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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 18, 2018 20:37:51 GMT
I'm reading a new French novel, half of which consists of WW1 childhood memories and then WW2 letters including period photographs while also talking about the writer's modern life -- he is a doctor -- and his estrangement from his father. I can tell that it is building up to something, but I'm not sure what.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 15, 2018 21:31:02 GMT
I went through that book quite slowly but finally finished it today. It was very well written but at the same time I never became attached to any of the characters. The WW2 stuff is all about his grandfather and the main story is his life as a POW in Cologne, the woman with whom he fell in love, and their baby. He had a favoured status and worked in their garden two days a week. The woman died at the end of the war while bringing him a gift at the POW compound -- a bomb sent a piece of shrapnel into her heart and she died a slow and agonizing death. The baby was kept by the mother's family, and they moved to the United States after the war.
Okay, fine. I didn't really care all that much, but on the last page, there is an appeal by the author giving the baby's birthdate (3 April 1944), the fact that the adoptive parents had moved to Florida and worked for NASA, a second home in California... On April 3, 2019, she will be 75 years old. The author gives all of his contact details and additional information and asks for help in finding this woman.
The whole story was true, and it was that last page that touched me.
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Post by onlyMark on Dec 16, 2018 6:23:07 GMT
Maybe a book a book for Whatagain. I've recently read - "D DAY Through German Eyes - The Hidden Story of June 6th 1944" www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VX372UE/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o02_?ie=UTF8&psc=1It's a couple of books whereby German troops manning the clifftops and beaches are interviewed ten years after and their perspective of the fateful day. One thing that struck me was the effect propaganda had had on them. Not only the impression that allied troops would take no prisoners to make them fight more fiercely (an old tactic though effective) but their beliefs that they were fighting to protect a "United Europe". An extract reads as follows. It is from a German soldier in a concrete gun emplacement who has suddenly seen two British soldiers appear at the gun slit - "I caught sight of their faces, and I can tell you that glimpse alarmed me as much as anything I had seen that day. Their faces were set rigid, in an expression of sheer hatred. Sheer hatred. This worried me. Why would men, who were the same race as us, who were physically similar to us, why would they hate us in this way? Why would they want to burn us alive, when we were protecting Europe? What was the origin of this hatred? I had no answer to such questions." There are also references to how aggressive the Allies were, how determined to kill by whatever means possible, but then a moment later if you surrendered they were trying to get you medical attention, food etc. They couldn't understand it. A completely different mind-set. There's only half a dozen stories in it but it made for interesting reading.
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Post by bjd on Dec 16, 2018 7:11:13 GMT
I'm reading a book mossie might enjoy: Parisians An adventure history of Paris. by Graham Robb. He is an English historian who has written other books about France. The book is a series of chronological "adventures" starting at the revolution of 1789. Paris from the point of view of individuals but within the context of something bigger. For example,when Marie-Antoinette and her guide sneak out of the palace to join Louis 16 waiting in a carriage, they get lost because there are no proper maps of Paris and anyway, she doesn't know where she is going, so they cross the Seine instead of turning right along the river. The delay costs them the time which would have let them reach the border.
Or the construction of the Metro at the time of Marcel Proust, who never went into it. The roundup of the Jews at the Vel d'Hiv from the point of view of a young boy whose mother pushes him away and he takes the metro.
I have also been reading other books, mostly detective stories, these days but nothing memorable.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 16, 2018 9:10:55 GMT
I'm allowing myself a little light literature atm...life has been a tad complicated over the past few months so I've just indulged my reading glands in unchallenging but enjoyable books. I read Nine Perfect Strangers by the Australian author Lianne Moriaty and loved it. If I find an author I like I tend to want to charge through all their work...so I've now read all of her novels and thoroughly enjoyed every single one. I wouldn't call them high literature but they have more oomph than the usual chic-lit. Her characters are well developed and storylines complex and intriguing. I enjoyed them. Call me a lightweight...my husband says that they're for girls...but I think that in particular the latest novel (Nine Perfect Strangers) is an jolly good read full stop.
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Post by mossie on Dec 16, 2018 9:41:43 GMT
Thanks bjd I had read Paris Babylon and thought it gave a good impression of the various eras. I did abandon the Commune book, far too long winded for my short attention span.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 16, 2018 13:47:02 GMT
I am reading The Quick and the Dead, by the ever-brilliant Joy Williams. I have admired her, and been surprised by her, ever since reading the original edition of "The Florida Keys" (1987). How could a real guidebook be so accurately useful, yet also so off-the-wall funny? -- Williams wrote a highly opinionated travel guide to the Keys that pretty well undid any other guide to that part of the country, if not travel guides on the whole—a map of a vanishing world. sourceIt's pretty much impossible to describe why her writing is so compelling, so out-of-left-field insightful, and so funny, so I'll just let this publisher's notice be your guide: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/191153/the-quick-and-the-dead-by-joy-williams/9780375727641/
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Post by casimira on Dec 16, 2018 14:18:55 GMT
Bixa, I have heard you mention Joy Williams quite a few times. I admit I'm not familiar with her work but given your accolades I am now driven to seek out some of her writings.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 16, 2018 21:48:32 GMT
Pierre Lemaitre. An other rompol writer - French. But I like happy endings and didn't get it here. Bah. I ll read the next.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 17, 2018 1:58:45 GMT
I think she'd be right up your alley, Casimira!
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Post by casimira on Dec 17, 2018 15:42:23 GMT
She's on my list along with a slew of others that I wrote down while culling through some of the pages in this thread which I need to do more of.
I encourage others to do the same as there is a bounty of very interesting and cool recommended reading in these 60 pages.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2018 16:04:07 GMT
I have been reading Malian folk tales. Some of them are very strange while others are similar to Aesop's fables.
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Post by casimira on Dec 21, 2018 22:25:58 GMT
Bixa, I have heard you mention Joy Williams quite a few times. I admit I'm not familiar with her work but given your accolades I am now driven to seek out some of her writings. Well, today must have been my lucky day because I went to the local used bookstore to shop for some last minute gifts and was hell bent on acquiring something by Joy Williams. Lo' and behold there on the shelf was a copy of Taking Care so, I snatched it up. The owner of the book store whom I know quite well told me that Ms. William's books rarely appear and don't last long on the shelf. She also expressed disbelief in my confession of unfamiliarity with her work to the point of saying, "my goodness C, you of all people I would have thought would be a major fan of Ms. Williams work". So, there you have it or rather here I have it, ready to read likely this weekend.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 21, 2018 22:39:47 GMT
Yay! If I've read that one, it's been so long ago I don't remember. I see that it's available on Kindle for $5. Incidentally, a new hardcover of Taking Care is $177! (on Amazon. The pprbacks are $16 or $21) Pee ess ~ I rather suspect you don't read the ebooks thread, but you might want to take a look at this post (#48) in it: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/post/308762/thread
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Post by whatagain on Dec 22, 2018 13:53:23 GMT
Reading. The land of painted caves. By jean Auel. Liking it. Bought it 2 years ago in Romania. Price tag still shows 42 Lei. About 14 euros? Expensive stuff - Romanians Earn about 25-30 pc of what we do.
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Post by bjd on Dec 22, 2018 14:51:21 GMT
I started The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado. The story of a Jewish family that was exiled from Cairo to New York City in the late 1950s. I have only read about 40 pages and have found 3 mistakes in the translation, which is distracting. Déformation professionnelle.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 22, 2018 16:59:28 GMT
Whatagain, I always get into the Jean Auel books, even though my sister & I refer to Ayla as "the girl who invented everything". Apparently much of the history and background is acknowledged by anthropologists and other scientists as being pretty accurate. Here is a hint, since all the books in the series are long: you only need to read one sex scene, as all the rest of them will be identical.
Bjd, I have that book around here somewhere. Started reading it over two years ago and found it quite interesting, but got distracted by other stuff. Cannot pronounce on the translation. (my book is in English)
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Post by Kimby on Dec 22, 2018 22:23:23 GMT
Reading. The land of painted caves. By jean Auel. Is this a translation of title? Perhaps Clan of the Cave Bear in English? Or is there a new installation in the story of the girl who invented everything (I called her that too.) BTW is it aye-lah it eh-lah?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 22, 2018 23:27:16 GMT
BTW is it aye-lah it eh-lah? Yell it and see what she answers to. Kimby, The Land of Painted Caves is a neolithic decorating magazine. hee hee ~ not really. It's the 6th book in the Ayla series: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_Children
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Post by mossie on Jan 4, 2019 19:51:42 GMT
Bought two books yesterday, one new which is rare for me but very interesting, "Left Bank" by Agnes Poirier, subtitled 'Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950' about people such as Jean Paul Satre and Simone Beauvoir. How they survived the war and carried on much as before in the peace that followed.
The other is a German book simply titled "Paris, Art and Architecture" by Martina Padberg with contributions from a host of others. It wanders through the city from the dawn of time and is part history, part art, but well put together
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 11, 2019 18:58:10 GMT
I was chuffed t find that I had accumulated enough points on my Waterstones loyalty card to get a free book! Stephen Hawking Brief Answers to the Big Questions I've started it...but was waylaid by Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines😊
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Post by bjd on Jan 26, 2019 19:24:53 GMT
Since I don't have an e-reader, I don't always look on that thread but did notice the other day that Bixa showed the cover of a book by Svetlana Alexievich, who won the Nobel literature Prize in 2015. I had intended to read something by her but she was sold out everywhere I tried at the time. But I ordered the book Bixa was showing, Secondhand Time, the Last of the Soviets.
A little bit dated since the interviews were done in 1991/92, but still very interesting, if sometimes depressing. I suppose that nearly 20 years on, the regret for the USSR is less strong among many people, but it does show how unprepared Russian society was for the dramatic changes and the forced entrance into Chicago-school capitalism and the loss of what they had considered to be a strong country. The number of people regretting the USSR seemed much higher than those who were glad to see the end of it. And even many of those who remembered the bad old days of Stalin did not like what the country had become. And that years before the rise of the oligarchs and other corruptions.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 26, 2019 20:09:33 GMT
As a small child I loved a book called The Secret Travellers by Elleston Trevor. I remember big sister Pat reading it to me whilst I snuggled up looking at the pictures and probably sucking my thumb. In turn, I read it to our youngest sister when she was little... we all loved it and it was a firm family favourite (written in 1948). When Pat left home to get married she took the book with her, the rest of us were quite cross but Pat insisted that it belonged to her...
The book is out of print...has been for some time. Pat got copies for Sue and Peggy from a rare book store but couldn't find one for me HOWEVER I found one online recently and am now the proud owner of a slightly battered but intact copy 🙂
It is so beautifully written, just a simple childrens' book but I am absolutely loving it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2019 20:32:34 GMT
I have 5 new books to read -- two that I bought in London, two that I bought in Paris and one that I ordered from Amazon. But before I can start any of them, I am struggling through another book which I am not liking very much but in which I have not yet lost hope. Since it won a major literary prize, I know that it is not worthless even if I don't like it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 27, 2019 2:19:09 GMT
Since I don't have an e-reader ... www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/kcpCheery, I've returned to a few books that I loved as a child and was thrilled to find that they kept their charm and that reading them as an adult added another dimension. So happy you found that jewel! Kerouac, I hate when that happens. A friend recently lent me the latest Paul Auster, which she loved & which I was panting to read as I'm a fan of that writer. I really, really, really dislike the book when I realized what the plot device was -- a plot device I completely disapprove of. My friend gave me permission to abandon the book. Hope the one you're reading picks up -- sometimes that happens. I pounced on Shirley Hazzard's The Great Fire the moment it was published, only to drag myself through most of it. Then, 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through, it suddenly caught fire for me & I realized I had been reading a wonderful piece of literature without realizing it.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 27, 2019 3:25:48 GMT
I’m reading Dying Well, by a hospice doctor named Ira Byock. It seems an odd topic, but timely as Mr. Kimby and I can no longer put off filling out our Advanced Directives for Health Care, or Living Wills, as they used to be called.
Not fun thinking about how you want to die. But a necessary conversation, if you don’t want to end up in a vegetative state on life support in a hospital or nursing home.
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Post by bjd on Jan 27, 2019 7:15:25 GMT
Thanks Bixa, but I don't want to read on a screen, especially not on a small screen on my phone. Iguess I'm an old fogey, but I like having paper books.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 27, 2019 10:21:01 GMT
..I took advice from an anyport member a few years ago. Life's too short to read a book that doesn't hold you, even when you've forked out cash for it. Sometimes I persevere with a book and it eventually blossoms...but more often than not if the first few chapters don't get through neither will the rest of the book imo...
When buying a book written by an author I'm unfamiliar with I usually glance at the opening, then part way through...just to see if I like the writing style. I sometimes read books recommended by others...how do you all choose your next read?
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Post by bjd on Jan 27, 2019 11:50:25 GMT
I find it hard to choose books, which is why I like to go to the library. At least if I don't like it, I haven't paid for it and don't have to worry about getting rid of it or keeping it around "just in case".
On rare occasions, I have bought books based on a review in a newspaper. It works out well about half the time. Or someone whose taste I trust will recommend a book that I usually like. In stores, I usually do like you, Cheery. Read the back, then flip around a few pages here and there. But I am trying to buy fewer books these days, so tend to invest only in authors that I know or subjects that interest me when they are non-fiction.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 27, 2019 14:16:23 GMT
If it's any help huckle you don't sound like a person of age.
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