What are you currently reading?

[vers la flamme]

TD: still going with the book on Thatcher's Britain, but in the meantime finished this:

Well, thanks for mentioning this book and opening my eyes to what it's about. Thoroughly enjoying it so far, though it can be a bit of a tough slog at times. There was a part that totally cracked me up, where Kinbote's commentary to part of Line 80, which reads "my bedroom", instantly relaunches into an ongoing story about the prince of Zembla which goes on for some 4 pages, without actually tying in how this has anything to do with the line in question from the poem. I like how the commentator has a political ulterior motive for his whole edition thing. Hilarious. Nabokov is a fine writer. I look forward to reading more of his work once I make it through this one.

[aligreto]

Somerset-Maugham: Creatures of Circumstance





This is another collection of short stories which reflects Maugham's inimitable take on human nature.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Salome, Oscar Wilde.

[vers la flamme]

Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire

Finished last night. This ended up being really, really good—way better than I had imagined it would be at the beginning or even at the halfway point. Wow. I'm impressed with the deep ambiguity of the work. Really gave me a lot to think about. Nabokov is a phenomenal writer. I can't wait to read more of his work.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Jfyi, an article about "Drive My Car," a movie adaptation of Haruki Murakami's work.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/07/drive-my-car-movie-review-1234650289/

[Ganondorf]

Salome, Oscar Wilde.

I've always been interested in this play because it was basis for one of my favorite operas by Richard Strauss.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I've always been interested in this play because it was basis for one of my favorite operas by Richard Strauss.

A theatrical performance of this play maybe great. But for reading, this is just average for my personal preference.

[vers la flamme]

Jfyi, an article about "Drive My Car," a movie adaptation of Haruki Murakami's work.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/07/drive-my-car-movie-review-1234650289/

Awesome! I did not hear about this film. I'm not sure whether or not I've mentioned this before, but Men Without Women, which contains the story "Drive My Car", was my introduction to Haruki Murakami's fiction and I've been hooked ever since.

[vers la flamme]

I've stared Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin



Nabokov is an unbelievably skilled English prose stylist, all the more remarkable when considering English was a third language for him. This book is a farcical take on the Russian immigrant experience in America. So far, so good; quite funny in a very Russian way. I'm hooked on Nabokov's writing style after reading Pale Fire. Need to get around to reading Lolita one of these days, and then there are about 5 other Nabokov books that I'd love to read.

[aligreto]

Waugh: The Loved One





Published in 1948 this short novel is a comic and biting satire on the shallow values of Californian life at the time.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Awesome! I did not hear about this film. I'm not sure whether or not I've mentioned this before, but Men Without Women, which contains the story "Drive My Car", was my introduction to Haruki Murakami's fiction and I've been hooked ever since.

My gut feeling is that the movie will come to the States next year. It won Best Screenplay Award at Cannes this summer.

[Daverz]

Waugh: The Loved One





Published in 1948 this short novel is a comic and biting satire on the shallow values of Californian life at the time.

I don't know how true it is to the book, but this was made into a wonderfully quirky film in the '60s.  The screenplay was by Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood.

"The film stars Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer and Rod Steiger. Among those making appearances in smaller roles are John Gielgud, Robert Morley, Roddy McDowall, James Coburn, Milton Berle, Dana Andrews, Tab Hunter and Liberace."  -- Wikipedia

They missed that Paul Williams is in there as well.  Rod Steiger plays "Mr. Joyboy"!

[aligreto]

I don't know how true it is to the book, but this was made into a wonderfully quirky film in the '60s.  The screenplay was by Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood.

"The film stars Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer and Rod Steiger. Among those making appearances in smaller roles are John Gielgud, Robert Morley, Roddy McDowall, James Coburn, Milton Berle, Dana Andrews, Tab Hunter and Liberace."  -- Wikipedia

They missed that Paul Williams is in there as well.

Cheers, Dave. I was not aware of that film and I will try to find it. It would make for interesting viewing for me.

[vers la flamme]

My gut feeling is that the movie will come to the States next year. It won Best Screenplay Award at Cannes this summer.

Definitely will be looking forward to it. I got a kick out of this bit from the review

Adapted by "Happy Hour" and "Asako I & II" auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi from a short story by Haruki Murakami, "Drive My Car" is a head-on collision between an emerging filmmaker fascinated by the interior lives of women, and a famous author who... is not (to say nothing of his other charms, Murakami is more into mysterious pixie dream girls).

While there are female characters in Murakami's work that I admire, it's true that writing women will never be his strong suit.

[SimonNZ]

Jfyi, an article about "Drive My Car," a movie adaptation of Haruki Murakami's work.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/07/drive-my-car-movie-review-1234650289/

Have you seen the film they made of his short story "Tony Takitani"?

I thought it was fascinating, but it's very slow moving which might explain why it's been largely overlooked.

[vers la flamme]

Have you seen the film they made of his short story "Tony Takitani"?

I thought it was fascinating, but it's very slow moving which might explain why it's been largely overlooked.

Wow, with a soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto. I must watch this.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Wow, with a soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto. I must watch this.

+1. I must get a DVD of the movie.

[LKB]

Just started Into the Storm, by Tom Clancy and retired US Army General Fred Franks.

Fairly interesting thus far, and recommended for anyone interested in the nuts-and-bolts which held the Desert Storm ground campaign together.

[Artem]

Mostly shorter books this time.

Nadas' short story "Own death" is accompanied with photographs of a tree on each page. Carr's is a very English novel, reminded me of "Atonement". Kagge's essay was just OK. The book on Guston was my favourite. It's a short bio with great selection of his work and some photos from the studio.

[Brian]

I've read "A Month in the Country" twice. Easy to do because it's so short. But indeed it's very English, very beautiful, very full of unadmitted emotions.