JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
I'm green-eyed with jealousy, Nomadman - please wait till I'm out of the room before you gloat...
Book Hauls!
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Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
At a yard sale (as we drove past one very small portion of a thing called "Antique Alley," where yard sales appear along the side of a Highway 11, running 500 miles from Virginia to Mississippi): a biography of Jimi Hendrix.
At a used book store in Huntsville, Alabama: a bunch of stuff for my better half, and Motherlines by Suzy McKee Charnas for us both.
At a used book store in Huntsville, Alabama: a bunch of stuff for my better half, and Motherlines by Suzy McKee Charnas for us both.
Nice one Nomadman. My copy of Merrit's Seven Footprints To Satan is no way as cool as that.
Recently...
The Miser and other Plays - Moliere *Replacement copy Penguin Black Classic. Moliere the French mater of dramatic comedy is well represented in this collection. Anyone interested in comedy and the art of the playwright will benefit from reading Moliere. Blurb: Moliere combined all the traditional elements of comedy - wit, slapstick, spectacle and satire - to create richly sophisticated and enduringly popular dramas. The Miser is the story of Harpagon, a mean-spirited old man who becomes obsessed with making money out of the marriage of his children, while The Hypochondriac, another study in obsession, is a brilliant satire on the medical profession. The School for Wives, in which an ageing domestic tyrant is foiled in his plans to marry his young ward, provoked such an outcry that Moliere followed it with The School for Wives Criticized - a witty retort to those who disapproved of the play's supposed immorality. And while Don Juan is the darkest and most tragic of all the plays in this collection, it still mocks the soullessness of the skinflint with scathing irony.
Tres - Roberto Bolano *Anyone who is a fan of Bolano's prose fiction will be interested to know that his skill as a poet is not to be ignored, the previous collection Romantic Dogs showed that as it's also worth remembering that this was his favoured medium. Tres is a collection of short prose pieces and poetry. Blurb: Roberto Bolano's own preferred literary persona was as a poet and Tres is his most inventive and bracing collection. As the title implies, the collection is composed of three sections. 'Prose from Autumn in Gerona', a cinematic series of prose poems, slowly reveals a subtle and emotional tale of unrequited love by presenting each scene, shattering it, and piecing it all back together, over and over again. The second part, 'The Neochileans', is a sort of On the Road in verse, which narrates the travels of a young Chilean band on tour traveling north from Chile to Peru and Ecuador. Finally, the collection ends with a series of short poems that take us on 'A Stroll Through Literature' reminding us of Bolano's masterful ability to walk the line between the comically serious and the seriously comical.
Guadalajara (Story collection) - Quim Monzo *Monzo is one of the world's leading (Spanish) Catalonian writers and this collection of Kafkaesque like tales therefore most welcome. Blurb: All the heroes of this story collection—the boy who refuses to follow the family tradition of having his ring finger cut off; the man who cannot escape his house, no matter what he tries; Robin Hood stealing so much that he ruins the rich and makes the poor wealthy; Gregor the cockroach, who wakes one day to discover he has become a human teenager; the prophet who can’t remember any of the prophecies that have been revealed to him; Ulysses and his minions trapped in the Trojan horse—are faced with a world that is always changing, where time and space move in circles, where language has become meaningless. Their stories are mazes from which they can’t escape.The simultaneously dark, grotesque, and funny GUADALAJARA reveals Quim Monzó at his acerbic and witty best.
Recently...
The Miser and other Plays - Moliere *Replacement copy Penguin Black Classic. Moliere the French mater of dramatic comedy is well represented in this collection. Anyone interested in comedy and the art of the playwright will benefit from reading Moliere. Blurb: Moliere combined all the traditional elements of comedy - wit, slapstick, spectacle and satire - to create richly sophisticated and enduringly popular dramas. The Miser is the story of Harpagon, a mean-spirited old man who becomes obsessed with making money out of the marriage of his children, while The Hypochondriac, another study in obsession, is a brilliant satire on the medical profession. The School for Wives, in which an ageing domestic tyrant is foiled in his plans to marry his young ward, provoked such an outcry that Moliere followed it with The School for Wives Criticized - a witty retort to those who disapproved of the play's supposed immorality. And while Don Juan is the darkest and most tragic of all the plays in this collection, it still mocks the soullessness of the skinflint with scathing irony.
Tres - Roberto Bolano *Anyone who is a fan of Bolano's prose fiction will be interested to know that his skill as a poet is not to be ignored, the previous collection Romantic Dogs showed that as it's also worth remembering that this was his favoured medium. Tres is a collection of short prose pieces and poetry. Blurb: Roberto Bolano's own preferred literary persona was as a poet and Tres is his most inventive and bracing collection. As the title implies, the collection is composed of three sections. 'Prose from Autumn in Gerona', a cinematic series of prose poems, slowly reveals a subtle and emotional tale of unrequited love by presenting each scene, shattering it, and piecing it all back together, over and over again. The second part, 'The Neochileans', is a sort of On the Road in verse, which narrates the travels of a young Chilean band on tour traveling north from Chile to Peru and Ecuador. Finally, the collection ends with a series of short poems that take us on 'A Stroll Through Literature' reminding us of Bolano's masterful ability to walk the line between the comically serious and the seriously comical.
Guadalajara (Story collection) - Quim Monzo *Monzo is one of the world's leading (Spanish) Catalonian writers and this collection of Kafkaesque like tales therefore most welcome. Blurb: All the heroes of this story collection—the boy who refuses to follow the family tradition of having his ring finger cut off; the man who cannot escape his house, no matter what he tries; Robin Hood stealing so much that he ruins the rich and makes the poor wealthy; Gregor the cockroach, who wakes one day to discover he has become a human teenager; the prophet who can’t remember any of the prophecies that have been revealed to him; Ulysses and his minions trapped in the Trojan horse—are faced with a world that is always changing, where time and space move in circles, where language has become meaningless. Their stories are mazes from which they can’t escape.The simultaneously dark, grotesque, and funny GUADALAJARA reveals Quim Monzó at his acerbic and witty best.
Connavar
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2007
- Messages
- 8,411
My two fav poets just became classic Arabic greats in: Ibn Hazm and Al-Mutanabbi. I just ordered their collections that will cost me £55 & £35. They are worth that and much more.
The Ring of the Dove: A Treatise on the Art and Practice of Arab Love by Ibn Hazm and Anthony Arberry
Poems of Al-Mutanabbi by Al-Mutanabbi and Anthony Arberry
The Ring of the Dove: A Treatise on the Art and Practice of Arab Love by Ibn Hazm and Anthony Arberry
Poems of Al-Mutanabbi by Al-Mutanabbi and Anthony Arberry
hyraxia
New Member
I just got a nice copy of the Blade Runner sketchbook in. Amazing item!
Nice pick up. Those two chaps feature in my copy of Classic Arabic Literature published by Penguin but I do not have their exclusive work.
As you are interested in Poetry you may want to take a look at Norton's world Poetry, the most comprehensive anthology of Poetry from all cultures across all ages that I'm aware of. Best of all over 3/4s of the collection is of non-English origin.
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-04130-9/
*I have the 6 volume Norton Anthology of World Literature. It's the gem piece of my world lit collection, the best anthology I've come across in terms of its sheer breadth and scale bar none.
Connavar
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2007
- Messages
- 8,411
That Norton World Poetry is a must for me, i hope its not too expensive like those University press books that are alot of money. My interest in poetry has grown because there are many hidden gems,masters of poetry in other world cultures,languages outside the western world. I know West African poetry,Arabic poetry well now but that is not enough for me, far from it.
Weel..the Norton price is $45.00 but from Book Depository with free delivery to most places it retails close to $37.00. Given what it offers and your interest in Poetry I would think this a good deal and pretty much an essential item for you to have. I'm probably going to get a copy at some stage.
http://www.bookdepository.com/World-Poetry-Katharine-Washburn/9780393041309
Cheers.
Interesting. I didn't realise Perez-Reverte had written this series. I take it you've read the orignal Captain Alatriste book?
Perez-Reverte is one of Spain's greatest contemporary authors and I've read what I consider to be a masterpiece in the novel The Club Dumas. For this work at least think Umberto Eco mixed in with Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The Fencing Master is also very good.
I'll be interested to read your impressions of those 2 books in the Alatriste series.
Catch up on the current SF Masterwork books I don't have....
The Sea and Summer - George Turner
The Caltrans of Time - David Masson
Slow River - Nicola Griffith
The Gate to Women's Country - Sherii S. Tepper
Take Back Plenty - Colin Greenland
Engine Summer - John Crowley
and...
Railsea - China Mieville
The Sea and Summer - George Turner
The Caltrans of Time - David Masson
Slow River - Nicola Griffith
The Gate to Women's Country - Sherii S. Tepper
Take Back Plenty - Colin Greenland
Engine Summer - John Crowley
and...
Railsea - China Mieville
Bookshop rang today to confirm arrival of my order..the 2 volume Penguin Black Classic edition of Vasari's famous 16th Century text The Lives of the Artists. I'll pick it up later this week. Cool...
The Lives of the Artists - Giorgio Vasari Blurb: Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto in the thirteenth century, Vasari traces the development of Italian art across three centuries to the golden epoch of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Great men, and their immortal works, are brought vividly to life, as Vasari depicts the young Giotto scratching his first drawings on stone; Donatello gazing at Brunelleschi's crucifix; and, Michelangelo's painstaking work on the Sistine Chapel, harassed by the impatient Pope Julius II. The Lives also convey much about Vasari himself and his outstanding abilities as a critic inspired by his passion for art.
The Lives of the Artists - Giorgio Vasari Blurb: Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto in the thirteenth century, Vasari traces the development of Italian art across three centuries to the golden epoch of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Great men, and their immortal works, are brought vividly to life, as Vasari depicts the young Giotto scratching his first drawings on stone; Donatello gazing at Brunelleschi's crucifix; and, Michelangelo's painstaking work on the Sistine Chapel, harassed by the impatient Pope Julius II. The Lives also convey much about Vasari himself and his outstanding abilities as a critic inspired by his passion for art.
Extollager
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2010
- Messages
- 9,231
I've read a few pages of R. A. Lafferty's The Reefs of Earth, given to me by a correspondent who assured me that I wouldn't care for it, and so far he is right. Anyone care to say why I should stay with it?
Mark Atherton's There and Back Again is a study of experiences and reading that (may have) contributed to the imagining of The Hobbit. I'm not far enough into it to say much about the book other than that it is readable and seems sound.
Continuing my revival of travel book reading, I've been enjoying Eric Newby's Slowly Down the Ganges.
I was having some trouble sticking with Dostoevsky's The Adolescent, but reading material about it in the fifth volume of Joseph Frank's biography has helped me to put plot elements and themes together better.
Paul Hendrickson's Sons of Mississippi starts from this picture taken by Charles Moore:
Hendrickson tracks down what happened to the men in the picture, who were gathering in opposition to federally-compelled integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962 -- and now Hendrickson's even writing about a grandson of one of these men.
And I'm still plugging away at my six-volume biography of Milton by David Masson. In a recent issue of the TLS I saw someone refer to the 17th century as the century of General Crisis -- here's something from the TLS blog:
--In an age of academic specialization, history books that establish a new orthodoxy across a great swathe of time and distance are increasingly rare. But Theodore K. Rabb believes that Geoffrey Parker’s magnum opus, Global Crisis, does precisely that. Parker makes a “monumental statement about the nature of seventeenth-century history”, which sets the “General Crisis” of that period firmly at the centre of its history. If the “essential background” is the Little Ice Age, “misguided policy decisions” of leaders across the globe account for the century’s “world-wide agonies”.--
I continue to read an page or two now and then in the Autobiography of Richard Baxter, Milton's contemporary; I was just reading his assessment of Cromwell, whom he sees as originally motivated by religious idealism but as corrupted by worldly power.
I keep my hand in, as regards sf, by (at a minimum) reading a couple of stories per month from Groff Conklin's anthologies and commenting briefly over at the Conklin thread for Classic SF.
Mark Atherton's There and Back Again is a study of experiences and reading that (may have) contributed to the imagining of The Hobbit. I'm not far enough into it to say much about the book other than that it is readable and seems sound.
Continuing my revival of travel book reading, I've been enjoying Eric Newby's Slowly Down the Ganges.
I was having some trouble sticking with Dostoevsky's The Adolescent, but reading material about it in the fifth volume of Joseph Frank's biography has helped me to put plot elements and themes together better.
Paul Hendrickson's Sons of Mississippi starts from this picture taken by Charles Moore:
Hendrickson tracks down what happened to the men in the picture, who were gathering in opposition to federally-compelled integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962 -- and now Hendrickson's even writing about a grandson of one of these men.
And I'm still plugging away at my six-volume biography of Milton by David Masson. In a recent issue of the TLS I saw someone refer to the 17th century as the century of General Crisis -- here's something from the TLS blog:
--In an age of academic specialization, history books that establish a new orthodoxy across a great swathe of time and distance are increasingly rare. But Theodore K. Rabb believes that Geoffrey Parker’s magnum opus, Global Crisis, does precisely that. Parker makes a “monumental statement about the nature of seventeenth-century history”, which sets the “General Crisis” of that period firmly at the centre of its history. If the “essential background” is the Little Ice Age, “misguided policy decisions” of leaders across the globe account for the century’s “world-wide agonies”.--
I continue to read an page or two now and then in the Autobiography of Richard Baxter, Milton's contemporary; I was just reading his assessment of Cromwell, whom he sees as originally motivated by religious idealism but as corrupted by worldly power.
I keep my hand in, as regards sf, by (at a minimum) reading a couple of stories per month from Groff Conklin's anthologies and commenting briefly over at the Conklin thread for Classic SF.
Extollager
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2010
- Messages
- 9,231
Two more books in the Penguin Travel Library arrived yesterday, Eric Newby's Love and War in the Apennines and Ronald Wright's On Fiji Islands. At the discards-free books area of the Grand Forks (North Dakota) public library, Greg Bear's The Forge of G-d, Nebula Award Stories 8, and David Pryce-Jones's The Closed Circle, about Arab society.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Several old magazines at a used book store in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They had a ton of Astounding/Analog and Galaxy and the like, but we decided to get some of the lesser ones, such as Other Worlds and Fantastic Universe.
Picked up two goodies today in town...
Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turgenev *Supposedly Turgenev's masterpiece, I've never owned a copy of this before. Even better I've just seen that it contains an afterward by Tatyana Tolstaya (relation of the Tolstoy family), one of Russia's foremost female writers of today ( and a favourite of mine) ..Double Yeh! Blurb: Returning home after years away at university, Arkady is proud to introduce his clever friend Bazarov to his father and uncle. But their guest soon stirs up unrest on the quiet country estate - his outspoken nihilist views and his scathing criticisms of the older men expose the growing distance between Arkady and his father. And when Bazarov visits his own doting but old-fashioned parents, his disdainful rejection of traditional Russian life causes even further distress. In "Fathers and Sons", Turgeneve created a beautifully-drawn and highly influential portrayal of the clash between generations, at a time just before the end of serfdom, when the refined yet vanishing landowning class was being overturned by a brash new breed that strove to change the world. Peter Carson's elegant, naturalistic new translation brings Turgenev's masterpiece to life for a new generation of readers.
Moscow to The End of The Line - Venedikt Erofeev *This book is now a classic in Russia, originally supported by an underground cult following. It has been on my hit list for some time, so when I chanced upon a copy today I couldn't resist. Blurb: In this classic novel of Russian humor and social commentary, a cable fitter (and heavy drinker) is fired from his job after accidentally sending out detailed graphs charting his coworker's productivity against the amount of alcohol they consumed. He goes on an extended binge, becoming so drunk that "the boundary between heart and reason disappeared and they both recited in one voice: 'Go to Petushki. In Petushki you'll find your salvation and your joy, go.'" On the train ride to Petushki (where his "most beloved of trollops" awaits) he bestows upon angels, fellow passengers, and the world at large a magnificent monologue on alcohol, politics, society, philosophy, and the pains of love. At once darkly hilarious, crude, and brilliant, "Moscow to the End of the Line" was written in 1968 and hailed as a masterpiece in Europe long before its 1987 publication in Russia.
Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turgenev *Supposedly Turgenev's masterpiece, I've never owned a copy of this before. Even better I've just seen that it contains an afterward by Tatyana Tolstaya (relation of the Tolstoy family), one of Russia's foremost female writers of today ( and a favourite of mine) ..Double Yeh! Blurb: Returning home after years away at university, Arkady is proud to introduce his clever friend Bazarov to his father and uncle. But their guest soon stirs up unrest on the quiet country estate - his outspoken nihilist views and his scathing criticisms of the older men expose the growing distance between Arkady and his father. And when Bazarov visits his own doting but old-fashioned parents, his disdainful rejection of traditional Russian life causes even further distress. In "Fathers and Sons", Turgeneve created a beautifully-drawn and highly influential portrayal of the clash between generations, at a time just before the end of serfdom, when the refined yet vanishing landowning class was being overturned by a brash new breed that strove to change the world. Peter Carson's elegant, naturalistic new translation brings Turgenev's masterpiece to life for a new generation of readers.
Moscow to The End of The Line - Venedikt Erofeev *This book is now a classic in Russia, originally supported by an underground cult following. It has been on my hit list for some time, so when I chanced upon a copy today I couldn't resist. Blurb: In this classic novel of Russian humor and social commentary, a cable fitter (and heavy drinker) is fired from his job after accidentally sending out detailed graphs charting his coworker's productivity against the amount of alcohol they consumed. He goes on an extended binge, becoming so drunk that "the boundary between heart and reason disappeared and they both recited in one voice: 'Go to Petushki. In Petushki you'll find your salvation and your joy, go.'" On the train ride to Petushki (where his "most beloved of trollops" awaits) he bestows upon angels, fellow passengers, and the world at large a magnificent monologue on alcohol, politics, society, philosophy, and the pains of love. At once darkly hilarious, crude, and brilliant, "Moscow to the End of the Line" was written in 1968 and hailed as a masterpiece in Europe long before its 1987 publication in Russia.
They have ordered in a whole new batch of Penguin Black Classics into one of my favourite bookstores..so I have very recently picked up with a 3 for 2 special...
The Physiology of Taste - Jean-Anthelme Brillant-Savarion *Very influential text in culinary circles. Blurb: Brillat-Savarin's unique, exuberant collection of dishes, experiences, reflections, history and philosophy raised gastronomy to an art form. First published in France in 1825, this remarkable book reflected a new era in French cuisine: the advent of the restaurant, which gave the bourgeoisie the opportunity to select their dishes with precision and anticipation. Yet the author also gives his views on taste, diet and maintaining a healthy weight, on digestion, sleep, dreams and being a gourmand. Witty, shrewd and anecdotal, The Physiology of Taste not only contains some remarkable recipes, it an elegant argument for the pleasures of good food and a hearty appetite.
Plays - Anton Chekov *Looks like his collected plays or st least 5 of his very best. Blurb: At a time when the Russian theatre was dominated by formulaic melodramas and farces, Chekhov created a new sort of drama that laid bare the everyday lives, loves and yearnings of ordinary people. Ivanov depicts a man stifled by inactivity and lost idealism, and The Seagull contrasts a young man's selfish romanticism with the stoicism of a woman cruelly abandoned by her lover. With 'the scenes from country life' of Uncle Vanya, his first fully mature play, Chekhov developed his own unique dramatic world, neither tragedy nor comedy. In Three Sisters the Prozorov sisters endlessly dream of going to Moscow to escape the monotony of provincial life, while his comedy The Cherry Orchard portrays characters futilely clinging to the past as their land is sold from underneath them.
Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime Ed Michael Simms *I have several Victorian crime fiction anthologies, gaslight crime etc. but not one that solely focuses on female crime writers of this era. Blurb: It is the Victorian era and society is both entranced by and fearful of that suspicious character known as the New Woman. She rides those new- fangled bicycles and doesn't like to be told what to do. And, in crime fiction, such female detectives as Loveday Brooke, Dorcas Dene, and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard are out there shadowing suspects, crawling through secret passages, fingerprinting corpses, and sometimes committing a lesser crime in order to solve a murder.
The Physiology of Taste - Jean-Anthelme Brillant-Savarion *Very influential text in culinary circles. Blurb: Brillat-Savarin's unique, exuberant collection of dishes, experiences, reflections, history and philosophy raised gastronomy to an art form. First published in France in 1825, this remarkable book reflected a new era in French cuisine: the advent of the restaurant, which gave the bourgeoisie the opportunity to select their dishes with precision and anticipation. Yet the author also gives his views on taste, diet and maintaining a healthy weight, on digestion, sleep, dreams and being a gourmand. Witty, shrewd and anecdotal, The Physiology of Taste not only contains some remarkable recipes, it an elegant argument for the pleasures of good food and a hearty appetite.
Plays - Anton Chekov *Looks like his collected plays or st least 5 of his very best. Blurb: At a time when the Russian theatre was dominated by formulaic melodramas and farces, Chekhov created a new sort of drama that laid bare the everyday lives, loves and yearnings of ordinary people. Ivanov depicts a man stifled by inactivity and lost idealism, and The Seagull contrasts a young man's selfish romanticism with the stoicism of a woman cruelly abandoned by her lover. With 'the scenes from country life' of Uncle Vanya, his first fully mature play, Chekhov developed his own unique dramatic world, neither tragedy nor comedy. In Three Sisters the Prozorov sisters endlessly dream of going to Moscow to escape the monotony of provincial life, while his comedy The Cherry Orchard portrays characters futilely clinging to the past as their land is sold from underneath them.
Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime Ed Michael Simms *I have several Victorian crime fiction anthologies, gaslight crime etc. but not one that solely focuses on female crime writers of this era. Blurb: It is the Victorian era and society is both entranced by and fearful of that suspicious character known as the New Woman. She rides those new- fangled bicycles and doesn't like to be told what to do. And, in crime fiction, such female detectives as Loveday Brooke, Dorcas Dene, and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard are out there shadowing suspects, crawling through secret passages, fingerprinting corpses, and sometimes committing a lesser crime in order to solve a murder.
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