What are you currently reading?

[NikF]

I Thought of Daisy by Edmund Wilson.



I'm sure at least some of you guys will know this author, but he's both new and cool to me.

[kishnevi]

I Thought of Daisy by Edmund Wilson.



I'm sure at least some of you guys will know this author, but he's both new and cool to me.

Good to see you!

I've read some Wilson as literary critic, but know nothing about his fiction.

[Jo498]

Maybe it's a matter (IIRC) of the book originating, not as a book, but as an accumulation of blog posts.  I found the book a bit of a mix, and probably because a serious musical reader has different expectations for A Book than for skimming through a blog.

Right. I now recall that it started as a blog. This clearly explains what I described as certain weaknesses. Short columns that need to captivate the reader quickly and come to certain point. While understandable, he should have spent more time transforming those blog entries into a book.

[NikF]

Good to see you!

I've read some Wilson as literary critic, but know nothing about his fiction.

Thanks, Jeffrey. Good to see you too!

Yeah, same here, I'd read little more than a couple of quotes attributed to him and they were interesting enough to make me look for info about him. And that led me to his novels.

[Ken B]

Thanks, Jeffrey. Good to see you too!

Yeah, same here, I'd read little more than a couple of quotes attributed to him and they were interesting enough to make me look for info about him. And that led me to his novels.

To The Finland Station is a bit dated and naive about the Bolsheviks but it's an extremely interesting book, well worth reading.

[NikF]

To The Finland Station is a bit dated and naive about the Bolsheviks but it's an extremely interesting book, well worth reading.

As ever, suggestions and recommendations are welcome.  Cheers, Ken.

[SimonNZ]

Axel's Castle and The Wound And The Bow are two of the finest collections of literary criticism I've read.

There's a couple of very useful Library Of America editions if you're interested in his nonfiction:

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Started reading Wilkie Collins's "No Name". Most enjoyable so far.

[Ken B]

Started reading Wilkie Collins's "No Name". Most enjoyable so far.

I'm keen to hear, as it's on my maybe list.

[NikF]

Axel's Castle and The Wound And The Bow are two of the finest collections of literary criticism I've read.

There's a couple of very useful Library Of America editions if you're interested in his nonfiction:

Cool. Thanks, Simon.

[milk]

Curious by some recent publicity around this book...just started it but quite a page-turner.

[TheGSMoeller]

Please keep us informed! (#oneofthosebooksontheshelveswhichIwishhopewanttoreadonetimetimeproviding) 

I am also reading Ross' book, although in German translation. Now about 220 pages in (of 600+). Not so sure what to make of it. I think Ross is overambitious and it's a little bit of everything but impossible to go into depth because he wants to cover so much.
And he sometimes slips into a somewhat gossipy mode.

Maybe it's a matter (IIRC) of the book originating, not as a book, but as an accumulation of blog posts.  I found the book a bit of a mix, and probably because a serious musical reader has different expectations for A Book than for skimming through a blog.

I'm enjoying The Rest is Noise, but some good points were made by you two, that I do mostly agree with. A good amount of the basic history of the composers, their music, I've known for a while, but some of the gossip bits are entertaining. I like hearing about the interaction between certain composers, and Ross goes deep into the political aspect surrounding the music.
I am really enjoying the music theory evaluations that Ross inserts when describing the impact of individual works.
Still have 12 hours to go. 

[Ken B]

I'm enjoying The Rest is Noise, but some good points were made by you two, that I do mostly agree with. A good amount of the basic history of the composers, their music, I've known for a while, but some of the gossip bits are entertaining. I like hearing about the interaction between certain composers, and Ross goes deep into the political aspect surrounding the music.
I am really enjoying the music theory evaluations that Ross inserts when describing the impact of individual works.
Still have 12 hours to go. 

Does he talk about AS's syphillis?

(This is a dig at Cato. I have read (heard) the book)

[Florestan]

Bernard Barber - Resistance by Scientists to Scientific Discoveries.

Mandatory reading for 71dB, I should say.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Recently read Goethe's Faust, Peter Sculthorpe's autobiography Sun Music, Absolutely on Music by Murakami with Ozawa and now on The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans.

[Brian]

Absolutely on Music by Murakami with Ozawa

How did you like this? Any comments? I have been tempted by it in bookstores, but have also seen a critic or two say that it is light on substance.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

How did you like this? Any comments? I have been tempted by it in bookstores, but have also seen a critic or two say that it is light on substance.

I read the book whilst on holiday and it isn't really a book which you would need to think too much about to enjoy it. But light on substance? Strange remark to make. The whole premise of the book is that it is anecdotal rather than anything really substantial about music history or anything like that. I enjoyed it for what it was: a conversation between music lovers about stuff they enjoy and, of course, Ozawa's anecdotes about his experience conducting. Murakami even says the book is intended to be enjoyed by people who might not even understand much about music at all.

[SimonNZ]

I was surprised by what an attentive long-time classical listener Murakami obviously was, and how he was able to highlight and articulate differences in specific sections of various recordings of the same works.

[Alek Hidell]

For me, just some light reading:



(That's The Destruction of the European Jews, by Raul Hilberg. Just started volume one. That's what my set looks like, but that's not my photo.)

[Brian]

Thanks, Jessop! Will probably buy, then.

I was surprised by what an attentive long-time classical listener Murakami obviously was, and how he was able to highlight and articulate differences in specific sections of various recordings of the same works.

I'm not surprised after 1Q84 began with a whole page of description about Janacek's Sinfonietta!