offerings.

The Outsider is viewed as an existentialist classic: Mersault's non-conformity and lack of any obvious guilt in his actions is almost a theatre of the absurd. Not short of Christian allusion either'...so that it might be finished...' at the very end has a feeling of ‘consummatum est' about it. This Penguin translation is based on a 1954 reading by Satre.
View attachment 48272
Staying with the absurd, Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus just pipped Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. They both have a carnival theme, of course; Elliott's focusses on clowns. Not alien shapeshifters that assume the familiar guise of a clown à la King's Pennywise; these are clowns, circus clowns and their form of slapstick can be both hilarious and revolting. I think it was Robert Bloch who said that clowns are funny. Providing they're not out of context...


View attachment 48273

@Digimonkey, @Missoni, @patw, @Blademonkey, @Barry Giddens, @Ferry-shave,
@RussellR5555

The Outsider was a profound read for me and left a lasting impact a truly great book; I will give it a re-read. The Pilo Family Circus sounds interesting; love the cover art...

 

[Digimonkey]

Review 3

View attachment 48271

This is not a book to be read if you are feeling blue it is a deeply dark and full of bitterness - why read?' well Celine's use of language can be exquisite, razor sharp, brutally honest and the book has inspired many people to take up writing themselves . The novel is based upon Celine's own experiences during the First World War, in French Colonial Africa, in the USA and then as a doctor in Paris. I suspect the brutality and futility of World War 1 impacted profoundly Celine's view of other human beings. To me it is one man's utter contempt and disgust for humanity. With this book in particular, the best way for getting a feel is to detail a few quotes. You will know immediately if you want to read this book -:

“When you stop to examine the way in which our words are formed and uttered, our sentences are hard-put to it to survive the disaster of their slobbery origins. The mechanical effort of conversation is nastier and more complicated than defecation. That corolla of bloated flesh, the mouth, which screws itself up to whistle, which sucks in breath, contorts itself, discharges all manner of viscous sounds across a fetid barrier of decaying teeth—how revolting! Yet that is what we are adjured to sublimate into an ideal. It's not easy. Since we are nothing but packages of tepid, half-rotted viscera, we shall always have trouble with sentiment. Being in love is nothing, its sticking together that's difficult".

“Why kid ourselves, people have nothing to say to one another, they all talk about their own troubles and nothing else. Each man for himself, the earth for us all. They try to unload their unhappiness on someone else when making love, they do their damnedest, but it doesn't work, they keep it all, and then they start all over again, trying to find a place for it. "Your pretty, Mademoiselle," they say. And life takes hold of them again until the next time, and then they try the same little gimmick. "You're very pretty, Mademoiselle...And in between they boast that they've succeeded in getting rid of their unhappiness, but everyone knows it's not true and they've simply kept it all to themselves. Since at the little game you get uglier and more repulsive as you grow older, you can't hope to hide your unhappiness, your bankruptcy, any longer. In the end your features are marked with that hideous grimace that takes twenty, thrity years or more to climb form your belly to your face. That's all a man is good for, that and no more, a grimace that he takes a whole lifetime to compose. The grimace a man would need to express his true soul without losing any of it is so heavy and complicated that he doesn't always succeed in completing it.”

@Scotshave @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Blademonkey @patw @RussellR5555

Fascinating quote - pretty bleak - reminded me of Chandler - from "The Long Goodbye' - I think -

'When I got home I mixed a stiff one and stood by the open window in the living room and sipped it and listened to the groundswell of traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and looked at the glare of the big angry city hanging over the shoulder of the hills through which the boulevard had been cut. Far off the banshee wail of police or fire sirens rose and fell, never for very long completely silent. Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying to catch him. Out there in the night of a thousand crimes, people were dying, being maimed, cut by flying glass, crushed against steering wheels or under heavy tires. People were being beaten, robbed, strangled, raped, and murdered. People were hungry, sick; bored, desperate with loneliness or remorse or fear, angry, cruel, feverish, shaken by sobs. A city no worse than others, a city rich and vigorous and full of pride, a city lost and beaten and full of emptiness. It all depends on where you sit and what your own private score is. I didn't have one. I didn't care. I finished the drink and went to bed.'

Yours - I. @Scotshave @Missoni

 

[Digimonkey]

Seven days - seven books - day 6.

'Lighthouse' - Tony Parker.

Beautiful - the testimony of - and to - a doomed breed - lighthouse keepers - rock, tower and land lights in the UK are now all automated. Social history at its best. The corespondents - speak for themselves - the author is never apparent in the narrative - written from recorded interviews - exquisite - hard to find in print - but worth the effort. A strange job - for strange people. Compelling. I.

@Scotshave @Missoni @patw @Barry Giddens @Ferry-shave @Blademonkey @RussellR5555