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AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Discovered a very unusual Le Corbusier book last week and it arrived in the post today, published by Hatje Cantz, in german and english, its entitled Poesie sur Alger descr..."
Le Corbusier, there’s a name from the past, love the clean lines of his work.

CCCubbon wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Discovered a very unusual Le Corbusier book last week and it arrived in the post today, published by Hatje Cantz, in german and english, its entitled Poesie su..."

possibly one of three Swiss-French legends who are sometimes seen as French, the other two are Rousseau and Jean-Luc Godard

Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of interviews looking at the state of anti-semitism in 1890s Europe, with a focus on Wilhelmine Germany

I am struck by the views of Gustav Schmoller who identifies that even though they are a small minority in Imperial Germany, the main contact between German Jews and Germans is via capitalist means (money lending, credit etc), which means that the only real interaction falls upon capitalist transactions. Hence the German sees the German Jew as cap in hand with the capitalist monster but fails to take this out on the German side of the monster and instead demonizes the Jew

I wish i could study a german town or series of towns to look into Schmoller's hypothesis. Numerically, outside a few big cities, the Jewish population of Germany, up till 1939, was always very small but demonised non the less, unfairly up till 1914 and then with insane violence from the 1930s until defeat

Bahr is a very good writer, he reads well in translation, Rixdorf Editions have really done well here with extensive notes and an afterword too

Georg- Ludwig Borne has had a few mentions already

Gonna watch the series Chernobyl over the next few weeks, i avoided it when it was first released as i was reading Alexeivich's Chernobyl Prayer and immersing myself in that reality last April. Viewing russian video and online accounts and modern documentaries

Now its time for the drama and that awful tragedy, i remember the weather map on BBC Newsround as a 10yr old in Spring 1986, showing that some of the radioactive cloud may have reached the UK.....at a time when i was reading nuclear survival stories a lot....!!!

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur.
A first for me, a translation from Kanarese, a language used in Karnataka.
Beginning with the unnamed narrator in his favourite coffee house, this short novel charts his family’s course from a poor and simple life, in a house “with four small rooms, one behind the other, like train compartments,� to immense prosperity and a house in which each person has their own bedroom.
In crisis at first, as the narrator’s father, a tea salesman, is forced to take voluntary retirement, meaning the family will be thrust into near poverty, the situation quickly turns round. The narrator's uncle uses his brother’s severance package as start-up capital for a spice distribution business.
It is a novel about a very close family, so close that relationships outside of the family, including marriages, have difficulties. Unsettling and claustrophobic frequently, it is also moving and funny, and a wonderful portrait of life in a place I had read little or nothing about before.

Thanks Russell for the review. This must be the new Pushkin version. I've got this on my list for later in the year.

I enjoyed this quite a few years ago now SN. Thanks for reminding me.
I really like Claudel. Brodeck is my favourite, or Brodeck's Report it is called also.
I actually read By a Slow River twice, the second time recently, as it was a version called Grey Souls, and the same book... Worth it through..
Hopefully more of his work is translated soon.

I've read the Snow White Gpfr, back in 2013. Justv looked at my review, and I rated it quite highly (4 stars..).

Love this Le Corbusier art work: Plan Para Buenos Aires (1929):

Gpfr wrote: "@giveusaclue
If you don't know them, I think you would like the Oliver von Bodenstein and Pia Kirchhoff crime series by Nele Neuhaus. They are set in the region near Frankfurt. The first one is [bo..."


Thanks very much Gpfr for the heads up. I will have a look. I haven't heard of her before

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: the brains behind Le Corbusier?

Nah. Mere dogsbodies serving the great master"

she did pretty well when she struck out on her own!...I doff my cap to her.....

Bahrs book on anti-semitism has exposed a new-ish anti-semite to me the French journalist Edouard Drumont



these loathsome figures peddling hate...ughh

AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of interviews looking at the state of anti-semitism in 1890s Eu..."

Thanks for this review, I don't think I'd heard anything about Bahr before. Well done by him to recognise and write about anti-semitism in the 1890s.

I see from his wikipedia article that he also wrote fiction, though I don't see much in English - a play of his called The Master (1904) in print on demand. Another of his plays, The Concert (1909) was made into a movie twice in Germany (1921 and 1931) and adapted into a successful Broadway play. I might have a look for the 1931 version (presumably a talkie?) some time. It would be nice to see an English edition of his essays and prose fiction.

I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in - some hints of attractive descriptive writing, but deadly dull. I'm going to try Oreo by Fran Ross and hopefully something else will arrive for me soon.

Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of interviews looking at the state of anti-semitis..."

as usual, the translation of german language works from the late 19th century into english is scarce and inconsistent. apparently at the time (1890s), some of his work was translated into english, i guess if you can find those old translations, you can order them.....he is a very interesting character

SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in - some hints of attractive descriptive writing, but deadly dull. I'm going to try Oreo by Fran Ross and hopefully something else will arrive for me soon."

Babbitt was abandoned for me too, about 2 yrs ago, i just gave up....i've been lucky with not finding many duff choices in my reading in last three years...but its always fustrating when you have that experience

AB76 wrote(65): "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of interviews looking at the state..."

I am, for once, absolutely convinced that Bahrs book can only be improved upon by a translation. Any translation.

I have been reading about 8 interviews in the original now. Mainly the French ones (the book was published in the same year the Dreyfus affair started).

This is not only a collection of interviews. I feel that Bahr also uses it as a showcase for his own writing.
Every chapter starts with Bahrs description of the places his interviewees live in, how they look like, how their voices sound, how they move etc.
I didn't have any problems with that to begin with, but it started to grate very early on.
He never uses one adjective when he could use three. At one point I was almost tempted to do a count: adjectives as a proportion of the total word count.
His style is florid, with a big f.

Two of the interviewees are women:

Annie Besant, an English buddhist. Her interview takes up one short paragraph at the end of two pages.

Séverine, a freelance French journalist. Her interview takes up 2/6 pages. The other four are about her person (a cross between Jeanne D'Arc and Mother Theresa with a bit of Parisian 'mondaine' thrown in).
When I came to the end of Bahr's take on her I felt like I had eaten a tub of sickly-sweet fat buttercream swirled through with mustard.
One of the worst pieces of writing I have ever read.

(Just to be "fair": the proportion 'Bahr's description/what his interviewees have to say' seems to be much more balanced for the men).

The interviews are interesting (more or less). I might read some more. I will not read one more sentence written by Bahr if I can avoid it though.

Is that Annie Besant the theosophist? It would be wierd to turn her very eventful and fascinating life into just one paragraph!...

Tam wrote: "Is that Annie Besant the theosophist? It would be wierd to turn her very eventful and fascinating life into just one paragraph!..."

You're so right! The book would have been written before she went to India, but she had already had a very rich and as you say eventful life. Maybe she didn't have a lot to say about anti-semitism?
People who don't know about her can see some information here:

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote(65): "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of interviews loo..."

interesting Georg, in the original, is his style typically austrian, was it a feature of the Viennese scene or simply his unique style?

i'm really enjoying it, havent got to the non-German interviews yet

SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in ."

You got a bit further with that than I did with Elmer Gantry recently... paused (possibly permanently) after a very boring couple of chapters.

I actually thought for a moment that this was an autobiography of that man who had his willy cut off, but he was a 'Bobbitt'... that might have been a more interesting read! ;-)

scarletnoir wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in ."

You got a bit further with that than I did with Elmer Gantry recently... paused (possibly permanently) after a very boring ..."

i have been massively disappointed by Sinclair Lewis twice, once with Main Street(dumped half way), once by Babbitt (dumped after 80 pages or so). He seemed a natural fit to follow my interest in Dreiser, Norris, Howells and Upton Sinclair. An american writer i hadnt known about at school or university who had some interesting topics in his novels. But something was wrong about how he wrote, he seems to me one of the most over-rated american authors i have encountered, in a literary world where american authors are hyped and lauded, sometimes far too much...

scarletnoir wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in ."

You got a bit further with that than I did with Elmer Gantry recently... paused (possibly permanently) after a very boring ..."

I lived in the area (Northern VA) when Lorena did the dirty deed. It was truly a media sensation - lots of OMGs. All before anything close today's internet. I wonder if she would have survived the onslaught today.

AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in ."

I've read and enjoyed Main Street and I could see how it was a landmark novel in terms of how it dealt with the hypocrisy inherent to americana and the idea of community. It was a very barbed book, but it was not what I would call stylistically impressive or even overly well-written. More well constructed, I suppose. If someone were able to explain to me how he won the Nobel and Calvino did not, they'd be performing a miracle. So, I do somewhat hesitate somewhat to go onwards to his other books, but eventually I'm sure I will. As for the over-hyped and lauded propaganda, that really, really goes both ways. I have no idea how Waugh got a place in the pantheon, because cripes...

AB76 wrote870): "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote(65): "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read, a collection of ..."

Can't comment on pre-1900 Austrian literature in general, it has never interested me much.

I have listened to books since the days of the walkman. Back then I did more walking than I do today. (This has to be remedied, as 'give us a clue' awakened my 'gotta travel' genes after writing about travel plans.)

Now I have multiple MP3 players (a couple of which are full) with books downloaded from the library) which are electronic book shelves. Lately I've only been interested in mysteries on the lighter side - such as Laura Lippman and Amy Stewart (Miss Kopp), perhaps another result of the pandemic. But now I have taken on C. J. Sansom's Tombland. I've read the book which is a real doorstopper and is in 35 parts in audio.

One of the things I appreciate about audio books is that I hear things that I probably missed or skipped over in reading. As a longtime fan of Sansom's Shardlake series, I am especially fond of Tombland because it takes place in Norwich (pronounced (Norrich!). I would live there if I were younger, there had been no
Brexit, and the UK would take me.

This brings me back to travel. I have to get off my backside and get outside so I can travel to London to check in with my usual historical sites (Charterhouse, anyone?) and spend at least a week in Norrich and environs. This time with 1549 and Kett's Rebellion in mind.

MK wrote: "I am especially fond of Tombland because it takes place in Norwich (pronounced (Norrich!)"

My oldest friend lives in Norwich - we have known each other since 1951 (I think)... I had been hoping to visit him there for the first time (he comes to our home town every so often), then the virus kicked in... I have yet to try Shardlake/Sansom, but have a taste for the contemporary Norfolk-set cop series by Elly Griffiths, which includes some interesting archaeological details.

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote870): "Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote(65): "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Hermann Bahr

AntiSemitism by Hermann Bahr (1893) is a brilliant read,..."

you should definitely explore Adalabert Stifter, like so much of the world class german language literature from the 19th century, he is an essential read!

Have ordered a few more Rixdorf Editions translations, i love German literature and essays....

Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "I've abandoned Babbitt about 60 pages in ."

I've read and enjoyed Main Street and I could see how it was a landmark novel in terms of how it dealt..."

I was sort of in-between on Waugh. I was totally against his most popular novels and reviled all the Brideshead stuff as a teenager (it had been on tv about a decade before my teens, i think). But the middle novel of his WW2 triology Officers and Gentleman, set in Crete, is really worth reading and the utter misery of the British defeat on the island and the fustrations of war are well portrayed
Then...i read Brideshead 18 months ago and it was perfect, i loved it....

Had my 2nd covid jab this afternoon!
Posting a couple of photos of the splendid mairie.

Tragic Magic by Wesley Brown
Published in 1978, this is the story of a Queens� native, Mervyn Ellington, just released after serving two years in prison of a three year sentence for refusing to serve in Vietnam. His memory is stirred by his first hours of freedom and the reality of getting home. Blended in with flashbacks to his youth is jazz, as it were his lifeblood.
At the heart of the book is the folly of becoming ensnared in the toxic masculinity trap, and the tragedy that ensues. In prison that is reaffirmed; the claustrophobia of the community awash with rampant homophobia and misogyny, that Melvyn gets caught up in.
Brown’s stance though is not to endorse, but to reckon with the fall out of the damaged and disfigured men.
It’s a very topical story about gender, and unsurprisingly earning a reissue; how we got to where we are in the gender debate, but also in the light of the Floyd trial, Brown seeks to revitalise the Black contingent, away from the defiance of forces that try to contain and devour.

scarletnoir wrote: "MK wrote: "I am especially fond of Tombland because it takes place in Norwich (pronounced (Norrich!)"

My oldest friend lives in Norwich - we have known each other since 1951 (I think)... I had bee..."

I should apply for funding because I plug Norwich every chance I get. I know Shardlake can be a really heavy lift (no pun intended as the books have grown as the series continued). At the same time he (C J Sansom) has managed to marry two of my favorite reading genres - history and mystery.

So my heavy lift recommendation is to start with Dissolution and continue through to Tombland before your visit. The end papers of my copy of Tombland have a map of Norwich circa 1549 much of which still remains today. I'll try to post a photo of Elm Hill for the group.

Norwich has much to recommend it - especially for readers - as it was designated UNESCO's first city of literature in England. And then there is Noirwich, its annual festival in September -

I think I should send a bill to that Fine City!😊

PS - Thanks for the Elly Griffiths reminder, her books do take a while to get over here - so I have just put her latest on hold here (it's on order at the library).

MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "MK wrote: "I am especially fond of Tombland because it takes place in Norwich (pronounced (Norrich!)"

My oldest friend lives in Norwich - we have known each other since 1951 (I..."

I was in Norwich cathedral, sometime in the mid 90's I think, when lightning struck the cathedral twice. It really did sound like the 'crack of doom'. There was a string quartet playing some classical music in the centre of the nave, under the tower that was hit, at the time. It was a memorable occasion to me. It's one of my favourite cathedrals...

MK wrote: "I have listened to books since the days of the walkman. Back then I did more walking than I do today. (This has to be remedied, as 'give us a clue' awakened my 'gotta travel' genes after writing ab..."


Glad to hear it.

Paul wrote: "As for the over-hyped and lauded propaganda, that really, really goes both ways. I have no idea how Waugh got a place in the pantheon, because cripes..."

Haha, I think every country has some writers who are a bit overpraised, but I second AB's comment on Officers and Gentlemen, which is a ripper. I think the Sword of Honour books are a definite step up from Brideshead and Handful of Dust.

SydneyH wrote: "Paul wrote: "As for the over-hyped and lauded propaganda, that really, really goes both ways. I have no idea how Waugh got a place in the pantheon, because cripes..."

Haha, I think every country h..."

The Battle of Crete was a miserable slog of a defeat for the Brits but Waugh makes it much more than just a war novel, its about human spirit and how men react under pressure

I get tired of McEwan, Julian Barnes and Amis Jnr hype, all three authors have disappointed me so many times. McEwan is the grand-daddy of over-hype, i have vsicerally loathed every novel of his i read, after always sighing and saying to myself "this one surely cant be as bad as the others..."

In defence of Julian Barnes, his essays and non-fiction are superb, the work he has done on French impressionist art for the LRB in last 2 years has been majestic. Amis Jnr has never written a page i havent loathed..lol

Andy, any snow where you are? I notice the lake district(where you arent right now) has had snow today

AB76 wrote: "Amis Jnr has never written a page i havent loathed..lol"

There's plenty to dislike there, and I definitely got off on the wrong foot with Amis Jr - he dissed J.M. Coetzee back when he was my favourite novelist, which I thought was a bit rich. I've probably got to a point where I can pick out what I like from what I don't.

The Widows of Malabar Hill. Sujata Massey

Where do I start? This wonderful novel is set in 1920s Bombay. I was born in Bombay, Mahim to be precise, and it was fun to see Mahim on the map in the frontispiece and to learn about the city as it was in the 20s. I enjoyed this thriller enormously for its detail on the lives of the “purdahnashins�, or "asuryasparshas", “they who are untouched by the sun�, that is, ladies who live in the seclusion of purdah. I have been reading several series of thrillers set in India, but this, the first in the Perveen Mistry series, is in my view head and shoulders above the others for its historical detail and its emphasis on the lives of women.

Perveen Mistry is a Parsi, and the first woman advocate in Bombay, working for the law firm run by her father. She is based on Cornelia Sorabji, also a Parsi, and the first woman to practice law in India. The Parsis were a very progressive community, and I loved getting an inside view, since I own 2 beautiful books from my Dad’s collection, published in 1917, about the Parsis. There are even recipes for classic Parsi dishes and cocktails at the end of the book!! All the communities in India-Parsi, Muslim, and Hindu, practiced purdah before 1947, but the rules were all slightly different. This gives the story much of its interest. Here, the Parsi and Muslim communities are compared. I am now reading the next in the series, “The Satapur Moonstone� and I hope there are more!

MK wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "MK wrote: "I am especially fond of Tombland because it takes place in Norwich (pronounced (Norrich!)"

My oldest friend lives in Norwich - we have known each other since 1951 (I..."

Thanks for that - I'm sure to give Sansom a go sooner or later, though I'm uncertain as to whether I'll enjoy it... depends on the writing style more than anything, I suspect... reviews show that many are fine with it, but some are put off. I won't pick up on any historical inaccuracies (as do some pedants) as I have no expertise in that area!

AB76 wrote: "I get tired of McEwan, Julian Barnes and Amis Jnr hype, all three authors have disappointed me so many times....

In defence of Julian Barnes, his essays and non-fiction are superb, the work he has done on French impressionist art for the LRB in last 2 years has been majestic. Amis Jnr has never written a page i havent loathed..lol.

I agree with most of this - after a couple of decent early books, McEwan has proved a major disappointment - though he did write a wonderful piece just after the 9/11 attack...


I have never liked Amis, like yourself.

Where we part company is over Barnes - I have enjoyed most of his novels (perhaps the shared Francophilia helped with some of those), and he seems to improve with age - The Sense of an Ending and Levels of Life are especially brilliant and moving. (I was less taken with a couple of semi-biographical pieces on Arthur Conan Doyle and Shostakovitch... Barnes can be inconsistent.)

As for Evelyn Waugh - I enjoyed his satirical comic novels back in the day (Scoop and The Loved One), but didn't care for the effete undergraduates of Brideshead Revisited... and stopped after that.

Sandya wrote: "The Widows of Malabar Hill. Sujata Massey

Where do I start? This wonderful novel is set in 1920s Bombay. I was born in Bombay, Mahim to be precise, and it was fun to see Mahim on the map in the fr..."

Thank you for this tip - the book has garnered an amazing number of prizes and recommendations, and even so I had never heard of it... I'll certainly give it a try, with the hope that I don't get lost in the unfamiliar cultural background! This is the link:
The Widows of Malabar Hill

scarletnoir wrote: "Where we part company is over Barnes - I have enjoyed most of his novels"

Barnes for me is an odd one. I read The Sense of an Ending and though it fantastic, but I've never been even slightly tempted to pick up any of his other books

scarletnoir wrote: "Sandya wrote: "The Widows of Malabar Hill. Sujata Massey

Where do I start? This wonderful novel is set in 1920s Bombay. I was born in Bombay, Mahim to be precise, and it was fun to see Mahim on th..."

On a lighter side I like Tarquin Hall's Vish Puri mysteries. The first is - The Case of the Missing Servant. I particularly like them in audio. Vish Puri's Mummy is a force to be reckoned with!

Every interview so far in Anti Semitism by Herman Bahr is a gem, i love his incredibly readable style and the characters he has selected to discuss the anti-semitic situation with in 1890s Europe

For the first time in my reading today, the "ostjuden" issue has been raised, which i see as the kernel for the comfortable, hypocritical antisemitism that became so widespread in the 1900-45 era. An interviewee mentions his respect for the culturally assimilated western or German Jews but is disdainful of the jews from the east, the poorer, less educated jewish people and advocates limiting immigration.

This ignorance about the "ostjuden" is a real concern, its unsettling to read these idle words, as barely 50 years later, whole communities in the east were being eliminated. Many of the smartest and most inflential Jews of the next 50 years (1893-43) came from Galicia and the east. (Sigmund Freud's family for example)

I remember this eastern jewish racism continued after the war, i was reading Zdenek Mlynars account of the 1968 Prague Uprising and one of the soviet high officials denigrates another high official by referring to him as "that jew from halicz"

AB76 wrote: the "ostjuden" issue has been raised, which i see as the kernel for the comfortable, hypocritical antisemitism that became so widespread in the 1900-45 era.

What do you know about the developments in the Jewish diaspora in Europe after the emancipation? Without some basic knowledge about that period in their history one cannot understand the developments after 1900.

The group who were, arguably, most opposed to/had the biggest problem with the increasing migration by "Ostjuden" to the west that started in the late 1800s were the "Westjuden" (both words in that form were first used in 1900 by the publicist Nathan Birnbaum btw), not the bogstandard antisemites.

Compartment No. 6 by Rosa Liksom, translated by Lola Rogers.
As spring is coming a train heads on it’s week long journey from Moscow to Ulan Bator in the last days of the Soviet Union, but the long winter has lingered and snow persists.
In compartment number 6 is the protagonist, known simply as ‘the girl�, a graduate student in archaeology originally from Finland. Sharing with her, from her point if view, is ‘the man�. It’s one way conversation, the man talks to the girl, or rather, talks at the girl, with his sordid tales of his life as an unwanted child, abusive lover, soldier and aging laborer. He is by vulgar, misogynistic, and menacing, yet at times also vulnerable and kind, downing at least two bottles of vodka a day. And he is also a survivor.
With its dark humour, this is compelling fable of mystery, unfolding in scenes on the train, flashbacks to their earlier lives, and at station breaks, sometimes overnight, at towns like Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm and Irkutsk. It is set in the 1980s, when I also travelled this journey on the train (1987), so it strikes a particular chord (the descriptions of the toilets not least..). Liksom may have embellished the length of the station breaks (ours were a strict 15 minutes), but indulge her, it is well worth it.
At the centre of the mystery is why the girl tolerates the man, yet there are constant reminders of the spectre of the Afghanistan Soviet war, and that element of mystery is reinforced in the effect that travelling through such a damaged landscape would have a person’s choices.
It really is fine writing, and a skilful translation.
Here’s a clip...

A new day was before them. All of Siberia slowly brightened. The man in his blue tracksuit bottoms and white shirt did push-ups between the bunks, sleep in his eyes, his mouth dry and smelly, the mucousy smell of sleep in the compartment, no breath from the window, tea glasses quietly on the table, crumbs silent on the floor. A new day, Yellow, frosty birches, pine groves, animals busy in their branches, a fresh snow billowing over the plains. Flapping white longjohns, limp penises, mitts and muffs and cuffs and flowered flannel nightgowns, shawls and wool socks and straggly toothbrushes. The night speeds through the dark into dim morning, a dogged queue at the shrine of the WC, a dry wash among the stench of pee, sputum, shame, sheepish looks, steaming tea glasses, large flat cubes of Cuban sugar, paper-light spoons, black bread, Viola cheese, sliced tomatoes and onion, roasted torso of young chicken, canned horseradish, hard-boiled eggs, salt pickles, a jar of mayonnaise, a tin of fish.

.

At the outset, I thought I may have read this before, but not long in until I realised the book I was thinking of, which also takes place on the Trans-Siberian train was The Red Sofa by Michèle Lesbre, also very good, though this takes first place..

I’m in Ardnamurchan AB, and yes, last few days snow showers, and the storm on Monday brought plenty of snow, to about 300 metres.
I see the Lake District Ski Club reopened for a few days, having assumed the season was done.
To be honest, if it keeps the midges away for a few extra days, I’m quite happy..

AB76 wrotehave been studying the jewish diaspora for years, looking specifically at language identification in the shetls of the pale and Bessarabia.

As fascinating and rewarding as it can be to take a close look at one square foot of a mosaic: it will tell me next to nothing about the whole picture; or its place relating to the remaining 9/99/999 square feet, if these are not clearly visible.

Andy wrote: "I’m in Ardnamurchan AB, and yes, last few days snow showers, and the storm on Monday brought plenty of snow, to about 300 metres.
I see the Lake District Ski Club reopened for a few days, having a..."

i think you read the Hermans novel didnt you? That was midge hell...and i agree from my own northern experiences, no midges is always good!