What are you reading now?

[gurnemanz]

Penguin: I'm greatly enjoying Meet the Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie, her enthusiastic exposition of discoveries she made concerning some of the diverse characters who contributed to the first edition OED

[Cockney Sparrow]

That's a good tip about bending new books to make them last. Thanks.

.......... Unread books, I suppose, feel unloved, and after a time their pages will become melancholy and detach themselves from the spine.

I find it essential with new choral scores - I have enough to attend to without dealing with pages that don't turn easily or remain flat. I recall a rehearsal take where Boult refers to "disciplining" the score for the same result.

I have to say that I find the thought of books having feelings unnerving. It would mean I'm surrounded by an enormous reservoir of resentment at my lack of attention to the many, many unread books. Also (shades of "Toy Story") the panic induced by my current considerable cull on the bookshelves and their possible fate - Oxfam bookshop, other charity shop, or paper/cardboard recycling...... Some can rest easy in the knowledge they are marked for sale on Ebay (when I get round to it) as definitely of interest and value, so will find a good home.

[smittims]

Christopher Bishop : There was an awful noise of people turning scores.

Sir Adrian. Sorry,it was just one person turning a score.

Bishop. Oh , it was you, was it?

Sir A (bashing the score) : Im trying to 'larn'* it.

That's a delightful disc, isn't it? Attempting to improve ensemble between chorus and orchestra: 'Glourious time -lag up there, wasn't there? '

I'm doing my best to re-read my books . It started when I realised I hadn't read Nostromo since 1977, and shouldn't wait that long to read it again. I'm amazed at some of the prices on my old Penguins. The Buildings of England (Pevsner ) 30p. Last time I bought one it was £60! Ah, but they now have colour photographs.


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*larn : Dickensian: to teach .

[Ian Thumwood]

I have the Pevsner edition for Hampshire and IoW which I bought sometime in the 1990s. It is interesting because some of rhe buildings singled out have now been demolished. I lost faith in Pevsner upon learning two things. One of these is that some editions have quite a few inaccuracies concerning historical elements. The other was told to be by a retired architect who informed me that the county architect consulted for advice in some instances and that Pevsner repaid the favour by incorporating some of the County architect' work in the book by way of favour. This is why some unremarkable buildings were included....at least in the Hampshire volume. Given that he worked for Hants CC at the time, I had no need to doubt him. I am sure this much have happened elsewhere.

BTW... I would rate Nostromo as one of the greatest novels of all time. Joseph Conrads other books are not always so good. Struggled with Secret Agent and Lord Jim. Nostromo.and Heart of Darkness are good.

[Serial_Apologist]

I find it essential with new choral scores - I have enough to attend to without dealing with pages that don't turn easily or remain flat. I recall a rehearsal take where Boult refers to "disciplining" the score for the same result.

I have to say that I find the thought of books having feelings unnerving. It would mean I'm surrounded by an enormous reservoir of resentment at my lack of attention to the many, many unread books. Also (shades of "Toy Story") the panic induced by my current considerable cull on the bookshelves and their possible fate - Oxfam bookshop, other charity shop, or paper/cardboard recycling...... Some can rest easy in the knowledge they are marked for sale on Ebay (when I get round to it) as definitely of interest and value, so will find a good home.

[smittims]

My only reservation about Pevsner is that he seems to think churches are so much more architecturally-interesting buildings than anything else (though admittedly he has a penchant for stately homes) . Of course churches are often fascinating capsules of history, but many more recent buildings are interesting too. Twentieth-century architecture often gets no more than a cursory nod.

[Old Grumpy]

How Music Works by John Powell. Interesting, informative and amusing - but may not be to everyone's taste on these boards...

https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/how-music-works-a-listener-s-guide-to-harmony-keys-broken-chords-perfect-pitch-and-the-secrets-of-a-good-tune-john-powell

[smittims]

That looks like the sort of book we need more of. I hope it sells well. I hope the days are log gone when one used to meet people who were proud of knowing nothing about the technical side of msuic. I've always found the more I know the more I enjoy it.

[french frank]

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am (as I only manage a few pages at a time). I was struck by two quotes on the same page (Sept 19th): "...the power of a great poet who, out of the worlds of truth and falsehood, creates a third whose borrowed existence enchants us." I found the idea of a writer creating an entire world which engages the reader's attention by mixing real life experience and invention very wise. One of the things Proust is admired for is his creation of an entire believable universe.

More topically: "One gets small thanks from people when one tries to improve their moral values, to give them a higher conception of themselves and a sense of the truly noble. But if one flatters the "birds" with lies, tells them fairy tales, caters daily to their weaknesses, then one is their man."
Verb. sap. sat.

[Serial_Apologist]

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am

Who could possibly have thought otherwise!

I was reading while out to lunch - literal sense - as I often am (as I only manage a few pages at a time). I was struck by two quotes on the same page (Sept 19th): "...the power of a great poet who, out of the worlds of truth and falsehood, creates a third whose borrowed existence enchants us." I found the idea of a writer creating an entire world which engages the reader's attention by mixing real life experience and invention very wise. One of the things Proust is admired for is his creation of an entire believable universe.

More topically: "One gets small thanks from people when one tries to improve their moral values, to give them a higher conception of themselves and a sense of the truly noble. But if one flatters the "birds" with lies, tells them fairy tales, caters daily to their weaknesses, then one is their man."
Verb. sap. sat.

The reasons for which I would always argue are not so difficult to figure out without either resorting to disillusionment with, or generalisations, about "human nature".

[vinteuil]

The reasons for which I would always argue are not so difficult to figure out without either resorting to disillusionment with, or generalisations, about "human nature".

... what's wrong with disillusionment? Surely the overcoming of illusions is the way to wisdom



.

[Serial_Apologist]

... what's wrong with disillusionment? Surely the overcoming of illusions is the way to wisdom



.

In a literal sense, yes, but not as generally used.

[smittims]

',,, his creation of an entire believable universe'.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

Is the best thing knowing where to draw the line between escapism and analogy? We will never have to live in Elsinore, but its fictional story can teach us lessons about today.

I don't know if it's escapism but I return more and more to old favourites. I've just started re-reading Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope's delightful portrayal of what today would be called a 'dysfunctional' family in their Westmorland mansion. His characters are so real I'd love to have known them personally.

[Ian Thumwood]

I am reading Claudia Pineiro's 'A crack in the wall' which was featured this year on Radio 4's ' A good read.'

Picking up on Frank's comment about creating a believable universe, I would add that I feel great literature also needs excellent dialogue and an understanding of how people feel.and react. This is the second book of hers that I have read. In this book, the main protagonist is an architect who we learn in the first chapter was involved in the death of a neighbour whose flat was next to the architect's latest project. The plot centres around responsibility for a crack in the wall of the apartment which appears to have resulted from the omission of underpinning from the design of the adjacent project.

The novel centres around the risk of discovery and how the principle character copes with this whilst his family life unravels. I find the behaviour of the characters very convincing and the author's ability to understand male sensuality is really observant. I am about two thirds through and there is already a twist in the tale which transforms how you feel about the victim in the story. The quality of writing is exceptional....
not really Crime Novel but a novel about how crime is perceived and it's social consequences.

[Jonathan]

After my latest royalties from the sales of both of my novels, I am beginning to wonder why I bothered.