What are you currently reading?

[HIPster]

Yeah, it is. And I was saying in another thread that only on the second time of reading did I become aware of the cool Joseph Campbell monomyth/Jung 'all stories are one story' stuff. Also, I liked the character of Hazel.

Read that few months ago. The writing style reminded me much of Tolkien's.

I remember someone else saying the same thing. But I haven't read enough Tolkien to see if I agree. Still, it's an interesting comment.

Appropriate to the discussion, perhaps; a remembrance of John Hurt:

https://theringer.com/john-hurt-obituary-994414174f79?source=collection_home---4------0----------

. . .he was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Max, a drug-addicted prisoner in Midnight Express, before providing his voice in the animated adaptations of two essential British works of fiction: Watership Down, as Hazel, and The Lord of the Rings, as Aragorn. His voice, a secret weapon if he had one, communicated erudition, suspicion, and playfulness all at once. When he spoke, it sounded like tobacco burning.

RIP John Hurt

[NikF]

Appropriate to the discussion, perhaps, a remembrance of John Hurt:

https://theringer.com/john-hurt-obituary-994414174f79?source=collection_home---4------0----------

. . .he was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Max, a drug-addicted prisoner in Midnight Express, before providing his voice in the animated adaptations of two essential British works of fiction: Watership Down, as Hazel, and The Lord of the Rings, as Aragorn. His voice, a secret weapon if he had one, communicated erudition, suspicion, and playfulness all at once. When he spoke, it sounded like tobacco burning.

RIP John Hurt

Good stuff. Thanks.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

One reason for why it reminds me of Tolkien is possibly because the person who translated Watership Down in finnish, Kersti Juva, is also renowned for her translations of Tolkien's books. She has also translated Dickens and A.A.Milne, for example.

[Drasko]

Anton Chekhov - One act plays: The Road House, Swansong, The Bear, A Marriage Proposal, Tatiana Ryepina, A Tragedian in Spite of Himself, The Wedding, The Jubilee, On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

My first Collins novel. Extremely fascinating so far.

[NikF]

My first Collins novel. Extremely fascinating so far.

Cool. That's another on my 'to read' list. The only work of his that I've read is The Woman in White.
When you've finished reading The Moonstone let us know what you think?

[Ken B]

Cool. That's another on my 'to read' list. The only work of his that I've read is The Woman in White.
When you've finished reading The Moonstone let us know what you think?

I readthose back to back in a day and a half when I was young and foolish.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Cool. That's another on my 'to read' list. The only work of his that I've read is The Woman in White.
When you've finished reading The Moonstone let us know what you think?

I most certainly will, although it may take some time because I'm reading so many novels at the same time.

[NikF]

I readthose back to back in a day and a half when I was young and foolish.

Ah well, at least being young passes.

I most certainly will, although it may take some time because I'm reading so many novels at the same time.

Of course. I've tried reading more than one book at a time - usually a novel alongside some kind of non-fiction - but I found it resulted in a growing pile of 'books I've started and yet to finish'.

[Florestan]

And what are your favorite novels set in Venice?

Paul Heyse - Andrea Delfin
D'Annunzio - The Flame of Life
Barry Unsworth - Stone Virgin

Not a novel, but just as fascinating, if not more: Casanova's Memoirs, the relevant chapters.

[Jo498]

Ever read the Donna Leon novels? People recommend them to me but I have never actually made the effort to read one.

I have read maybe a handful years ago, usually when travelling and out of stuff to read. I don't think they are very good although not that bad either. I have been to Venice but not often or long enough to evaluate them on that aspect. What struck me is that the Commisario and his wife (who happens to be a professor of English literature) often seem the lonely PC lighthouses within an utterly corrupt and hypocritical if quaintly stylish Italian society. (I think this also pissed off Italians who don't think an elderly American lady should paint them like and lecture them on that.)

[Florestan]

The absolute worst Venice nove I've readl is "The Vivaldi Enigma" by Peter Harris (nom de plume for a Spanish author). Suffice to say that in this book people and the Police move around in Venice by car... 

[Jo498]

Cool. That's another on my 'to read' list. The only work of his that I've read is The Woman in White.
When you've finished reading The Moonstone let us know what you think?

I have read both (although the Woman in White only in translation). There are both pretty good, the "Moonstone" is somewhat lighter and more entertaining with the changing narrators (the funniest of which is an old butler who takes "Robinson Crusoe" as his bible and general guiding light of life). Both are early and quite convincing cases of "Mystery + Romance".

[Jo498]

The absolute worst Venice nove I've readl is "The Vivaldi Enigma" by Peter Harris (nom de plume for a Spanish author). Suffice to say that in this book people and the Police move around in Venice by car... 

I'll grant the Donna Leon is better than that. She has been living in Venice for quite a while, I think, and knows her way around. Still, there are probably better books around, even when restricted to the genre "crime mystery in colorful/famous city". Didn't Highsmith (certainly a more convincing and more original writer than Leon) write a book taking place in Venice?

A fun romp is Alejo Carpentier's "Concierto barocco" with Handel, Bach and Vivaldi meeting in Venice.

[Florestan]

A fun romp is Alejo Carpentier's "Concierto barocco" with Handel, Bach and Vivaldi meeting in Venice.

That's been on my wishlist for quite a while. Thanks for the reminder. 

[NikF]

Mademoiselle de Maupin by Theophile Gautier.

[asin]0140448136[/asin]

Now that Hazel has scurried off to join his new Owsla, I thought I'd start reading this.

[Wakefield]

That's been on my wishlist for quite a while. Thanks for the reminder. 

As Carpentier was one of the most baroque writers in Spanish during the XXth Century, it's probably quite apt for his theme...

P.S.: I love Casanova's Histoire de ma vie, too.

[Florestan]

As Carpentier was one of the most baroque writers in Spanish during the XXth Century, it's probably quite apt for his theme...

I've read --- and loved --- The Rite of Spring, The Lost Steps and The Harp and the Shadow.

P.S.: I love Casanova's Histoire de ma vie, too.

One of the most enjoyable, entertaining and humane books ever written. I have it in an abridged Romanian translation but I would love to read the whole French original.

[Wakefield]

One of the most enjoyable, entertaining and humane books ever written. I have it in an abridged Romanian translation but I would love to read the whole French original.

Yes, it is! Fortunately, we have a "complete" edition in two vols., wonderfully released by Atalanta:



I have slowly progressed through its 3,500 pages during the last year or something so. 

[Karl Henning]

The absolute worst Venice nove I've readl is "The Vivaldi Enigma" by Peter Harris (nom de plume for a Spanish author). Suffice to say that in this book people and the Police move around in Venice by car... 

Why does that appear to be a parasite upon The Da Vinci Code? (Not that one feels sorry for this host . . . .)