Books you are reading

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Korea Hammer
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Re: Books you are reading

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Emile Zola ~ Thérèse Raquin

One of Zola's earliest novels. I loved it as I have nearly all of his that I've read. It really is quite shockingly grim at times, and full of Zola's now quite dated views on human temperament and character, but as a short 200-page book that I barrelled through in a couple of days, I found it pretty engrossing.

Having read most of his better known, later novels now, I might start going back to the beginning of the Rougon-Macquart series and plugging the gaps.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Just finished Preston Lauterbach's 2011 "The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock 'N' Roll" a great account of how African American's developed their own live music network and how that shaped the development of popular American Music, and thus the world. Full of colourful characters, many of them criminal and some truly great performers, from the 1920's through to Al Green. Essential reading for those who are interested in the true story of Black Music in America.
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Re: Books you are reading

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pablo jaye wrote: Tue May 24, 2022 6:29 pm Off on hols next week so have bought some light reading Matter - Richard Osman’s ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ as I enjoyed his first book; and Andrew O’Hagan’s ‘Mayflies’ given its setting in the 80s and the Manchester music scene. First saw it recommmeded by Sonny Marr, daughter of Johnny.
I’ve just finished Mayflies - a good, easy read that is a great account of male friendship. I’d not realised that the wonderful missus jaye was also reading it on her kindle at the same time. She gave up on it as she didn’t get it … women, huh?!?
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Re: Books you are reading

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Korea Hammer wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 7:41 pm Emile Zola ~ Thérèse Raquin

One of Zola's earliest novels. I loved it as I have nearly all of his that I've read. It really is quite shockingly grim at times, and full of Zola's now quite dated views on human temperament and character, but as a short 200-page book that I barrelled through in a couple of days, I found it pretty engrossing.

Having read most of his better known, later novels now, I might start going back to the beginning of the Rougon-Macquart series and plugging the gaps.
Zola is one author you have to study during middle and high school here in France. Classics among the classics. I hated it as a teenager, as it was long and tedious readings, and, frankly, quite dpressing. After my studies, I forced myself to reopen one of his books, L'Assommoir and was captivated by it. Being from a working class family, I could relate to a lot of things. I went on reading most of the Rougon-Macquart cycle, but not in chronological order. The last one I read was Pot-Bouille, an interesting depiction of a bourgeois building during the Second Empire. I found in it a lot of what I learned in my history classes at the university, about the social stratficiation being vertical at the time (the more you climb the stairs, the poorer it gets) instead of the horizontal one we see today (Saint-Denis is not Paris, the Champions League final demonstrated it).

I've just finished Blindness (L'aveuglement, I read it in French) by José Saramago. It is some kind of post-apocalyptic novel, but it really gives a lot to think about human behaviours and the true nature of our actions and beliefs. Definitely a masterpiece to me, and it was one of the books the Nobel committee noted when awarding the author the Litterature prize in 1998.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Misko wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:29 am I've just finished Blindness (L'aveuglement, I read it in French) by José Saramago. It is some kind of post-apocalyptic novel, but it really gives a lot to think about human behaviours and the true nature of our actions and beliefs. Definitely a masterpiece to me, and it was one of the books the Nobel committee noted when awarding the author the Litterature prize in 1998.
There is a brilliant, underrated film adaptation of this book. Directed by Fernando Mereiles (City of God) and with a pretty top class cast as well.

No idea why it didn't receive more acclaim. It's obviously not as rich as the book but it's a decent amalgamation of the ideas shot beautifully and acted really well.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Misko wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:29 am Zola is one author you have to study during middle and high school here in France...
Nice post, Misko, thanks for the reply. I started with Germinal and then read Nana, L'Assommoir, La Terre and La Debacle. All out of sequence too, like you. Apart from Nana, loved all of them, but I must admit they're bleak! And surprisingly violent at times, especially La Terre.

I teach international students, and my French ones always say the same as you, that studying him at school put them off somewhat. I often wonder whether English translations are more readable because they're in a modern style, and perhaps if I were able to read them in the original French I might find it a bit old-fashioned and less engaging. But I don't know.
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Misko wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:29 am I've just finished Blindness (L'aveuglement, I read it in French) by José Saramago.
Lovely book :newthumb:
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Re: Books you are reading

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Korea Hammer wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:14 pm Nice post, Misko, thanks for the reply. I started with Germinal and then read Nana, L'Assommoir, La Terre and La Debacle. All out of sequence too, like you. Apart from Nana, loved all of them, but I must admit they're bleak! And surprisingly violent at times, especially La Terre.

I teach international students, and my French ones always say the same as you, that studying him at school put them off somewhat. I often wonder whether English translations are more readable because they're in a modern style, and perhaps if I were able to read them in the original French I might find it a bit old-fashioned and less engaging. But I don't know.
The language is a bit outdated, but nothing dramatic. Other authors of the same period are way worse (Flaubert and Balzac, for instance, imo). But all of them share the same characterestics that make it difficult for a teenage audience: long sentences, bulky paragraphs and long descriptions which are quite boring to readers living in a much more graphic world (photography, cinema, comic books, television, internet, all this changed the way we comprehend the world, and therefore the way we all write).

Actually, from all the numerous French "greats" of the 19th century, one stands out as different in the writing. He is much more energectic, raw and somehow modern (I once called it "rock and roll" when discussing it with a friend) than the other ones: Maupassant. And, as a matter of fact, he was one of the rare ones to actually earn a lot of money from his art during his lifetime, meaning that it must have also been more suited to the average readers tastes whereas the others gained academic and peer applause.
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Re: Books you are reading

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I am not actually currently reading it, but I re-read it last year, not knowing it would echo so much with the news: The Good Angel of Death by Andrey Kurkov is a great read for the ones asking themselves questions about Russian and Ukrainian nationalism. A very sarcastic view over post sovietic societies.

I like a lot modern Slavic authors, black humour meeting a die-hard romanticism.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Joseph Cohen ~ The Netanyahus

Based on the real life events surrounding a chaotic visit to a US university made by Benzion (father of Israel-prime minister-to-be, Benjamin) Netanyahu and his family in the early 60s, this intelligent but at times quite dense book alternates between comedic farce and rather dry academic historiography. I will read more by the author and it improved a lot in the second half, but if I'm honest, I found parts of this novel a bit boring.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Raymond Carver - Where I'm Calling From

A large collection of Carver's short stories, a handful of which I recognised from Altman's Short Cuts film. I really enjoyed the dirty realism of these stories, many of them revolving around alcoholism, broken marriages and existential despair. :newthumb:
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Re: Books you are reading

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Andrei Gelasimov - Thirst

Short and powerful novel, a very interesting view upon young Russian soldiers drafted to fight a war (Chechnya in this case) they don't really understand. It echoes oddly with today...

I read it in French (La Soif), and I have the feeling the translation is of great quality, I hope it is the same with the English one.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Re: Books you are reading

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Ruth Ozeki - The Book Of Form And Emptiness

A bit overly long and occasionally verging on silly, but overall, and is with her previous novels, the core story, interwoven themes and patient character development make this a very enjoyable novel.
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Rosemary Tonks - The Bloater

I struggled a bit with this short novel. Set in the late 60s and full of chattering upper class types, even the BBC Radophonic Workshop subplot couldn't really keep my interest. I found it occasionally amusing but overall quite annoying. I might have missed the point.
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Silverview by Le Carre. His last book.

I've read a few of his including the Karla trilogy but I must tame time to read them all.
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Jim Crace - Being Dead

This early novel is the second of Crace's that I've read, having started with the much later but equally impressive Harvest, and I'm starting to think he is a serious writer. There's a very economical poetic use of language that really appeals to me, and the structure and themes of the book are smart and complex.
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The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall. Fascinating, if this is your thing, I highly recommend it.
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Re: Books you are reading

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Rides A Dread Legion - Raymond E Fiest.

I first discovered Feist years ago with his best selling book Magician, which I disliked because if was basically Samurai in a fantasy setting. When I saw this in the library the back cover precis had me hooked - Demonologists, magic users, Knights -Errant, Elves and demons - right up my alley.

Whislt reading this book - which took an ages as it is very put downable - it was clear that the convoluted and quite ridiclous plot line would not be resolved at the end of it. This is one of my pet hates - there is no mention anywhere that this book is part of the "Demonwars saga" and there were more books in the series - which I certainly won't be reading. Why?

Basically this book is about getting all the books numerous characters together so they can set about saving the world from demons.The characters are pretty non descript, apart from the Knight Errant and the Demonologist, and when one of them died I couldn't care less. The fascistic - and frankly bonkers - elf Tyrant from another plane who orders his men to kill anyone they meet on the new plane they move too, soon turns diplomat when they meet the leader of his inferior kin. The tough combatwise Knight Errant gets cold cocked and left for dead, and is rescued by a hermit in a cave, who heals her and then promptly dies - but why? It's a total irrelevance.

and the plot! Someone is messing with demon summoning and is trying to summon demons into the world.This person/entity is always one step ahead of the heroes, mucks up their plans, out flanks them and sends them on wild goose chases. I'd like to be able to tell you who and why, but at the end of this book very very very little actual info is revealed. I have no idea who is behind these shenanigans or why they are doing this - indeed, more importantly, HOW they are doing this.

Sorry Mr Feist I'll never read one of your books again - life is too short - at least I didn't buy it!!!
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