Ersatz TLS discussion

Hello everyone!

It was a beautiful morning here in Paris — though this afternoon is a little hotter than I’d like — and I went for a walk in Parc Montsouris in the south of Paris, the 14th arrondissement. I learnt a new word which is always fun, cascatelle = petite cascade (from Italian), little waterfall. I'm going to post some photos. You’ll see some splendid green trees but the leaves of the horse chestnuts are all brown and on the point of falling.

AB76 touched on an interesting point: our motivation.
Why do we read? AB says,

I rarely read to escape, I read for education, exploring cultures and experience.

For me … mmm, I read to travel, not only in the sense of reading about other people’s voyages and learning about other places and cultures, but also to experience other times, other lives... I also read for entertainment and I guess for comfort.
What about all of you?

And what about book groups?
Storm seems to be the only one who belongs to one.

I am in a book group with some good friends, ex colleagues. Because of our long connection, we are very relaxed about book choices and don’t argue too much, though we have had some spats when it came to the book discussion.

Is how to criticise and the reaction to criticism particularly problematic in all-women groups?
Tam replies:

It is a friendship group, and people compromise a bit because the friendship is what is valuable. I haven't ever joined a book group as I suspect that I would not have the patience to read a probable majority of books that I didn't actually want to read.
But if I do come across someone where we have both enjoyed, or at least appreciated, the same book then its always a great pleasure discussing it.

Most of us seem to feel like Tam about joining a group.
Storm wonders how it is with men in book groups. Scarletnoir responds:

Well, I'd been thinking about saying something about book groups - basically, that I (a man) have never wanted to join one, because (like some others who commented) I could not tolerate the sense of obligation to read a book I didn't fancy. At least, if I don't enjoy a book it's my own fault for making a bad choice based on whatever reviews or opinions were to hand.

However, Fuzzywuzz feels differently:

I love the idea of a bookclub, it would get me out of my comfort zone and try things I wouldn't normally read.

Robert has had a good experience:

I've belonged to two good book groups, both tied to book stores. … People simply signed up to spend sessions studying a particular book. We spent four sessions on The Master and Margarita …

Of course the difference here is that one is signing up to discuss a particular book. That could be fun.
To conclude, I think we all feel with scarletnoir:

In lieu of book groups, I do enjoy the to-and-fro on this site and on the Guardian's WWR.

A happy fortnight's reading to all!

Lovely intro, Gpfr, and lovely photos too. The quiet spots in Paris can be so delightful.

Does Montsouris convey Mousehill (Smilehill?) to French people, or is it just a name and the superficial meaning of the name has been lost in everyday usage?

Great intro GPFR, amazed i'm the first in here almost four hours later!

Firstly its lovely mellow end of summer weather in the shires, if only the rest of summer had been 22-23c with lovely breezes, the sun is very warm still but the fierce midsummer blaze has faded. The chestnuts are browning too early but the fields are greening

Thinking of giving up on Blackwells, every book i have ordered takes almost 7 days to arrive, its a joke, i forgot how slow every delivery is, tedious.

Sabato and Buenos Aires are where my head is at, reading On Heroes and Tombs (1961) its a much stranger novel than i expected, sometimes it seems to be meandering nowhere but it all has a point, i think. Some of the tight focus of the first 30 pages has gone but its fiercely political and thoughtful in a somewhat opaque manner

In The Iran-Iraq War nobodys favourite dictator is doing a junior Adolf impression with his endless convuluted monologues on topics he knows nothing about. The captured documents reveal a court of jokers with a clown at the top, there is a desperate Mr Bean like faith in what he is doing, it would amusing if Saddam hadnt been a brutal dictator, his table talk is so banal sometimes, he could be a market stall owner in a souk, updating his friends on the latest gossip.

The war is a shambles, two badly led armies floundering in a sea of conspiracy and murder, headless chickens and nervous sycophants. An interesting ITV clip from 1980, with a very young Jon Snow, covers the first Iraqi invasion forces into Khorramshar, where the book says the Iraqi special forces did superbly(unlike the rest of the army) but were nearly all killed in storming the Iranian city. In the clip a tired, dust covered paratroop colonel updates the press, exhausted and probably aware he had lost all his men. That battle was a "win" for Iraq....but at huge cost

Russell wrote: "Lovely intro, Gpfr, and lovely photos too. The quiet spots in Paris can be so delightful.

Does Montsouris convey Mousehill (Smilehill?) to French people, or is it just a name and the superficial m..."

Or how about Mousehold Heath? On 27 August 1549 Kett's Rebellion came to an end. I hope you will have read the earlier Shardlake historical mysteries before tackling which is a doorstopper. However, since it mostly takes place in Norwich - one of my favorite places - it was unmissable for me. I may even tackle it once again as I've just heard that while C. J. Sansom has been working to overcome a serious illness, he has also been working on the next book in the series which should be out later this year or early next (in the states).

As I write this, I am multitasking and am listening to the NYT's The Daily. Today, it's about Trump's Georgia fiasco and is talking about charges for several people under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) which originally was aimed at organized crime. My mouth is watering!

And as someone who once worked on the edge of the Intelligence Community, I say if he doesn't get indicted for those docs he took home, the US will never be able to prosecute anyone who steals secrets.

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There was an article in the Guardian I read today about someone advocating the need for books for 20 somethings. Which brought me back to what I have been reflecting on as I trawl through book choices, and that is Age and Stage.
Few of my friends have read, or discussed the TV series, Normal People by Sally Rooney. (Have I even got the right book?) It has been a sensation ….with a younger demographic. I have never been tempted to read it as I felt no interest in the content and my immediate reaction was, nah, got the T-shirt already.
I think one of the reasons The Magician was such a hit with my friends was the feeling that at last we had found a contemporary novel that was « meaty » . To extend the analogy, a fair amount of contemporary fiction for me has the effect of canapés: often tasty, can offer unusual combinations of elements, a quick snack, but leaves you wanting more. I skimmed through Careless, (apposite title) by Kirsty Capes, a perfectly serviceable novel about a fostered teenage girl who gets pregnant. It deals with strong female friendship, and the conditional (sadly) or unconditional love of parents/carers. It has a believable narrative voice, is funny and compassionate. And I can see it being a big hit with much younger readers, deservedly so, but it was not right for my age and stage. A tasty canapé but not a satisfying main dish.
Am I being too harshly judgmental, or can you relate?

Storm wrote: "There was an article in the Guardian I read today about someone advocating the need for books for 20 somethings. Which brought me back to what I have been reflecting on as I trawl through book choi..."

Sally Rooney is one of the new generation of writers I do plan to try, if I ever catch up to the more or less contemporary in my reading. No idea if I'll be able to tune in to it or not (already an out-moded metaphor, since I don't imagine many young people listen to the radio - I mean a physical radio that has to be tuned to the right channel, not the online programs), but I want to see for myself.

Is The Magician the Toibin book about Thomas Mann? I'm curious about that one too, though I haven't read anything by Toibin up to now. I'm in two minds whether to read this or a straight biography - the main attraction is Mann and his family, so many of whom are fascinating characters in their own right.

To Berkley. Yes, I am referring to the Colm Toibin novel The Magician (which I have banged on enough about already) and I think it is well worth the read.

Russell wrote: "Does Montsouris convey Mousehill (Smilehill?) to French people, or is it just a name and the superficial meaning of the name has been lost in everyday usage?..."

I'll have to ask some French neighbours! For me personally, I have to say it's the latter case — after knowing the park for many years, it's only yesterday when writing about it that I began to think about the name.

Storm wrote: "To Berkley. Yes, I am referring to the Colm Toibin novel The Magician ... I think it is well worth the read."

I've got it waiting to be read. I'm a Toibin fan. The first of his books I read was The Blackwater Lightship, which was one of the books I acquired when the British Council library here closed down (for physical books). I've been thinking recently I must re-read it

AB76 is reading The Iran-Iraq War and I've just started reading this novel set in Iraq: Dernière oasis by Charif Majdalani, a Lebanese writer.
A Lebanese specialist in oriental archaeology has been asked to go to Iraq to examine and find a buyer for some pieces belonging to a high-up general. As the story begins, he is in northern Irak, waiting for the arrival of the general, looking at the view from a terrace: mountains to the east behind which are the Kurdish forces and to the north and west the zones held by what was not yet known as ISIS. On their way here, they went through Mosul — it's early summer 2014.
I've just read an interview with the writer.

Beginning as a dreamy meditation, the novel suddenly turns into a geopolitical thriller.

The author says;

I certainly wouldn't want it to be a book about Iraq or the Islamic State. It doesn't matter where it takes place, it's a pretext to talk once again about what I talk about in all my books: the way history works, the effect of its upheavals on humans, the collapse of a world.

https://www.en-attendant-nadeau.fr/20...
It was published in 2021, not translated (as yet?).

My final session at the Ed Bookfest yesterday. Only three events for me this year, but all were excellent and well attended. Currently reading The Fortune Men from the lovely Nadifa Mohamed. Her Black Mamba Boy, shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award some years ago was very good, and this is proving so too. Monica Ali was on great form, discussing Love Marriage, and Maggie O’Farrell was her usual engaging self on her latest, The Marriage Portrait. That’s it for another year. Different venue, not quite so convenient, but the quality of sessions continues.

Lass wrote: "My final session at the Ed Bookfest yesterday..."

I'm jealous. But plenty of things to check out online 😀

Further to my China "adventures" after reading Wild Swans:

1. @giveusaclue, thank you for the recommendation of The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. It looks good.

2. I've re-read, as I said I was going to, Hand-Grenade Practice in Peking by Frances Wood (head of the Chinese collection at the British Library). She read Chinese at university and wanting to improve her spoken Chinese was excited to have the opportunity in 1975 to spend a year in Peking. This book is based on the letters she wrote home. In her introduction she says,

To all those in China who suffered terribly at the time I apologize for my determination to amuse myself and be amused by what I found. I only began to discover what was happening to China's intellectuals when I got back home.

It is a very amusing book and we are aware of course of the darker undercurrents as we read.

3. I've started re-reading Lisa See's crime novels. The first of three is The Flower Net (published in 1997). The son of the American ambassador is found dead under the ice by skaters on a Beijing lake. Then a "red prince", the son of a rich Chinese businessman is found dead on a ship carrying illegal Chinese immigrants to the United States. There are mysterious and puzzling similarities in the causes of death. An assistant US attorney is sent to Beijing to investigate with Inspector Liu Hulan.

4. In addition to the crime series, I also have Lisa See's Dreams of Joy, about a 19-year-old girl who leaves home in America for China. When she arrives at passport control in Shanghai, she tells the official, "I'm here to help build the People's Republic of China." On further questioning, she reveals she is looking for her father, an artist.

Gpfr wrote: " AB76 is reading The Iran-Iraq War and I've just started reading this novel set in Iraq: Dernière oasis by Charif Majdalani, a Lebanese writer.
A Lebanese specia..."

interesting sounding novel, will have to wait for the translation!

Gpfr wrote: "Further to my China "adventures" after reading Wild Swans:

1. @giveusaclue, thank you for the recommendation of The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. It looks good.
"

You are very welcome. If you get to read it, do come back and let me know what you think.

I have really enjoyed previous books in Angela Marsons' Kim Stone series but have given up on the latest Six Graves In a previous book someone she has got convicted is out to get her and this is happened with another convict in her latest. Sorry be more originality please Angela.

It is in my dnf pile of two.

Gpfr wrote: "Further to my China "adventures" after reading Wild Swans:

1. @giveusaclue, thank you for the recommendation of The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. It looks good.

2. I've ..."

Got to poke my nose in - https://www.lisasee.com/conversation-...

Also - On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family

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Gpfr wrote: "Storm wrote: "To Berkley. Yes, I am referring to the Colm Toibin novel The Magician ... I think it is well worth the read."


I've got it waiting to be read. I'm a Toibin fan. The first of his books I read was The Blackwater Lightship, which was one of the books I acquired when the British Council library here closed down (for physical books). I've been thinking recently I must re-read it."

Thanks, I've added that and a couple other early Toibins to my list. Since he was writing in the early 1990s I might even get to one of them sooner rather than later.

Good news. After only a 4-day wait for fulfillment, Blackwell's (I wonder if they like so many other businesses are having problems hiring employees?) Winters in the World: A Journey through the Anglo-Saxon Year has been shipped! I am also feeling just a little chagrined that it was at such a good (low!) price which bookdepository declined to honor.

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OMG - pumpkin spice is back! Lower temps and longer nights must be just around the corner.

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There are some fantastic photos here - https://geographical.co.uk/science-en...?

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PS - Geographical also has book reviews that anyone can access if you scroll down quite a ways. I just found and was able to put this book on hold (it's on order) at my library - Nine Quarters of Jerusalem: A New Biography of the Old City.

MK wrote: "There are some fantastic photos here -"

Yes, they are — thanks!

MK wrote: "Good news. After only a 4-day wait for fulfillment, Blackwell's (I wonder if they like so many other businesses are having problems hiring employees?) [book:Winters in the World: A Journey through ..."

really amazed at how slow blackwells can be MK, as i mentioned earlier. they dont seem able to double pack things either, would make it a lot quicker.

i'm afraid i may start turning back to amazon more,....even the blackwells online service is slow...two orders in last 3 hours...nothing showing...inept

i can only think staffing must be an issue, for them to be this bad and this slow throughout 2022 is remarkable

A happy tale for cat lovers.

Last November my son moved to rural Wales, a stone cottage on a hill from the balmy South Coast.
Twentyone weeks ago one of their house cats disappeared one snowy morning. Her name is Marigold, named after the rubber gloves not the flower and she is a British shorthair pedigree cat. Frantic searching and posters on poled but no trace of her was found until yestered she wandered back in through the cat flap. She is thin and needs a good groom but otherwise okay.
Speculation abounds as to where she could have been. After a nap and five servings of food she is restless. I wonder if she will stay….

CCCubbon wrote: "A happy tale for cat lovers...."

Good to hear she turned up.
A similar thing happened with our first cat, not so long though. He came back after 3 months, very thin and very dirty.

Spy Artist Prisoner by Romanian artist George Tomaziu is a remarkable work of observation and commentary on Fascist allied Romania and then Communist Romania.

The difference between the two regimes can be seen in the freedom he was given under the Antonescu dictatorship and the crushing, cynical and cruel treatment he recieved under Communist rule. The tone of the memoir concerning prison spells under both regimes darkens noticeably under the communists, the reasons for detention faded, the arbitary nature of thousands of "class enemies" sentenced in kangaroo courts is balanced against the choatic and less organised Fascist system

In an odd quirk of fate he spends time in the same cell in Bucharest Malmaison prison, under the Fascists it is furnished and comfortable, under the communists it is a dirty hole, with no comfort at all

I have reached 1950 in my reading and Tomaziu is about to descend into the Romanian gulag, the defiance against his Fascists jailors has changed, under communist detention, he loses his nerve and realises he is doomed.

The pure evil of the post-war communist regimes in Eastern Europe always sickens me, how these societies were destroyed and dismembered, Tomaziu displeases his kangaroo court judge by mentioning the soviet deportations of Siebenburger Saxons from the Sibiu area in Romania, this is not to be discussed!

AB76 wrote: "i am stopping using blackwells from today, the shame with alternative is that due to waterstones reserving books IT glitches, i cant use them either

will return to amazon for now"

Grumpy and impatient? 😀 At least the weather is becoming more to your liking again AB.

AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "Good news. After only a 4-day wait for fulfillment, Blackwell's (I wonder if they like so many other businesses are having problems hiring employees?) [book:Winters in the World: A Journ..."

Under the heading of different strokes for different folks, I know i don't need books, it's just that I WANT them. However, having been brought up in a miserly household, I really don't want to pay postage. So when bookdepository (owned by Amazon) cancelled my order so they could raise the price of the book, I went to Blackwells instead. It's on its way as I speak.

I will also say that I, in 1980, went through a computer internship program. In return I owed my employer (US Army) 18-months of work. Back then we were lucky to get two printouts a day! And we were working on a personnel system upgrade. So I expect that has been ingrained as well.

On a side note I really did see 🚕🚕🚕yesterday!

giveusaclue wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i am stopping using blackwells from today, the shame with alternative is that due to waterstones reserving books IT glitches, i cant use them either

will return to amazon for now"

Gr..."

lol!

MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "Good news. After only a 4-day wait for fulfillment, Blackwell's (I wonder if they like so many other businesses are having problems hiring employees?) [book:Winters in the W..."

i agree with the free postage issue being a no brainer, i have calmed down now and apologise for any grumpiness

also cleared my shed out fully, a sense of victory!

AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "MK wrote: "Good news. After only a 4-day wait for fulfillment, Blackwell's (I wonder if they like so many other businesses are having problems hiring employees?) [book:Winte..."

No need to apologise, we love you just the way you are. 😍

Sorry to display my ignorance, but what is this with yellow cars?

giveusaclue wrote: "Sorry to display my ignorance, but what is this with yellow cars?"

Mick Herron — Slough House! Shirley!

For example:

“Yellow car,” said Shirley.

“Yeah, not really.”

“Yes really.”

“Not really,” said Louisa. “On account of one, it’s a van, not a car, and two, it’s orange, not yellow. So orange van, not yellow car.”

“Same difference.”

Louisa suppressed a sigh. Until ten minutes ago, the rules of Yellow Car had seemed pretty straightforward: when you saw a yellow car, you said, “Yellow car.” There wasn’t much room for controversy. But that was before she’d introduced Shirley to the game.

Good news about your son's cat, we are still coming to terms with the death of our senior puss nearly a week ago, they leave such a gap don't they?

I'm fed up with this, I am using an updated version of Goodreads and seem to have lost the edit function.🙁

haha!

Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Sorry to display my ignorance, but what is this with yellow cars?"

Mick Herron — Slough House! Shirley!

For example:

“Yellow car,” said Shirley.

“Yeah, not really.”

“Yes..."

Greenfairy wrote: "I'm fed up with this, I am using an updated version of Goodreads and seem to have lost the edit function.🙁"

Thank you, I had forgotten that.

Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Sorry to display my ignorance, but what is this with yellow cars?"

Mick Herron — Slough House! Shirley!

For example:

“Yellow car,” said Shirley.

“Yeah, not really.”

“Yes..."

thanks @clue. It seems I am seeing at least one when I venture out of my neighborhood (which is enclosed by water and whose only way in/out is on one of three bridges over a RR marshaling yard). Maybe yellow cars won't come over the bridges.

Where can I lodge a complaint?

In addition to my quest to find out (in books, of course) more about this rugged individualism myth here in the States, I am now listening to a library download of and am surprised how vehement the Jesuits were against Jews. This means I will now have to follow that up by yet another book!

I remember liking David I. Kertzer's very much earlier book The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

I must say I don't get it why some of those who are religious find it necessary to meddle/try to convert others.

Close rant.

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MK wrote: “…Or how about Mousehold Heath? On 27 August 1549 Kett's Rebellion came to an end. I hope you will have read the earlier Shardlake historical mysteries…”

I have to confess that I haven’t read any of the Shardlake books, despite all the mentions, but I was in a secondhand bookshop today and found they had a nice Penguin copy of the first in the series and I shall be starting it tonight.

Russell wrote: "I haven’t read any of the Shardlake books..."

Like MK, I really like them. Some people found Tombland too long, but I didn't. It was interesting to read about the historical elements I hadn't known much about. Glad to hear there's a new one on the way.

Finished reading

Did I enjoy it? Yes as I have with all this series. But it is amazing how this Chief of Police manages to pull the irons out of the fire at the last second in every book. There are higher ups, people from the ministry, speciallised military personnel, but it is always Bruno who comes up with the solution and saves the day. He can also produce a 3 course meal for 6/8 (preparation meticulously described) at a a hour or two's notice in the middle of a crisis. All his days seem to have 36 hours in them!

I also think the historical detail provided could have done with some editing.

Too busy recently to catch up or to comment, and will be off to France for a good while tomorrow, so apologies if I 'should' have replied to some of you.

Just a quick one, then... I am currently engrossed in my second book by the amazing Spanish writer Juan Marsé, The Calligraphy of Dreams. This was quite a shock after the brilliant The Snares of Memory, which is so different in style - that one feels a bit 'experimental', with short sections or chapters comprising interviews, snippets of film-scripts, and bits of narrative - but all working to a unified purpose. Here, the paragraphs are long, the chapters even longer... which at first made me think it was going to be a hard read... but soon enough, once I had become accustomed to the rhythm, the author had me in a vice-like Ancient Mariner grip, and I found it much harder to stop reading than to start.

Is this an autobiography? No. Is it a memoir? Well, I'm not sure - yes and no? The protagonist's birth date is the same as the author's; the book includes events from his life... and yet... the tales are no doubt embellished and re-worked (I suspect) - and re-visited: events are mentioned in earlier chapters, then we spiral around to re-visit them with additional information later on. I don't know how it will finish, but it's absolutely brilliant so far (about half-way in). Another author who seems hardly known or read in the English speaking world... who knows why?

Bouvard et Pécuchet – Gustave Flaubert

He wrote this book, he said, to vomit on his contemporaries the disgust they inspired in him. After the first rather tender meeting of his two title characters he is so engrossed piling up the instances of their ridiculousness that he completely neglects momentum and plot. It becomes a compilation instead of a novel, and one which fails in its purpose - because this reader at least felt sympathy, not contempt, for Bouvard and Pécuchet.

Middle-aged, lonely, one a widower, one single, neither very clever, both petty-bourgeois clerks, both modest, both ready to put disappointment behind them and press on with their next enthusiasm, both happy to live for and with the other, why shouldn’t they enjoy their intimate companionship, and why should they be despised for their mild manias and their unsuccess?

The manias are catalogued in 200 pages of dry and charmless prose (agriculture, chemistry, geology, archaeology…). It is hard to see how any continuation could redeem a work whose first part is misconceived on such a scale.

Then there is a kind of interlude, and a flicker of life. It is 1848. News reaches them, down in the country, of barricades in Paris. For a brief time there is incident, movement, even some humour. The property-owning class fears disturbances. The mayor forms an inept contingent of National Guard. Bouvard has a passage of arms with a bourgeoise, Pécuchet with a maid. It all comes to nothing.

We return to further studies (philosophy, spiritualism, religion, phrenology…). Each area of knowledge in turn fails to satisfy them and is discarded. Is it the first part continued?

No, because Flaubert’s attitude to his two main characters has mysteriously changed, and it becomes a tad more interesting to read. Their ideas begin to seem intelligent, not ridiculous, they develop into capable critics and disputants, they discomfort the local gentry and the doctor and the abbé. They are no longer The Two Woodlice of the original title. It is as if he has warmed to them, and given them some presence. His scorn has shifted more towards the local notables and, in the wider world, all the writers of learned books, and their contradictions.

Unfinished of course. Some 400 pages were published after his death, to general dismay. The surviving notes give an idea of how he saw the conclusion. The disgust expressed in the completed chapters was merely preparatory to the blast that was to come. Whether, artistically, he could have pulled it round has to be seriously in doubt.

Gpfr wrote: "I went for a walk in Parc Montsouris..."

No, I'm going to resist the temptation to read all the comments - I really don't have the time - but have to respond here: we used to go jogging in Montsouris during the 'Paris years' - a lovely park - I don't recall there being anywhere as well suited to that in the 15th, where we lived.

Gpfr wrote: "Russell wrote: "I haven’t read any of the Shardlake books..."

Like MK, I really like them. Some people found Tombland too long, but I didn't. It was interesting to read about the historical elemen..."

Sorry to say that the 'new' Shardlake may have been a hoax. It has only appeared on GR (I think). Somehow, someone may have found a way to add a book there. Note - I have better things to do with my life than try to figure all that out.

For anyone into spies and Berlin, be on the lookout (or ask your library to buy it) for Winter Work by Dan Fesperman. I downloaded my copy from the library and am still at an early stage, but up 'til now - great. Think just after the Wall fell, East Germany and especially the Stasi are in flux and on the side (at least so far) are the Americans trying to round up and debrief any Stasi they can get their hands on.

This is my first book of his, but I may have to go back and take a hard look at some of his earlier ones.

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An article on Tove Jansson's marvellous The Summer Book.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

MK wrote: "Sorry to say that the 'new' Shardlake may have been a hoax...."

That's too bad. I've just had a look on seeing your comment and indeed it doesn't seem to be true.

As well as his Shardlake series, I also enjoyed Dominion and Winter in Madrid.

Just an aside — why, when I typed in Dominion to 'add book/author', was the 1st book in the list something called The Last Girl? The 2nd was something else again, Dominion was 3rd!

Ernesto Sabato's On Heroes and Tombs is a mixed read so far, in that it has incredible peaks but some strange troughs.

In its sense of place, 1950s Peronist Buenos Aires, it is absolutely brilliant, the sense of this vast city and its drifters and loners, amid the cynical,populist dictatorship of Juan Peron that ruined post-war Argentina. There is a sequence where a businessman delivers a monologue to the main character who is seeking a job that is one of the best passages i have read. A searing indictment of Argentina and its problems.

The downside is the love affair between a mysterious but rather dull young woman and the main character. When i cannot warm to characters on a page, every return to them irritates me and i feel if these two take up more of the text than the situation of a city and a country in peril, i may have to ditch this novel.

I wouldnt call it complex but it is an intellectual work of art with themes lurking behind the surface story..