What are you currently reading?

[André]

That was a book I greatly admired when I was in my early 20s. I keep meaning to read it again.

The handful of Gife works I read after it were never able to match it, with the exception of his journals.

Same here. Si le grain ne meurt is fascinating.

[ritter]

Same here. Si le grain ne meurt is fascinating.

That was a book I greatly admired when I was in my early 20s. I keep meaning to read it again.

The handful of Gife works I read after it were never able to match it, with the exception of his journals.

Thanks for you comments, gentlemen. I haven't been able to advance much because of lack of time, but so far I'm finding Les Faux-monnayeurs very attractive.

I loved Les Caves du Vatican many years ago, as well as the other Gide (essays, Perséphone, Saül...) I've read, but Les Faux-monnayeurs is viewed by many as the novel to read by this author.

Good evening, Simon and André!

[Florestan]

Isaiah Berlin is one of my favorite political philosophers and this is a most interesting and very illuminating book, especially given the current context. Highly recommended.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Close Up and Personal, Catherine Deneuve.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Isaiah Berlin is one of my favorite political philosophers and this is a most interesting and very illuminating book, especially given the current context. Highly recommended.

Looks interesting. Will get a copy!

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña, and Richard Fariña


Started:

[SimonNZ]

Still going with Vol.1 of Caro's LBj, but also knocked off a couple of quickies:



that second one is "The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused"

[Papy Oli]

I am not an avid reader and it can take me several months to finish a book. I usually dip in and out, times apart.

I certainly don't read novels.

Then I got offered this book earlier this year : Damon Galgut - The Promise (Booker Prize winner 2021)



It follows the story in 4 chapters only of a white land-owning South African family (the parents and 3 children), around the dying wish of the mother made in the 80's that the little side house used by their long-serving black domestic help, is to be given to her in full ownership. The "promise" accepted by the husband at time. The book follows the evolution of and the disputes over that promise, with the family (re)linking through a tragedy/loss every decade or so, all intertwined with the South African political background of each period.

I don't read novels. Yet, I read this one in pretty much 4 sittings only, with a few days break between each chapter. It did need such spacing. It is bleak, unrelenting, also feeling quite fast paced due a very particular yet highly descriptive narrative style. Not an easy read due to all the subject matters dealt with but a highly recommended one all the same. Not a book to love per se but one that keeps tugging at you all the way through and might stay with you for quite a while thereafter.

[André]

Thanks Olivier, this is one I'd like to read !

André

[aligreto]

I am not an avid reader and it can take me several months to finish a book. I usually dip in and out, times apart.

I certainly don't read novels.

Then I got offered this book earlier this year : Damon Galgut - The Promise (Booker Prize winner 2021)



It follows the story in 4 chapters only of a white land-owning South African family (the parents and 3 children), around the dying wish of the mother made in the 80's that the little side house used by their long-serving black domestic help, is to be given to her in full ownership. The "promise" accepted by the husband at time. The book follows the evolution of and the disputes over that promise, with the family (re)linking through a tragedy/loss every decade or so, all intertwined with the South African political background of each period.

I don't read novels. Yet, I read this one in pretty much 4 sittings only, with a few days break between each chapter. It did need such spacing. It is bleak, unrelenting, also feeling quite fast paced due a very particular yet highly descriptive narrative style. Not an easy read due to all the subject matters dealt with but a highly recommended one all the same. Not a book to love per se but one that keeps tugging at you all the way through and might stay with you for quite a while thereafter.

That is a very good summary for a non-reader, Olivier.

[Papy Oli]

See you in 2025 for my next book summary 

[aligreto]

See you in 2025 for my next book summary 

We can't wait that long! 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Boris Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life.
Re-read. One of my political heroes along with Churchill and MLK. He wanted the new Russia to be a democratic and developed country.

[Florestan]

Boris Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life.
Re-read. One of my political heroes along with Churchill and MLK.

Question: What did he have in common with Churchill but not with MLK?   

[Florestan]

We can't wait that long! 

We are not even sure the world will last that long... 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Question: What did he have in common with Churchill but not with MLK?   

Yeltsin and Churchill were white, caucasian. They were elected officials, and ultimately elected to the leader of the national govt.  unlike MLK, they were not womanizers. Though they had serious conflicts with the mainstream in national politics, they were not the public enemies of the government and authorities like mlk. Plus, they were not assassinated.

While Yeltsin surprisingly won reelection, Churchills party surprisingly "lost"  the post ww2 election and therefore wsc lost premiership.
All the three guys liked drinking.

[Florestan]

All the three guys liked drinking.

Well, that's what I had in mind --- I never knew MLK was a heavy drinker too. 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Well, that's what I had in mind --- I never knew MLK was a heavy drinker too. 

Hitler didn't drink or eat meat. He didn't attract ladies either.

Anyway, Yeltsin is an extremely fascinating man.

[LKB]

Hitler didn't drink or eat meat. He didn't attract ladies either...

He ate lead, just not soon enough to save millions.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

He ate lead, just not soon enough to save millions.