What are you currently reading?

[JBS]

The Cats' Bridge

Halfway through this highly recommended, page turner love story set in Oriental Prussia in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

"Oriental" Prussia?  Are you implying that Kant's inscrutable writing style was due to the fact that he was from China?


TD


An epic poem, written in sort of modern English (some middle English vocabulary creeps in) adaptation of the alliterative poetry of the Anglo Saxons, but abandoned after several cantos.  Based on what is here, rather a  shame.  But one needs to lament that  in moderation, since what Tolkien abandoned it for was the start of the Middle Earth mythos.

[Florestan]

"Oriental" Prussia?  Are you implying that Kant's inscrutable writing style was due to the fact that he was from China?

I should have wriiten East Prussia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Prussia  Oriental Prussia is the Romanian name of the region.

Anyway, if you find Kant inscrutable I wonder what you call Hegel. 

FWIW, I prefer Schopenhauer to both of them; he's far more realistic and his prose is a sheer delight (read it in translation only but the tranlations were made by professional philosophers and writers and they all praised the high literary qualities of his writings).

[Mandryka]

Disturbing, imaginative. Unputdownable.

[Florestan]

Unputdownable.

Please, give us your musical equivalents to this. The first five coming to your mind will do.

[NikF4]

I haven't read this before -

[Ken B]

I haven't read this before -

That's on my kindle. I loaded it up last month, after 30 years on the to be read list. I am keen to hear your reaction.

[NikF4]

That's on my kindle. I loaded it up last month, after 30 years on the to be read list. I am keen to hear your reaction.

I'll do that, yes. I'm looking forward to starting it and when finished I'll certainly post any thoughts I might have.

[Draško]

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



off and on, among other things:

[SonicMan46]

Finished:

   

Hi Simon - love those books that that seem to cover too much in the span of one-volume - just ordered the book inserted above, A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin from the History Book Club - not released yet but should arrive late next week?  However, I have 3 other books to start, so may be a while for that one?  Dave

[SimonNZ]

Hi Simon - love those books that that seem to cover too much in the span of one-volume - just ordered the book inserted above, A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin from the History Book Club - not released yet but should arrive late next week?  However, I have 3 other books to start, so may be a while for that one?  Dave

I didn't mean to keep going with The Penguin History Of The World. I picked it up expecting to confirm that it would just be everything once over lightly with a succession of names, places and dates. But it actually justifies its much reprinted status, largely because the personality and quirks of the author come through so clearly and unapologetically - in the manner of, say, your favorite lecturer at university. Likewise the threads he choses to follow and his take on things are often unexpected - try not to raise your eyebrows  when you hear how unimpressed he is with the "achievements" and "legacy" of ancient Egypt, for example. And, of course, plenty of signposts for things I now want to look into in more detail.

[Ken B]

I didn't mean to keep going with The Penguin History Of The World. I picked it up expecting to confirm that it would just be everything once over lightly with a succession of names, places and dates. But it actually justifies its much reprinted status, largely because the personality and quirks of the author come through so clearly and unapologetically - in the manner of, say, your favorite lecturer at university. Likewise the threads he choses to follow and his take on things are often unexpected - try not to raise your eyebrows  when you hear how unimpressed he is with the "achievements" and "legacy" of ancient Egypt, for example. And, of course, plenty of signposts for things I now want to look into in more detail.

I hesitate to ask about the Mitchell book. She's an icon in Canada of course, proving no country is without its flaws. I truly loathe Big Yellow Taxi.

[SimonNZ]

I hesitate to ask about the Mitchell book. She's an icon in Canada of course, proving no country is without its flaws. I truly loathe Big Yellow Taxi.

Actually that was pretty good. The author got access to everyone, including Mitchell herself, and in covering her entire career with nearly equal focus it highlights some neglected gems on later albums. Some backstory and autobiographical elements in the songs which I hadn't been aware of before, despite having listened to and read about Joni for most of my adult life. Good, if tragic, coverage of the development of  her 80s and onwards self-destructive impulses and waspish character.

Not overly critical, though. Nothing is actually bad or a total misstep. The author describes having written an early article about Joni with a couple of innocuous asides she didn't like and being blackballed be her for years following. He's clearly not going to make that mistake again, so most things are presented best foot forward, and when presenting various takes on a situation is careful to let Joni's spin be the final word - even knowing that's not how the reader will weigh the charges. Way more gushing about the first two albums than I would care to do - While I quite like the first one I think the unique voice really comes into its own with the third.


There's considerably more to her than "Big Yellow Taxi" or "Both Sides Now" if that's all you really know of her. The decade of albums she made in the 70s are a remarkable run, including "Hejira" which is just about my favorite album by anyone. And "Blue" and "Court And Spark" I've played thousands of times. I could give more and specific recommendations if you want them.

[Karl Henning]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2019/03/06/how-get-your-digital-affairs-order/sM9xWUrECUGzfmnzfkA83H/story.html

[Jaakko Keskinen]

If you don't mind me asking, Karl, do you like Our Mutual Friend so far?

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Now reading Mann's The Magic Mountain in English - unabridged, finally. 

[André]

Now reading Mann's The Magic Mountain in English - unabridged, finally. 

A milestone in one's life, I say  0:)

[Artem]

Good and rather scary. Schweblin is an interesting young writer from Argentine living in Germany whose work I look forward to following.

[Ken B]

I just finished

Death of a Hollow Man
Caroline Graham

This is a Barnaby novel. Midsomer is not mentioned but these are the source of Midsomer Murders.

This book is terrible. Terrible.

[Ken B]

That study people cite about women and blind Orchestra auditions? https://medium.com/@jsmp/orchestrating-false-beliefs-about-gender-discrimination-a25a48e1d02