What are you currently reading?

[Jo498]

Basically the whole French intellectual and literary establishment signed a petition for the abolishment of any age of consent laws (it's 15 in France but I think still sufficiently disputed that there is nothing like automatic statutory rape) in the 1970s... They have been libertines since Marquis de Sade...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_petition_against_age_of_consent_laws
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/frances-existential-crisis-over-sexual-harassment-laws/550700/

[ritter]

Never read anything by Mr. Matzneff (and TBH have no inclination to do so anytime soon), but perhaps the Académie thought that you can  simultaneously  be a brilliant writer and a pedophile. France (fortunately) is one of the few countries where witchhunts and damnatio memoriae are not applied as easily as elsewhere.

[Florestan]

Never read anything by Mr. Matzneff (and TBH have no inclination to do so anytime soon), but perhaps the Académie thought that you can  simultaneously  be a brilliant writer and a pedophile.

Apparently, the main topic of his books is exactly his pedophilia. However brilliantly they might be written --- and I have very strong doubts that Matzneff's style is anywhere near Proust's or Cioran's --- this fact, combined with an elementary moral sense, should have give them pause for reflection. But it seems that the aforementioned elementary moral sense, which would make any humble, crass, barely literate plumber who has never read a single book in his life, let alone one prized by the Academie francaise, instantly recoil in horror at Matzneff's deeds, is in short supply among the enlightened, educated and oh so refined French intelligentsia.

France (fortunately) is one of the few countries where witchhunts and damnatio memoriae are not applied as easily as elsewhere.

Maybe. The fact remains, though, that witchhhunts and damnatio memoriae, while not trademarks of the French Revolution, were applied during that glorious historical event with a tenacity and a thoroughness unparalleled before and which I would qualify as German, were it not incongruous with the context.

[Florestan]

Basically the whole French intellectual and literary establishment signed a petition for the abolishment of any age of consent laws (it's 15 in France but I think still sufficiently disputed that there is nothing like automatic statutory rape) in the 1970s... They have been libertines since Marquis de Sade...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_petition_against_age_of_consent_laws
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/frances-existential-crisis-over-sexual-harassment-laws/550700/

The irony is that Marquis de Sade was a madman whose own family requested his incarceration and he was transferred from Bastille to another prison a few days before the former was taken by storm. And btw, on July 14, 1789 "the Bastille was nearly empty, housing only seven prisoners:[26] four forgers; James F.X. Whyte, a "lunatic" imprisoned at the request of his family; Auguste-Claude Tavernier, who had tried to assassinate Louis XV thirty years before; and one "deviant" aristocrat, the Comte de Solages, imprisoned by his father using a lettre de cachet". Some big deal indeed, taking by storm a prison devoid of any political prisoner...

[André Le Nôtre]

Back to Proust now!

en français ou en anglais?

I have had the very beautiful Modern Library hardcover (1950s?) translated by Scott Moncrief sitting on my shelf for years, but the thought of beginning this immense work is a bit daunting--especially given the many other things on my to-read list.

I have read very little poetry lately. I am looking to diving into either Jim Harrison or possibly Borges, but where to start?

Currently nearly finished with Connemara--Listening to The Wind by Tim Robinson (first in a trilogy. Truly a great writer, but much of the local history of the place is really a bore, for me at least--and I am an Irish citizen. Perhaps volumes two and three are more focused on the natural history and older history (Celtic and earlier), which would be of more interest to me personally.

[aligreto]

Somerset Maugham: Of Human Bondage





This is a two volume, 957 page novel about emotional immaturity, stupidity and lack of common sense. There is no empathy whatsoever accruing from the reader [me] for the situations that the main character finds himself in as it is always blatantly obvious that he is constantly making the wrong decision. Interestingly, Maugham wrote in his preface "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention."

[Mandryka]

Never read anything by Mr. Matzneff (and TBH have no inclination to do so anytime soon), but perhaps the Académie thought that you can  simultaneously  be a brilliant writer and a pedophile. France (fortunately) is one of the few countries where witchhunts and damnatio memoriae are not applied as easily as elsewhere.

Never read anything by Mr. Matzneff (and TBH have no inclination to do so anytime soon), but perhaps the Académie thought that you can  simultaneously  be a brilliant writer and a pedophile. France (fortunately) is one of the few countries where witchhunts and damnatio memoriae are not applied as easily as elsewhere.

I downloaded the notorious Les moins de seize ans, a tract in praise of young flesh but not interestingly argued and not poetically written. I also got hold of a copy of a biography of Lord Byron which he wrote, which seems rather more interesting but I haven't read it properly yet.

Just started to read this - and I'm dipping into L'innommable

I mean, I take a break from Proust by reading Beckett - what have I become? 

[Mandryka]

en français ou en anglais?

I have had the very beautiful Modern Library hardcover (1950s?) translated by Scott Moncrief sitting on my shelf for years, but the thought of beginning this immense work is a bit daunting--especially given the many other things on my to-read list.

In French, I've read Scott Moncrief though, and indeed the new translation of Du côté de chez Swann. One thing I'm very conscious of now is how marvellous Proust's French is, and you just don't get that at all in translation! The music of it!

[aligreto]

Childers: The Riddle of the Sands





This is ostensibly an espionage story but it is really about the skill and craft, and the love of sailing. If one is of a nautical inclination then I would definitely read it. If not, then you will not be deprived of reading a masterpiece of the genre by not reading it.

[BWV 1080]

Finished the pair, and after reading came to the conclusion that he was kind of a bad guy




Seriously, a few interesting takeaways
A) in the 30s he was a very shrewd politician, not just a demagogue who could rile crowds up
B) His anti-Semitism was sincere and the core of most everything he did and believed, not some 'great lie' to get power
C) He realized the war was lost when Barbarossa failed in late summer 1941, but kept doubling down on long-shots to win, such as Op Blau, Kursk or the Bulge

[SimonNZ]

B) His anti-Semitism was sincere and the core of most everything he did and believed, not some 'great lie' to get power

I read the first part of Tolamd's classic 70s biography recently and he makes it clear that the antisemitism only began with the "stab in the back" myth after 1918, and wasn't present before. How does that compare with Ullrich?

Toland was particularly good at the homeless and dosshouse years in Vienna - of which I'd like to learn more. And for an unexpectedly touching portrait of the dog Fuchsl he had on the front.

[BWV 1080]

I read the first part of Tolamd's classic 70s biography recently and he makes it clear that the antisemitism only began with the "stab in the back" myth after 1918, and wasn't present before. How does that compare with Ullrich?

Toland was particularly good at the homeless and dosshouse years in Vienna - of which I'd like to learn more. And for an unexpectedly touching portrait of the dog Fuchsl he had on the front.

About the same - not much indication of it until the years after the war in Vienna, gives the impression it became an identity he assumed that grew to dominate everything he did

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started:



needing some easy distractions

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Finished the pair, and after reading came to the conclusion that he was kind of a bad guy




Seriously, a few interesting takeaways
A) in the 30s he was a very shrewd politician, not just a demagogue who could rile crowds up
B) His anti-Semitism was sincere and the core of most everything he did and believed, not some 'great lie' to get power
C) He realized the war was lost when Barbarossa failed in late summer 1941, but kept doubling down on long-shots to win, such as Op Blau, Kursk or the Bulge

Was he homosexual?

[SimonNZ]

Was he homosexual?

What makes you ask that?

[aligreto]

Somerset Maugham: The Magician





This is a somewhat strange story that starts off as a portrait of a number of modest middle class people about town and gradually ends up as a story that ties them all up in a tale centred around the occult with a somewhat gruesome and horrific ending. It is a most interesting read.

[BWV 1080]

Was he homosexual?

No evidence of it.  May have abused his niece who later committed suicide

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal

[JBS]

Somerset Maugham: The Magician





This is a somewhat strange story that starts off as a portrait of a number of modest middle class people about town and gradually ends up as a story that ties them all up in a tale centred around the occult with a somewhat gruesome and horrific ending. It is a most interesting read.

IIRC the title character was loosely based on Aleister Crowley (or more precisely, the public image of Crowley. I don't think the two ever met.)

[Mandryka]

I have absolutely no idea what the fuck it's about but who cares, the French is so beautiful. 

[ritter]

I have absolutely no idea what the fuck it's about but who cares, the French is so beautiful.

Thinking about tackling that one myself. Perhaps the (shorter) revised version, though...