Ersatz TLS discussion

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to the first new thread of 2023. I hope the year has started well and will continue so, with at the very least lots of good books.  

Lljones put an end to her bookbuying abstinence:

Last year's resolution came to an end on Sunday, when I visited Powell's for the first time in over two years ... It was delightful, and I didn't go too crazy - just four books purchased. Two were gifts, two for me...Devil House by John Darnielle and A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley.

Russell gave us good news of his wife’s shop, may it continue to prosper and may he and his wife not become embittered as seems to be Shaun Bythell whose Confessions of a Bookseller has been read by Frances Burgundy.

It’s mostly uncomplimentary anecdotes about the people who work in the shop and the people who visit it. I won’t call them customers because an awful lot walk out without buying anything, often after having sat and read the stock for an hour or more. If they do buy something they complain about the price and ask for discounts, or disrupt the work of the shop by chatting for ages. I do wonder how he can continue in the job. I’d certainly be wary of going into the shop in case I appear in caricature form in another of his offerings.

Anne is

Absolutely loving Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford, my Christmas read this year.

 The only problem for Anne will be completing the trilogy now the break is over.

Andy: Kick the Latch by Kathleen Scanlon.

Scanlan's writing has an extraordinary skill to it which makes it such a pleasure to read, the ability to extract a beguiling strangeness from the banal.  
This is a fictionalised portrait of a woman's career in horse-racing in the American Midwest, based on a series of interviews the author did with an actual person. It is told in fleeting instalments, from half a page to three or four pages, that trace its subject, known only as Sonia, chronologically throughout her lifetime.  
This is a fine example of the sort of novel that forms an ordinary life into great art, but the succinct style Scanlan uses I have never come across before, except perhaps in poetry. ... 
This is a rare and astounding piece of prose, unassuming and sincere in its authenticity.

  
Russell has been reading history: The King's Peace, 1637-1641 – C V Wedgwood (1955).

In 1637, while the Thirty Years War raged on the continent, the British Isles were peaceful and prosperous, and Charles Stuart called himself the happiest King in Christendom. ... There was one problem of course: Parliament refused to vote the funds the King desired. Charles had sent them away. He was ordained by God and could rule on his personal authority alone. 
In this first volume of the trilogy CVW charts the fall in five short years into merciless enmity and civil war. She avoids any analysis through historical forces, and she tells the story according to what the actors knew and thought at the time, not according to what they might have done had they known the consequences. Does anyone write this sort of history today? I am a hundred pages in and thoroughly enjoying it.

And Framley Parsonage: 

A foolish vicar puts his name to a bill of exchange he can never pay, and he is made to suffer the full measure of embarrassment. Aside from that it is an agreeable and witty tale of money, marriage and status, with spirited ladies to the fore... It was an amusing and comfortable read for the fireside.

Robert has what seems to be another suitable fireside read:

Rain and flood warnings made "Ghost of the Hardy Boys," by Leslie McFarlane ... a good choice (the Hardy Boys were a pair of juvenile detectives dreamed up by Stratemeyer ... He also dreamed up Nancy Drew, because his daughter suggested a girl detective.)  
McFarlane was a newspaper reporter, with ambitions to be a playwright, when he saw an ad in the paper: "Experienced Fiction Writer Wanted to Work from Publisher's Outlines." A post office box number was appended. The young reporter answered it, though he didn't take it too seriously. He had other irons in the fire... 
I read this many years ago, and found it a charming and humorous book. It's still charming and humorous, and I recommend it.

MK recommends The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair: 

a 'light' mystery read/listen. Two quite different women open a marriage bureau in London in 1946, and of course murder ensues.

And another “light” read from CCCubbon:

I have almost finished Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody. Enjoying this book set shortly after WW1; it is well researched. I found myself checking whether it was written at that time as it appeared to be so gently authentic. It wasn’t.

I read all this series last year. 

Greenfairy says:

I have just finished a remarkable book: Silverview by John le Carré. It wasn't published in his lifetime and it wasn't exactly finished but organised and tidied from his notes by his youngest son Nick, and it's a triumph. There is a very poignant afterword by him.

AB76 is going back to the classics with Sybil, or the Two NationsSybil by Benjamin Disraeli.

I enjoyed Coningsby, or, The New Generation a few years ago and found it to be a very good read, so I have high standards of what I may find when reading Sybil.

Russell

found Sybil a bit below the standard of Coningsby. It does have some great passages. I went on to read Tancred, to complete the trilogy. I thought it started well enough but it fell away badly. We should be grateful for the first two, which show a scintillating talent. His achievement as a novelist went down as his prominence in politics went up.

Storm recommends Factory Girls, Michelle Gallen.

Set in the early 1990s, three young girls are waiting for their results to give them the opportunity to flee their small Irish town and The Troubles so they get a summer job in a factory. The handsome sexist Brit manager cherry picks the women in the factory and uses them.   
I thought the book was fun, a bit over the top in places, but Gallen certainly succeeded in giving you a flavour of the constant level of pressure and community influence Taigs and Prods lived through, the minefield of relations between and within the two sides. The writing is vivid and visceral, and not for the faint hearted. What I found interesting and well done was the gulf of class within NI and also that feeling described by many NI writers of the lack of hope and opportunities available, which creates a sense of oppression and desperation.

She also recommends And the Wind Sees All by Gudmundur Andri Thorsson, translated by Björg Árnadottir and Andrew Cauthery.

And what a good job the translators did. 
A 5* outstanding read for me... This is a book of vignettes of inhabitants of a small, fictional north Icelandic village. … There is no plot. What there is, is a spell woven by the author, weaving these disparate lives into a community that know and do not know each other, people who do not know themselves.  
I bloody loved this book.

 
Giveusaclue read The Bones at Point No Point by D.D. Black.

Just finished reading this book set around the actual place name of the title overlooking Puget Sound. I know some folks on here are familiar with the area. 
Enjoyed the book very much, like the characters and the suspense was well done.

Well, that's all for now. Happy reading!
 

Excellent summary as always - thanks for that!

Georg commented in the last thread that:
"I was quite pissed off when they deleted my recommendation of Mascha Kaleko's poetry on WWR. A waste of my time, even if it only took 10 or 15 minutes to write.
Still testing the waters every now and again, with short comments I wouldn't care about if they were deleted."

Baffling - I can't see why this might have been 'controversial' (but what is the point of these forums if you can't have a bit of to-and-fro, anyway?)

FWIW - If I am posting a comment first on the Guardian's WWR, nowadays I type it into a word-processor document first so that if it gets 'disappeared' I can always edit it into an 'acceptable' form. I usually post here first, though - as then I can just copy/paste, with a bit of added work on any links or whatever.

Just a suggestion for anyone who's been frustrated by the dreaded mods.

I also agree with Georg that:

"I think that WWR is a mere shadow of TLS. The introductions seem perfunctory and somehow "loveless", a far cry from what Sam Jordison did . And the whole thing is relegated to a place where no passer-by could find it after the first day."

This is a real shame, especially when we consider how much effort Glad put in to persuading the Guardian to resume the column in some form.

scarletnoir wrote: "Georg commented in the last thread that:
"I was quite pissed off when they deleted my recommendation of Mascha Kaleko's poetry on WWR. A waste of my time, even if it only took 10 or 15 minutes to w..."

Meh, I don'y know. Certainly the WWR column suffers from not being front and center for too long on the Books page, leading to few casual discoveries and newer voices. But there are still 50-60 posters there every month, and they are all discussing books (which is not necessarily the case here, for example).

I don't find it much diminished. Unfortunately, I think there are a few posters who find themselves victim of "report comment" almost by default leading to moderation. Probably a single reader with a grudge is signalling innocuous comments and the mods aren't really spending too much time on nuance. At least, that's my suspicion.

Great intro GPFR!

I think WWR is a bit of a dud sadly, i dont visit it more than maybe 3 times a week, while i check here at least daily. It doesnt seem to have the same breadth or interest for me as it did pre-pandemic and its closure, alongside the mods and their foibles

Its a shame, decisions made by the newspaper we all love and read killed off what was a really good, international discussion on books. I am not too bothered if its not always books being discussed, but it hasnt interested me as Ersatz has and i cant see that changing

There is no feeling of curation (Sam J is much missed) and i think the variety of books discussed is weaker too, a lot more modern literature being sifted over

Reading is going well as we enter the second week of 2023, a lot of rain and some flooding in the shires as well

Am finishing reading the NYRB Xmas edition, which i think includes the Marilynn Robinson essay that Bill mentioned, i must read that

Elsewhere Benny Disraeli is fascinating me with his political masterpiece of 1845Sybil while the story of the atomic project in WW2 and the traitor Klaus Fuchs, in Trinity is enthralling, so well written.

Bleak Scarborough with Susan Hill in A Change for the Better(1969), it reminds me slightly of Margaret Laurence, minus the Prairie locations

i will not be reading the Prince Harry book and found the morning blurb of his latest whine-fest/interview quite foul, i think we have seen far too much of him and his missus and their glossy, entitled moaning in last 6 months...

Paul wrote: "Meh, I don'y know. Certainly the WWR column suffers from not being front and center for too long on the Books page, leading to few casual discoveries and newer voices. But there are still 50-60 posters there every month, and they are all discussing books ..."

It can actually be quite difficult to find, even for those of us who know it's there, somewhere! I also feel the mods are more than a bit touchy - especially if you say anything about them.

It's better than nothing - no question - but not a patch on Sam Jordiston's curated effort.

You're right Scarlet, It's not the same without Sam

The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin

I wasn't too sure what, exactly, was the contribution of the two authors until I read this comment in an Amazon review:

This book is a prequel to the original Laidlaw trilogy by William McIlvaney.
The half finished manuscript was found by McIlvaney's widow when he died, in 2015.
She asked Ian Rankin to finish the story and he has stayed true to the original author.

I haven't read any of the other 'Laidlaw' books by McIlvanney, but have read the full set of Rankin's Rebus novels. This was not as good as those... too slight a tale, and with some seriously improbable plot points. Here (1972 Glasgow) Laidlaw is a lowly Detective Constable even though he is around 40... would someone of his talents still be in that sort of rank? I doubt it, even if he is insubordinate and doesn't follow orders. To make it believable, the author(s) should have indicated that he'd messed up and been 'reduced to the ranks' for some misdemeanour.

Otherwise, it's not too bad but no more than OK... low-life Glasgow of the period is portrayed well enough, and we get some Scottish terms (always interesting). A lawyer who works for a local gangster is found murdered... by another gang, or for personal reasons? Laidlaw and the rest try to discover the truth, and eventually do so. Fairly standard fare - are the books McIlvanney completed in his lifetime better? I don't know, and am only slightly inclined to find out.

Not terrible, but not great.

(In fairness, I should point out that the book suffered by comparison with the very much better Deadline in Athens which I was reading at the same time.)

My book of the year and it's only January! Demon Copperhead, which is Barbara Kingsolver's excellent take on David Copperfield. Marvellous book -I particularly loved her play on the character's names quite apart from the story itself which deals mostly with the opioid epidemic in the USA without doing damage to the source material at all.Impressive.

scarletnoir wrote: "Paul wrote: "Meh, I don'y know. Certainly the WWR column suffers from not being front and center for too long on the Books page, leading to few casual discoveries and newer voices. But there are st..."

Oh, I agree it's almost impossible to find and it needs to be put in the "Regulars" section of the menu. I bookmarked this "theguardian.com/books/series/what-we-..." and I check directly from that page.

As for the mods, trust me, they are no more sensitive now than they were ages ago. I got a ban on an earlier user name because I wrote something along the lines of "screw the mods" after getting modded for talking about my 2 year old's favorite book (someone reported that as off-topic). I also finished at least twice in pre-modding delays because of comments deemed harassment. Damned if I recall just what they were though. Perhaps, the mods are simply fewer and further between so that pre-modding becomes an ordeal.
I really think there are a few who get their comments reported as a matter of form by a disgruntled reader. That was certainly the case with TMW and paulburns. I suspect GeorgElser and a few others have attracted attentive enemies as well. But that's just my gut feeling.

The entire book page is a sham since Sam left. But it was also pretty good before Sam under Marta Bausells and Claire Armistead before her.

To be honest, even before Sam left it started getting populated with clickbaity bullshit that suggested unpleasant mission statements.
Those articles, at least, seem to have decreased in the past year.

With the posts remembering the good ole days with Sam Jordison here, you, too, can sign up for the Galley Beggar Press newsletter. Here's the one I got today (sans photos) -

Hello!

I hope 2023 has been treating you well so far. I’m happy to say that we’ve been lucky enough to get off to a very good start. On Sunday January 1 we published Toby Litt’s superb new novel A Writer’s Diary. I don’t know if any other books have come out on January 1 and a Sunday - but I do know that if they did they were nothing like this one, because it is wonderfully, gloriously, unique.

If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter you’ve probably heard me praising this book enough by now - so you’ll be glad to hear I don’t have to do it any more. The first review has come in and it’s as glowing as Toby deserves. Writing in The Guardian, Barney Norris has called it “a hugely readable achievement… a stimulating inquiry into how we weigh and value the days of our lives.” Toby has also been reviewed in The Observer, who say A Writer’s Diary is: “A deeply moving treatise on life, death, parenthood and the function of writing.”

We’re hoping for plenty more where those came from - and also, most importantly, that many readers are now enjoying the book. It’s in the shops, and we also managed to send out a lot of copies before Christmas in time for January 1. International editions should be arriving soon too and - now that we’ve re-opened the office - we’re eager to send more. Here in Tory Britain putting things in the post isn’t as fast or easy as it used to be - but parcels are still getting to people - and a book like this one will at least help shore you up against the ruin… of everything…


Anyway. The other fun thing about A Writer’s Diary is that Toby hasn’t finished working on this project. He’s now writing a new diary on Substack about what it was like to write and publish the original A Writer’s Diary. Elly and I have become characters in this new iteration of the diary. That’s quite alarming - but I’m also getting quite interested to know what would happen if we were to publish this one too, and then Toby wrote about that process, in turn, and he therefore created a new kind of time loop and thus allowed things in this world to get truly psychedelic.

Back in normal space-time, a quick reminder that we still have a few places left on our popular Critical Reading Course. These are six monthly classes (held on Tuesday evenings UK time) where we tear apart new and classic novels to find out what makes them tick - and what makes them matter. The first set of Tuesdays has all sold out, but you can still join us on the second to read:

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, a neglected (in the UK at least) early feminist classic set in New Orleans at the end of the nineteenth century. It’s pioneering modernism. It’s got a lot to say and it’s fascinating.

Persuasion by Jane Austen, a novel by Jane Austen. Do you need more? It’s funny, heart-wrenching, it contains THE greatest letter and it’s one of the best books ever.

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel: as dark and delightful as its title suggests. An early(ish) masterpiece from a wonderful writer.

White Noise by Don Delillo: the best book about consumerism money can buy. Among other things. It’s funny, subversive, disturbing and just beautifully written.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith: one of the most hyped books of the early 21st century. But now all that’s died down were left with a superb, funny, flawed but endlessly fascinating book that marked the beginning of a brilliant career. It’s fun!

Playthings by Alex Pheby: just mighty. Friends of Galley Beggar will know how much we love Alex Pheby. Here is where it started. It’s a book that will blow your lid off. It’s intense, brilliant, mind-shaking.

Sign up here! I’ll be overjoyed to have your company.

I’ll write again soon with more news about Toby - and also the first reviews of Meena Kandasamy’s Book Of Desire, which is also about to hit the shops.

Fondly,

Sam

PS Look!



We partnered with Foyles to make some beautiful After Sappho tote bags, featuring a quote from Selby’s beautiful novel - and a rocking picture of Colette,

You can buy them in our store right now - while they last!

PPS Neil Young fans! He’s just released his 1990s Eldorado EP, which, for reasons only Neil Young knows, was only available in Japan before. It’s a storm. Later than everyone else I’ve also been enjoying the Fontaines DC album. And, look out for the new record by Lana Del Rey. If it’s as great as her others, it’s going to be mighty, mighty great.

scarletnoir wrote: "The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin

I wasn't too sure what, exactly, was the contribution of the two authors until I read this comment in an Amazon review:

This ..."

having read the original Laidlaw trilogy in installments since 2018, i must explore this.

i never liked Rankin's writing, i got into Laidlaw much later and while i wouldnt say they were quite as good as they promised, the first Laidlaw novel was probably the best(written in 1977)
Alan Massie said of it "Hemingway used to say that all American literature came out of Huckleberry Finn; all Scottish crime writing — ‘tartan noir’ — comes out of Laidlaw"

MK wrote: "With the posts remembering the good ole days with Sam Jordison here, you, too, can sign up for the Galley Beggar Press newsletter. Here's the one I got today (sans photos) -

Hello!

I hope 2023 ha..."

good to hear from the great man and i have been enjoying the Fontaines DC album too (a great irish rock LP)

Paul wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Paul wrote: "Meh, I don'y know. Certainly the WWR column suffers from not being front and center for too long on the Books page, leading to few casual discoveries and newer voic..."

Off topic? a book being mentioned, my word they need to get a life! its great to hear what the little ones are reading or splattering food all over

it was lovely in the summer that my oldest neice (8yo)got a book review published in the parish magazine where my parents live (admission, her grandmother is the editor..lol). I would imagine thats off topic too if i posted that on WWR!

i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?

https://www.theguardian.com/environme...

I make no apologies for pasting this link to this morning’s article. The symbiotic relationship between fungi, trees and plants fascinates me - if I were young this would be my area of research.
If you have time to read the article maybe, like myself, you will consider the research to be of fundamental to importance in this time of climate change.

Thanks CC. I hope that you're feeling a lot better?
Mycorrhizal connection is endlessly interesting :⁠-⁠)

AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

Nobody.
He kept the same user name but doesn't post here. Don't remember if he did at the start.

AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

I don't think Natasha ever made the migration to Goodreads, he despised the interface

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

Nobody.
He kept the same user name but doesn't post here. Don't remember if he did at the start."

thanks Paul and GPFR, so it wasnt my mind, he never was here!

CCCubbon wrote: "https://www.theguardian.com/environme...

I make no apologies for pasting this link to this morning’s article. The symbiotic relationship between fungi, trees and ..."

That was a great article, one of my former lab mates, and a good friend, has made his career examining the contribution of fungi to the gut and the interplay there mirrors the forest effect

Paul wrote (#4): "scarletnoir wrote: "Georg commented in the last thread that:
"I was quite pissed off when they deleted my recommendation of Mascha Kaleko's poetry on WWR. A waste of my time, even if it only took 1..."

The Guardinan's moderation is dismal because it seems to be so incoherent. A scathing post re writer or content is not necessarily deleted, an innocuous one nobody could, conceivably, take offence with might.

What I would be interested in:


What makes one eligible for the job in the first place?
What training do the mods get?
What are they payed?
Do they get any supervisionat all?

Giving a reason for why a post was deleted would be a good start regarding transparency. Was it flagged by a reader? Which of the terms and conditions did it violate?

They have every right not to open comments on pieces they deem to be too controversial. The author should have a say as well (not sure whether they have atm)

But if they do allow comments they should stick to their mission statement "Facts are sacred, comment is free".

I do indeed feel like a victim! I am a victim! All articles by the G's fashion editor are now premoderated. I had to all but give up commenting on them. She writes the most gushing articles about the newest fashion fads and must-haves and must-dos, like taking a hammer to your fingertips to colour your nails blue (ok, I have borrowed that from an Erich Kästner poem to give you the gist), but she also only ever wears a trouser, a jean, a trainer or another shoe and tops with a (one) sleeve.
It was a long time ago , but remembering Hadley Freemans irreverent and deliciously funny weekly fashion column almost brings a tear to my eye when I read that rubbish.

Thanks G for a great introduction as usual. Nice in a way to know that I am not the only one having trouble with Guardian mods. As Isaid on the last thread I have given up posting on the site in view of their strange attitude to freedom of speech.

Good day today in that the plumber came and did not need to replace the drain tap on my boiler, only a bit of tightening up. No charge. So I am a happy bunny.

I have just finished reading

the first in a new series. This is set in Scotland. A new team has been set up to investigate complex crimes. The DI has personal issues (don't they all?) and there is an overlap between this and her Zoe Finch and Dorset crimes series(es?). A billionaire is shot in the leg on his estate near Loch Lomond and bleeds out. During their investigation they link this to a similar murder of a bigwig property developer of dubious morals in his partly constructed building in Glasgow. He is shot and left to bleed out. A promising start to this new series.

AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀

MK wrote: "With the posts remembering the good ole days with Sam Jordison here, you, too, can sign up for the Galley Beggar Press newsletter. Here's the one I got today (sans photos) -"

Thanks for the heads up MK, I have just subscribed.

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm not so young as it is..lol....47 in feb!

AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm not so young as it is..lol....47 in feb!"

You are young - I am 3/4 of a century in February - eeeeeek!

Thank you for the mention, Gpfr. I've managed to put in a couple of stints at Parade's End over the last week, so thankfully the book is still alive in my head. And so good; I want to be reading it all the time.

(I'm 60 this month. How did that happen?)

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm not so young as it is..lol....47 in..."

we share a great month to be born in giveusaclue....lives begins at 75?

helped my dad moving manure onto his vegetable garden on sunday, pelting down with rain, he is 77 and it was great to see him at work, enjoying it, active and energetic, even if i did all the awkward heavy lifting of huge bags of manure....which of course is what i am there for...

AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm not so young as..."

Have you bought a motorbike yet? Looking at my male German friends this seems to be obligatory for people who are at your age.

AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm not so young as it is..lol....47 in feb!"

Me too

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i think i am losing my mind, which of us here is natasha fatale from WWR?"

It gets worse as you get older! 😀"

i'm no..."

no sign of anything like that...lol (yet....)

On a WhatsApp thread I have with close friends, someone sent a cartoon intended for me….
I felt I needed to clean the house so I sat down and read a book till the feeling passed.
They know me too well.
I started decluttering today and came across Dear Reader by Cathy Retzenbrinck and did exactly that. Sat down and read it. Most enjoyable. Who doesn’t like books about reading? I like the fact that she is not in the slightest bit concerned with what is highbrow or lowbrow or whatever etc. She just loves reading. I get it.
The stuff will all be there tomorrow……

Georg wrote: "if they do allow comments they should stick to their mission statement "Facts are sacred, comment is free"..."

Quite right - and I do agree about what you say on mod training, the right to challenge a deletion etc. Probably, though, they'd find it too time-consuming and expensive. Also agree about the regretted departure of Hadley Freeman.

The mods are really thin-skinned - I once complained (in the mildest terms) that the comments under Tim Dowling's amusing column had opened hours late (they open at 6am UK time every week - normally).
It was deleted!

Storm wrote: "(I) came across Dear Reader by Cathy Retzenbrinck and did exactly that. Sat down and read it. Most enjoyable. Who doesn’t like books about reading? I like the fact that she is not in the slightest bit concerned with what is highbrow or lowbrow or whatever etc. She just loves reading. I get it.."

Indeed - and apart from the fact that we can be easily distracted by a book, it's also interesting to find out what books authors we like read themselves (authors are usually readers, too). These books can at times lead us to discover new writers - especially when we are young. I've read a few of these over the years - can't remember the titles of many, but certainly read:
The Books in My Life by Henry Miller, and may have read a book with the same title by Colin Wilson.

These books contain essays on favourite authors, and should not be confused with the brief blurbs used to promote new publications. I take these with a large pinch of salt, since authors can be inclined (or persuaded) to praise books by friends, or books from the same publisher - what 'Private Eye' refers to as 'log rolling' in an annual column. At least one crime author provides encomia for so many genre books that I wonder how they find the time to write any themselves! This is why I prefer to pick up suggestions here (and to a lesser extent in the Guardian's WWR) - people comment honestly about their own enthusiasms, which we may or may not share - but the views are not coloured by friendship or self-interest.

scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "if they do allow comments they should stick to their mission statement "Facts are sacred, comment is free"..."

Quite right - and I do agree about what you say on mod training, the ri..."


Haha, you obviously have the same attitude to housework as I do - it will still be there tomorrow. Books are way more important.

Storm wrote: "On a WhatsApp thread I have with close friends, someone sent a cartoon intended for me….
I felt I needed to clean the house so I sat down and read a book till the feeling passed.
They know me too w..."

I will never forget what my mother once said about her future s-i-l.

(imagine a voice dripping with disdain) "Her? Rather than doing some work she sat on the stairs reading a book!"

Unlikely that my aunt had a lot of time for reading, she lived on my grandparents farm then.
Sadly I never met her. But my mother's remark made me think fondly of her ever since, the only other reader in the family I know of.

giveusaclue wrote: " Haha, you obviously have the same attitude to housework as I do - it will still be there tomorrow. Books are way more important.."

Well, true - but it's paperwork I really hate with a passion. Just spent the best part of two days looking for a Lasting Power of Attorney document in order to deal with my mother's affairs. Kept me awake at night, and gave me nightmares.

It turned up at last, thank the stars.

Georg wrote: " "Her? Rather than doing some work she sat on the stairs reading a book!"

My wife's grandmother (who may or may not have been illiterate, having received minimal formal education) used to tell her (if caught reading) to "Get on with some proper work!"
Madame was the first in her family to go on to higher education. I'm proud of her.

scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: " Haha, you obviously have the same attitude to housework as I do - it will still be there tomorrow. Books are way more important.."

Well, true - but it's paperwork I really hat..."

Lasting Powers of Attorney are a nightmare, especially getting financial institutions to a. recognise them and b. understand them.

Just spotted, thanks to a local reviewer - another mystery set in India (1920s) - ].

Many thanks for the summary GP. A month passes so quickly these days.

Two from me, both recommended, especially the second..

The Disappearance of Mr. Nobody by Ahmed Taibaoui translated from the French (Algerian) by Jonathan Wright.

..is an Algerian noir, dealing with crime and the poverty-ridden underbelly in Algiers.

It is in two distinct parts, the first of which follows an unnamed, destitute and reclusive man, a veteran of the Civil War, who looks after his friend Mourad’s dying father, in exchange for a place to live. As the father dies, the man disappears, causing many, not least the police, to question his part in the old man’s demise. It reads as a series of diary entries.

The second half follows the police detective, Rafik, charged with locating the man, referred to as Mr. Nobody. The noirish quality of the first half, is energised by a more typical crime narrative in the second part.

It works really well.
It’s structure, being in two parts, is unusual and wrong-foots the reader into their assessment of the character of Mr Nobody.

and, Gentlemen of the West by Agnes Owens

This was my first experience of reading Owens; such a great thing to discover a new writer and have her whole repertoire ahead of you.

She writes with a deadpan gothic style, and with a down-to-earth emphasis on ordinary people, with a blunt wit.

Gentlemen of the West was originally published as a novel, though often seen as a series of short stories. At the time it was published short stories were considered more difficult to market, so Owens rewrote them with some continuity, and I think that works really well.

It’s a short novel, just 120 pages, which in itself probably contributed to its lack of success, giving the erroneous impression that Owens was not a proper author, as she only wrote short stories and novellas, and was a part-time writer, with a working-class day job as a cleaner and typist in the Vale of Leven, near Dumbarton. This was her first published work, when she was 58, published in 1984.

The book’s protagonist, Mac, is a 22 year old bricklayer, who is just beginning to realise that his future is not in his home town. It is the mid-1980s, old industries are vanishing, unemployment is soaring, with the country was in deep recession the area is feeling the pinch more than most.

Bored and listless, in a rare sober moment, he wanders the fields of his youth..

Yes, these were the days of real adventure, real heroes and real villains. Now it was all grind, booze or thrush to get by on the dole.

Chapter by chapter Mac’s becomes more troubled; he remains unemployed after months, his close friend has died of drink and exposure, and he has been arrested as an accomplice to a pointless crime.

Though the first couple of chapters read very much as self-contained short stories, after the chapter ‘Up Country’, the characters are authentic and striking, as are the various hardships they face in their lives. As the novel proceeds the humour is darker, and there is less of it, but very much to the benefit of the story, fewer laughs but much more poignant.
I had read one of the chapters, Christmas in the Paxton, previously, but without the context of what happens earlier, it is much less appreciated. It actually contains one of the key moments of the novel, which would not be understood in short story form.

You could say that Mick and Baldy were the true gentlemen of the west. Generous, treacherous, vicious and kindly with no admiration for the rich and successful. Yet the difference between them and me was that I liked working.

A strength of Owens is in the description of her characters, often homeless, alcoholic, or suffering with mental problems, but, just ordinary people struggling at an extraordinary time.

In an interview in 2008 she said..

I prefer to write about people that are just condemned, maybe, from the start. You know, maybe their environment, or their parents or they don’t have a chance and they end up being despised. I prefer to give people like that a voice.

Though this did appear as short stories, it is much better read as a novel, which enables the characters to be drawn more deeply, and to earn the reader’s sympathy, or otherwise, accordingly.

Here’s a couple of clips..

I followed the path deeper into the wood fighting through ferns which were as tall as myself. It was getting harder to follow the path and I was beginning to think I would never get out of this jungle when I emerged at last into a grassy but where the trail led upwards again. Then I spied a building on another path to the left.
The building turned out to be merely a hit, neatly boarded up and of no earthly interest, but beyond that was the entrance to a graveyard. It was a very wee graveyard and very old. The gravestones were dirty dark grey and standing at all angles. A perfect background for Dracula. I studied one big stone closely and could make out a fancy design with words written underneath, ‘Here Lies the Corpse of Jessie Buchanan’. On another there was a cheerful verse which I managed to decipher after peering at it for five minutes:

Here Lies Tom,
His Life Was Squandered,
His Days Are Done,
But Yours are Numbered.

In the middle of all this creepiness was a wooden seat twisted and gnarled as a corpse itself. I could picture Tim of an evening coming out of his grave and sitting there peacefully with arms folded and legs crossed. So I sat down too.
Then from the wood there was a crack as if someone or something had stood on a branch while he or it was watching me. I could bear it no longer. I wrenched myself off the seat and ran past the hut down the path then up over the top of the island like a mountain goat. I didn’t stop until I reached the jetty, just in time to be caught by the mailboat returning.

and, as he ponders a break-in to a wealthy house in the neighbourhood with a drunken friend..

…’Anyway’, I said as if the subject hadn’t been dropped, ‘these folks might be mates o’mine.’
He said coldly, ‘Its no’ likely. The daughter is a Sunday school teacher and her faither is Kilty Cauld Bum McFadjan, the Scottish Nationalist. I don’t know aboot the mother, but she must be another bampot. They say she leaves the door open a’ the time tae let the cat in and oot’.
I was surprised. ‘Surely no’ Cauld Bum! He’s not worth much.’
‘Don’t you believe it. He goes aboot fixing bagpipes. His hoose is stacked oot wit’ them. These bagpipes are worth a fortune. Tinker Geordie that plays outside the Clansman wid gie us at least a fiver for a decent set.’
This was different. Kitty Cauld Bum was a joke with most people. Especially us of the socialist class. He cycled about, delivering his pamphlets with his kilt flying in the wind like a bad imitation of Rob Roy. I never had much regard for the highland gentry, but he wasn’t even a real one.

In case anyone hee is interested in the lead-up to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor, this looks like a good bet - Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor

And here's a review with fingers crossed that it can be read - https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column...

Harry Levins Jerusalem Embattled(1950) is his diary of the siege of 1947-48, where for six months the Arab forces invading Mandate Palestine tried to seal off the aincient city.

The impression i get early on is a feeling for how the small warrior nation of Israel does business but this time its the fathers and grandfathers of the fighters of 1967 and 1973. These are mainly Mandate Palestine born people, tough and aware that there lives and their existence at risk from the large Arab forces invading.

Levin describes the groups of young Haganah fighters, women included, taking armoured buses on the dangerous journey from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a determined, grim purpose amid flirtation and banter. All the women hide bullets, shells and guns around their persons to get through the lowland checkpoints of the British, even an old lady moaning about the noise the bus makes.

I disliked a series of short stories that Amoz Oz wrote in the 1960s as it seemed to depict a world of macho alpha men and pliant women in varying embraces, a rough world of strength not mind but i can see the types he was writing about a decade earlier , in the young Jewish fighters heading to Jerusalem.

Snow on the ground in Jerusalem as Levin arrives in March 1948, drizzling rain the next day, bread rations and constant fighting on the perimeter and the roads up from the coast, many young Jewish fighters dying.

Looks like this will be a very interesting read

MK wrote: "In case anyone hee is interested in the lead-up to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor, this looks like a good bet - [book:Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor|6..."

It can be read MK

gpfr -Thanks for the great intro, as ever. Andy’s recommendation of Kick the Latch certainly caught my eye.

Re a different kind of moderator, just to show it’s not all fun, I had a conversation once with someone on the British Board of Film Censors. Her qualifications were a level head, an English degree, and an interest in movies. What she didn’t know till after she started was that, to deal with the flood of X-rated movies, everyone had to start their day with at least one hour of pure porn!

From the end of the last thread:

Berkley wrote: “…My favourite modern re-telling (i.e. not a translation of Apollonius) of the story is John Gardner's verse novel Jason and Medeia. This is the same Gardner who wrote Grendel and by these two examples I think he was very good at this kind of re-imagining of ancient myth or legend…”

Decades ago, not knowing anything about John Gardner, I read his novel Nickel Mountain, an improbable love story set in the early 1950s about an overweight guy in his 40s who works alone in his country diner and a young teenage girl who is pregnant by someone else, and I still remember how riveting it was – tough lives in rural America, something strong and positive amid the drabness, and always the noise of truck engines grinding up the long incline. I’ve started it again. Bunked off morning chores to read some more. Will report back later.

Russell wrote: "Decades ago, not knowing anything about John Gardner, I read his novel Nickel Mountain, an improbable love story set in the early 1950s about an overweight guy in his 40s who works alone in his country diner and a young teenage girl who is pregnant by someone else, and I still remember how riveting it was – tough lives in rural America, something strong and positive amid the drabness, and always the noise of truck engines grinding up the long incline. I’ve started it again. Bunked off morning chores to read some more. Will report back later."

That's supposed to be one of his best, I think I remember hearing somewhere once, but it's one I haven't read yet. I think of him as one of my favourite American writers but it's been so long since I've read anything of his I should probably start refreshing my memory. Besides Grendel and Jason and Medeia, I remember liking October Light and Freddy's Book in particular. The Sunlight Dialogues was pretty good too.

Wow, Gpfr, that was some summing up! Hugely impressed. Would be interested to hear what you think of the Jane Smiley. Have read many of her novels, and met her at you know which Bookfest. Kamila Shamsie’s Best of Friends, Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, and Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence all await my attention.