What are you reading now?

[LMcD]

Currently reading 'Perfect' by Rachel Joyce. Next up is Susan Hill's 'The Magic Apple Tree', brought to my attention at a recent Autumn-themed words and music event.
It didn't take me long, while at university, to realize that I was out of my depth as far as most of the set texts were concerned, and nothing that's happened since has led me to re-visit, let alone challenge, that realization.

[vinteuil]

Madeleine? (R3 have your cake and eat it?)

... ah, but Madeleine appears about page 43 and disappears about page 45. I wanted something that hangs around a bit longer.

And I'm not sure I'm as sweet (or memorable... ) as Madeleine



.

[smittims]

I once thought of writing an abstract novel, as one writes an abstract piece of music, a novel thst doesn't have to be about people, but (not surprisingly) I couldn't get started. It seems novels have to be about people, or anthopomorphed animals .

I'm re-reading Hamlet , as I couldn't remember when I last read it , as opposed to 'saw it'. My forty-year-old Penguin New Shakespeare copy is falling apart from a cracked spine. Does anyone else have this problem with old Penguins?

[vinteuil]

Does anyone else have this problem with old Penguins?

... 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
.

[teamsaint]

... 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
.

The production values on their books quality is poor, and has been for a very long time. But they can get away with it.

[AuntDaisy]

... ah, but Madeleine appears about page 43 and disappears about page 45. I wanted something that hangs around a bit longer.

And I'm not sure I'm as sweet (or memorable... ) as Madeleine

I'm sure you are; esp. looking like Meléndez. (... and I stumbled upon Angle, an old friend).

[Cockney Sparrow]

... 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 .

......Penguin New Shakespeare copy is falling apart from a cracked spine. Does anyone else have this problem with old Penguins?

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).

[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.

[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.

[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]

... 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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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.