What are you reading now?

[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]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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 .

[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.

[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

[smittims]

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

I have noticed that some earlier Penguins are more durable. My 1966 'Guide tothe Bargain classics' is still in good condition but the 1970s sequels are falling apart.

[french frank]

IModianos language is no less inspired than Proust yet his book is far more succinct. Not heard this writer's name on this thread but I would argue he is a craftsman of similar stature.

He's been mentioned a few times - a Nobel prizewinner. The only one of his I've read is Dans le café de la jeunesse perdue.

[Serial_Apologist]

... most of the paperbacks I acquired as an undergraduate in the early 1970s have perished - the so-called 'perfect' bindings perish, the non-acid-free paper disintegrates. Fortunately for most of the texts that mattered I then obtained more durable hardback copies
.

I'm not sure many of the Penguins I bought back in the 60s and 70s would be culturally acceptable enough to be marketed these historically amnesiac days, so I've mostly kept my disintegrating copies, not minding the untidy appearance they give my book shelves. Supermarket sandwich bags make useful containers!

[Ian Thumwood]

I think the only other book without a other that I read was called The Black Notebook and was written by Patrick Modiano .The book was set in 1960s Paris and concerned a man who.was infatuated with a girl
who seemed to be associated with the Algerian underworld. The book.had an air of brooding menace yet there seemed to be little plot, just a sense of impending violence.

I thought the translation was brilliant and you were drawn into this world of criminality. The author's books are quite expensive and as this was a novella of about 150 pages, it made it seem even more of a luxury. To pick on FF's notion of reading for the sake of the prose, this fits the bill exactly yet the fact it is something of a crime mystery, the book is a page turner even if it is difficult to guess what is going on that interests the police.

Modianos language is no less inspired than Proust yet his book is far more succinct. Not heard this writer's name on this thread but I would argue he is a craftsman of similar stature.

[Petrushka]

... my father did the book jacket. Which meant that at primary school I was the proud possessor of a copy (I think we had six.) I didn't quite understand the interest this aroused...

.

I can easily imagine my father dashing down to the bookshop to ensure he had a copy. Pity it wasn't a first edition but it looks like a second printing and, in any case, I'd imagine that there must be lots of copies around.

[vinteuil]

I have a second edition copy of the famous 1960 Penguin Lady Chatterley's Lover which belonged to my late father and despite having a creased spine it's in great shape.

... my father did the book jacket. Which meant that at primary school I was the proud possessor of a copy (I think we had six.) I didn't quite understand the interest this aroused...

.

[Petrushka]

... most of the paperbacks I acquired as an undergraduate in the early 1970s have perished - the so-called 'perfect' bindings perish, the non-acid-free paper disintegrates. Fortunately for most of the texts that mattered I then obtained more durable hardback copies
.

I have a second edition copy of the famous 1960 Penguin Lady Chatterley's Lover which belonged to my late father and despite having a creased spine it's in great shape.

[Bella Kemp]

I think the paper in New Arden editions have a longer life, generally. Some no doubt think it sacrilege, but early on I adopted the practice of bending the pages back every 5 or 6 leaves when I acquire them - judging how far to go. The glue in the binding becomes brittle over an extended period, but if the crease has been made earlier, there is a fair chance that with care the pages will remain attached.

(Like others here - it seems - I buy books to be used. Mostly, in a rather functional way, myself. The exceptions for me are art books - but then, they are usually hardbacks, or at least have some sown binding in them).

I have also found that if one reads the books soon after purchase, and bend the spine a little so that it becomes creased then it will pretty much last for ever without the pages falling out. Unread books, I suppose, feel unloved, and after a time their pages will become melancholy and detach themselves from the spine.