Reading the 20th Century discussion

Just had a splurge in the £3 Audible sale (like I need more unread Audible books in my library)....


The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

It's a Battlefield by Graham Greene

Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The Anti Social Behaviour Of Horace Rumpole by John Mortimer

Rumpole and the Primrose Path by John Mortimer


If anyone fancies a buddy read of any of the above titles, then reply and I will make it happen

I got Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate and The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot on audio so I can listen to them while walking. I’m hoping knowing I can listen to these audio books will get me up and moving.

Nigeyb wrote: "Just had a splurge in the £3 Audible sale (like I need more unread Audible books in my library)....


The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

[book:It'..."

A good selection. I suspect I'd enjoy all of those.

I've just moved countries and am staying for the moment in the house of friends, so have been raiding their bookshelf.

Just read (and reviewed) A Month in the Country and To the Lighthouse. The first was every bit as good as I had hoped; I suspect a lot of people in this group have read it, but for those who haven't, I warmly recommend it. The Woolf was a bit more challenging but 40-odd pages in, it suddenly caught my imagination. Actually very glad I read it now.

Next up may be Bernard Crick's biography of Orwell.

WndyJW wrote: "I got Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate and The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot on audio so I can listen to them while walking. I’m hoping knowing I can ..."

I love Macfarlane, the Mendelsohn sounds good too, thought his account of his family's experiences in Ukraine, "The Missing" was really haunting and fascinating, although a pretty harrowing read.

I’d like to read more of Mendelsohn. I get on better with essays than other forms of nonfiction.

This week's (and possibly last week's) books -

One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes. I previously read her book London War Notes, 1939-1945.

The Seat of the Scornful by John Dickson Carr. Had a moment of panic when I discovered the original title was Death Turns the Table - luckily I didn't have that.

The Master Key by Masako Togawa. "A building full of secrets A key that will unlock them all" per the blurb on the back cover.

Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life by Hermione Lee

The Knox Brothers by Penelope Fitzgerald. The cover says it is about her father and uncles. What about her aunt? I'll have to find out.

Virginia at War, 1861 by William C. Davis. I had every other year of the Civil War but was missing the first year.

Just bought a reissue of the 1930s Hollwood novel I Lost My Girlish Laughter by Smyth and Allen. It looks fun! And a friend gave me The Quest for Queen Mary, a selection of James Pope-Hennessy's entertaining interview notes taken when he was writing his bio of the queen.

I bought A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. I loved his book The Tsar of Love and Techno so I’m hoping this one is just as good! I don’t even know what it’s about other than it’s set in Chechnya.

My seasonal swag in 2022 included...



I Have America Surrounded: A Biography of Timothy Leary

Born in the GDR: Life in the Shadow of the Wall

Tales from the Black Meadow

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius

Germany: Memories of a Nation


In the unlikely event anyone wants to buddy any of the above, hit me up with a reply below


What about you? Seasonal swag?

I got some money and gift cards, so ordered Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy, They by Kay Dick, Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer (those three from McNally Editions), A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr, and The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (those two from NYRB Classics).

I also got a full paperback set of the Oz books since they’ve been favorites since I was young. These have updated illustrations which aren’t my favorites, but I’m excited to have them all none the less. :)

Pam wrote: "I bought A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. I loved his book The Tsar of Love and Techno so I’m hoping this one is just as good! I don’t even know what it’s about other than it’s ..."

I loved A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Parts of it are difficult to read (violence, etc.), but it's well-written and an eye-opening read.

BTW, lots of interesting books mentioned in this thread!

I ordered with my B&N cards: In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, Cassandra at the Wedding, What We Fed to the Manticore, Auē, The Pachinko Parlor, H.P. Lovecraft: Great Tales of Horror, then ordered Season of the Shadow, Twilight of Torment: Melancholy, and The Last Samurai.
I just ordered The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories. That will be it for me for a bit. My husband has joked one too many times about books arriving daily and the last few times I sensed a hint of exasperation. They don’t arrive daily, but I have enough to keep me busy and I’m joining @footnotes.and.tangents (Simon Haisell’s Instagram acct) year long group read of War and Peace.

Great haul WndyJW, and you too Bronwyn


Gotta love this time of year

Good choices Wendy - I have Pachinko Parlour and Cassandra at the Wedding. The Last Samurai is excellent, one I'd like to re-read.

I'm going to buy more Annie Ernaux with my gift card - but need to get rid of some books to free up shelf space.

We've created a Little Free Library at work so they'll be going to good homes.

I could re-read War and Peace quite happily. Haven't read it for years.

My seasonal swag included Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution which I was a bit iffy about but it ultimately won me over, and now I'm keen to read her earlier trilogy reworking the life of Mao. Also some books that have been on my wishlist for a while: The Liquid Land; In the Making; and Revenge

Is the Mao trilogy The Poppy War?

Roman Clodia wrote: "Is the Mao trilogy The Poppy War?"

Yes that's the first in the series, it's a 'what if' fantasy based on events in China in the middle of the 20th century, with the Mao figure redrawn as a young, disenfranchised girl. From what I've read it covers a reimagining of the rape of Nanjing through WW2 and the split between Mao and Chiang Kai-shek. She started it when she was 18 and, in interviews, she's talked about how much work she's done on her writing style since, so maybe a bit shaky but it had some great reviews.

I've had it on my 'possibles' list but wasn't aware of the Mao parallels - also thanks for your Babel review :)

I do love this time of year. I took a few dozen books to Half-Price books in November to make room for holiday gift card purchases.

I cleaned out two cookbooks when my sister was here. She took one and I am donating the other to the upcoming AAUW book sale. They start collecting in February.

Susan wrote: "I could re-read War and Peace quite happily. Haven't read it for years."

I’ve heard from a number of people that War and Peace is quite engaging, I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know if I will read exactly one chapter a day, the chapters are so short I imagine I’ll read more than one a day, but I’ll definitely try to read as close to 7 chapters a week, without getting too far ahead, so I stay close to the group. I almost always flake out on group reads so time will tell.

I bet it is once you make it past a certain point. However, if I recall correctly I got stuck at page 25. I took it as an omen when I fell asleep three times on one page.

I was trying to read it with a group from the Library. A friend was doing it with me and she made it past page 25 and found it good once you got into it. I just couldn't get into it. I even bought Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia which was supposed to be non-fiction about the same period. I dropped it at the same time. Not a real big fan of historical fiction.

But maybe I'll try it again one day. I still have both books.

I re-read War & Peace in the last few years - it's so readable but I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as the first time. I do want to re-read Anna Karenina which I preferred.

I found that with Proust, WndyW.

I want to read something else by Ivan Goncharov who wrote one of my favourite novels, Oblomov. I am thinking of Malinovka Heights

Conceived twenty years before its initial publication in 1869, and regarded by its author as his best work, Malinovka Heights (previously translated in English as The Precipice) is Goncharov’s crowning achievement as a novelist and a triumph of psychological insight. Here presented for the first time in unabridged form in a sparkling new translation by Stephen Pearl, Goncharov’s final novel deserves to be reassessed as one of the most important classics of nineteenth-century Russian literature.

After his university studies and a short stint in the army and the civil service, thirty-something Boris Pavlovich Raisky enjoys the life of an artist, frequenting St Petersburg’s elegant circles, dabbing at his paintings, playing a little music and entertaining thoughts of writing a novel. But for a man like him, who has achieved nothing so far and by his own admission is “not born to work”, the bustle of the capital proves too much, so he decides to visit his country estate of Malinovka. There he hopes to rediscover the joys of a simpler and more authentic life – but when he becomes emotionally involved with his beautiful cousin Vera and meets the dangerous freethinker Mark Volokhov, the scene is set for a chain of events that will lead to disappointment, confrontation and, ultimately, tragedy.

I’m reading two translations so each chapter will be twice as long, but still not long. I’m reading Quartet in Autumn now and will read other books as I go, so maybe that make it easier not to read ahead.

Two Fremlin’s arrived today: Possession and Dangerous Thoughts. I can’t wait!

On holiday, and discovered this charming 2nd hand bookshop in Aberfoyle, Perthshire. If you are in the area. Look it up. I bought three, Silence, Troubles and The Hill Station.
I was pleased with my purchases, more so when the owner of the shop said encouraging things about Troubles and another customer, overhearing, raved about it too.

Discovering a new 2nd hand bookshop is wonderful, sad though if it’s far from home. I still think about a messy shop I found in an almost vacant summer town on the border of Canada and Maine. I found a Patrick White books of short stories I didn’t know existed and a book of poems by long deceased farmer grandfather’s favorite poet, Complete Poems of Robert Service. On the desk was a tall stack of Saramago books who was the featured author that month. I never find books like around home.

I got Troubles last week too, Stephen, mostly because I had nyrb editions of The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip and needed Troubles to complete the trilogy. I loved The Siege of Krishnapur so I’m pleased to hear Troubles got rave reviews too.

We were driving back to Denver from a trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park last weekend when we came across a beautiful little town at the top of the San Luis Valley. Nearly abandoned in the early 20th century after a wild and profitable thirty years as a local mining and transportation hub, it was revived twenty years ago by people restoring its buildings to create a gateway for skiers and hikers and we spent a few hours walking around, admiring the old buildings and the views. So naturally I had to poke around the bookstore and its local interests shelf and support the local economy with a purchase of an entertaining book by a local enthusiast. Retro Salida won't make it to the Oxford History of the United States but I hope to give it its first review later this year.

Ben wrote: "We were driving back to Denver from a trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park last weekend when we came across a beautiful little town at the top of the San Luis Valley. Nearly abandoned in the ..."

That sounds lovely, look forward to hearing about the book. It's due to rain here and the sun's retreated. I picked up a copy of the new collection The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories which I think I'm going to start dipping into. But a bit distracted by watching a kdrama When the weather is fine. It features a dream of a bookshop organised like a kitchen/sitting room, lots of low lamp lights, coffee, and jazz, and nocturnal book groups organised around themes. One of the featured books is The Wind in the Willows so tempted to reread that instead!

That was a dreamy bookshop in that drama! Let us know how the short stories are!

In Wivenhoe, Essex on Friday (a lovely little town on the banks of the Colne which used to have a bit if an artist's colony) and Colne Books provided two more volumes for my collection of vintage Penguin Modern Classics
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
I had been hoping to find a copy of the Gide Journals for a while.

Flipping love visiting Wivenhoe


Check out Martin Newell’s book about Wivenhoe 💡

A Prospect of Wivenhoe: Snapshots of an English Town

My five star review....

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


I spent a few childhood Summers in Wivenhoe in the late 1960s

Since writing that review I've visited on a few occasions including a weekend stay. A gem of a place

Wow, Nige (or, should I say, Lord Emsworth?) I did not realize Mr. Newell was also an author. I have read about him and listened to his music from my participation since 2002 on rock band XTC fan sites. As Wikipedia states about Newell: "His first non-cassette solo album, The Greatest Living Englishman, was produced by XTC's Andy Partridge, and was a critical success." As a result, Newell has many fans who are XTC fans too. And, while it was probably 10 to 15 years ago, I did listen to some of his music with his band Cleaners from Venus.

I had thought Martin Newell was just known as a major practitioner of the lo-fi sound. Now I see he's really one of those very creative songwriter/authors such as Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. It was interesting to learn from Wikipedia that "Newell has dyspraxia and Asperger syndrome."

Thanks, I will try to read that one.
We moved to Clacton-on-Sea earlier this year so I'm still exploring the area, Wivenhoe is one if several interesting towns round about.

Author, and James Bond cover artist, Richard Chopping lived there with his partner the artist Denis Wirth-Miller and they had drunken parties with Francis Bacon

Martin - I love that area. You’ll doubtless find much to enjoy and appreciate


Brian - XTC, Cleaners etc. We park our bicycles in the same bike rack. Martin is a one man industry. I get regular alerts from Bandcamp about new music etc. He also produces blogs, YouTube vids etc

Nigeyb wrote: "Flipping love visiting Wivenhoe


Check out Martin Newell’s book about Wivenhoe 💡

A Prospect of Wivenhoe: Snapshots of an English Town

My five star review....

https://www.goodread..."
I got a copy today in nearby Colchester, it is on top of the 'to read' pile so I should be able to comment in a few days time.

I hope you're as delighted by it as I was Martin


I'm quietly confident

Nigeyb wrote: "I hope you're as delighted by it as I was Martin


I'm quietly confident"

I think I might disappoint you now with quite a mixed review.
I did enjoy the book, and I'm glad I read it. It is interesting as Wivenhoe is just down the road from where I sit now in Clacton, also the author is less than ten years my senior so some of my coming-of-age and early adult experiences are within the same cultural and political times.
I accept that Wivenhoe is quirky, unique and bohemian - but most large towns and cities have a suburb which functions in that way (I'm not saying Wivenhoe is a suburb of Colchester - but it does serve a similar function). Each of these places differs enough from the others to be classed as unique, yet they are all unique in a similar manner. This is not a concern to me, but it makes the reading sometimes hard-going as Newell so often feels the need to remind the reader that Wivenhoe quirky, unique and bohemian. If he had just let the reader make up their own mind it might have been better. I grew up in Birmingham, had Newell done the same he might have written a very similar 'Prospect of Moseley'

At least you found it a worth while read Martin - thanks for sharing your thoughts

Nigeyb wrote: "Check out Martin Newell’s book about Wivenhoe 💡

A Prospect of Wivenhoe: Snapshots of an English Town..."

Following your advice, I did.
This is the result: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Hurrah


So glad that you found so much to enjoy and appreciate Brian

For Christmas a friend since grammar school gifted me this two-volume Library of America box set of Bradbury works:

Vol. 1 Novels & Story Cycles: The Martian Chronicles / Fahrenheit 451 / Dandelion Wine / Something Wicked This Way Comes
Vol. 2 Ray Bradbury: The Illustrated Man, The October Country & Other Stories
Vol. 1 Vol. 2

So, in addition to the Loving and The Spider-Orchid buddy reads I had planned to participate in during February, I am now obliged to add in the The Martian Chronicles buddy read in order to properly fulfill my gift recipient duties.

Great news! Now I must send your friend a book token!

I've just bought His Final Battle by the former editor of the NY Times, Joseph Lelyveld, who recently died and had written a Pulitzer Prize winner Move Your Shadow about apartheid South Africa in the 1980's. His Final Battle is about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's last year as President, 1944-5.

So, another book about the 1940's

That sounds interesting, I haven't bought any new books lately have loads on my list but can't decide what I really want, also gave way to supply-chain fever and spent a lot on extra spices, rice, coffee etc in anticipation of coming shortages/price increases. Can't live without my coffee or my basmati!

It was my birthday the other day and my sisters and wife gave me....


The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland by Andy Burnham

Aerial Atlas of Ancient Britain by David R. Abram

Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain by Ed Gillett

In Perfect Harmony: Singalong Pop in ’70s Britain by Will Hodgkinson

Get It On: How the ’70s Rocked Football by Jon Spurling


They know me so well 🫶🏻

I'm delighted with the haul ❤️‍🔥

Just got to find time to read them and I can't see anyone at RTTC wanting to buddy read any of them 🤠

Happy Birthday 🎉. Enjoy the hours of enjoyment.