What are you reading now?

[smittims]

I didn't know the complete diary had been published, though it was always a possibiity, of course, as the autograph was preserved complete. Like many other readers, I made do with the one-volume Oxford Paperbacks selection for years, so when I discovered the five-volume edition I was quite content with that.

I wouldn't describe it as 'bowdlerised', merely abridged, as the wording or tone of the work hasn't been altered in the way that Bowdler altered Shakespeare. I've always assumed that we have the interesting bits and the rest is much more routine. If I were 30 years younger I would invest in the complete version, but I have more than enough reading to last my remaining years.

There is of course a paradox about James Woodforde in that, although himself a very modest and unassuming man who probably never imagined anyone except possibly his niece and nephew reading his diary , he has become so valuable a source of everyday life in those years. It makes me wonder how many other fascinating men there have been who are forgotten because they didn't keep diaries which we would find delightful. What a contrast to the too-many vain public men who have made such a dreary nuisance of themeselves with their 'memoirs ' which we are all expected to find fascinating. .

[vinteuil]

... If I were 30 years younger I would invest in the complete version, but I have more than enough reading to last my remaining years ...

My thoughts exactly.

Beresford misses out most of the earlier part of Woodforde's life in Somerset and Oxford, concentrating almost entirely on his time at Weston Longeville.

If you can get it, I would heartily recommend the single-volume Folio edition, which "presents a great quantity of material never before published except ... by the Parson Woodforde Society".

I picked up my copy second-hand from abe.books for a fiver....

.

[vinteuil]

Simenon, la Fuite de M. Monde (Monsieur Monde Vanishes)

Not a Maigret, but one of the 'romans durs'.

A perfect piece of writing, absolutely conveying the alienation of a mid-life crisis - lovely simenonian descriptions of bourgeois Paris and low-life Marseille

Highly recommended

[french frank]

Simenon, la Fuite de M. Monde (Monsieur Monde Vanishes)

Not a Maigret, but one of the 'romans durs

Highly recommended

Noted, thank you

[smittims]

I've just finished re-reading Titus Andronicus, which I much enjoyed. It's a difficult play for today, as the ethics embodied in the plot and characters take some context to understand. But I was fascinated t see Shakespeare at this early stage already producing some of the wonderful imagery for which he is famous later.

[Jonathan]

More Ben Aaronovitch - one of the Rivers of London novellas, Winter's Gifts.

[gradus]

The Haunted Wood by Sam Leith, a history of childhood reading. Simply wonderful.

[Ian Thumwood]

More Ben Aaronovitch - one of the Rivers of London novellas, Winter's Gifts.

Wierdly, this series was also recommended on Southampton FC thread today.

Reading Ian Rankin's 'Naming of the dead' i love his Rebus books but this one is not his best.

[Bella Kemp]

I've just finished re-reading Titus Andronicus, which I much enjoyed. It's a difficult play for today, as the ethics embodied in the plot and characters take some context to understand. But I was fascinated t see Shakespeare at this early stage already producing some of the wonderful imagery for which he is famous later.

I'm not quite sure I understand this. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I had always thought that 'ethics' implies morality and, surely, whatever the context, the actions of Titus in T.A. must always be seen as pretty dreadful. Like many of us, I suspect, I love to bemoan the endless trigger warnings that are the bane of our age, but my goodness I think any trigger warning before a production of T.A. might be appreciated. Perhaps one really needs to see it rather than read it. There was a recent production where audience members had to be carried out after collapsing in horror - there would be something seriously wrong with humanity if at least a few people did not have this reaction. It is to my discredit, Smittins, that I agree with you that it is an enjoyable play.

[LMcD]

Max Hastings's 'Nemesis'.