What are you currently reading?

[Ken B]

Had Castiglione on my shelves unread for nearly two decades, but once dipped into I read it in a headlong rush in two sessions.

I was expecting a standard hectoring and priggish Etiquette Book, now only of historical intensest, but this is presented not in the author's voice but as a debate between nobles of the court of Urbino, some whose values reflect the Courtly tradition, others who are remarkably forward-looking, and we're left to judge the best advice/argument for ourselves.

There's a wonderful long middle section on humour that gives examples of varieties of jokes from the time, which would make an enjoyment on its own if anyone doesn't want to do the whole thing.

Will be following up soon with Peter Burke's history of the literary reception and influence of the work across the centuries, which I've also had waiting for two decades.

But in the meantime have started:

Never read the Castiglione.

Embracing Defeat was good as I recall. Long ago I read a Japanese mystery written in 1947. In it was a character who was like a Japanese version of a Southern Lost Cause type. What amazed me was that by the author and the other characters he was treated as a joke. This in a pop novel two years after the war. A small but perfect example of the phenomenon of embracing defeat. So unlike the confederacy.

[Florestan]

Technicalities aside, I relish his revisionist outlook and his sense of humour.  Hands down my favourite musicologist / music critic / writer about music.

[Alek Hidell]

SimonNZ: I saw a few pages back that you read the first volume of Guralnick's Elvis bio. Have you read the second?

TD: Just finished this one -



And just started this one -

[SimonNZ]

SimonNZ: I saw a few pages back that you read the first volume of Guralnick's Elvis bio. Have you read the second?

Only volume one so far. Would you recommend the second?

Guralnick's certainly a good writer, and there was plenty of interesting detail I didn't know (not that I'm a particularly big Elvis fan), including the difficulty of a small operation like Sun having a major success nearly bankrupt them. Recreates the historical time and place well, too.

The Attica book looks interesting. How did you rate it?

[Alek Hidell]

Only volume one so far. Would you recommend the second?

Guralnick's certainly a good writer, and there was plenty of interesting detail I didn't know (not that I'm a particularly big Elvis fan), including the difficulty of a small operation like Sun having a major success nearly bankrupt them. Recreates the historical time and place well, too.

The Attica book looks interesting. How did you rate it?

I recommend both. Of course the second half of Elvis' life is much sadder than the first, with Colonel Parker's exploitation of his meal ticket, the movie years, the great comeback in '68 followed by the eventual tragic decline to the end.

The Attica book is sad in its own way, too, but it's a well-told account that gives time to all sides. I read some Amazon reviews that accused the author of being biased in favor of the convicts, glossing over the crimes that landed them in the prison in the first place, but those seem to me to be barely relevant. No matter what their crimes, they had many legitimate grievances and, of course, the response to the riot - state police charging in like the Einsatzgruppen - was a total clusterfuck.

[SimonNZ]

I recommend both. Of course the second half of Elvis' life is much sadder than the first, with Colonel Parker's exploitation of his meal ticket, the movie years, the great comeback in '68 followed by the eventual tragic decline to the end.

I thought Guralnick, in that first part at least, was much less damning of the Colonel than is usual. Presley wanted to be big and Parker had the connections and knew how to get him national rather than local exposure and market saturation. And if the films weren't that good, well, he seems to say, most films aren't. Still early days at the end of volume one, though.

I'll see if I can track down the Attica nook. Thanks.

[SimonNZ]

Started:

[Mandryka]

This was published about three years ago, one of the few novels he's written in French and not Czech. It's very very good!

[jwinter]

Just started this... only about 40 pages in, but good so far.  And well-written, not too academic or dry.

[Ken B]

This was published about three years ago, one of the few novels he's written in French and not Czech. It's very very good!

Interesting. I read all of his books then in print sometime in the late 80s, but have lost track of him since. But I was thinking of him just last week. So, a book for the TBR list.

[Andy D.]

It's convenient that Shostakovich's 7th clicked for me yesterday, as I just received and am about to dive into this book:

[Karl Henning]

It's convenient that Shostakovich's 7th clicked for me yesterday, as I just received and am about to dive into this book:

Do report, when you may.

Thread Duty:

I am boldly going where our Gurn has gone long before, reading Haydn: His Life and Music by H.C.Robbins Landon and David Wyn Jones.

[JBS]

Strenously detailed. The narrative is sometimes bogged down by what might best be called psychological speculation when documentary evidence does not exist . But gripping reading.

[Ken B]

Strenously detailed. The narrative is sometimes bogged down by what might best be called psychological speculation when documentary evidence does not exist . But gripping reading.

It occurs to me that you would like Freedom National by Oakes. I also highly recommend his Scorpion's Sting.

[JBS]

It occurs to me that you would like Freedom National by Oakes. I also highly recommend his Scorpion's Sting.

I will keep an eye out for them.

[Ken B]

Several things on the go

Devil in the Grove, King. Thurgood Marshall in Florida.
Sharpe's Revenge, Cornwell. Kinda wavering on this. I have read and liked several in the past but maybe enough.
Half life of facts, Arbesman. Audio book in the car.
Two textbooks on probability theory and stochastic processes. One more in queue.
Bleak House, Dickens. Reread
Some vintage whodunnit to be named in the next day or so. Probably Halfway House by Ellery Queen.

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started:




also my bus book for the past couple of weeks has been LeCarre's Little Drummer Girl which I'm finding to be the best thing he's written (of what I've read so far). This is by far the most attention he's paid to fleshing out characters and motivations and in general scene setting. Instead of just getting to the business of moving the story he seems to have enjoyed the process of writing this one and in taking his time.

[Ken B]

Finished:



Started:




also my bus book for the past couple of weeks has been LeCarre's Little Drummer Girl which I'm finding to be the best thing he's written (of what I've read so far). This is by far the most attention he's paid to fleshing out characters and motivations and in general scene setting. Instead of just getting to the business of moving the story he seems to have enjoyed the process of writing this one and in taking his time.

The Evans is excellent.

I liked dDrummer Girl. If you are implying he is generally dull, I agree. Not much of interest after the Karla books.

[SimonNZ]

The Evans is excellent.

I liked dDrummer Girl. If you are implying he is generally dull, I agree. Not much of interest after the Karla books.

I meant that he usually only provides enough characterization to move the story along. It's unusual to see it being the point and the development and interior monologue done so extensively and so successfully.

Have you read the two following Evans third reich books?

[Ken B]

I meant that he usually only provides enough characterization to move the story along. It's unusual to see it being the point and the development and interior monologue done so extensively and so successfully.

Have you read the two following Evans third reich books?

I am half way through the second. It got mislaid during packing and moving, but I plan to finish it once I find it

My favorite book o the rise of the Nazis is still an old one, the German dictatorship by Bracher.

TD
I did settle on that Ellery Queen and am halfway. Not quite halfway with the Devil in the Grove. Good not great. The top of the queue is now The Marshall Plan by Steil.