What are you currently reading?

[Haffner]

Re-reading The Life of Richard Wagner V.2 by Ernest Newman



I'm hopeless.

[ChamberNut]

Re-reading The Life of Richard Wagner V.2 by Ernest Newman



I'm hopeless.

Ha!  Guess what I started to read today?  The New Grove Wagner, by John Deathridge and Carl Dahlhaus

[Haffner]

Ha!  Guess what I started to read today?  The New Grove Wagner, by John Deathridge and Garl Dahlhaus

Heyyyy, haven't checked that one out yet!

[greg]

Today I listened to Schopenhaur's Studies in Pessimism.
Beautiful!  0:)

[aquablob]

Ha!  Guess what I started to read today?  The New Grove Wagner, by John Deathridge and Garl Dahlhaus

Carl Dahlhaus

[ChamberNut]

Carl Dahlhaus

Oopsies! Typo. 

[bwv 1080]

So far a great read

[Diletante]

I finished reading Unterm Rad by Hermann Hesse. My God, it was depressing! All in all it was interesting, though.

Now I'm reading a book with short stories (in Spanish translation) by Anton Chejov, which includes The Lady with the Dog and three others. I just read the first two stories, and man, I love how he writes! It really grabs me. Hadn't ever read Chejov before, but I'm definitely going to read more!

[Dr. Dread]

sf

[Benji]

sf

Details pretty please!

[Dr. Dread]

From Booklist
Anderson's outstanding first novel combines alternate history and seafaring in a way that recalls S. M. Stirling's splendid Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. Two U.S. four-stacker destroyers on the run from the Japanese in the spring of 1942 sail into a mysterious squall. The USS Walker emerges upon an alternate earth, where the dinosaurs were never wiped out. One savage sapient race, the Grik, has evolved from the raptors; another, from lemurs. The latter becomes the allies of the castaways in parallel time, and together they prepare to fight the Grik, solve some of the mysteries of this world, and find the missing second destroyer. There may be points, probably few, at which naval buffs will raise their eyebrows, but the nonstop action will speed nearly all readers past them. That action works out in the context of extremely high-level achievement at both world building and characterization. It's safe to say that the series this book launches is going to go places—for starters, into the hands of all seafaring-sf fans. --Roland Green

[Benji]

From Booklist
Anderson's outstanding first novel combines alternate history and seafaring in a way that recalls S. M. Stirling's splendid Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. Two U.S. four-stacker destroyers on the run from the Japanese in the spring of 1942 sail into a mysterious squall. The USS Walker emerges upon an alternate earth, where the dinosaurs were never wiped out. One savage sapient race, the Grik, has evolved from the raptors; another, from lemurs. The latter becomes the allies of the castaways in parallel time, and together they prepare to fight the Grik, solve some of the mysteries of this world, and find the missing second destroyer. There may be points, probably few, at which naval buffs will raise their eyebrows, but the nonstop action will speed nearly all readers past them. That action works out in the context of extremely high-level achievement at both world building and characterization. It's safe to say that the series this book launches is going to go places—for starters, into the hands of all seafaring-sf fans. --Roland Green

Interesting! So reptiles vs mammals on the high seas, basically? Awesome. 

[Daverz]

The last in Evans's 3 volume series about the Third Reich.  I didn't think I would learn much new, but I hadn't realized before just how vicious the German military (not just the SS) was to the conquered populace.  I suppose I'd absorbed that old movie cliche of the civilized Prussian officer who was above the vulgarity of the Nazis, but there were really very few of those types.  It's the thickest volume in the series, and I'm only about a quarter through.

[Brünnhilde forever]

Not actually reading any more, reciting it:

Goethe: Faust.

The famous Osterspaziergang of Dr. Faust, which my mother taught me during our Easter Morning walks, years ago. It became a habit to recite it every year, I still do it, in fact recited it loud, walking along our irrigation canal trail less than an hour ago. Different scenery, but there still is the magic of the greatest German writing. If you think you don't have the time to read the English translation I am attaching, you can always go to the original and read it in German, sounds much better anyhow:

Faust.
From the ice they are freed, the stream and brook,
By the Spring's enlivening, lovely look;
The valley's green with joys of hope;
The Winter old and weak ascends
Back to the rugged mountain slope.
From there, as he flees, he downward sends
An impotent shower of icy hail
Streaking over the verdant vale.
Ah! but the Sun will suffer no white,
Growth and formation stir everywhere,
'Twould fain with colours make all things bright,
Though in the landscape are no blossoms fair.
Instead it takes gay-decked humanity.
Now turn around and from this height,
Looking backward, townward see.
Forth from the cave-like, gloomy gate
Crowds a motley and swarming array.
Everyone suns himself gladly today.
The Risen Lord they celebrate,
For they themselves have now arisen
From lowly houses' mustiness,
From handicraft's and factory's prison,
From the roof and gables that oppress,
From the bystreets' crushing narrowness,
From the churches' venerable night,
They are all brought out into light.
See, only see, how quickly the masses
Scatter through gardens and fields remote;
How down and across the river passes
So many a merry pleasure-boat.
And over-laden, almost sinking,
The last full wherry moves away.
From yonder hill's far pathways blinking,
Flash to us colours of garments gay.
Hark! Sounds of village joy arise;
Here is the people's paradise,
Contented, great and small shout joyfully:
"Here I am Man, here dare it to be!"

[Brünnhilde forever]

Just noticed a glaring error in the translation! It's the last line, the what you might call The Punch Line:

In German it's:

Hier bin ich Mensch, hier darf ich sein!
Here bin I Man, here dare it to be
Here bin I Man, here dare I to be!

Replace the 'it' with 'I'! Makes a difference, doesn't it?

[SonicMan46]

Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge  (2008) by Edward Kritzler - probably bought this based on a NY Times 'Book Review' - can't remember, but the topic was of interest; just started the reading and am astounded by the picture presented; of course, this is not about just 'pirates' of Jewish origin, but the WHOLE history of the rejection of Jews in Europe in those early centuries (15th-17th centuries) in which Jews where basically 'kicked out' of the Iberian Peninsula, and had to choose to either leave or convert to Christianity (of course, in a hidden identity) - these Jews, particularly in this latter guise, seemed to be MAJOR players in the whole period of this time - just starting the read, but quite intriguing - for a few comments, if interested, check out the Amazonian Reviews - as a pretty 'well read' person of this period, this is becoming an enlightenment - is it all true?   

[Bogey]

An Easter gift from my wife:

[Daverz]

Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge  (2008) by Edward Kritzler

Now how can anyone possibly resist that?

[SonicMan46]

Now how can anyone possibly resist that?

Dave - I agree completely!    And, the reason that I had to get the book! 

[nut-job]

2666.  Not done yet.  Quite odd.