Ersatz TLS discussion

.......... apologies for the delay ..........


Interesting Links

One of this week's birthday boys is celebrated over at The Guardian's Poem of the Week.


Literary Quiz

The Ultimate William Shakespeare Quiz!


Literary Birthdays

Trollope! Dafoe! Brontë! And of course, The Bard

Afternoon all and no hurry LL...take your time!

Its bright and sunny where i am,also bone dry, no rain in the shires for three weeks, something i always find alarming in April but its been cool till the last few days, which i enjoy

Almost finished the brilliant Irish novel The Hungry Grass it is often bracketed with two other 1960s Irish novels (Langrishe Go Down-Higgins and Strumpet City by Plunkett but i havent read either). Alongside the sad tale of a priestly life fading is the situation with a de-populated countryside and the farming oligarchy in Wicklow. Father Conroy is fighting illness with a dogged male determination to avoid the doctor and keep plugging away, inevitably as the first paragraph of the novel told us, he dies in the toilet at an Ascension Thursday dinner for Priests

Nagle's gritty tale of Aussies in 'Nam is searing in its contempt and anger at the war, from the opinions of an SAS unit. They loathe the officers, the viets,the peace protestors back home and life itself. They long for women and a merciful release

"Germanys Second Reich" remains focused on Saxony and the almost unreadable book that Nat Hawthornes son Julian wrote about the region called "Saxon Studies". Retallick is probing into the book and what it reveals about Imperial Germany and the attitude of the outsider to German society and culture. Hawthorne lacks his fathers talent and Retallick quotes many of his acerbic remarks about the saxon people noting that an entire 400 page book of griping and negativity can become a tiring read but he also concludes its a large study of a kingdom at a point in time, in english and deserves to be objectively studied.

i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?

Lljones wrote: ".......... apologies for the delay ..........

No need to apologise at all

Literary Quiz

The Ultimate William Sha..."


I would never have called (view spoiler)[The Merchant of Venice (hide spoiler)] a comedy

AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

I am !!

I have posted up my review of the latest book by Angela Marsons in the Kim Stone series. Here is is if anyone is interested:

I have read all the Kim Stone books and I think this is probably the best yet. As usual, we get the murderer's state of mind. A young child in a shopping centre is found crying because she has lost her mother who is quickly found murdered, the tension is ramped up when a second murder takes place but the victim's child goes missing. Then a third murder takes place. Running parallel is a cold case investigation in a rape case which has got under Stacey's skin. Unlike some crime series, when the personal lives of the main detectives can be irritatingly predictable, the personalities of the detectives, and their stories add to the interest.

Looking forward to the next in the series.

Now, what next...........

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

I am !!

I have posted up my review of the latest book by Angela Marsons in the Kim Stone series...."

good to see you...wondered where everyone had gone!!

Lljones wrote: "The Ultimate William Shakespeare Quiz!"

#10 is being scored incorrectly at this time.

Bill wrote: "Lljones wrote: "The Ultimate William Shakespeare Quiz!"

#10 is being scored incorrectly at this time."

I don't see any way to report that to the quizmasters. (Correct answer is 'none of the above', right?)

I didn't do very well - 58/100 - but in fact better than I expected.

Lljones wrote: "(Correct answer is 'none of the above', right?)"

Yes, it's from Henry V (which I had to look up, because I didn't recognize it from any play).

The Shakespeare Quiz is rather poorly edited - in addition to "The Merry Wives of Venice", one questions asks, "Which novel are Cassius, Portia, and Octavius the characters from?"

Bill wrote: "The Shakespeare Quiz is rather poorly edited - in addition to "The Merry Wives of Venice", one questions asks, "Which novel are Cassius, Portia, and Octavius the characters from?""

I noticed Venice, thought they were just being deliberately cute; didn't notice 'novel' though!!! I think it's safe to say this quiz doesn't qualify as 'ultimate'.

Lljones wrote: " I think it's safe to say this quiz doesn't qualify as 'ultimate'. "

It's the last one I'll ever do!

AB76 wrote: "Afternoon all and no hurry LL...take your time!

Its bright and sunny where i am,also bone dry, no rain in the shires for three weeks, something i always find alarming in April but its been cool ti..."

I'll carry on from last week

Nagle's The Odd Angry Shot by William Nagle gritty tale of Aussies in 'Nam is searing in its contempt and anger at the war, from the opinions of an SAS unit. They loathe the officers, the viets,the peace protestors back home and life itself. They long for women and a merciful release.

Glad to see you enjoyed it. I don't know that there was anything particularly arresting about the style at the time, but it's sufficiently well regarded for it to have been reissued as a Text Classic.

Coronation Street was not unheard of, but we had our own soaps like Number 96 and The Sullivans.

I had a shocking headache last Tuesday and I thought I mustn't have been hydrating properly on my return to work - but now I think the strap on my bag was responsible. Apparently The Way We Live Now disagreed with my neck.

Magrat wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Afternoon all and no hurry LL...take your time!

Its bright and sunny where i am,also bone dry, no rain in the shires for three weeks, something i always find alarming in April but its..."

i'm a huge fan of australian literature, not the modern stuff so much and Text Classics has been a real gem of a series in bringing a lot of novels i had never heard of, which were all very very good. I'm not a typical snob on australian culture(a real failing in england in the highbrow world) and i've found such a rich mix of styles and importantly some brilliant female novelists in the last 3-4 years

I think the aussie literary canon is slightly superior to canada in my "ex-dominion"reading but i should temper that with the fact the canadian titles are harder to find and less numerous sadly. The South African lit i have read has incredible variety as it comes from all the communities in the nation but again scarcity of choice is a problem, while the New Zealand literature is the scarcest of all. I'm most interested in ex-dominion novels from 1880-1980 ofc

* NB. Scarcity applies to the classics, ofc all these nations have numerous modern novelists(post 1985), all of which i tend to avoid, havent been a fan of any so far, minus Zakes Mda in South Africa

La petite pièce hexagonale by Yoko Ogawa
This intriguing short book doesn't seem to have been translated into English.
It starts with a young woman, who goes swimming as part of the treatment for her back problems, encountering at the swimming pool, Midori. She's at a loss to know why this unremarkable woman interests her, but she strikes up a conversation. On another occasion, she follows her, ending up in a run-down and seemingly uninhabited housing estate. Here she discovers la petite pièce hexagonale.
The blurb on the back cover says the book evokes the mysteries of introspection, confession and psychoanalysis...
I liked it a lot.

Gpfr wrote: "
La petite pièce hexagonale by Yoko Ogawa
This intriguing short book doesn't seem to have been translated into English.
It starts with a young woman, ..."

Ogawa is very good and possibly the best modern japanese writer

SydneyH wrote: "I had a shocking headache last Tuesday and I thought I mustn't have been hydrating properly on my return to work - but now I think the strap on my bag was responsible. Apparently The Way We Live Now disagreed with my neck.."

Trollope is heavy going.

;-)

Finished "The Hungry Grass" maybe the best novel i have read since 2018 and i joined the Guardian TLS. It seemed to never put a foot wrong, always the right tone, of unconventional priest, in slow decline and despair, a novel that makes you think.

beginning to wonder when my first stinker in a very long time is going to arrive...

Thomas Hardy next and his later short stories.....

while looking for a letter sent from Thomas Hardy to Edmund Gosse(two authors i am currently reading), i found this fascinating sketchbook by Thackeray(1838), the link takes you to a PDF of the leaves of the sketchbook...click on the book cover


https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116...

AB:…sketchbook by Thackeray. Yes, fascinating. I always enjoy the drawings in his books, and some of these look a bit familiar.

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin.
A few hours since I've finished this now, and I have been trying to find reasons not to give it 5 stars.. but I give in.
There are signs of Vlautin's writing maturing, in that the plot is less important to the benefit of time he invests with his characters; that was usually the case, but it is more noticeable here. Also, I think there is a stronger push of the subliminal political message here. In his afterword he talks of how as a young man he himself saved hard for a deposit on a Portland house ($72,000), how such property used to be affordable to working class people such as he (..was then..), and how the purchase changed his life, he rues that this is no longer possible.
In common though with Vlautin's other work, this is a story about working class people. But whereas other writers may focus on a courageous warm-hearted protagonist who just needs a chance to shine, or a troubled person whose morals have been worn away through unfortunate circumstances, Vlautin uses a different and refreshing approach. As the novel opens, Lynette the protagonist, who lives with her mother and developmentally disabled adult brother, is cobbling together savings and debts, in an effort to buy the house they currently rent, for a little less than market value. A week away from closing the deal, her mother announces she doesn't want to buy at all. What may seem a mundane premise, comes alive as Lynette sets out to rectify the situation, swanning around the city over a weekend looking for money.
As often with Vlautin's writing, it is some of the diversions from the main plot that are highlights.
Its great, and typical Vlautin, who is very much at home writing about impoverished folk and Portland. I would really like to read him, even if only just once, do something quite different. He is such a good writer, I am sure it would be as compelling.

AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

AB. Just read your reply to my Ramuz review (last week).
I did think you may have read him. I think its incredible he isn't so rarely read these days. I'll certainly read more, as there are 3 on OpenLibrary. And can recommend Terror on the Mountain .

Just returned from my second jab.....there are some advantages to being of a certain age! Though yesterday’s laundry awaits my attention I I think instead I shall settle down with an old copy of Linda Grant’s The Cast Iron Shore. Many years since I read it, her first, published in ‘96. Some of you may remember that she used to have a Guardian column, which is how I first became aware of her. It’s just as absorbing as I recall, and there are relevant and interesting observations on style and fashion, something she continued throughout her career.

I can recommend all of her novels, most of which remain on my shelves, also her excellent non-fiction, The Thoughtful Dresser,

Russell wrote: "AB:…sketchbook by Thackeray. Yes, fascinating. I always enjoy the drawings in his books, and some of these look a bit familiar."

will be interesting to see if you can trace any of them to books he wrote maybe, seem to be some Georgian-Regency caricatures in there, from a decade or so earlier

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

AB. Just read your reply to my Ramuz review (last week).
I did think you may have read him. I th..."

i am suprised he isnt better read in english too. In Switzerland he is part of the great writers legacy alongsideWalser. Keller, Frisch and Durrenmatt, importantly he is the leading french language writer.

A Protestant by birth, like most Swiss French were originally, he wasnt religious but tended to write about the more catholic mountain french of the Valais region on the eastern edge of Lake Geneva

I recommend his novel "The Young Man from Savoy" a lowland, lake based work and just as good.

If you are interested in the alpine swiss- french locations, Jacques Chessex is another swiss-french language writer with a couple of great, quite dark brooding novels. He died recently

Lass wrote: "Just returned from my second jab.....there are some advantages to being of a certain age! Though yesterday’s laundry awaits my attention I I think instead I shall settle down with an old copy of Li..."

great to have that jab all done!

I usually don’t mind spoilers in reviews. Once I’ve decided I’m going to read a novel I stop reading reviews until I’ve read it; if, as in most cases, I don’t plan on reading a novel, I might as well get as much of the plot from a review, spoilers and all, that I can.

But today I had an unusual experience. I hadn’t planned on reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – the reviews I’d read made it sound a bit too unmoored from any kind of believable world for me. But reading James Walton’s spoiler-filled review in NYRB made me think that the unbelievable aspects other reviews had left unspoiled are actually handled in a satisfactory way, so now I plan to read the novel. (It helps that it’s nowhere near as long as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I found became rather tedious.)

Good evening (in this time zone),
thanks to jediperson and Machenbach's recommendations/ discussions from last June (https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...), I just read Walter Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (in the non-translated version, though).

And up next, thanks to auroraborealis, who I hope may be reading here, is La première gorgée de bière et autres plaisirs minuscules, little vignettes on minuscule pleasures.
For an impression (with translation), see auroraborealis' post in TL&S:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
In the minuscule pleasures, as the table of contents informs me, are included "Le bibliobus" and "Un roman de Agatha Christie", as well as "Lire sur la plage" (that is, "reading on the beach" - Tucholsky voted against, if I recall correctly!).

I am still due some replies and reviews. (Sorry for this, and sorry for being a drag -?- or at least not being quick about it...)

Edit:
@ Sydney #14: hope the book is less heavy-going than -carrying? Your post made me smile anyway.

@Magrat: Very late to post this, but I was very sorry to read your news, too. Hope you and your closest are as well as possible.

AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #2 – I had a look. The young woman in profile on the fourth page is surely Amelia, but I’m not seeing her in my copy of Vanity Fair.

The servant boy on the seventh page is pretty close to the servant boys in Henry Esmond (Chapter III, Book II) and Vanity Fair (Chapter XLIII).

And he does love doing people on a moving horse – e.g. Barry Lyndon (Chapter X), and Esmond (Chapter IX, Book I), those two in particular having the same backward turn as the lady on horseback on the first page.

Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "@ Sydney #14: hope the book is less heavy-going than -carrying?"

Not heavy-going at all. I have a bit over a hundred pages left, I'll knock it over sometime soon.

AB76 wrote: "Ogawa is very good and possibly the best modern japanese writer."

*Apologies in advance* I had misgivings about negatively commenting on The Housekeeper and The Professor because I knew quite a few of you had really loved it. Having now properly checked on GR, TLS and seen the reactions here, I can categorically say that you all have loved it! So: I guess I don't mind anymore as nobody should take offence, and instead just consider me a strange outlier.

Did I like the characters, the evocation of number theory (barring a few typos and misnomers), the setting? Yes to all that. Now, as I mentioned somewhere else to MsC/Anne, my biggest issue was about the premise. It is 1992, the professor, a mathematician, had a terrible car accident 17 years before, and now can only remember events that predate 1975, and anything that has happened in the past 80 minutes. So far, so preposterous. But I think I could have rolled with it and set aside any knowledge I might have about the brain or memory.

The - much bigger - problem is: the author could not even understand the memory-bound universe she had built for the poor professor. Let me explain.

The housekeeper and her son come to spend most of their weekdays with the professor, the housekeeper taking care of the cleaning, cooking nice food (and hiding carrots in creative ways), and in general looking after the professor, while he educates them about maths (and of course, in the process, about the meaning of life, or something to that effect). Time and time again, Ogawa sets little scenes where the housekeeper mentally starts the 80-minute clock as the professor or herself (the housekeeper) starts doing something: running off to buy some missing ingredients, going in the dentist's room, etc. Of course, if at that point in time the professor still remembers who he is talking to, then this does not mark the beginning of the 80 minutes. In fact, what Ogawa seems to have thought of was more of a one-day span for the working memory of the professor (à la 50 First Dates); unless she needed it to be 80 minutes, precisely and nonsensically starting at the beginning of an action.

So for the first time the housekeeper is at home to see the professor wake up in the morning, she realises how discombobulating this must all be for him. I'm sorry, what? It is like that for him every single 80-minute period of his life.

She organises for him to go to a stadium watch a baseball match with her and her son, but at no point in time does he forget who that woman or that young boy are next to him, or freak out because he is in a completely unrecognisable environment, filled with a crowd he absolutely hates. This trip obviously has taken hours.

Her son gets injured while she's temporarily away from the house, but Ogawa would let us believe that the housekeeper has time to 1. be around the house for quite some time and realise she needs cooking oil, 2. run that errand, 3. come back to see what's happened, 4. go with her son and the professor to see a doctor, 5. have the wound stitched up, 6. go for a meal afterwards with the two of them, 7. go back to the professor's house. In less than 80 minutes??!

Oh, and there are these other, perhaps more subtle issues: p133:

He walked over, leaned against the counter, folded his arms, and stood there staring at my hands. I felt awkward with him watching me, so I went to get some eggs out of the refrigerator, and a frying pan.
"Did you need something?" I asked at last , no longer able to stand the silence.
"No, go on," he said. His tone was reassuring. "I like to watch you cook," he added.

How could he possibly know this? He has known this woman for, at best 80 minutes. She has never cooked in front of him before.

Or then again, p137 - the housekeeper and the professor are at his house, it is a summer evening:

Though the sun would not be setting for some time yet, thick clouds had gathered (...) A gentle breeze blew through the kitchen window (...)
"It was hot again today."
"Scorching," he said.

Again, there is no way for him to know that it was scorching a few hours ago.

I really wanted to like, or even love it, but this simply ruined the book for me as I could never quite believe these characters, as much as I liked them, were real and not the figment of a confused author's imagination.

I also had The Memory Police on the "to be bought" list, but I am not sure that I can trust Ogawa to convince me of anything that revolves around the theme of memory anymore.

@Swelter, from last week's thread on (auto)biographies - sorry for the late reply, I was chasing a deadline - your further post reminded me that I had also read autobiographical comics: The Complete Persepolis, Maus: Un survivant raconte, tome 1: Mon père saigne l'histoire, The Best We Could Do and Une si jolie petite guerre.

As for female composers, I have only very recently discovered one whose life seems quite fascinating: Ether Smyth. Don't know if her many memoirs make for entertaining reads, but might be worth exploring...?

Russell wrote: "AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #2 – I had a look. The young woman in profile on the fourth page is surely Amelia, but I’m not seeing her in my copy of Vanity Fair.

The servant boy on the seventh pag..."

superb work Russell, i guess the ideas were all in his head from the start of his career, versions of the novels and characters we came to love later. I am a big fan of "Barry Lyndon"

AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #3 - I love Barry Lyndon too. The movie has a reputation for being slow and dull, and everyone assumes the book has to be terrible as well, but actually I really like the movie, and the book is great. It’s the only novel I can think of that (in amongst the fun) gives an idea of the ghastly life of an impressed soldier of Frederick II.

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

I am !!

I have posted up my review of the latest book by Angela Marsons in the Kim Stone series...."

It's difficult to describe this book - What the Dead Know by laura Lippman, but the fact that kids were involved in your post, reminded me of it. I lived in the DC area when the girls that this book uses as a springboard went missing. Needless to say, the author went in a completely different direction than reality subsequently proved. The author also has a long-running PI series set in Baltimore - Tess Monahan.

It is REALLY dark now (as I write) in Regensburg! If you are in need of a nature fix, the falcons that nest on the townhall tower, have hatched their chicks a couple of days ago.

If you are interested in watching the live stream, just click on the picture to see little white puff balls who either are snoozing under parent or have their mouths open - https://rathausturm-wanderfalken.de/

Hushpuppy wrote: "As for female composers, I have only very recently discovered one whose life seems quite fascinating: Ethel Smyth. Don't know if her many memoirs make for entertaining reads, but might be worth exploring...?"

I’ve heard some of Ethel Smyth’s music. In my memory, it’s kind of blended into that Victorian Stanford / Parry British music fog, but that may not be doing it justice as it’s been a while since I listened to anything by her (I’m not really tempted by the recently recorded The Prison). There are maybe a dozen or so women composers on my shelves; my particular favorites are Grazyna Bacewicz and Elizabeth Maconchy.

Right now, in conjunction with reading the Robert Schumann biography, I’m re-listening to Clara’s works as well and will probably seek out a biography of her in the future. She figures fairly prominently in Brahms’ biography and shows up briefly as a sort of villainess in Alan Walker’s Hans Von Bülow: A Life and Times.

Shelflife_wasBooklooker wrote: "...up next, thanks to auroraborealis, who I hope may be reading here, is La première gorgée de bière et autres plaisirs minuscules, little vignettes on minuscule pleasures.
For an impression (with translation), see auroraborealis' post in TL&S:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...

Well, well... this sounded promising, so I checked out the link - to see that I had already responded to AB's review to the effect that the author's writing seems better than his taste in beer - a comment that I'd forgotten. As I am currently in a period of reading French books in the original, I may well give it a try - sounds like just the thing to get us through the lockdowns, etc.

Hushpuppy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Ogawa is very good and possibly the best modern japanese writer."

*Apologies in advance* I had misgivings about negatively commenting on The Housekeeper and The Professor because I kn..."

You are absolutely right about the plot weaknesses of this book... I managed to ignore them (I wasn't 'unaware' of them, but skated over...) and enjoy the book regardless, but I can quite see that for someone who isn't able to do so, the book would not work.

As for Ogawa, I have yet to read another, so can't comment on her 'usual' standard...

Edit: I suppose that I read the story as more of an allegory rather than a realistic novel...

Russell wrote: "AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #3 - I love Barry Lyndon too. The movie has a reputation for being slow and dull, and everyone assumes and everyone assumes the book has to be terrible as well, but actually I really like the movie, and the book is great. It’s the only novel I can think of that (in amongst the fun) gives an idea of the ghastly life of an impressed soldier of Frederick II."

Frederick II and the recruiters for his army appear in George Sand's Consuelo, well worth a look if you're interested.

I can never understand when one of Thackeray's works is published without his illustrations. As a trained artist, his drawings are an integral part of the book, for me.

I was going to read Barry Lyndon last year but for some reason I can't recall I read Pendennis instead, and now have The Newcomes lined up for sometime inthe next few months. But I'll get to it some day. I have read one of the novels from the sub-genre Barry Lyndon is supposed to be referring to, Charles Lever's Charles O'Malley, about a young Irishman who takes part in Wellington's Peninsular campaign. Very entertaining!

Morning everyone

How about posting your favourite Bard quote, line, song, sonnet, title, whatever you choose

Over on A place for a poem over the next few days to celebrate his birthday week.

Bordersnakes by James Crumley

The latest in my readings of Crumley's complete works... in this one, both his PIs appear - Milo Milodragovitch and CW Sughrue... and they have known each other for a long time (apparently). I'm not reading the books in order - did they meet in an earlier book, or is this some sort of projection back in time, in this book only?

Anyway - there are two plot strands: Milo has finally reached the age at which he has inherited his father's money - but (wouldn't you know it) it's all been embezzled - so eventually he decides to track down the evildoer. Meanwhile, Sughrue has narrowly survived an assassination attempt, is hiding out in the bush, and is keen to track down whoever ordered the hit. (You find this stuff out pretty early on - not really spoilers, as the book takes off from those starting points.)

"Bordersnakes" has the same strengths and weaknesses as Crumley's other novels. His use of language is always interesting and original, and when he uses uncommon terms or acronyms, it's done in the service of accuracy and precision - and not to show off (so-called 'fine writers' please note...). Much fun is had with his descriptions of nature and weather, and with his pen portraits of his characters... there are so many of these (as in most of his books) that my advice is to keep a note of who is who, to avoid confusion.

That's the major weakness, then. The plots are so convoluted, and the characters so numerous, that it's difficult to keep a handle on what is going on. (Maybe younger readers would find it easier?) It's also the case that Crumley's protagonists have some James Bond like skills, such as being able to survive extreme situations (beatings, stabbings, shootings, whatever) and also to usefully make the odd woman fall in love with them - they can then come to the rescue when the situation becomes desperate. If it was all one way traffic (women loving men) I'd think the sexual politics might well be unacceptable to female readers - as it is, the guys also fall for the women (in some cases), and can often be betrayed by them as well as saved. So - I'm not sure how female readers react to these stories. They can be pretty brutal in places, and this one contains a particularly nasty rape scene - which portrays the rape as a disgusting assault. There's no ambiguity here. Some may well find it hard to stomach, though. (That is a fairly short passage in a long book - but I'm flagging it up, so that you know it's there.)

As for the narration - some chapters have Milo's POV, and some are from Sughrue's - but I think if you opened the book at random, it would be difficult to see any difference in the 'voices', which are in effect the author's. A technical weakness, though it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. You'll probably like it if you take to Crumley's style, but not if plotting is crucial to how you respond to a crime story. (The endgame is pretty far-fetched, here.)

I'll be reading the rest, anyway.

Magrat wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Afternoon all and no hurry LL...take your time!

Its bright and sunny where i am,also bone dry, no rain in the shires for three weeks, something i always find alarming in April but its..."

James Webb, a US Marine officer, wrote Fields of Fire, a good Vietnam novel. (And a good war novel, period.)

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i seem to be the only comment since this weeks forum opened.....hope everyone is ok?"

AB. Just read your reply to my Ramuz review (last week).
I did think you may have r..."

Thank you, AB. Now looking forward to libraries and charity shops to be open, so I can stock up!

Russell wrote: "AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #3 - I love Barry Lyndon too. The movie has a reputation for being slow and dull, and everyone assumes the book has to be terrible as well, but actually I really like t..."

i liked the film too but came to it after the book and yes, it shines a light on the life of conscript soldiery in that era...warts and all

Berkley wrote: "Russell wrote: "AB - Sketchbook by Thackeray #3 - I love Barry Lyndon too. The movie has a reputation for being slow and dull, and everyone assumes and everyone assumes the book has to be terrible ..."

some great tips there Berkley thanks, making a note of Sand and Lever

i agree that his illustrations should have been featured, as a trained artist. i'm glad i found that sketchbook, a stroke of luck

Robert wrote: "Magrat wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Afternoon all and no hurry LL...take your time!

Its bright and sunny where i am,also bone dry, no rain in the shires for three weeks, something i always find alarming i..."

was he the author he wrote three such novels or was that another fella? i know there is a group of novels about Nam and that the author appeared in that superb Ken Burns documentary

CCCubbon wrote: "Morning everyone

How about posting your favourite Bard quote, line, song, sonnet, title, whatever you choose

Over on A place for a poem over the next few days to celebrate his birthday week."

does "exit pursued by a bear" count?

my actual fave is:
Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.

partly as my mother described this scene to me aged 6 and i was fascinated with the literal idea of a forest moving towards a hill, as my small 6yo mind figured out what my mother was telling me

MK wrote: "What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman... The author also has a long-running PI series set in Baltimore - Tess Monahan ..."

I like Laura Lippman's books - both the stand-alones and the Tess Monahan series.