Reading The Child that Books Built, by Francis Spufford - such a well written and interesting insight into children's reading, through the author's own experience. Also reading the Short History of Nearly Everything which my son pressed into my hands as I left him last week; excellent stuff, but then I am a popular science aficionada.
Bollocks.
I know what you're an afficionado of Clary.
How serendipitous, MG, because I'm reading
manchester, england by dave haslam.
It's my loo read so I'm only getting through about 10 pages a day.
er... the title and author are reprinted as they appear on the cover. Guess Mr Halem isn't into Capitalising!
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. Difficult, but when you finish this long book (648 pages) you just might want to read it all over again.
_____________________________
I believe that you can reach the point where there is no longer any difference between developing the habit of pretending to believe and developing the habit of believing.
.....Foucault's Pendulum. Umberto Eco
I actually just finished "One More Day" by Mitch Albom. A quick easy read, with a very touching story line.
I stopped reading Pamuk's Istanbul for a minute to read this week's NYer. Back to it soon, I really like it. For one thing, his writing is a little dreamy, but full of astute observations, starting out with observations about being a child - that are some of the best I've ever read. For another, there are a lot of photos, by a fellow I'll get the name of and come back and mention, photos that are some kind of cumulative elixir for me, all in black and white and all text related. So, in the reading I am in the place and time he is describing. Fascinating, not that any old photo diary could do that, but this particular observer fascinates me. It's a little intense for me, want to stop and read an art mystery or something else easier.
I can see others finding it boring. Well, we are all in different places..
The main photographer is Ara Guler, but there are also a number of excellent and touching family photos
Iain Pears, I've probably read six or seven of his books and liked them, but also forgot them fast (speaking of art mysteries). Forgive me in this, as I'm a book bath type person. I know he's well regarded, but I'm not sure I regard him any higher than a bunch of others I can't now name.
I seem to be drawn to a type of taut writing I often find in the Soho Press Crime series, or the kind of dreamy/astute thing I am seeing with Pamuk. Pears, on the other hand, is like food for me, oh, yes, a good one, a book I won't just put in the giveaway pile right away, a book to distract me, a book I won't just toss for miserable grammar. But ... when I moved, I put a ribbon around the group and sold them to my used book store.
Ossobuco, when I said a person may want to read, again, Pears' Instance of the Fingerpost, I really meant they may need to. I've only read one other, The Love of Scipio, and yes there was definitely "food" to add to my expanding philosophy though I've found most of what he reveals is found in the last 1/3 of the book. So, I'm keeping on reading, wondering what this author has in mind with Fingerpost. So, far, we're still building story and characters. His critics say he "brings alive an entire century" and it's nowhere near that description at page 329, so, it's now faith-based reading.
(Wasn't that The Dream of Scipio?)
Just started reading Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour.
Easy & interesting reading. I'm not up to anything too heavy at the moment.
just started : "murderes and other friends" by john mortimer - can never get enough of jm - always keep one of "rumpole of the bailey" books at my bedside .
hbg
Just got done reading Gilgamesh (the translation by Stephan Grundy ) very good about keeping it reading like a novel. I have now have picked up Beowulf. Never got around to reading it (except the little excerpt we went over in highschool)
Sunlover, I've enjoyed Pear's books but will have to research why I might need to look for meaning in them...
I read Cook's Tour, glad enough I did, but preferred his first.
'The Wombles Guide to Life'
and
'Wie Frauen ticken'
I've just finished Jean Paul-Sartre A life by Annie Solal.
I know I've posted about this one before but I was only half way through it then and nobody ever reads this thread anyway.
Hlaf way through I was wondering how Sartre would replace the love of his life, except that it wasn't the love of his life because it wasn't reciprocated, but she was his obsession and he was middle-aged like me and I wondered how would he live without this excitement, this strongest drug he'd ever felt, because you just don't know how people deal with this stuff because nobody ever talks about it [not that I know of: or only people who have no idea what they are talking about!]but they do write about it in books and so it is that in matters like these that books come into their own...
Well, Sartre fell in love again - and again the spell lasted about two years -but this time it was reciprocated but his love life was very convoluted because he couldn't let anybody go and the first love married his best friend or something; however the true love of his life was surely Simone de Beauvoir - a highly respected author herself - who was with him before either of these later loves. She had the most involvement with his writing and was the one who was best matched to him for intellect and temperment. She was there all of his life.
Actually I'm trivialising what was a very weighty tome but there's no point in my pretending that having read this through once I now know what Sartre's philosophy and books are all about because I don't.
If I have one criticism it is this: Cohen-Solal was remarkably judgemental about a couple of errors of judgement that Sartre made in his life, namely continuing to idealise Joseph Stalin for too long because it was politically expedient to do this when it was becoming clear that Stalin's character was deeply flawed; and for his dependence on a young man as intellectual stimulant [Sartre was always drawn to the energy of youthful ideas] after he went blind as an old man but the young man proved unworthy of the old man's trust.
Boy did she lay into him for those mistakes!
I say lighten up Annie, we all fu ck up now and again, some of us in bigger ways than others!
:wink:
hamburger wrote:just started : "murderes and other friends" by john mortimer - can never get enough of jm - always keep one of "rumpole of the bailey" books at my bedside .
hbg
i'm like that with pg wodehouse, if nothing else appeals, some jeeves and wooster, or blandings or psmith never goes awry
I've just started reading Charles Frazier's " Cold Mountain." I didn't see the movie, but the book is apparently well recommended, because the author received an eight million dollar advance on a second novel that he has just finished and is promoting.
