What are you reading now?

[smittims]

'No Name' by Wilkie Collins (1862). For those who don't know him, he was a friend of Dickens and famous fort the 'sensational ' novel. He's said to be the first writer of detective novels , as oposed to short stories. His best known books are The Moonstone and The Woman in White. I prefer him to Dickens, though there's no doubt as to who was the major talent.

[Padraig]

A short biographical film.


'Edna was exceptional': Edna O'Brien laid to rest on Holy Island - YouTube

[teamsaint]

Ultra -Processed People.
Chris Van Tulleken.

Not often that I buy a Penguin title , but for research purposes I bought this ( £5.50 from Amazon , the trade discount must be about 75% !!)

It clearly is a very significant book, and I certainly recommend borrowing a copy and having a read. He challenges a lot of orthodoxies in convincing and entertaining fashion.
Scary and important stuff….

[AuntDaisy]

... I was trying to recollect how it was that I first came across Queneau - and suddenly I remembered : it was bicoz of Radio 3 !

Back in 1978 there was a series of 13 evening talks by Richard Cobb (eventually published in book form as Promenades ) celebrating France and twentieth century French lit - and Cobb was a big fan of Queneau and his celebration of 'little things'. I was an instant convert to Cobb and his take on things, and pertick'ly his love of Queneau

Looking at the genome for 25 June 1978 - that's the sort of Radio 3 I want

Cobb also did an earlier, two part Queneau talk "A Small World of Reassurance", part 1 "Queneau and Le Havre" is in the BBC's Archives.
You could try putting in a 4extra Listener Request to radio4extra@bbc.co.uk and see if it appears in a future Request Weekend...

BTW Richard Cobb's "A Classical Education" Book at Bedtime reading, by John Franklyn-Robbin, has also survived. And the 1985 "Quest for Queneau", with Cobb, Iris Murdoch & Miles Kington, is listed in the Archives. Or there's a 2007 World Service production of "Zazie in the Metro".

[french frank]

... I was trying to recollect how it was that I first came across Queneau - and suddenly I remembered : it was bicoz of Radio 3 !

Looking up Raymond Queneau on my mobile (not the computer) I was amused by the wiki detail Children: Jean-Marie Queneau. So that'll be two children then, a son and a daughter?

As for your other comments

[vinteuil]

... Queneau
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... I was trying to recollect how it was that I first came across Queneau - and suddenly I remembered : it was bicoz of Radio 3 !

Back in 1978 there was a series of 13 evening talks by Richard Cobb (eventually published in book form as Promenades ) celebrating France and twentieth century French lit - and Cobb was a big fan of Queneau and his celebration of 'little things'. I was an instant convert to Cobb and his take on things, and pertick'ly his love of Queneau

Looking at the genome for 25 June 1978 - that's the sort of Radio 3 I want

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_radio_three/1978-06-25

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https://www.proquest.com/openview/7d05da0c6b92d657a6bd882041330389/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1821151

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cobb

[Belgrove]

Edward St. Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose anthology of five (short) novels; Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother’s Milk and At Last. Laugh out loud funny, but heartbreakingly sad. Patrick’s father is one of the great monstrous creations of literature. The exquisitely barbed dialogue is like putting one’s hand into a pocketful of razor blades. Apparently this is semi-autobiographical, so one can only sympathise with the author, and admire his courage for being so candid.

[vinteuil]

Presumably even the title is a take on it being connected with Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

Daniel Defoe's original name was Daniel Foe. He awarded himself the De to sound grander...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Defoe

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[Pulcinella]

Just off to pick up Coetzee's Foe (on Draco's recommendation), as I've had notification of its arrival at our local library branch (free transfer from another branch: no reservation fee).
Not expecting to enjoy it particularly, though, given previous experience of reading his work, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Presumably even the title is a take on it being connected with Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

[smittims]

Samuel Pepys arranged his books acording to size, with no regard for subject. a very Enlightenment view, I think.

[Pulcinella]

Wouldn't that make it more difficult to spot tall stories?
Another possibility would be to arrange them by weight, ending with the really heavy stuff.

[LMcD]

You might do better by thickness: a low price for a thin read, more for something more substantial.
However, I've often found that thickness does not necessarily equate to quality!

Wouldn't that make it more difficult to spot tall stories?
Another possibility would be to arrange them by weight, ending with the really heavy stuff.

[Pulcinella]

During my time as a twice-a-week charity shop volunteer, somebody decided on one of my 'days off' that it would be helpful to arrange all the books by height (starting with the shortest).

You might do better by thickness: a low price for a thin read, more for something more substantial.
However, I've often found that thickness does not necessarily equate to quality!

[LMcD]

... ah yes : I should have remembered - we've been here before [ 2536 supra, 20 ii 2021] et seqq :

During my time as a twice-a-week charity shop volunteer, somebody decided on one of my 'days off' that it would be helpful to arrange all the books by height (starting with the shortest).

[vinteuil]

Easier to remember. I used to do chronological but could never find anything. I have done alphabetical within roughly chronological. That works.

... ah yes : I should have remembered - we've been here before [ 2536 supra, 20 ii 2021] et seqq :

.
... can we infer from this that the left-hand (library) bookshelf is classified alphabetically, and the right-hand (work room) chronologically?

For the last thirty years I have filed my eng: lit: books chronologically (by birth date of writer) - but I confess I have taken the lazier option in the other room of alphabetical order for foreign lit...

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