What are you currently reading?

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Should I assume that you took the care to read the book and think through its arguments? That would be quite a feat, reading a 500-page book in 10 minutes.

No, but I read BWV1080's comments and it seems clear to me what he meant and that you misrepresented them. He can clarify if I mistook him.

[Florestan]

No

I rest my case.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I rest my case.

Many a case is rested and lost.

[Florestan]

Many a case is rested and lost.

Certainly. One of the most blatant such cases is Schoenberg's claim that "one day even mailboys will whistle my tunes"... 

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Certainly. One of the most blatant such cases is Schoenberg's claim that "one day even mailboys will whistle my tunes"... 

Maybe in Vienna they do...

[ritter]

And we all know that street sweepers in Bucharest  are whistling Schumann all the time....

[Ken B]

well you get what you pay for (looked at it briefly)

You should start a drinking game for every time the author uses the word 'emotion'

like emotion is somehow the exclusive province of traditional tonality

he does not seem to understand that Schoenberg, Berg and other modernists were expressionists, defined by Adorno as seeking "the truthfulness of subjective feeling without illusions, disguises or euphemisms"

he seems equally perplexed that people could ascribe emotion to later composers in this tradition such as Ferneyhough

Explain disguises, illusions, and euphemisms in music.

[JBS]

Found this on Facebook. Probably the best thread to post this to.
http://assets.londonist.com/uploads/2018/11/fictionalbritainversion4.jpg

[Florestan]

And we all know that street sweepers in Bucharest  are whistling Schumann all the time....

If they do or don't is irrelevant because Schumann, unlike Schoenberg, never expressed any such concern. 

But talking about street sweepers: Manuel de Falla once overheard one in the streets of Madrid whistling one of his (de Falla's) Seven Spanish Folksongs. Intrigued, he asked the man where he learned it, upon which the guy replied "Why, Sir, I really don't know. I must have heard it somewhere and it got stuck in my head." That's precisely what Schoenberg had hope for. 

[Florestan]

Explain disguises, illusions, and euphemisms in music.

I am reminded of Lichtenberg aphorism to the effect that, while it's true that there are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamt of in philosophy, it's also true that there are many things in philosophy of which there's no trace in heaven and earth. 

[Jo498]

Found this on Facebook. Probably the best thread to post this to.
http://assets.londonist.com/uploads/2018/11/fictionalbritainversion4.jpg

Very nice. A large number of them must be from Wodehouse...

For some reason I pictured Kirrin Island (if this is from Blyton's Famous Five) further north, certainly not in the Channel. And Jack Vance's Lyonesse is far bigger and far further southwest (but this was probably to fit it onto the map at all or maybe there is another Lyonesse). Finally, I had thought Hogwarts was not quite so far up, rather closer to the border between England and Scotland.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I am considering reading Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes when by chance saw a copy at a local library. Didn't take it yet since I have a bit too many books going on simultaneously.

[aligreto]

Hesse: The Glass Bead Game





About half way through and I am enjoying it.

[JBS]

Very nice. A large number of them must be from Wodehouse...

For some reason I pictured Kirrin Island (if this is from Blyton's Famous Five) further north, certainly not in the Channel. And Jack Vance's Lyonesse is far bigger and far further southwest (but this was probably to fit it onto the map at all or maybe there is another Lyonesse). Finally, I had thought Hogwarts was not quite so far up, rather closer to the border between England and Scotland.

I believe the traditional legends place Lyonesse fairly close to shore. 
I am not sure if the books themselves give a location, but all the extracanonical mentions of Hogwarts's location put it in one or another sparsely settled part of the Highlands.

There are a few locations on the map that derive from the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, but as far as I can see it doesn't show Duke's Denver.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

About 3/4 through Magic Mountain and only now do I find out that the Finnish translation is abridged. It wasn't mentioned anywhere. As rewarding as the novel has been, after an initially boring start, I really don't feel like instantly borrowing English edition and hunting down every single possible missing sentence. I have pretty good memory but even I can't remember every single detail in this book. Not to mention the only way to be totally sure AND still make sense out of the book would require basically starting all the way from the beginning, with English edition and I'm not going to do that, at least not yet. This is no Les Misérables but it's still a relatively long book. The most infuriating part is that from what I understand, the abridged parts were mostly from the middle part of the book, from the several debates between Settembrini, Naphta, Castorp and Joachim. And those were easily the best parts in the book! Why would they omit those?

[André]

About 3/4 through Magic Mountain and only now do I find out that the Finnish translation is abridged. It wasn't mentioned anywhere. As rewarding as the novel has been, after an initially boring start, I really don't feel like instantly borrowing English edition and hunting down every single possible missing sentence. I have pretty good memory but even I can't remember every single detail in this book. Not to mention the only way to be totally sure AND still make sense out of the book would require basically starting all the way from the beginning, with English edition and I'm not going to do that, at least not yet. This is no Les Misérables but it's still a relatively long book. The most infuriating part is that from what I understand, the abridged parts were mostly from the middle part of the book, from the several debates between Settembrini, Naphta, Castorp and Joachim. And those were easily the best parts in the book! Why would they omit those?

The debates are indeed crucial to penetrate the novel's spirit. Hans Castorp and his cousin are mostly spectators in the verbal jousts opposing the humanist Settembrini and the nihilist Naphta. There is a case for considering them sterile digressions, but the way they culminate in brutal fashion gives Mann one of his most dramatic effects.

[Ken B]

.[asin]978-0316292108[/asin]

Yoo-hoo Florestan.

[SimonNZ]

[North Star]

[asin]0316292109[/asin]

Yoo-hoo Florestan.

Slightly less clandestine when I replace the ISBN code you had put in the ASIN code's place.  0:)

[Ken B]

Slightly less clandestine when I replace the ISBN code you had put in the ASIN code's place.  0:)

Danke.

That reform bill looks good!