What are you reading now?

[Petrushka]

Reading, once again, Dickens' A Christmas Carol in what must be my 40+ annual reading. As I think I mentioned last year, I'm very struck by Dickens' use of punctuation, especially the semicolon which one hardly ever sees nowadays. He divides long sentences up with this device giving his prose a sense of rhythm that is almost musical and making it ideal for reading aloud.

Anyway, I never tire of reading it at Christmas time.

[richardfinegold]

Finished Lessons, by Ian McEwan.. A relatively long book by his standards. 2 principal themes are explored

1)is it worthwhile for a creative artist to jettison all human attachments, including their spouse, children, and parents, in the pursuit of their Art and subsequent renown? Or would it be preferable to have unrealized potential that gets sidetracked by the daily obligations that we have to loved ones, and while forsaking stardom, having a rich life filled with interpersonal relationships?
2) for adolescents that willingly engage in sexual relations with adults, and are therefore changed in their life trajectory as a consequence; would they have changed their decision as adults looking back at their younger selves? Or would the changes made to their psyche become their essence and for better or worse,not worth undoing?

McEwan is the master of the Frozen Moment, the moment of confrontation between individuals that has lasting consequences

[smittims]

Punctuation in the 19th century deserves a study, as it seems to have varied from what is considered correct today. I see a lot of colons where today semi-colons would be thought appropriate. I have read that punctuation in printed books was sometimes inserted by editors to conform with house style. Scott, for instance, wrote quickly using a dash for almost any punctuation mark, knowing that his publisher would change it.

This may account for an oddity I often see in 19th-century novels. Where today we should write either

He said that he didn't consider himself capable

or

He said 'I don't consider myself capable'

they say

He said 'that he didn't consider himself capable'.

[pastoralguy]

Bryony Dixon. (BFI).

The Story of Victorian Film.

A fascinating study of the very earliest days of cinema.

[smittims]

Your post prompted me to dig out the BFI's 2-DVD set 'Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers'. Fascinating, and worth reflecting that until recently it would have been impossible for the ordinary viewer/consumer to see these films. This century has its compensations after all.

[Jonathan]

Today, I shall be publishing my first novel on Amazon.

[HighlandDougie]

Today, I shall be publishing my first novel on Amazon.

Which is a mightily impressive thing to do. Any chance of a link - or a PM if it seems immodest to do so publicly?

[Jonathan]

Which is a mightily impressive thing to do. Any chance of a link - or a PM if it seems immodest to do so publicly?

Thank you HighlandDoughie! Yesterday I submitted the completed document for review by Amazon's editors, they say it will be live in the next 72 hours. Once it's available, I'll publish a link (as long as that's ok with the Hosts?)

The Kindle version will be out soon - probably next week.

Book 2 (it's a trilogy) will be out next year (it's essentially completely written, just needs a little tinkering) with book 3 following later

[eighthobstruction]

Well done Jonathon....

[Jonathan]

Many thanks! I now have a link to it (it's available as a paperback and a Kindle version too) - hope this works!

The Ventos Conspiracy 1: Solitude https://amzn.eu/d/6bxI0MK

[smittims]

I've just started re-reading Orley Farm, perhaps my favourite Anthony Trollope novel. I find his characters so congenial I'm sorry to leave them at the end.

[Pianorak]

Simon Raven: Alms for Oblivion. Needed some light relief after the Ancient Greeks and Persians beat the living daylights out of each other in Persian Fire by Tom Holland.

[richardfinegold]

I am reading Prequel, by Rachel Maddow, a book about American Fascism in the 1930s. It’s meant to accompany a Podcast that she released earlier, but the book contains much material not covered by the podcast

[french frank]

I wondered whether this should be posted here or on the Pedants thread. When was the term 'spoiler' first coined? The OED's first record is 1982, with the phrase 'spoiler alert' - found "in a message posted on the Usenet newsgroup net.movies". But 'spoiler alert' suggests that the word spoiler already existed.

Anyway, I was re-reading The Murders in the Rue Morgue in the caff and it occurred to me that this cover picture (dating from an edition of 1919) of the small Penguin edition would be something of a "spoiler" considering that this is supposed to be an early mystery/detective story:



I rather liked Poe's laconic disavowal of any 'ingenuity', quoted in Wiki: "... where is the ingenuity in unraveling a web which you yourself... have woven for the express purpose of unraveling?"

[LMcD]

I've just started Mick Herron's 'The Secret Hours' and it shows every sign of being as wittily griping as everything else he's written.