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Proceeding with Balzac, actually. Yesterday, I read "The Atheist's Mass" (1836). Again marvelous atmospheric.
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What Are You Reading
- Thread starter Lancealot
- Start date
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- 17,264
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- New York City
"New York in The Fifties" by David Wakefield
A '90s biography by writer David Wakefield about his time spent in NYC in the 1950s - first as a student at Columbia and, then, as a young post grad free lancing as a writer and editor at several magazines and newspapers.
I found the biography stuff - the intimate details of his life - more information than I cared about, but his views of New York in the '50s - its literacy culture (his sweet spot), its politics (he's liberal and very proud of it), its norms (people dress up, pizza is still a bit exotic), its real estate (expensive as always - that never changes), its various cliques (literary types hang out with literary types, ad men with ad men, Wall Street with Wall Street, Beats with Beats), its music (Jazz was his thing) - an interesting window into NYC at that time.
With little effort, I could edit out a hundred of its three-hundred-plus pages, but the good stuff makes it worth the read if you want a feel of NYC in the '50s by somebody who lived there.
A '90s biography by writer David Wakefield about his time spent in NYC in the 1950s - first as a student at Columbia and, then, as a young post grad free lancing as a writer and editor at several magazines and newspapers.
I found the biography stuff - the intimate details of his life - more information than I cared about, but his views of New York in the '50s - its literacy culture (his sweet spot), its politics (he's liberal and very proud of it), its norms (people dress up, pizza is still a bit exotic), its real estate (expensive as always - that never changes), its various cliques (literary types hang out with literary types, ad men with ad men, Wall Street with Wall Street, Beats with Beats), its music (Jazz was his thing) - an interesting window into NYC at that time.
With little effort, I could edit out a hundred of its three-hundred-plus pages, but the good stuff makes it worth the read if you want a feel of NYC in the '50s by somebody who lived there.
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HanauMan
Practically Family
- Messages
- 809
- Location
- Inverness, Scotland
Reading the essays and poems of Edward Thomas who was killed in action in 1917. He is best known as a War Poet though he didn't actually write that much about the war. He, however, had a real love of nature and the countryside which he wrote about in his poetry.
- Messages
- 12,736
- Location
- Northern California
One of my biggest enjoyments when reading Ross MacDonald is his description of the time period. Sure, the stories are fiction, but MacDonald’s view of the world around Archer are that of the time.
- Messages
- 13,023
- Location
- Germany
Balzac "Melmoth reconciled" (1835).
- Messages
- 13,023
- Location
- Germany
Yesterday, Balzac "The Merry Jests of King Louis the Eleventh", from the "Droll Stories, Volume I".
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
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Tiki Tom
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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- 3,408
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- Oahu, North Polynesia
Zorba the Greek. In which a bookish young man with a cerebral, careful approach to life enlists Zorba to be a manager at his new venture. Zorba is everything the narrator is not. Zorba has a natural zest for life and is uninhibited and spontaneous. Sometimes Zorba is foolish, sometimes he is very wise. Everything that he does, he does in a full-throated enthusiastic manner. It is a fun read and the dialogue between the two approaches makes one think. My only critisism is that the book is a product of its time and place (Greece, first half of the 20th century) and the writer's depiction of women certainly would not fly today.
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- Germany
Balzac "The three clerks of Saint Nicolas", from the "Droll Stories, Vol. II".
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AmateisGal
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 6,126
- Location
- Nebraska
Itching to get Daniel Silva's latest, The Other Woman. He's an author whose books I gobble up in no time at all.
Still reading Laura (been a slow reader lately) and it's interesting - divided into three parts with three narrators: 1) Waldo Lydecker; 2) Mark MacPherson; and 3) Laura Hunt. Laura's is the last POV and it's absolutely intriguing.
Still reading Laura (been a slow reader lately) and it's interesting - divided into three parts with three narrators: 1) Waldo Lydecker; 2) Mark MacPherson; and 3) Laura Hunt. Laura's is the last POV and it's absolutely intriguing.
LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,828
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
"The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy," by comic/entertainment historian Kliph Nesteroff.
I've long enjoyed Kliph's blog, which constantly comes up with fascinating bits of obscure comedy lore, so when I found out he'd written a full-length book I latched right onto it. It's not as complete a history as you might hope for from the title -- he talks mostly about *talking* comics, and even further, talking comics of the post-WWI era down to the present day, with an emphasis on standups rather than sketch comics or comic actors. That does narrow it down considerably, but it;s still a pretty hefty tome.
The subtitle also lets you know that most of these guys -- and the few female comics who get mentioned -- were generally not lovable characters offstage. You usually have to be a damaged soul to make a living as a comedian, and we get here a parade of emotional defectives acting out their complexes in various outrageous ways. Some of them, like pioneering standup Frank Fay, were truly loathsome human beings with an uncanny skill for generating laughs in spite of their loathesomeness. Others, like Eddie Cantor, were angry, wounded children trapped in men's bodies. Some, like Henry Morgan, were just plain angry. And still others, like Sid Caesar, were haunted by demons of their own making. There are a few kind, well-adjusted comics from time to time -- hello, Jack Benny -- but they're definitely the exception.
You won't find a lot of laughs in this book -- it's less about the material than the people behind it -- but the offstage history is fascinating. My only real beef is with the montage of comics on the cover: Fred Allen doesn't make the cut, but there's room for Jerry "I'm a bean bag!" Lester? Oy!
I've long enjoyed Kliph's blog, which constantly comes up with fascinating bits of obscure comedy lore, so when I found out he'd written a full-length book I latched right onto it. It's not as complete a history as you might hope for from the title -- he talks mostly about *talking* comics, and even further, talking comics of the post-WWI era down to the present day, with an emphasis on standups rather than sketch comics or comic actors. That does narrow it down considerably, but it;s still a pretty hefty tome.
The subtitle also lets you know that most of these guys -- and the few female comics who get mentioned -- were generally not lovable characters offstage. You usually have to be a damaged soul to make a living as a comedian, and we get here a parade of emotional defectives acting out their complexes in various outrageous ways. Some of them, like pioneering standup Frank Fay, were truly loathsome human beings with an uncanny skill for generating laughs in spite of their loathesomeness. Others, like Eddie Cantor, were angry, wounded children trapped in men's bodies. Some, like Henry Morgan, were just plain angry. And still others, like Sid Caesar, were haunted by demons of their own making. There are a few kind, well-adjusted comics from time to time -- hello, Jack Benny -- but they're definitely the exception.
You won't find a lot of laughs in this book -- it's less about the material than the people behind it -- but the offstage history is fascinating. My only real beef is with the montage of comics on the cover: Fred Allen doesn't make the cut, but there's room for Jerry "I'm a bean bag!" Lester? Oy!
dubpynchon
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,046
- Location
- Ireland
Hemingway's 'Fiesta' which I'm enjoying. I'm waiting to come up to the top of my local library's reservation list for Michael Ondaatje's 'Warlight', which I'm looking forward to. After this I might read the other four books on the best of the Booker Prize list.
Hemingway's characters express so much through saying so little, look at the ending to 'A Farewell to Arms', wonderful:
'After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.'
Hemingway's characters express so much through saying so little, look at the ending to 'A Farewell to Arms', wonderful:
'After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.'
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- Messages
- 17,264
- Location
- New York City
Looking forward to reading "Warlight" too. Also, in the soon to be released category, "Love is Blind" by William Boyd - an author I really enjoy even acknowledging his occasional miss.
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- Messages
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Yesterday, Balzac "How the Chateau D’Azay Came to Be Built", from the "Droll Stories, Vol. II".
Today, Balzac "A Passion In The Desert" (1830), from "The Human Comedy".
Today, Balzac "A Passion In The Desert" (1830), from "The Human Comedy".
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Tiki Tom
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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- 3,408
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- Oahu, North Polynesia
Just received the latest installment in the “Bruno, Chief of Police” series of murder mysteries set in rural France. This is number eleven. By now, all the characters are practically family. You can always count on good food and wine, rural pleasures, and more than a hint of international intrigue. This one is titled “a taste for vengeance “. The author is Martin Walker.
Harp
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 8,508
- Location
- Chicago, IL US
Why This World? Benjamin Moser's elegant biography of the mysterious sphinx, Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector.
Just Jim
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 307
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- The wrong end of Nebraska . . . .
Picked up The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattlemen's War by Dean Krakel today. This was one of the earlier books (Horn's own autobiography beat Krakel out by around 50 years) dealing with Horn's trial and execution for the Nickell killing. One of my goals for the next year or so is to work through them all.
As a kid, I knew folks who had half-memories of it all from when they were kids. One old man had been a young adult at the time and spoke of how folks fought over Horn's guilt while the trial was ongoing. Seventy years later I saw a couple fights over the same thing. I find it fascinating how the politics involved have continued and evolved over the intervening years.
As a kid, I knew folks who had half-memories of it all from when they were kids. One old man had been a young adult at the time and spoke of how folks fought over Horn's guilt while the trial was ongoing. Seventy years later I saw a couple fights over the same thing. I find it fascinating how the politics involved have continued and evolved over the intervening years.
LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,828
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- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
"Southern Exposure: A Documented Expose of Anti-Democratic Forces In The Deep South," by Stetson Kennedy.
Published in 1946, this book exposed to the world the weird combination of corruption, feudalism, and fascism that controlled the deep Southern United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and does so in a thorough, reportorial manner. Kennedy was a remarkable figure in the journalism of the Era -- a hard-nosed relentless prober into injustice and corruption who became most famous for infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, and exposing its viciousness to the world. In this book, he exposes and documents, in the precise manner of George Seldes, the direct ties between hard-core racist Southern political leaders of the day -- the Talmadge family of Georgia, the O'Daniels of Texas, John Rankin and Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, Gerald L. K(KK) Smith, and others of the same ilk -- with the leaders in Northern corporatism like the Pews and the duPonts of the NAM, and actual fascist organizations. Kennedy points out that the grandees of Southern politics fully knew that their system was built on ruthless exploitation of labor, and that they used this as an active selling point in their campaigns to woo the National Association of Manufacturers into moving their plants south, a strategy the NAM gleefully embraced.
Kennedy wasn't a man to be trifled with: when the Klan put a bounty on his head, he gave their secret passwords to the producers of the "Adventures of Superman" radio show, to give added realism to Superman's war against them. This is a book written in the same spirit of defiance and determination to kick over one of America's rottenest logs, and expose the crawling vermin underneath.
Published in 1946, this book exposed to the world the weird combination of corruption, feudalism, and fascism that controlled the deep Southern United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and does so in a thorough, reportorial manner. Kennedy was a remarkable figure in the journalism of the Era -- a hard-nosed relentless prober into injustice and corruption who became most famous for infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, and exposing its viciousness to the world. In this book, he exposes and documents, in the precise manner of George Seldes, the direct ties between hard-core racist Southern political leaders of the day -- the Talmadge family of Georgia, the O'Daniels of Texas, John Rankin and Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, Gerald L. K(KK) Smith, and others of the same ilk -- with the leaders in Northern corporatism like the Pews and the duPonts of the NAM, and actual fascist organizations. Kennedy points out that the grandees of Southern politics fully knew that their system was built on ruthless exploitation of labor, and that they used this as an active selling point in their campaigns to woo the National Association of Manufacturers into moving their plants south, a strategy the NAM gleefully embraced.
Kennedy wasn't a man to be trifled with: when the Klan put a bounty on his head, he gave their secret passwords to the producers of the "Adventures of Superman" radio show, to give added realism to Superman's war against them. This is a book written in the same spirit of defiance and determination to kick over one of America's rottenest logs, and expose the crawling vermin underneath.
St. Louis
Practically Family
- Messages
- 618
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
I've almost finished a novel titled Ignorance, by Michele Roberts. It takes place in Paris during the German occupation. If anyone else has read it, I'd really appreciate your thoughts. it's like nothing I've ever read before and I can't decide what I think of it.
- Messages
- 17,264
- Location
- New York City
Just finished "A German Requiem" by Phillip Kerr based on TT's recommendation.
A solid entry in the newly written noir-book universe that's set in post WWII Germany - a very noir place. As TT noted, the dialogue has a classic hard-boiled edge, but it doesn't overuse or force the noir-speak, so it didn't feel cliched.
The detective fiction story - a German accused of murdering an American colonel in Vienna during the time when the "four powers" were occupying Germany (and Vienna) - was solid and had me thumbing back a few times to remember a detail or character as the complications - blackmarket trading, post-war secret nazi organization, sub-rosa international alliances all amidst the atmosphere of despair in the general population, feelings of guilt by the average German and rising East-West tensions - were intricate.
While the book didn't rise above its genre, it is a solid story and page-turner.
Tiki Tom
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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- 3,408
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- Oahu, North Polynesia
Right now I’m reading Stephen Fry’s “Mythos; the Greek Myths Retold”. I picked it up (a) because it looked to be the best thing available at an airport kiosk that had a very limited selection, (b) because I always liked Stephen Fry on those rare occasions when I saw him on TV, and (c) because the Greek myths are an acknowledged weak spot in my knowledge of western civ. With motivation like that, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it through the first 100 pages. Guess what? I’m finding it to be a rip roaring great read. It’s humorous and very erudite. I’m learning tons of fun stuff not only about the Greek gods, but also about the roots of common English words and other bits of fascinating trivia. Recommended.
