What are you currently reading?

[vers la flamme]

William Faulkner's The Unvanquished



Couldn't resist returning to Faulkner's work before long. This collection of very closely related (sequential) short stories, originally published separately, deal with the Civil War & its immediate aftermath from the perspective of one Bayard Sartoris, of a family that recurs in many of Faulkner's books, residents of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. It's somewhat of a straightforward narrative, compared to both As I Lay Dying & Light in August, but does contain plenty of Faulkner's trademark "impressionistic" writing, which I enjoy greatly, but which does present problems when it comes to action sequences. Still, there are unforgettable moments: Bayard and his slave friend Ringo hiding under Granny's skirt after shooting a Yankee horse; Col. John Sartoris capturing with ease a huge Union regiment only to let them go free immediately afterward; the destruction of a bridge leaving an army of freed slaves on a northbound trek totally lost and wayward; Granny & Ab Snopes running a con stealing mules from Yankee regiments and selling them back for a profit. Excellent storytelling, even when it's not exactly easy to follow.

[SimonNZ]

half way into:

[JBS]

half way into:

I think I've read that, but possibly an earlier edition. She wrote three other books on daily life in London under Elizabeth, during the 18th century, and under Victoria.  I've read the one on the 18th century. If you like this one you'll probably like them all.

[SimonNZ]

That's the first one of hers I've read, but if and when I stumble across the others I'll certainly be grabbing them.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I, Fellini. Federico Fellini/Charlotte Chandler.

[steve ridgway]

Just finished Vol. 1 "Unity and Diversity of Life on Earth" of the 7 volume set of ebooks "E. O. Wilson's Life on Earth" from Apple Books on my iPad. A top quality textbook and absolutely free.

[vers la flamme]

Just started Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus



This is probably the oldest thing I've read this year, but I've been meaning to explore Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in some more depth (only read about 5 or 6 Shakespeare plays, and not sure I'm ready to take the deep dive into his work just yet, but I am fascinated by the era and style). So far, so good. Quite funny.

[SimonNZ]

These two on the go:

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Just started Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus



This is probably the oldest thing I've read this year, but I've been meaning to explore Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in some more depth (only read about 5 or 6 Shakespeare plays, and not sure I'm ready to take the deep dive into his work just yet, but I am fascinated by the era and style). So far, so good. Quite funny.

I haven't read this well-respected work. I must get a copy!

[vers la flamme]

I haven't read this well-respected work. I must get a copy!

Though I've heard about a billion classical takes on the Faust myth, this is my first time reading any substantial version of it (save half of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus two years ago, which is surely a magnificent book, but I couldn't make it all the way through at the time.) Definitely need to get around to Goethe one of these days.

[JBS]

Though I've heard about a billion classical takes on the Faust myth, this is my first time reading any substantial version of it (save half of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus two years ago, which is surely a magnificent book, but I couldn't make it all the way through at the time.) Definitely need to get around to Goethe one of these days.

As for Marlowe, I would suggest Edward II is actually better than Faustus. Beyond him, look for Webster's Duchess of Malfi, and the very dark and cynical Revenger's Tragedy attributed to Cyril Tourneur.

[vers la flamme]

As for Marlowe, I would suggest Edward II is actually better than Faustus. Beyond him, look for Webster's Duchess of Malfi, and the very dark and cynical Revenger's Tragedy attributed to Cyril Tourneur.

Awesome, thanks! Was looking for more recommendations for English renaissance drama.

[LKB]

This week I've been making brief forays into Alfred Brendel's Music, Sense and Nonsense, a collection of essays, lectures and other offerings spanning a good portion of his career.

I've owned this book for at least a year, and I've read maybe ten pages during that interval. For the most part, the concentrated density of his writing borders on a sort of monolithic grandeur... admittedly impressive in its way, but essentially bereft of humor. ( He does describe a passage in one of Beethoven's works as " hilarious ", but successfully avoids any such failing in the course of his literary exertions. )

Hesitantly recommended for pianists and masochists only...

,

LKB

[vers la flamme]

This week I've been making brief forays into Alfred Brendel's Music, Sense and Nonsense, a collection of essays, lectures and other offerings spanning a good portion of his career.

I've owned this book for at least a year, and I've read maybe ten pages during that interval. For the most part, the concentrated density of his writing borders on a sort of monolithic grandeur... admittedly impressive in its way, but essentially bereft of humor. ( He does describe a passage in one of Beethoven's works as " hilarious ", but successfully avoids any such failing in the course of his literary exertions. )

Hesitantly recommended for pianists and masochists only...

,

LKB

Aw, sorry to hear that; I've been wanting to read that book. May avoid for now.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Rereading The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme and Structure. Theodore Ziolkowski.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

If anybody have read Notes of Seven Decades written by Antal Dorati, please let us know how it is like.

[vers la flamme]

Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo



Just started it. I don't know whether or not this is intentional, but the book feels very Faulknerian.

[Artem]

I remember liking that book a lot, but I remember zero of its plot nowadays.

[vers la flamme]

I remember liking that book a lot, but I remember zero of its plot nowadays.

So far, there isn't much of a plot to speak of. Quite evocative writing, though. The jumps between past and present, the multiple perspectives, the large cast of tragic characters, and the descriptive nature of the writing—all these things draw to mind the Faulkner books I've read recently. As Susan Sontag points out in her introduction, this is a hell of a way to start a book:

I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Páramo, lived there. It was my mother who told me. And I had promised her that after she died I would go see him. I squeezed her hands as a sign I would do it. She was near death, and I would have promised her anything.

[aligreto]

Fred Pearce: The New Wild





This book is basically a discussion on the impact that the introduction of non native species ["alien species''], both flora and fauna, has on an any given ecosystem. It illustrates and discusses the how and why of these impacts both for good and for bad. These non native "alien species" can be introduced naturally or by human intervention and they may have many varied effects. Once introduced, their initial effect can be either good or bad for the relevant ecosystem and that initial effect may well change over time. The book illustrates the case, globally, for both circumstances.
However, the inevitable conclusion that I am drawing is that we humans actually have no clue as to what is right or wrong in terms of what is good or bad for our global ecosystems. Ultimately Nature will decide the destiny of this planet. That evidently would seem to be the case as far as current prevailing global climatic conditions are concerned.

The other main major concern for me, if Pearce, a journalist and science writer who specialises in global environmental issues, is to be believed, is the veracity of purported fact in terms of the core data that much of global decision making is based on and also the apparent lack of verification and replication of this core basic data, which is worrying from an empirical point of view. A lot of current thinking and decision making would appear to be based on shaky science at best. Are we all doomed simply because we will not verify the information upon which we are basing policy decisions?

Another one of the things that he purports is that apparently some modern ecologists are moving away from the notion that Nature is fixed and balanced in a pristine state in any ecosystem. It is, rather, in a constant state of flux. Therefore, spending both time and money on trying to maintain stability can lead to instability.