What are you reading?

[Crucifer]

It can be literature and propaganda. In this case, I imagine it was literature used as propaganda.

[Teremia]

Yes, used as propaganda -- but also meant as propaganda!

[Crucifer]

Written as propaganda? (I wouldn't know. I've never read it.)

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

I finished "The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea" and "Something Catches", and have started on two new ones.

The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

This novella is a stunning study of a widow and her son, and the sailor who comes into their lives, and how they try to make a new start--a tense psychological study with undercurrents of violence and perversion, and a taut ending that leaves much to the reader's imagination (to the betterment of the story).

One reviewer on Amazon writes:

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a story so extreme that it becomes almost mythical. But like any myth it reflects things deep in ourselves and in human existence that we cannot see in an ordinary story.

Recommended, with a caution on a graphically described scene of violence (that is nevertheless necessary for the story).

"Something Catches" is a nice collection by a local poet, Glenn McLaughlin. You get a good feel for the poet's interests, and some occasional flashes of brilliance (where "Something Catches"--a thematic idea akin to epiphany), but some of it is flat on the page, at least for me, since I struggle at times with free verse. Free verse usually does better in a reading for me.

I had the opportunity to hear Glenn read last December in Mt Holly NJ, and I purchased the book directly from him.

He had read somewhat about his daughter's struggle with breast cancer, which resonated with me, since my sister was about to enter round three of her own struggle at that time. This book has little of that, though; it is a collection of works before those events, with many images drawn from nature, science and simple life. Trees, deer, shadows, wind, farm fields and mountains and related images make many appearances.

Nevertheless, the title comes from a poem about his daughter's wedding, and the following, a fairly short and simple piece is about her as well:

"Sometimes Diamonds in my Daughter's Hair"

Sometimes
I can remember
by running my fingers through my own
hair
But even hay or wheat
or my own yard growing new
will do
Smooth and silken young growth
I'll imagine:
sea grass moving choreographed
with the currents and the tide
as in a breeze or walking
a head tilted or turning
they'll reflect sunlight
catching in their gentle shades
diamonds

-----

Even in this piece, the thematic idea "Something Catches" appears in the final lines in a modified form: like an epiphany, a sudden realization, a feeling, an image--diamonds in his daughter hair: Something Catches.

----------------

New Books:

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York By Robert A Caro

which is just brilliant. I'm only a hundred or so pages in (of over 1000 pages) but there is so much to this as biography, as history, as an exploration of politics and the modern city. You could apply the lessons about Tammany Hall and political corruption to the politics of modern Iraq.

-------------

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Just started. Interesting start, where a woman visits her lover in prison; the use of flashback from this vantage point to explore their relationship is well-handled. Very interesting use of a sex scene early on as an exploration of character.

BrianIs AtYou

[baby tuckoo]

Thanks for the book chat, Brian.


I've heard of them all, but the only one I've read is "The Power Broker" about Moses. I'm kinda a non-fiction guy.


I've also loved the two volumes Caro has written about Lyndon Johnson. Another volume is to come regarding Johnson's presidency. Together, they might be the best presidential biography, rivaled by Grant's autobiography. Perhaps.

[vison]

I read The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea a long time ago and liked it a lot. It started me off on a bit of a Japan-quest and I read several other novels but since I don't read Japanese (of course) I had to read them in English and I truly think that usually renders them worthless, or near to it. It's worse than reading Russian novels in English.

Then along came Memoirs of a Geisha and I have to say I have seldom been more pissed off with a book. It was such a disappointment. Parts of it were excellent, but in the end, it was a big fat waste of time.

Been reading the Little House books again. Always, always such a delight! Reading about Laura, as in a biography or her daughter's book, is just pointless. Everything I want to know about Laura is in those books she wrote.

[Northerner]

A Good and Happy Child, which is intriguing and fabulously written, especially for a first novel. Told from the point of view of an eleven year old, who, after the death of his father begins seeing 'A Friend', who may be an hallucination or a demon. The story shifts back and forth between the boy and therapist, and later, as a father who cannot touch his own son.

[narya]

My big brother took me to see The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea when I was 16 and an innocent school girl. At the time, it was rated the most R a movie could be without being rated X. Needless to say, it was rather, um, educational. I had no idea it was based on a Japanese novel. The movie setting was New England.

As for what I'm reading now, or just finished reading?

The Mermaid's Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. Sumptuous use of the English language. A feast of images and metaphors. I highly recommend it. And no, I don't agree with the protagonist that she was doing the right thing, but I still enjoyed watching her do it.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. English translation of a Norwegian book. A 15 year old learns about Western philosophy from a mysterious teacher. Gets a little boring in the middle, but interesting in the end. I didn't really feel like I was getting the Philosophy for Idiots course, or that I could pass a test on what I'd learned, more like I was watching people think about the world without being sure what was really in their heads.

Yoga for Dummies I haven't sprained anything yet.

And lots and lots of podcasts. I'd start a thread, but I'm too busy listening to the 1458 podcasts I downloaded when I discovered them in the Apple Itunes Store.

[vison]

My big brother took me to see The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea when I was 16 and an innocent school girl. At the time, it was rated the most R a movie could be without being rated X. Needless to say, it was rather, um, educational. I had no idea it was based on a Japanese novel. The movie setting was New England.

Kris Kristofferson? And what'shername?

[narya]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075161/
Sarah Miles

[truehobbit]

A while ago I posted about reading The Once and Future King. I took a break after finishing the first book, and have now started The Witch in the Wood.
Is it just me not being used to descriptions of violence or was anyone else shocked about the scene of boiling a live cat?
(Of course, I realise that kids aren't as wimpy as grown-ups about such things, but I thought it was a bit more detail than comparably gory scenes in conventional fairy tales.)

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

That was a major bestseller here when it came out. Have been meaning to read it ever since, and finally bought a copy last year - so, we'll see if I actually get round to reading it sometime soon.

[vison]

Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos. Good, so far.

A book about the evolution of the English novel, can't recall either the author or the title! (left it in the truck and too lazy to go get it)

Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Watched a TV adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles the other night. Hm. Parts were wonderful, since the actress portraying Tess was so perfectly Tess-like. But it was much adbridged, with a narrator filling in the gaps. Still, I liked it. Better than the long-ago "Far from the Madding Crowd" with Julie Christie, who I could never see as Bathsheba Everdene. Nor Peter Finch chewing the scenery. Man, he was scenery chewer, that guy.

And dipping in and out of A. S. M. Hutchinson's "An Uncertain Trumpet", an evangelical novel of the Edwardian era. Written then, I mean. It's a groaner, but since I read it as a child, I am still fond of it.

[Northerner]

Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Watched a TV adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles the other night. Hm. Parts were wonderful, since the actress portraying Tess was so perfectly Tess-like. But it was much adbridged, with a narrator filling in the gaps. Still, I liked it. Better than the long-ago "Far from the Madding Crowd" with Julie Christie, who I could never see as Bathsheba Everdene. Nor Peter Finch chewing the scenery. Man, he was scenery chewer, that guy.

I was always distracted by Julie Christie's lips, but the casting of Terence Stamp as Frank, and Alan Bates as Gabriel Oak was wonderful.

I haven't seen it in quite a long time, but I thought Polanski's Tess was quite good.

[truehobbit]

I so agree about Julie Christie's looks. (Haven't seen Far from the Madding Crowd, though.)

I remember Polanski's Tess, I quite liked it at the time. It was my first contact with anything by Hardy, so it was also Tess that I chose for my first reading anything by Hardy - hate it with a passion, I have to say, and haven't found it in my heart to give anything else by the guy a chance since then.

[Inanna]

Two Terry Pratchett's - both written for children . A Tiffany Aching one - Wintersmith and one Johnny Maxwell one - Dead something, can't remember. Interesting to see how he has simplified his writing for a different audience, yet still kept in certain truths of life which are so relevant at that age.

[vison]

I so agree about Julie Christie's looks. (Haven't seen Far from the Madding Crowd, though.)

I remember Polanski's Tess, I quite liked it at the time. It was my first contact with anything by Hardy, so it was also Tess that I chose for my first reading anything by Hardy - hate it with a passion, I have to say, and haven't found it in my heart to give anything else by the guy a chance since then.

The first thing by Hardy that I ever read was one of my favourite poems, "The Oxen". It gave me a warm regard for him. Then I read "The Trumpet Major" and "Far From the Madding Crowd". I like Hardy very very much, but I have to be in the mood for him.

Oh, I did NOT like Alan Bates as Gabriel Oak. Ick. Never could stand Alan Bates.

Polanski's "Tess" was too much about Polanski and that girl, I thought, the one who played Tess. I don't think either Polanski's movie or the TV show I saw really understood Tess, and I am waiting (not breathlessly, but waiting) for someone who does understand her. Part of it is, we are too far removed from the time, but in other ways too close.

[Impenitent]

It's been too long since I read Tess and all I can remember of it is the feeling of the book, and a certain voluptuousness about Tess herself. I guess I should revisit.

I did a run of Hardy books when I was 22 - walked past a bookshop and they had a sale on, something like 8 Hardy titles for 50c each, so I bought them all and went on a Hardy marathon. Was in Canberra at the time for a research project and there was nothing to do in the evenings so Hardy and I spent them together. Boy, was I depressed by the end of that!

Got to take Hardy in measured doses, I learnt.

Currently reading Queen Bees and Wannabees. Research on bringing up a teenage daughter. I've got my head deep in parenting books at the moment as I'm having a little crisis of confidence in my parenting skills.

[Inanna]

I just went to the University Library and got 3 more Pratchett's. From the Juvenile Section.

[truehobbit]

Two Terry Pratchett's - both written for children . A Tiffany Aching one - Wintersmith

I didn't know that was written for children. There was a sample chapter of it at the end of my copy of Thud, and I was just surprised how weak the writing seemed to be - I put it down to it being co-written with someone else.

vison, hmmh, I think I've read a poem or two by Hardy which I liked in my poetry anthology.

Polanski's "Tess" was too much about Polanski and that girl, I thought, the one who played Tess.

Nastassja Kinski. (Haven't heard of her in quite a while - daughter of a very famous (well, over here) German actor, Klaus Kinski.)

and a certain voluptuousness about Tess herself.

Oh, yes! I remember that, too.

Hope you get your confidence back, Imp!

[Primula Baggins]

hobby, I just wanted to say that the cat-boiling scene in The Once and Future King is when I realized once and for all that the rest of the book (it's sold here as one book) was not at all meant for children, nor was it any kind of fairy tale. And I was right. The cruelty (much of it psychological) and sexual elements of the old legend are all there, un-Disneyfied and un-Disneyfiable.