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Bill wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "An interesting article in The Telegraph today about the bookshop which inspired Hugh Grant film Notting HilI. I didn't know booktokking was a thing!"

I never look at TikTok, bu..."

Bill, I don't know if you are a Heather Cox Richardson fan, but on her first "politics talk" this year (Tuesday on FB) she will be expanding tidbits onto TikTok and Instagram to engage (what I call) the younger set to get out the vote for democracy.

I'm all for that as I don't expect a lot of them look at headlines of newspapers but have curated news on their phones instead.

MK wrote: "@Ruby - have you got extra blankets, just in case? Looks like we going to need them more than shovels - look here - "

Oh, that is one thing I miss most about living in the USA. Winters. Nose-hair freezing cold. Powdery snow. It's so meterologically dull here

MK wrote: "@Ruby - have you got extra blankets, just in case? Looks like we going to need them more than shovels - look here - "

Stocked up on food, library dvds. Have a few blankets! We have a generator here at senior center. My neighbor has a lot of people flying in from Hawaii for her deceased father's celebration of life--she had to get coats from the food bank for the Hawaiian kids and teens without winter clothing. I may have her relatives sleeping on my couch and on the floor.

For anyone interested in the Baltic area, linked to Gerhardie and St Petersburg, i read an obscure Finnish novel about 5 years ago called

To Pieces by Henry Parland,. set in late 1920s Helsinki.

It was published by Norvik Press

High winds predicted (Auburn is not far from the ocean) and freezing temperatures (Auburn is not close enough to the ocean). Layers of blankets ready.

Robert wrote: "High winds predicted (Auburn is not far from the ocean) and freezing temperatures (Auburn is not close enough to the ocean). Layers of blankets ready."

keep warm robert, i hope you are spared the freezing conditions!

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "High winds predicted (Auburn is not far from the ocean) and freezing temperatures (Auburn is not close enough to the ocean). Layers of blankets ready."

keep warm robert, i hope you ..."

It is 13 F. here in Stanwood.

The Rev Canon Alan Wilkinson was one of the Anglican churches best writers and thinkers in the post war period and i greatly enjoyed his 1978 classic The Church of England and the First World War.

I have just started his second book on which focuses on the 1900-1945 period followng English Protestantism in the face of war , entitled Dissent of Conform

It is a refreshing and thought provoking read, asking many questions of the churches in the inter-war period from 1918 to 1945, with the expansion of leisure time and the loss of non-conformist communicants as they become more and more identifed with outdated Victorian mores.

By gaining a place at the table of society during WW1, the non-conformist churchs now had a dilemma, where was the dissenters dissent now going to be focused? I am particularily looking foward to how he looks at the inter-war period and the Pacifist approaches that in the political world led to appeasement of Hitler and the Nazi's

I don't believe it - for once I am timely. I had a wait at an appt. yesterday, but I had my trusty book to read. It's one I've had on the shelf for a while - A Lawyer in Indian Country which I find has a number of tidbits early on.

His first contacts were with the Makah (you may have heard of their whaling controversy some time ago). The Makah reservation is on the NW tip of the Olympic Peninsula, and they are not related to many/most Coast Salish natives tribes in the state. Instead their closest tribal relatives live on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Who knew? Not me.

Since this is the 50th anniversary year of the Boldt Decision which affirmed native fishing rights, I have also signed up for a panel discussion at a local venue (Town Hall - once a Christian Science Church) in Feb. It is my first outing - other than the necessary stuff like groceries - since Covid. Because I am not a spring chicken, I have been wary about public places.

The book to be discussed by the panel is Charles Wilkerson's Treaty Justice: The Northwest Tribes, the Boldt Decision, and the Recognition of Fishing Rights which I have on order from UW Press. Hooray for me - ahead of the game for once.

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "High winds predicted (Auburn is not far from the ocean) and freezing temperatures (Auburn is not close enough to the ocean). Layers of blankets ready."

keep warm robert, i hope you ..."

Thanks for the good wishes, BUT...
Only five degrees of frost last night and colder and drier tonight!

Ruby wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "High winds predicted (Auburn is not far from the ocean) and freezing temperatures (Auburn is not close enough to the ocean). Layers of blankets ready."

keep warm robert..."

Brrr....

AB76 wrote: "The Rev Canon Alan Wilkinson was one of the Anglican churches best writers and thinkers in the post war period and i greatly enjoyed his 1978 classic [book:The Church of England and the First World..."

Sounds very interesting.

Failed two book attempts--The Revolutionary Temper (dont have the history background to appreciate) and Poisonwood Bible (didn't like narrator's voice). So started Stalin's Ghost and was suckered in right from the start. It was a funny bit with Arkady and partner pretending to be killers for hire. But then off to the main story.

Gorky Park was his first and it seems he gets better with practice. I'm liking this--Cruz Smith is funny. He also has little throw-away lines that stop me cold for a few seconds. I am keeping in mind the 3 books Scarlet particularly recommended.

Ruby wrote: "It is 13 F. here..."

Do make sure you keep warm, Ruby 🌡❄🧣🧤��

Ruby wrote: "started Stalin's Ghost and was suckered in..."

I like Cruz Smith, too. I'm looking forward to getting hold of his new one, Independence Square.

Ruby wrote: "Failed two book attempts--The Revolutionary Temper (dont have the history background to appreciate) and Poisonwood Bible (didn't like narrator's voice). So started Stalin's Ghost and was suckered i..."

Gorky Park lies on my pile, i vaguely remember the film but enjoyed Havana Bay on a commute read about 6 years ago

my panto experience as an adult led me to search the origins of the tales told on stage, as modern adaptions. So basically rather than the original, more the adaption that has taken hold of our imaginations in the last 200 years or so, i found:

Cinderella by Charles Perrault 1697(FRA)
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault 1697 (FRA)
Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault 1697(FRA)
Aladdin by Antoine Galland 1704 (FRA)
Babes in The Wood by Thomas Millington 1595 (ENG)
Snow White by The Brothers Grimm (1812) GER

Perrault is credited with laying the foundations for the modern fairly tale

Ruby wrote: "started Stalin's Ghost and was suckered in... I am keeping in mind the 3 books Scarlet particularly recommended.

This was one of the three! I liked it a lot. Am currently on Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith, which follows the less good (but still readable) 'Three Stations'. More on that when I finish it.

Day's End by Garry Disher

This is the fourth in the Paul Hirsch(hausen) series... I like this series, as it gives a very good feel for small town Aussie life north of Adelaide in S. Australia. This tale tells of many disputes and minor crimes committed in or near Hirsch's base... until a body in a suitcase is found. Even then, Hirsch is sidelined as the case is taken over by detectives from the big city... later, a really nasty event gives Hirsch a touch of PTSD - fortunately, there is not too much explicit description (there is a bit) - but in case it may put you off, it deals with (view spoiler)[ a baby being mauled and killed by a dog (hide spoiler)].

Hirsch continues to investigate the smaller and larger crimes, until a few events come together and there is a dramatic climax. Very satisfying.

Ruby wrote: "Failed two book attempts--The Revolutionary Temper (dont have the history background to appreciate) and Poisonwood Bible (didn't like narrator's voice). So started Stalin's Ghost and was suckered i..."

That's too bad, I read The Poisonwood Bible this summer and loved it, but I agree that the first narrator, the mother, was intolerable. Luckily, there were 4 other narrators who were less irritating. That being said, there was a passage regarding a missing parrot. Not exactly violence to animals, more The Circle of Life

I am not usually a reader of comedies or novels that involve large families, balls and endless professions of love but as i reach the last third of Futility by William Gerhardie, i am pleased that i have stepped outside my usual boundaries

Comedies are not my thing, i sometimes try and read them "straight" like a 300 page Ernie Wise * but its difficult to do so and i enjoy comedy, just not comedy novels.

However, Gerhardie shows the influence he had on Greene and Waugh that within the comedic value of a large Russian family following the narrator from revolutionary St Petersburg to the Russian Far East, there are shards of the darkest ice amid the fooling about. Family problems, the pointless civil war and the fact they all seem like they are sleepwalking into a Bolshevik bloodbath.

* for any of our american cousins, Ernie Wise was the straight man in the Morecombe and Wise comedy duo who were big stars between 1950 and 1980

Paul wrote: "Ruby wrote: "Failed two book attempts--The Revolutionary Temper (dont have the history background to appreciate) and Poisonwood Bible (didn't like narrator's voice). So started Stalin's Ghost and w..."

Glad I missed the parrot parts--sort of animal cruelty is animal cruelty.
Except for waiting my turn in the library queue for some popular literary fiction, I have a few authors I can re-read with enthusiasm: early Philip Kerr and Mick Herron, and the best Arkady Renko.

I'm a big fan of Thomas Mullen. His first novel, The Last Town on Earth, takes place around 1918 and a town in the PNW closes itself off from the world because of the Spanish flu.

And his Darktown Trilogy which I want to read again. I have all 3 on audiobook with a terrific narrator. Just in case anyone is interested, the 3 books are: Darktown (2016) Lightning Men (2017) Midnight Atlanta (2020). Each book takes place in a specific time as a probationary Black detective squad of 8 (housed in a basement without resources) tries to do its job and resist the racism of 1940s pre-civil rights era South. Lightning Men, same detectives in the early 1950s. Midnight Atlanta, the 1960s.

I was so sorry for that poor bewildered parrot in the Poisonwood bible
I have just finished Slow Horses. It's great and I want to read the whole series now. I came across Spook Street at a book sale and thought that Heron was a worthy successor to Le Carre.
Those books are a masterclass in how to describe characters aren't they? Jackson Lamb for instance, once read, never forgotten:) Thank you for the Dark town recommendation !

Greenfairy wrote: "I was so sorry for that poor bewildered parrot in the Poisonwood bible
I have just finished Slow Horses. It's great and I want to read the whole series now. I came across Spook Street at a book sal..."

I plan to re-read/re-listen to the series in the coming weeks. I dont really care about the movie.

you're welcome. I would love for Mullen to be more widely known. He has a new book soon. The Rumor Game. Here is the library's description: "A determined reporter and a reluctant FBI agent face off against fascist elements in this gripping historical thriller set in World War II-era Boston."

Four editors of the new OUP Sherlock Holmes edition discuss Conan Doyle and the Holmes stories. Very entertaining in a bookish way.

In a tentative move to renewing my habit of reading fiction, I have just finished Carmen and Other Stories.

I really enjoyed almost all the stories in this book, with the exception of the very short "The Taking of the Redoubt", about an incident in Napoleon's Russian campaign which hardly qualifies as a "story".

I'm now going to try to keep the momentum going by trying Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories,

Ruby wrote: "I'm a big fan of Thomas Mullen...And his Darktown Trilogy."

Thanks for that... I wasn't aware of this author. I've read and enjoyed some other black cop stories... those by Chester Himes (Harlem) and Walter Mosley (Los Angeles), and may well give this author a go.

Bill wrote: "Four editors of the new OUP Sherlock Holmes edition discuss Conan Doyle and the Holmes stories. Very entertaining in a bookish way.

"

before i watch this, is there any reason for new editions, i thought Holmes was well served by OUP volumes

The boardgame 221b Baker Street was an Xmas and summer fave at my parents place with the visiting grandkids (aged 7-10). Was lovely to see these kids raised on devices, streaming and all that to be excited about an old schoolm style board game. I recommend it as an adult and kids participation game

Bill wrote: "In a tentative move to renewing my habit of reading fiction, I have just finished Carmen and Other Stories.

I really enjoyed almost all the stories in this book, with the exception ..."

Giovanni Verga is such an important writer for the Italian 19th century, i have read two of his novels and some plays and short stories. Italy has a mixed 19th canon with Manzoni earlier in the century and Verga later, a lot of the other novelists are all out of print but i recommened Fosca by Ugo Tarchetti and the Trieste novels of Italo Svevo.

D'Annunzio has a few novels in print but not always easy to get hold of

Ruby wrote: "I'm a big fan of Thomas Mullen..."

These look good �� thank you!

Penelope Lively, Ammonites and Leaping Fish: A Life in Time

This was first published in 2013, when Penelope Lively was 80. I'm not quite that age yet, but a lot of things are resonating with me and this morning I read a passage I wanted to share.

Can't garden. Don't want to travel. But can read, must read. For me, reading is the essential palliative, the daily fix. Old reading, revisiting, but new reading too, lots of it, reading in all directions, plenty of fiction, history and archaeology always, reading to satisfy perennial tastes, reading sideways too �� try her, try him, try that ...
Reading in old age is doing for me what it has always done �� it frees me from the closet of my own mind. Reading fiction, I see through the prism of another person's understanding; reading everything else, I am travelling �� I am travelling in the way that I still can: new sights, new experiences.

I could go on quoting, but I can't copy out the whole book!

Gpfr wrote: " Penelope Lively, Ammonites and Leaping Fish: A Life in Time

This was first published in 2013, when Penelope Lively w..."

That is a good and relevant quote - thanks. It sums up what I suspect many of us get from reading fiction. I also read a lot on current affairs and culture - much of the political stuff is pretty disheartening, so some 'palliative care' from fiction and other forms of culture are much needed!

Bill wrote: "Carmen and Other Stories.

I really enjoyed almost all the stories in this book, with the exception of the very short "The Taking of the Redoubt", about an incident in Napoleon's Russian campaign which hardly qualifies as a "story".

I'm now going to try to keep the momentum going by trying Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories."

I've been planning to listen to the opera version of Cavalleria Rusticana but haven't gotten to it yet. Hadn't thought about the source story - actually I don't think I knew what it was based on - but I think I might have a look for it now.

Merimée's Carmen is an unforgettable character, different from Bizet's, if I remember. Might be due for a re-read of that collection soon.

Gpfr wrote: " Penelope Lively, Ammonites and Leaping Fish: A Life in Time

This was first published in 2013, when Penelope Lively w..."

Your quote resonates with me, too. Just wish I could settle back in to books like it used to be. Not in any way to denigrate the taste for cops, spies, etc., I would like to be reading 'better' books but I'm not there yet. Cops, spies, etc., seems to be the fare for now.

Ruby wrote: "Paul wrote: "Ruby wrote: "Failed two book attempts--The Revolutionary Temper (dont have the history background to appreciate) and Poisonwood Bible (didn't like narrator's voice). So started Stalin'..."

I forgot to mention that the Black cops in Darktown Trilogy cannot solve crimes in White areas. This has a lot of ramifications. And the name of the narrator who is SO good is Andre Holland.

Berkley wrote: "Merimée's Carmen is an unforgettable character, different from Bizet's, if I remember. Might be due for a re-read of that collection soon."

Yes, while using basic elements and the outline of the story, the opera goes in different directions, adding the characters of Escamillo and Micaëla to create overlapping triangles pulling Don José and Carmen in different directions.

Merimée seems fond of scholarly, pedantic narrators such as he uses in "Carmen". Similar narrators are found in "The Venus of Ille" and "Lokis" in the OUP collection. The former story is also the basis for an opera: Venus by Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck.

AB76 wrote: "before i watch this, is there any reason for new editions, i thought Holmes was well served by OUP volumes"

In the introduction to the discussion, it's said that it will answer the question of why the new editions were being issued, but that issue is left unaddressed. The only reason I could think of would be to update the notations to meet the needs of newer readers less familiar with history and conventions of the past. Personally, I'd much rather see OUP issuing annotated new editions of less well known Conan Doyle books, including some of his later Spiritualist writings.

AB76 wrote: "the Trieste novels of Italo Svevo."

I was rather disappointed with Zeno's Conscience a few years ago. Though I enjoyed The Adventures of Pinocchio, I'm not intending to pursue much in the way of 19th / 20th century Italian lit. I picked up Varga because of its operatic connection and, if it satisfies, will probably go on to collections with similar opera-inspiring tales, such as The Queen of Spades and Other Stories or Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk: Selected Stories of Nikolai Leskov.

The introduction to Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories refers to the literary movement of verismo, a term which heretofore I had only ever encountered applied to a certain Italian operas.

I really liked Zeno's Conscience - the sometimes obsessive narrative voice and personality made itself felt very effectively to me. It was also quite funny at times. I'll certainly read more Svevo eventually, though I'm not sure which of his books I'll end up trying next.

As for other 19thC Italian literature, I keep putting off the big historical novel, Manzoni's The Betrothed, which seems like the logical place to start. And I want to try one of D'Annunnzio's late-19thC novels, in spite of his 20thC political shennannigans. I have a copy of Pleasure, though I think it was a different one that I originally had in mind but was unable to find.

Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "the Trieste novels of Italo Svevo."

I was rather disappointed with Zeno's Conscience a few years ago. Though I enjoyed The Adventures of Pinocchio, I'm no..."

Cavalieria Rusticana was turned into a play, and, I believe, an opera.