What are you reading now?

[Richard Tarleton]

In 1964 or 5 we all filed into the main hall at school for a motivational talk by RSM Lord, who started as a Grenadier Guard, qualified as a parachutist in 1941, transferred to 3 Para as RSM and was General Urquart's bodyguard during the battle. I think we had only the vaguest idea what happened at Arnhem, and he didn't, as far as I can remember, talk about the fighting at all - rather about how he took over the running of the POW camp Stalag XIB they found themselves in and instilled self-respect into the demoralised POWs, getting them to march and salute German officers instead of slouching about. As it says on the Pegasus Archive page in the link (above),

When a party of officers paid the camp its first visit on the day of liberation they found a guard which was faultlessly turned out and which "could have gone on duty at Buckingham Palace and done credit to its corps."

Then a majestic figure appeared, the R.S.M. himself. Gleaming brass, immaculate webbing, razor-edge trouser creases, dazzling boots, a spectacular salute.

Daily inspections and guard mounting, most unpopular when introduced, had restored a great measure of the prisoners' waning self-respect and revived their military bearing.

He cut an impressive figure on stage, 6'2" of ramrod-straight Grenadier Guard. Just the sort of talk we young lads needed Seriously, an impressive man.

[Dave2002]

Started reading "No need for geniuses" by Steve Jones. Brilliant. If compulsion wasn't ineffective or morally unjustifiable, everone should be made to read this one!

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/20/no-need-for-geniuses-by-steve-jones-review

https://www.amazon.com/No-Need-Geniuses-Revolutionary-Guillotine-ebook/dp/B010RGSCR4

Ignore any/most of the low score reviews - they don't get it!

[MrGongGong]

This

https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571323975-mars-by-1980.html

[DracoM]

'No Country for Old Men' / Cormac McCarthy.

[muzzer]

I’m taking another pass at Pynchon. Limbering up with the shorter stuff then moving on to the proper tomes. Aided and abetted with fine commentary. But I still may be some time. If I’m lucky. Got to be worth it though. WW2, the Internet, pop culture, demagogues. It’s all there.

[verismissimo]

Just embarked on the first in Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time: A Question of Upbringing.

How far will I go … ?

[Conchis]

Just embarked on the first in Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time: A Question of Upbringing.

How far will I go … ?

Powell was an appalling bore and a tedious snob. His published work reflects that.

The books might appear to be superficially entertaining but they are thin stuff. The idea that Powell was some kind of 'English Proust' is so absurd it would be laughable, if so many fat-bottomed idiots didn't buy into it.

[waldo]

Powell was an appalling bore and a tedious snob. His published work reflects that.

The books might appear to be superficially entertaining but they are thin stuff. The idea that Powell was some kind of 'English Proust' is so absurd it would be laughable, if so many fat-bottomed idiots didn't buy into it.

Well, I'd agree that the Proust comparison is rather overdone. There is really nothing Proust-like about Powell's work at all - except for some similarities in prose (longish sentences, elaborate metaphors etc) and the fact that the narrator is resurrecting the long-dead past.......And, I suppose, we are dealing with a work which is often highly reflective, even meditative in places.

That said, I think A Dance to the Music of Time is one of the great glories of modern literature. It is just so enormously funny and so brilliantly written I can't imagine why anyone who otherwise enjoys fine literature wouldn't respond to it. It just does what good books are supposed to do to an impossibly high standard. The characters are wonderfully drawn; the comic set pieces are immaculately orchestrated; the dialogue is brilliant; and the prose is continuously superb. It is also written with an extraordinary degree of intelligence.

It is a bit "light" in certain senses, I suppose, but that is just the nature of the work. It is really a massive social comedy and events usually take place on the same tonal level, without rising to anything we might call a dramatic crisis or a revelation. Most of the scenes tend to take place at social events of one kind or another and as the novels progress it does sometimes feel as if the truest or most momentous events of life have somehow been sidestepped. If you are expecting Proust, you will undoubtedly be disappointed.

Nevertheless, I still think it is a great work and would encourage others to read it, too. I read the whole thing every few years as a special reward for good behaviour........

[muzzer]

I read Powell as part of my degree and haven’t returned to it since, but I remember at the time thinking it full of uncanny and incredible coincidences. I now know that life can indeed throw these up and, coincidentally, am just returned from the 50th Birthday party of someone who were it not for a Powell-like coincidence might not be now one of my oldest friends. But yes, AP was an awful snob. As was Waugh, but there was more going on in his writing overall. As with any book, I wouldn’t say anyone should or should not start A Dance, but one should not feel obliged to continue. That said, it’s there on the shelf....

[Beef Oven!]

The Purple Revolution - Nigel Farage

Bed-time stuff. I've read this about five times and I get something different each time!

An amazing man who has fundamentally changed British political thinking.

[Dave2002]

The Purple Revolution - Nigel Farage

Bed-time stuff. I've read this about five times and I get something different each time!

An amazing man who has fundamentally changed British political thinking.

Not so sure. Has he really done us any favours? Too early to tell (Mao).

Re political thinking try Imperium - and consider whether much has really changed in the last 2000 or so years.

[Jonathan]

A bit of light reading for me at the moment: The Dark Lord's Handbook - Conquest. Quite serious epic fantasy but with some really very funny bits in it too. I read the first book recently and also have the 3rd part of the trilogy to read after this...

[cloughie]

The Purple Revolution - Nigel Farage

Bed-time stuff. I've read this about five times and I get something different each time!

An amazing man who has fundamentally changed British political thinking.

Ay well, mmm!

[verismissimo]

Ay well, mmm!

[Richard Barrett]

An amazing man who has fundamentally changed British political thinking.

Where does one begin?