What are you currently reading?

Started by facehugger, April 07, 2007, 12:36:10 AM

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ritter

Quote from: SimonNZ on March 25, 2024, 04:51:45 PMStarting: yet another from last year's Baille Gifford longlist, and the last to do from the shortlist:

That looks interesting, Simon. I've read a lot on (and by) Balanchine's "partner in crime", the fascinating Lincoln Kirstein. I should complement that with Homan's book.

ritter

#13141
Starting Harvey Sachs' Music in Fascist Italy.



Reasonably priced copies (or copies with reasonable shipping costs) are surprisingly  difficult to find. Very strange. I could order this from AbeBooks in the UK and have it delivered to Scotland, where my partner was spending some days visiting his mother.

The book is well written and readable. I'm well into the first chapter, "The Terrain", in which Mussolini's rise to power, and the musical politics of his regime, are described.

Mr. Sachs (best known for his biography of Toscanini) mentions —in laudatory terms— the other major book on the subject, Fiamma Nicolodi's Musica e musicisti nel ventennio fascista. I was not that enthusiastic about that book. It certainly contains some valuable information, but it read like a disjointed collection of anecdotes, with no clear narrative to it.




San Antone

After watching an excellent two-part dramatized documentary (made by Ric Burns on PBS) about Dante Alighieri I began re-reading the Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi.


SimonNZ

Quote from: San Antone on March 26, 2024, 02:48:36 PMAfter watching an excellent two-part dramatized documentary (made by Ric Burns on PBS) about Dante Alighieri I began re-reading the Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi.



Where/how did you see this?

San Antone

Quote from: SimonNZ on March 26, 2024, 02:58:46 PMWhere/how did you see this?

Here's the link to my PBS network (yours may be different) - https://www.pbs.org/show/dante-inferno-to-paradise/

DANTE: Inferno to Paradise is a two-part, four-hour documentary film chronicling the life, work and legacy of the great 14th century Florentine poet, Dante Alighieri, and his epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest achievements in the history of Western Literature.

SimonNZ

Quote from: San Antone on March 26, 2024, 04:29:23 PMHere's the link to my PBS network (yours may be different) - https://www.pbs.org/show/dante-inferno-to-paradise/


QuoteWhile over-the-air broadcasts reach beyond U.S. borders, online video is subject to geo-filtering, which restricts the areas that can view PBS content. PBS is legally obligated to ensure each show does not exceed its granted rights, which unfortunately eliminates international streaming ability for some PBS shows outside the U.S.

We regret not being able to offer our supporters all of our online content.

 :(

Mandryka

Quote from: San Antone on March 26, 2024, 02:48:36 PMAfter watching an excellent two-part dramatized documentary (made by Ric Burns on PBS) about Dante Alighieri I began re-reading the Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi.



One of Samuel Beckett's favourites. I think he liked all the torture in Inferno.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Florestan

#13147


The amount of bullshit contained in this book regarding historical and contemporary Spain would certainly make @ritter 's brain explode. I wonder whether the authors have ever seen a map of Spain, let alone read anything at all about its history. Dan Brown's level, maybe even below.  ;D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Crudblud

Zola - Au Bonheur des Dames ("The Ladies' Paradise", trans. Nelson, Oxford Classics)

Hume - An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Peter Smith - Introduction to Formal Logic (university "fun" :-\)

Ganondorf

Quote from: Crudblud on Today at 01:12:12 AMZola - Au Bonheur des Dames ("The Ladies' Paradise", trans. Nelson, Oxford Classics)

I read that Zola work some time ago. Zola is a magnificent evocative writer to be sure but I must also say that his male protagonists tend to be swines. If Zola even half-heartedly agrees with the kind of treatment his female characters receive in his books, then he must be the ultimate sexist.