What Are You Reading

[Harp]

.... and all the while he is kind of gently questioning the morality of those on both sides of the game.
Like I said, he comes off as being a bit world weary, but not in a bad way.

I've read very little of le Carre or Greene for that matter, the genre itself never did much for me; but that 60 Minutes interview piqued
my interest in le Carre; whom does give the appearance of world weariness, yet still a vibrant active soul with a word or two to say to us.

 

[Harp]

Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. A Nobel laureate, Lessing still remains a hard sell, she peers inside the hidden recesses of the human heart,
iconoclastic, shrewish, wise and terrible according to her own truth. Not quite Conrad as far as depressing goes, but not a shorn plain deal soul
easily grasped either. I much rather prefer other women: Wharton, Woolf, the Bronte sisters, Browning or Dickinson; yet none have quite the edge
Lessing has, but there's the glimmer of Conrad, a disconcerting unease.

 

[Fading Fast]

I've read very little of le Carre or Greene for that matter, the genre itself never did much for me; but that 60 Minutes interview piqued
my interest in le Carre; whom does give the appearance of world weariness, yet still a vibrant active soul with a word or two to say to us.

Funny you mentioned Greene - another author who assumes his readers know a lot and who asks them to make a lot of not-obvious connections.

Also, I think, I enjoy the movie of Greene's "The Quiet American" (the '58 version - just an outstanding movie) more than the novel.

 

[Harp]

Next: Jeane Kirkpatrick's thesis. On deck to bat: Simone de Beauvoir's letters to Nelson Algren.
Beauvoir was a college classmate of Simone Weil, but only a mere nodding acquaintance; Algren, Chicago's bard of the stumblebum
was the love of her life.... Life's irony writ rather large. Beauvoir, a lovely woman with a captivating smile and eyes that burned with
fierce intelligence, hiding the enigmatic personality within. A bit voyeurism, scholastic intrigue prompts this literary pursuit.

 

[HadleyH1]

I'm thinking of reading something

I have ...so many books on the shelf....waiting to be grabbed....

but the the computer and politics call me.....and politics in this day and age it's a strong call ( MAGA all the way!!! )

and so books have to wait

if a WW3 comes or the power grid goes....I know exactly what I'm reading next ...

want to know?

"Anything Goes" by Brian Gallagher

- The Jazz age adventures of Neysa McMein and her extravagant circle of Friends-

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'm thinking of reading something

I have ...so many books on the shelf....waiting to be grabbed....

but the the computer and politics call me.....and politics in this day and age it's a strong call ( MAGA all the way!!! )

and so books have to wait

if a WW3 comes or the power grid goes....I know exactly what I'm reading next ...

want to know?

"Anything Goes" by Brian Gallagher

- The Jazz age adventures of Neysa McMein and her extravagant circle of Friends-

She was friends with Dorothy Parker, I believe; I've seen her name mentioned in several biographies of DP.

 

[Fading Fast]

I'm thinking of reading something

I have ...so many books on the shelf....waiting to be grabbed....

but the the computer and politics call me.....and politics in this day and age it's a strong call ( MAGA all the way!!! )

and so books have to wait

if a WW3 comes or the power grid goes....I know exactly what I'm reading next ...

want to know?

"Anything Goes" by Brian Gallagher

- The Jazz age adventures of Neysa McMein and her extravagant circle of Friends-

The hotel is still there and the lobby still has a '20s vibe - well worth visiting for any FL / Parker / Roundtable fan if you're in NYC.

Then:
Now

 

[LizzieMaine]

Stayed there about twenty years ago and loved the place. The rooms are tiny, but you can't beat the atmosphere. And any hotel that has a cat roaming the lobby has my official seal of approval.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, as part of my current exploration of 1930s comedy shorts, I ran across an interesting recent book by Prof. Julia Lee entitled "Our Gang: A Racial History of the Little Rascals."

This isn't a typical movie-fan book, nor is it an academic hatchet job. Rather it's a study of the long-running film series as seen thru the eyes of the four African-American children who spanned its existance: Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas. There is a great deal of biographical matter on these four performers that's never been seen anywhere else, and there is also a careful and measured analysis of how the portrayals of these characters stacked up against the prevailing stereotypes of the time, and how, in many ways and on many occasions, they managed to actually slip thru some rather subversive commentary on the racial conditions of the day.

This commentary was not always well received -- Lee documents how exhibitors in the South were often highly critical of the integrationist messages offered in the films, and there were several occasions in which individual episodes were banned in parts of the South. This contrasts with the films' afterlife on television from 1955 into the 1970s, where some episodes were banned for their stereotypical content and others were heavily edited to remove controversial material.

The most interesting aspects of the book document how the four African-American stars themselves reacted to these shifting perceptions of the series as they grew from cossetted child stars to black men trying to survive in a world that was not disposed to respect them: Allen Hoskins told his children that he never saw real discrimination until he joined the Army during WWII, and he became quite bitter about the treatment he received in Hollywood when he tried to resume his career after the war: he ended up being blacklisted and lost his passport for having attended a Young Commuinist League dance as a teenager, and never worked in show business again. Matthew Beard fell into a world of petty crime and drugs after Hollywood turned its back on him, and he spent twenty years in and out of prison before beating the habit and regaining his self-respect. Billie Thomas gave up on acting completely, and spent the rest of his life working as a lab technician for Technicolor.

And yet, as Lee documents, each of the performers looked back on their childhood experiences with fondness. Hoskins, who carved out a rewarding career for himself working with the disabled, became an especially strong defender of the films as the controversy built in the 1970s. Even Matthew Beard, who seems to have been the most politically-militant of the group -- he once sent Huey Newton an autographed photo signed "Power To The People!," and told interviewers that the stereotypical dialogue he was given as a child "didn't sit too well" with him as an adult -- had only good things to say about his actual experiences on the Roach lot, especially his close and sincere friendship with co-star Dickie Moore. The two men reunited after more than forty years just before Beard's death, and Moore never forgot their conversation: "You were always my favorite, my very best friend. You never called me 'n****r.'"

This is a sensitive, thoughtful, well-written book all the way thru, and you'll learn a lot from it. Highly recommended.

 

[Fading Fast]

Stayed there about twenty years ago and loved the place. The rooms are tiny, but you can't beat the atmosphere. And any hotel that has a cat roaming the lobby has my official seal of approval.

And that tradition continues:

https://nypost.com/2017/07/29/this-will-soon-be-the-most-famous-cat-in-nyc/

Also, just showing how norms change over time - I've stayed in several pre-war NYC hotels over the years and the regular rooms (not talking about suites, etc.) are all really small as the practice then was to put the "opulence" in the lobby and other common rooms; whereas, the guest room was just a place to sleep and shower.

The famous Waldorf Astoria and Plaza hotels (and the Roosevelt and the Inter-Continental) all have impressive - crazy impressive - lobbies, restaurants, shops, etc. with incredible Art Deco and / or Art Nouveau architecture (plus some Belle Epoch elements tossed in) - but the guest rooms are all tiny.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Stayed there about twenty years ago and loved the place. The rooms are tiny, but you can't beat the atmosphere. And any hotel that has a cat roaming the lobby has my official seal of approval.

If you and FF mean the Algonquin, I made a point of visiting the lobby when I was in NYC in October of '98. Beautiful place. Didn't see a cat, though.

 

[Fading Fast]

If you and FF mean the Algonquin, I made a point of visiting the lobby when I was in NYC in October of '98. Beautiful place. Didn't see a cat, though.

Yes, re at the Algonquin and the cat had her off-stage times (not kidding) - so you must just have missed her.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Last I'd heard the Board of Health had restricted the feline presence in the lobby for sanitation reasons. Apparently a patron complained -- a patron who obviously should have stayed at the Hampton Inn.

 

[Fading Fast]

Last I'd heard the Board of Health had restricted the feline presence in the lobby for sanitation reasons. Apparently a patron complained -- a patron who obviously should have stayed at the Hampton Inn.

A few years back, NYC got much stricter about pets and restaurants. We used to be able to take a Springer Spaniel we frequently take care of to almost any outdoor seating restaurant (and, understand, I'm talking really casual places - burgers / pizza / fries) and now most say no (apologetically) 'cause they are afraid of losing their license.

I don't want to turn this into a political post - I fully support reasonable (I know, who gets to define that) rules and regulations especially on eating establishments (and until they were watered down, the City's BOH's rating system in was very effective), but the outdoor pet restriction seems a little too strict as nothing about outdoor / sidewalk eating in NYC is for the persnickety.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Starting Pete Hamill's Snow in August, probably of interest to Loungers as it is set, or at least begins, in 1946 Brooklyn.

 

[Fading Fast]

Starting Pete Hamill's Snow in August, probably of interest to Loungers as it is set, or at least begins, in 1946 Brooklyn.

I really enjoyed it - great FL vibe. My favorite of his is "North River," but "Snow in August" is very good too. Hope you like it. Looking forward to hearing your post-read comments.

 

[HadleyH1]

Last I'd heard the Board of Health had restricted the feline presence in the lobby for sanitation reasons. Apparently a patron complained -- a patron who obviously should have stayed at the Hampton Inn.

Sad.

The cat is part of the place.

He should stay.

No need to be politically correct here too. My GOD where will this PC madness end!

 

[Harp]

Constitution limits pardons if they are for self-benefit, law profs say in op-ed, Debra Weiss, American Bar Journal, March 19, 2018

Fordham prof pair claim Article II; iii bars presidential commutation if said violates "the fiduciary law of public office." Touche.
And this surmise extends to firing a certain special counsel; whom might seek injunction upon evidential grounds. Naturally.
Of course, no reference is made to the Attorney General's recusal, or how such recuse legally limits the special counsel to the subject
cause of said withdrawl.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Absolute Beginners" by Colin Macinnes, 1958

What if Holden Caulfield had been a poor working-class kid from London and not a preppy kid from a monied background in the US? Well, you'd have the anonymous narrator of "Absolute Beginners" who takes the reader on a smart, biased, sarcastic and elucidating trip through London's breaking-out, late-'50s teenage universe - the first, he tells us, to have money and freedom.

The roots of the better-known '60s can be seen in this youthful London universe of sex, drugs and music - jazz, rock, pop - thriving amidst and abutting the older, staid world of "proper" England and those "not young." Written at the time and to an audience that would know the argot, it takes a bit of adjusting, but you quickly catch on and just ride through this world of street hoods, budding artists, young love, poverty and identity through clothes, style and alliances.

The story - more a slice of life at a critical time than plot driven - morphs from one of how our narrator manages both his new freedom and world against the pulls of his broken family and its old culture and values to - in a jarring transition - the race riots of late '50s England which appear to have been driven and started by lower-class white anger at the increasing presence and aborning success of, mainly, black immigrants from other parts of the Commonwealth.

While far from the most well-written book, its youthful enthusiasm and time-capsule feel create an quick and enjoyable, albeit bumpy at times, ride through the youth culture of a just-pre-Beatles London/England.

 

[Fading Fast]

It's not out yet, but looks like it could be a good "Fedora Lounge" read from the write ups I've read (which are, however and unfortunately, usually just overhype):