****Interesting Articles (Part One)

ConversesClub Read 2015

Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.

****Interesting Articles (Part One)

1RidgewayGirl
gen. 13, 2015, 6:43 am

The Morning News has announced the shortlist for their Tournament of Books, also known as the Rooster, in which books go head to head set up in an NCAA tournament-style bracket. The books selected tend to be an eclectic mix and the matches are fun to read about.

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/announcing-the-morning-news-2015-tournamen...

There is a "zombie round," in which a losing book is brought back in a later bracket based on votes received before the tournament begins, so go vote now if you want to.

2Mr.Durick
gen. 13, 2015, 4:15 pm

I saw this on Cyril Connolly the other day and wanted to post it. But this thread was not here, and I thought I might be excessively presumptuous if I started it. I am glad it is here now; thank you.

http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article01051501.aspx

Robert

3RidgewayGirl
gen. 15, 2015, 2:25 pm

Sorry, Robert. It should have been up on the first day of the new year.

Because cover art is interesting, here's a comparison of the US and UK covers for the books taking part in the Tournament of Books.

http://www.themillions.com/2015/01/judging-books-by-their-covers-2015-u-s-vs-u-k...

4Mr.Durick
gen. 15, 2015, 3:58 pm

Sort of a book review but as much a discussion of Orality, Literacy, and the Memorized Poem as it is titled:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/article/249542

The book is now on my wishlist, but the article can stand alone.

Robert

5Mr.Durick
gen. 15, 2015, 4:10 pm

Some scientists and other thinkers are raising important questions about what and how we know about the universe. The book discussed in this article, and perhaps the article itself, comes up fundamentally short, I think, but it does pry open the door a little bit farther. Isn't possible that it is impossible for human beings to understand the universe fully? And isn't it possible that a good understanding of it insofar as it is possible at all will not first off be mathematical?

http://bryanappleyard.com/physics-superstitions-and-allegories/

Robert

6wandering_star
gen. 18, 2015, 6:43 pm

This article is a trailer for a book coming out in February (Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer), but even so it makes some interesting points about books in translation - both what tends to be published, and some of the challenges of reading books from a culture you're not familiar with:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e814881a-9cd3-11e4-971b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3P4JjaPj...

7Mr.Durick
gen. 19, 2015, 3:10 am

I could have sworn that I posted this a few minutes ago, but it is not here. Maybe it is orbiting and will alight in some other thread.

There are more truths coming out about Escape from Camp 14.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/world/asia/prominent-north-korean-defector-shi...

Robert

8lilisin
gen. 19, 2015, 3:19 am

>7 Mr.Durick:

Very interesting article. Interesting indeed to know why he felt the need to lie when any account of hardship would have garnered attention.

9Mr.Durick
gen. 20, 2015, 3:55 pm

This article has already been cited in one of the Dictionaries groups, but I ran across it again on Arts and Letters Daily and thought it might have broader interest. It is long. It is about the American dictionary, namely the Merriam Webster, and its future.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2015/01/merriam_webster_dictionary...

Robert

10DieFledermaus
gen. 24, 2015, 7:43 pm

I'm assuming a lot of people here will be interested in purchasing James Patterson's $300,000 self-destructing book

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/james-pattersons-most-expensive-exp...

11bragan
gen. 25, 2015, 12:04 pm

>10 DieFledermaus: OK, now I really have seen everything.

12ljbwell
gen. 25, 2015, 12:15 pm

>10 DieFledermaus:, 11 At least there's a trip, hotel, some food, and (oddly?) a pair of binoculars included. I estimate that brings the cost of the book down to, what, around $285,000?

13dchaikin
gen. 26, 2015, 10:44 am

>4 Mr.Durick: I'm going to re-post this link in the poetry thread.

14Mr.Durick
gen. 29, 2015, 3:45 pm

I'm always open to an informative article about stoicism although I am not a good stoic.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/02/stoic-2

This one is about two books on Seneca and on his hypocrisy.

Robert

15Mr.Durick
feb. 7, 2015, 3:04 pm

What about Poe? Especially his poetry?

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1514754.ece

There is also an article by Marilynne Robinson about him in the most recent New York Review of Books that I have. The article was taken, it said, from the introduction to a new Folio Society, I think, volume of his works.

Robert

16DieFledermaus
feb. 19, 2015, 11:13 pm

There were some beautiful pictures of bookshelves on various threads - but is this the most beautiful bookstore?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2015/02/18/livraria_lello_in_porto_port...

And...has anyone seen the movie The Boy Next Door?

Apparently there is a mind-boggling scene where one character gives another a first edition of the Iliad (??!!??)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/26/in_jennifer_lopez_s_the_boy_next_...

Following the release of the movie, "Iliad, first edition" became the most popular search term on AbeBooks

http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2015/02/18/its-jenny-on-the-book-j-lo-ins...

17Poquette
feb. 20, 2015, 1:43 pm

>16 DieFledermaus: Amazing book store! How many lifetimes will it take to recover the construction costs???

19RidgewayGirl
març 1, 2015, 2:26 pm

Here are the best novels of the past twenty years. Apparently.

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/these-are-the-best-novels-of-the-past-20-y...

I've read thirteen of 'em.

20ursula
març 1, 2015, 3:28 pm

>19 RidgewayGirl: Interesting. I've read 5 and disliked 4 of them.

21rebeccanyc
març 1, 2015, 3:36 pm

>19 RidgewayGirl: I've read nine. I wouldn't call most of them the best book of the year, but I don't read that many contemporary novels anyway.

22RidgewayGirl
març 1, 2015, 3:47 pm

I'm not sure that literary "experts" as chosen by The Independent get to decide what the best books are for all of us, but it's a fun list, nonetheless. And of the ones I read, I really disliked two of them.

23FlorenceArt
març 1, 2015, 4:10 pm

And who was the panel of experts who selected the experts? ;-)
Anyway, I saved the list, it might be useful, who knows. I read 4 of these books (well, I couldn't finish Atonement), loved two (The Road and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, hated one (Atonement, obviously) and was disappointed by one (Captain Corelli's Mandolin).

24FlorenceArt
març 1, 2015, 4:46 pm

Wait a minute. Shouldn't this be the best English language novels of the last 20 years?

25wandering_star
març 1, 2015, 5:14 pm

Actually this looks to me like "the top selling literary fiction of each of the last twenty years".

26lilisin
març 1, 2015, 10:58 pm

>19 RidgewayGirl:

Strangely these are titles I know and am well aware of, but I've only read one book, that being The Road. I'm not good at joining bandwagons even if it's one I want to join.

27FlorenceArt
març 2, 2015, 3:13 am

>25 wandering_star: OK then, top selling English language literary fiction of the last 20 years :-)

29ipsoivan
març 3, 2015, 8:45 pm

>28 RidgewayGirl: Oh, that was brilliant! Thanks.

30FlorenceArt
Editat: març 4, 2015, 7:36 am

Yes, very funny! Looks like an interesting site but I'm afraid to add it to my rss feeds. I'm already too far behind on reading the ones I subscribe to.

Speaking of which, an interesting essay on "authenticity" in writing. I feel there would be a lot more to say on the subject (Did Barthes ever discuss this? I just found out I still had the copy of Mythologies that I bought several years ago but never read. I'm sure he would have something to say about this.), but I enjoyed reading it.

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/feb/04/novels-search-authenticity/

31Nickelini
març 4, 2015, 12:51 pm

#22 - I thought the list was okay. I've read 8 and enjoyed most of those. I didn't especially like Disgrace or Half a Yellow Sun, but I can certainly see their merit. I really liked Alias Grace, Atonement, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Life After Life.

32Mr.Durick
març 5, 2015, 4:52 pm

33lilisin
març 5, 2015, 10:21 pm

>32 Mr.Durick:

For the Watchmen line, I can't for the life of me figure out what word "gi" is supposed to be a cutoff of.

34lyzard
març 5, 2015, 10:24 pm

"Girls".

35lilisin
març 5, 2015, 10:25 pm

>34 lyzard:

Thanks.
I was so caught up on the phrase "never get me laid" that I couldn't come up with "girls". I was in the right mindset though. :P

37AnnieMod
març 12, 2015, 6:38 pm

The good old war between genre and literary works (and does the distinction really exist): http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a33599/genre-fiction-vs-literary-fict...

I laughed at the paragraph that starts with "Only idiots or snobs...". Short and to the point.

38lyzard
març 12, 2015, 7:09 pm

>35 lilisin:

His mother was just being polite about it! :)

39RidgewayGirl
març 13, 2015, 4:13 am

>37 AnnieMod: I agree with the article. With "serious" writers writing as many genre novels as "literary fiction" I think we ended that distinction some time ago. Notice also how many novels exist now that blur the lines between genres. I think that ship sailed some time ago, which is to everyone's benefit.

40Mr.Durick
març 19, 2015, 4:00 pm

Where has the middlebrow gone?

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/in-defense-of-difficulty/

Despite the source American conservative populism intrudes only a tiny bit in this article, a lament.

Robert

41lilisin
març 19, 2015, 11:15 pm

>40 Mr.Durick:

An excellent article! Thank you for sharing that.

Although he does make a brief knock on Stephen Colbert without realizing that Colbert is actually more or less on the author's side but knows that America can't handle more difficult topics.

In any case, I will be sharing this article wherever I can. Too bad I'm not still a substitute teacher (didn't think I'd say that ever). I'd print this out and place it on English teacher's desk, suggesting they give it to students to read for extra credit.

43AlisonY
abr. 13, 2015, 6:03 pm

As many of us book lovers are natural introverts, a TED talk that might be of interest (and the relating book): 'The Power of Introverts'.

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en



Loved this TED talk - I wish everyone could listen to this and stop forcing kids in schools and grown ups working in offices to constantly sit in groups. Bring back a little quiet thinking time into everyday life!

44Mr.Durick
abr. 14, 2015, 5:17 pm

I'm quite sure that there is an article here. It is about reading. I would like someone to read it and tell me what it says.

http://newramblerreview.com/book-reviews/literary-studies/after-close-reading

Robert

45Nickelini
abr. 16, 2015, 1:27 pm

>43 AlisonY: Thanks for pointing that out and providing the link. Off to listen . . .

46RidgewayGirl
abr. 18, 2015, 4:54 am

http://abookofcreatures.com/author/abookofcreatures/

Here's a blog dedicated to mythological and folkloric creatures. It's addictive.

47reva8
abr. 19, 2015, 10:52 am

I quite enjoyed this long profile of Toni Morrison, by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah in the NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/magazine/the-radical-vision-of-toni-morrison.h...

48baswood
abr. 19, 2015, 5:56 pm

>47 reva8: thanks for the link reva.I am about to read Paradise with my book club and so this will be useful

49FlorenceArt
abr. 25, 2015, 2:52 am

>44 Mr.Durick: I tried to read it, honestly. Despite the fact that I'm not that interested in academic criticism, there are interesting questions there, but the writing is so confusing I gave up. Not to mention all the typos and errors.

I did get a wishlist addition from it though: Reading the Romance sounds interesting to this guilty romance addict.

50FlorenceArt
abr. 25, 2015, 2:54 am

The Wonderfully Elusive Chinese Novel

One more for the wishlist — if only I can decide which translation to read!

51Mr.Durick
abr. 25, 2015, 5:25 am

>49 FlorenceArt: Thank you for your effort.

Robert

52Cariola
abr. 27, 2015, 6:37 pm

Not really an article, but rather an announcement. This was my top read of 2013, so I was pleased to get the email!

MASTERPIECE on PBS has optioned The Signature of All Things, the best-selling novel by Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, to be adapted for television. The critically-acclaimed bestseller chronicles the explorations of scientist Alma Whittaker, a heroine who is equal parts Elizabeth Bennet and Charles Darwin, as she spends her days seeking nothing less than the answers to the origins of life.

Author Elizabeth Gilbert says: "I'm beyond thrilled to be working with MASTERPIECE on the adaptation...Whenever I dreamed of seeing my novel transformed for the screen, I dreamt of working with exactly this team of people, and I'm delighted that my dream has come true."

MASTERPIECE, produced by WGBH Boston, is developing the project with Origin Pictures, a top UK film and television production company. Stay tuned for more details!

(For the record, this book is NOTHING like Eat Pray Love.)

53rebeccanyc
abr. 29, 2015, 7:38 am

Here's a link to an article by Adam Gopnik about Anthony Trollope in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/04/trollope-trending. I don't agree with Gopnik that “The Way We Live Now is the Trollope novel for people who don’t like Trollope novels." I read it first, and I think it's great, but I'm enjoying the Palliser series too.

54NanaCC
abr. 29, 2015, 4:23 pm

>52 Cariola:. I had The Signature of All Things as one of my top reads last year, so this is rather exciting. Although I must say that my mind just went to "I wonder how they'll handle the binding closet"? :)

55Cariola
abr. 29, 2015, 5:58 pm

56RidgewayGirl
maig 6, 2015, 3:32 am

I thought this was a funny take on the "which Jane Austen character are you" type quiz.

http://the-toast.net/2015/05/05/which-jane-austen-heroine-are-you/

57FlorenceArt
maig 6, 2015, 5:14 am

>56 RidgewayGirl: Yes it is! Thank you, I needed a good laugh.

58Nickelini
maig 6, 2015, 10:45 am

>56 RidgewayGirl: That's just so awesome and apropos. Thanks!

59Cariola
maig 6, 2015, 11:55 am

>56 RidgewayGirl: So much for al those quizzes I see on Facebook!

60Mr.Durick
maig 11, 2015, 5:54 pm

On the Inklings, their importance, their current effect, and their Christianity:

http://chronicle.com/article/Oxfords-Influential-Inklings/229967/

Robert

61reva8
maig 13, 2015, 2:46 pm

>60 Mr.Durick: I enjoyed this article, thanks for posting the link. Much has been written about Tolkien and Lewis, so it was interesting to read a little about the other Inklings as well.

62Mr.Durick
maig 13, 2015, 6:17 pm

They were world makers. On the making of the world we cannot know. The experts can speculate but cannot know.

http://aeon.co/magazine/science/has-cosmology-run-into-a-creative-crisis/

Robert

63Mr.Durick
maig 26, 2015, 6:01 pm

We're sunk:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/06/why-it-pays-to-be-a-jerk/392...

There's a book mentioned in the article.

Robert

64Mr.Durick
maig 28, 2015, 5:14 pm


Where to go to college to become a MacArthur Genius Fellow:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecilia-a-conrad/where-macarthur-genius-fellows-we...

Robert

66dchaikin
maig 30, 2015, 8:18 am

Somehow I ended up listening to Grain Brain. Momentarily I questioned by beer drinking, but had that sense that something wasn't right. Yeah, it's not. The Atlantic explained it in 2013.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/this-is-your-brain-on-gluten/2...

67FlorenceArt
Editat: maig 30, 2015, 1:03 pm

Empowerment. We all want the magic formula that ensures we will be healthy and alert forever. And when we finally die, we become vampires and go on being irresistible.

68Mr.Durick
juny 5, 2015, 5:04 pm

Last night I read a review of the life of Scott Moncrieff in the New York Review of Books. I wasn't sure how interesting the book would be when I finished the article, but I was sure that the writer's life was interesting. Then I had the good fortune today to be steered to another review of a life of Moncrieff, perhaps the same one, on line:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/prousts-english-voice/

I think that we are back to the question of which translation of Proust is best and to the implication that the question will never have a settled answer.

Robert

69rebeccanyc
juny 6, 2015, 11:36 am

I read the NY Review of Books article too, and he did have an interesting life. All I can say is that I tried many times to read Scott Moncrieff's translation, and never could get through the first volume of In Search of Lost Time, but I succeeded with the new multi-translator versions and loved it. But it might not have been the translation; it might have been that in my 50s I was ready for Proust.

70lilisin
juny 16, 2015, 3:55 am

A 20 year old college student wants to ban these certain books from campus:

Student, parents want college to ban ‘Sandman,’ ‘Persepolis,’ more
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2015/06/student-parents-want-college-to-ban...

Thankfully this was the reply to that situation.

College declines student’s request to ban “Persepolis,” “Sandman”
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2015/06/crafton-hills-college-will-not-ban-...

71RidgewayGirl
juny 16, 2015, 4:13 am

>70 lilisin: Well, that's maddening. It's a matter of routine for this to happen in middle schools and high schools (and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie remains the most challenged book in school libraries), but universities? How long exactly must we control our children's reading? Should I be looking over the large print books available in the assisted living homes when the time comes, just to make sure my parents don't encounter an idea that makes them uncomfortable?

72rebeccanyc
juny 16, 2015, 7:44 am

>70 lilisin: >71 RidgewayGirl: Yes, it is maddening, and I agree with Kay about being astounded that it's happening at universities.

73NanaCC
juny 16, 2015, 8:15 am

>70 lilisin: I find it most unbelievable that it is the student that started the protest. Usually it is the parents. Crazy.

74Cariola
juny 16, 2015, 2:37 pm

>70 lilisin: I'm not at all surprised. A number of years ago, I chaired the university's Academic Day committee. We selected as the book for incoming freshmen to read and discuss The Reader by Berhard Schlink. The president got a number of calls from parents complaining about the book: "That's an inappropriate book for an 18-year old Christian young man." And in my discussion group, the student who co-led kept harping on how it was a bad book that promoted child abuse. I could not get her to focus on the REAL issues the book addressed that were worthy of discussion.

75RidgewayGirl
juny 16, 2015, 2:42 pm

>74 Cariola: I can see that being an issue at a Bible school or overtly Christian college like Bob Jones, but anywhere else? When did we start feeling like eighteen year olds needed censorship to avoid getting nightmares or ideas?

Stopping now. I can feel an extensive rant coming on.

76Nickelini
juny 16, 2015, 2:49 pm

>70 lilisin: through >75 RidgewayGirl: I've heard of these sorts of cases from Deborah and other university professors I know, so they aren't unique. (Including a particularly amusing one where a student was outraged that she had to read that Satanic book Harry Potter). What I find interesting about this one is that it made the news.

77Cariola
Editat: juny 16, 2015, 3:13 pm

>75 RidgewayGirl: This is a state university, no religious affiliation, but it's in a conservative, heavily Christian part of PA. What always bothers me is that the term "university" suggests to me that students will learn something about the larger world outside their own back yard. But these folks would like to keep them penned up and ignorant.

78lilisin
juny 16, 2015, 8:12 pm

There are so many questions that can be asked here. I think the class sounds fascinating and is a great step into showing people that comics are more than just Garfield and Snoopy, or even superheroes. It's a wonderful visual medium that can pack quite a punch even within the superhero genre, but particularly outside of it. For example Onward towards our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki which shows the impact on the psyche of Japanese soldiers in the Philippines: a far cry from Batman and Robin, although even those comics have a lot of the world is not black and white type of issues.

So what was she trying to get out of this class? Does she have any sort of reading comprehension as she obviously missed the line on the syllabus that states that it is a class about showing the comic as a "viable means of literature". Why couldn't she just drop the class and take another course? Why does she feel the right to refuse to allow other students to read these works just because she's a sensitive, poorly-educated, shallow little girl?

And to think, the girl wants to study law and perhaps run for Congress down the line. I shudder at the thought!

(See bottom of this page for her ideal career choice.)
http://www.craftonhills.edu/Degrees_and_Certs/Divs_and_Depts/Multidisciplinary_D...

79Mr.Durick
juny 19, 2015, 5:08 pm

Has Japanese lost the capacity to accommodate literature?

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1569460.ece

Robert

80detailmuse
juny 21, 2015, 3:51 pm

Beginning July 1, authors who self-publish through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Lending Library will receive royalties based on how many of their pages are read, not how many of their books are sold/downloaded.

Amazon’s info

The Atlantic’s analysis

Will this spread to mainstream? Oh, the poor (literally!) authors whom I save for later, with delicious anticipation, in my TBRs...

81RidgewayGirl
juny 28, 2015, 5:50 am

83RidgewayGirl
jul. 11, 2015, 3:02 am

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/books/review-harper-lees-go-set-a-watchman-giv...

Here's the NYT review for Go Tell a Watchman. My feelings before reading this review were decidedly mixed. On the one hand, another book by Harper Lee, on the other, the procurement of this book seemed somewhat shady. Now I think I've made my decision based on the review of the contents of the book. I may change my mind in the future. What do you think?

84rebeccanyc
jul. 11, 2015, 9:33 am

>83 RidgewayGirl: the procurement of this book seemed somewhat shady

That's exactly what I thought. It seems that Harper Lee may not have wanted this book published and isn't in a condition where she could stop it.

I have to say that when I reread To Kill a Mockingbird a few years ago, I found stereotyping in the book, in the sense that all the black people were exceptional, and I found Atticus extremely annoying because he was so perfect.

85ursula
jul. 11, 2015, 10:14 am

>83 RidgewayGirl: Yeah, since it was unclear whether Harper Lee gave her permission or was in any condition to give her permission, I had already decided to stay away from it. Reading that review confirms that there are other reasons to stay away from it as well.

86AlisonY
jul. 11, 2015, 11:06 am

I totally agree. The timing of this second book all sounds decidedly shady, and there's been so much negative press around it. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird so much I feel like I'm happier just to leave it there.

87LolaWalser
Editat: jul. 11, 2015, 1:53 pm

>83 RidgewayGirl:

I posted that review in the racism thread in the other group yesterday but nobody commented on it (or yet).

As I said there, I haven't read either book and can't comment on the literary etc. aspects. I know the basic plot and characters, and I've seen the movie--in fact, it was largely knowing the movie that kept me away from reading the book. Right or wrong, and aware of what Hollywoodisation does to even quality material, I just didn't think there'd be anything more or OTHER in the book than there was in the movie (especially given the date of publication and that it was obviously regarded as a youth classic).

So the NYT review, in contrast to you all, really intrigues me--but especially because it reveals that this may be the first, original version of the book. If that's true (given that it mentions Lee trying to pitch it, and that seems to be a verifiable fact), then everything becomes more interesting from several angles--literary, biographical, social...

Perhaps the character of Finch as originally conceived (again, if that's how it was) would have been not only more "authentic" but more useful in understanding racism. There's a lot of irony here. As we see racism is still widespread, and in insidious ways that may be harder to combat than overt hostility and legally enforced discrimination. Isn't part of the reason that this is still so the unwillingness or inability of the whites to fully understand how they contribute to it? I was struck by the reviewer calling Finch (in the Mockingbird) "a saint". Shouldn't this raise alarms, in several ways? People aren't saints, and people can't BE "saintly" when they exist in a position of privilege.

What happened or ought to happen is a sea change since the 1950s, in understanding racism. It is extremely ironic to think that Harper Lee may have been closer to the mark in a "lumpy" version of her book with a hero who wasn't a knight in shining armour, than in the enormously acclaimed and beloved classic with its flattering (to whites) idealistic and unblemished white saviour.

88AlisonY
jul. 11, 2015, 2:33 pm

Very excited about a new BBC drama starting in the UK on 30th July. 'Life in Squares' is a new dramatisation about the Bloomsbury group, and reviews are all very good so far. I read an excellent review of it in The Times today - can't find many current reviews online to post here, but this blog tells you all you need to know:

http://theconsultingdetectivesblog.com/2015/07/06/life-in-squares-coming-soon-to...

Also a new drama due sometime soon called 'Vita and Virginia', about Virginia Woolf's relationship with Vita Sackville-West.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/life-in-squares-and-...

89rebeccanyc
jul. 11, 2015, 2:52 pm

>87 LolaWalser: As we see racism is still widespread, and in insidious ways that may be harder to combat than overt hostility and legally enforced discrimination. Isn't part of the reason that this is still so the unwillingness or inability of the whites to fully understand how they contribute to it?

That's an interesting idea that the "original" might not only have been more realistic but more useful in combating racism. One of the things I noticed when I reread To Kill a Mockingbird a few years ago (spurred by an article in The New Yorker criticizing it) was that, as I mentioned in >84 rebeccanyc:, all the black people were exceptional in some way (like the Sidney Poitier character in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner). The family housekeeper was one of the few black people in the town who could read and write, and the young man accused of the rape not only did his own full-time job, but did chores (for free) for the young woman he was accused of raping. So the black people had to be "better" than the white people just to be considered OK.

And what was the other group with a racism thread?

90LolaWalser
jul. 11, 2015, 3:58 pm

>89 rebeccanyc:

It's in Pro & Con:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/192247#5211333

This post (#152) is where I linked the review: http://www.librarything.com/topic/192247#5211014

and I just saw southernbooklady posted about the review too.

91LolaWalser
jul. 11, 2015, 4:14 pm

Rebecca, did you see today's article, SBL linked to it in this post:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/192247#5211690

(I don't want to link to article directly because her link should be visible to all and I'm not sure mine would be.)

92rebeccanyc
jul. 11, 2015, 5:17 pm

I saw the article today because I still (gasp!) get the NY Times delivered and it was on the front page.

And I avoid Pro & Con like the plague!

93LolaWalser
jul. 11, 2015, 6:41 pm

Ha, I can understand that (I go through phases when I put it on Ignore and then other when it feels like arguing with Someone Who Is Wrong On The Internet is the thing to do), but you are also missing out on some interesting stuff. In any case--I don't see a real debate about racism taking place in this group.

94rebeccanyc
jul. 12, 2015, 12:07 pm

I'm sure I'm missing out on some interesting stuff, but I'm also sure I'm missing out on stuff that would just make me angry at people I don't know. I have enough trouble keeping up with what I want to keep up with on LT, without adding something else!

95lilisin
ag. 3, 2015, 12:55 am

It seems we are in store for a new translation of The Tale of Genji. I would like to reread the story and perhaps this is the next version I should pick up.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/08/01/books/new-translation-worlds-olde...

96rebeccanyc
ag. 3, 2015, 12:30 pm

I can picture my mother's copy of what must have been a very abridged version of The Tale of Genji. The new translation sounds intriguing, but I don't know if I can tackle something that long!

97ELiz_M
ag. 3, 2015, 9:51 pm

>96 rebeccanyc: With an e-reader, it is perfect for subway reading! The work is composed of many, many short episodes and I found that it felt repetitive if I read more than 30 pages at a time, so I only read it during my commute for three months one summer. It was nice that way, like being addicted to "Friends" -- short episodes with more or less the same story arc, involving a cast of main characters, many characters with repeat roles, and some characters that only appear once.

98wandering_star
ag. 4, 2015, 4:15 am

That's a good way of looking at it - I am afraid I gave up with my wrist-wrenching hardback, but perhaps if I read it in short bursts every evening after I come home...

99rebeccanyc
ag. 4, 2015, 7:03 am

>97 ELiz_M: Ah, an e-reader . . . So far I have resisted them . . .

100ljbwell
ag. 10, 2015, 11:01 am

NYT article about the childhood friendship between Harper Lee and Truman Capote, and a novel coming out with that as the basis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/10/books/harper-lee-and-truman-capote-a-collabora...

101rebeccanyc
ag. 10, 2015, 11:08 am

102Mr.Durick
ag. 20, 2015, 5:09 pm

103bragan
ag. 21, 2015, 11:58 pm

>102 Mr.Durick: Thug Notes is bizarrely (and hilariously) brilliant. It may be one of my favorite things on the internet.

104FlorenceArt
ag. 22, 2015, 8:26 am

>102 Mr.Durick: Fun! Too bad about those annoying ****

105RidgewayGirl
ag. 22, 2015, 2:56 pm

>102 Mr.Durick: Thanks for that, Robert. I watched his take on the two Harper Lee novels and was impressed. I'll have to watch a few more when I have the time.

106RidgewayGirl
Editat: ag. 24, 2015, 1:36 pm

I know I've linked to this website before, but who can resist texts from H.P. Lovecraft?

http://the-toast.net/2015/08/24/texts-from-h-p-lovecraft/

107wandering_star
ag. 24, 2015, 3:53 pm

108Nickelini
ag. 24, 2015, 5:15 pm

>107 wandering_star: - oh, oh, oh! That's wonderful!

109RidgewayGirl
ag. 28, 2015, 1:41 am

Here's an opinion piece on whether quantity necessarily means there's a loss of quality when it comes to an author's output. Hint: the piece is by Stephen King.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/opinion/stephen-king-can-a-novelist-be-too-pro...

110StevenTX
ag. 31, 2015, 12:25 pm

The Guardian has been publishing a weekly column by Robert McCrum featuring the books he has selected for his "100 Best Novels Written in English." He announced the final selection last week. Here is the full list:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-engl...

111FlorenceArt
ag. 31, 2015, 12:47 pm

>109 RidgewayGirl: Forgot to comment on this! I enjoyed the article more than I thought I would. He makes a few good points.

>110 StevenTX: Thank you for the link! I read the whole list and there are many of those books I hadn't even heard about. I should bookmark it for later reference. I also read Rachel Cooke's answer with interest.

112Nickelini
Editat: ag. 31, 2015, 1:48 pm

>110 StevenTX: - an odd list. I've read 29, and some are favourites (Wuthering Heights, Age of Innocence , Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont) but so many are ones I really didn't like. What are Pilgrim's Progress and 39 Steps (among others) doing on that list? Yuck.

113FlorenceArt
ag. 31, 2015, 3:42 pm

I was wondering the same thing about The 39 Steps. There was only one book I positively hated in the list (Of Human Bondage), but so many I haven't read.

114Mr.Durick
set. 1, 2015, 5:35 pm

Emerson the poet and Emerson and American poetry:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/07/ecstasy-of-influence

115Cariola
set. 2, 2015, 12:35 pm

>110 StevenTX: Interesting list! I've read 52 of them. Will have to hunt down a copy of Nightmare Alley. I was surprised to see Lolly Willows on it. I was forced to read Heart of Darkness three times in high school and college--hated it more every time, but I do understand why it always makes these lists.

116Nickelini
set. 2, 2015, 12:40 pm

>115 Cariola: I was forced to read Heart of Darkness three times in high school and college--hated it more every time, but I do understand why it always makes these lists.

Only twice for me, but I hear what you're saying. It also got a lot longer the second time around.

117RidgewayGirl
set. 8, 2015, 9:59 am

There is a poetry scandal! The Best American Poetry 2015 was edited by Sherman Alexie this year. Here's his take on what happened:

http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/current_affairs/

118baswood
set. 8, 2015, 5:00 pm

>110 StevenTX: it is a very "safe" list.

119FlorenceArt
set. 9, 2015, 2:49 pm

>117 RidgewayGirl: A poetry scandal! It seems to me that Alexie tried his best to be fair and honest in his choices. He couldn't win anyway in a situation like this.

120LolaWalser
set. 14, 2015, 4:28 pm

121wandering_star
set. 28, 2015, 7:37 pm

Not an article, but a series of short radio programmes about bookshops: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06f1s93

122wandering_star
oct. 5, 2015, 7:00 pm

I hadn't know that the campaigning organisation English PEN funds translations of a range of international fiction, non-fiction and poetry into English. They are asking the public to vote on their favourite one - from an impressively interesting list, here.

123Nickelini
oct. 7, 2015, 11:20 am

Anyone placing bets on tomorrow's Nobel Prize for Literature?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/oct/07/who-should-win-the-nobel-...

As in years past, it's likely to be someone I've never heard of, which will again make me feel uneducated and poorly read.

124RidgewayGirl
oct. 7, 2015, 12:47 pm

Hey, Alice Munro is a winner.

125Nickelini
oct. 7, 2015, 4:16 pm

>124 RidgewayGirl:, yeah, but about every second year I say "who?"

126Mr.Durick
oct. 9, 2015, 5:13 pm

127RidgewayGirl
oct. 11, 2015, 7:13 am

>126 Mr.Durick: Interesting. I haven't read any Brontë biographies, but I'd read one about Anne, I think.

128ELiz_M
oct. 11, 2015, 7:29 am

For those of you working through Trollope's Palliser series, you might want to slow down and wait until the restored version of The Duke's Children is more widely available:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/books/review/trollope-uncut.html?_r=0

129FlorenceArt
Editat: oct. 11, 2015, 8:53 am

>128 ELiz_M: Interesting! I'm nowhere near even starting to read Trollope but I'll keep that in mind. And I like the last part about the fox hunting scene that he couldn't bring himself to cut.

130Mr.Durick
oct. 12, 2015, 6:42 pm

Can there be a world literature? I have read Stieg Larsson, although I skipped the first of the three having seen the Swedish movie and later taking in the American production.

http://thesmartset.com/world-books/

Robert

131rebeccanyc
oct. 17, 2015, 1:51 pm

>128 ELiz_M: I've already read The Duke's Children but I found it interesting what the uncut version included. Of course, Trollope cut it himself.

132FlorenceArt
oct. 21, 2015, 5:00 am

>130 Mr.Durick: I keep wanting to comment on this, and then forgetting. Interesting article, but their definition of world literature felt strangely restricted.

133FlorenceArt
oct. 21, 2015, 5:04 am

Two Language Log posts about literature, the second being a praise of Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice which has already received good reviews here.

The G.K. Chesterton Prize for Ignoring Women
Alien Encounter

135kidzdoc
oct. 27, 2015, 11:52 am

Thanks for posting that link, Akeela! I missed that announcement entirely (which is odd, since I subscribe to World Literature Today). I own Dubravka Ugrešić's novel The Ministry of Pain, which I had hoped to read when I was in Amsterdam this summer, so I'll plan to get to it next month.

136Mr.Durick
nov. 11, 2015, 5:39 pm

137RidgewayGirl
nov. 12, 2015, 4:55 am

>136 Mr.Durick: That was interesting. The current criticism of Timothy Snyder strikes me as very similar to the criticism of Daniel Goldhagen (author of Hitler's Willing Executioners) when that book was released.

I'm of two minds about this wave of criticism -- on the one hand, all historical study should be looked at with a critical eye and held to account for errors and misrepresentations. On the other, there is a defensiveness in the historians of this time to any alteration in the status quo which tends to keep people toeing a certain narrative, instead of digging deeper.

And I can tell you that the publicity in the US over Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin must have been as over-heated as a new Harry Potter novel for the article's author (who chose to remain nameless?) to be able to say that the book received less acclaim in Europe. It was a lengthy radio discussion of the book on German radio that brought my attention to it. Maybe the author meant European countries, except Germany? That stumble did make me read the article more critically than might otherwise have. I think I need to find a copy of Black Earth and see for myself.

Has anyone here read it yet?

138RidgewayGirl
nov. 13, 2015, 3:33 pm

139baswood
nov. 13, 2015, 5:15 pm

>138 RidgewayGirl: I got to no 15 before I answered no. (I don't have a bath tub)

140rebeccanyc
nov. 14, 2015, 11:15 am

>136 Mr.Durick: Adam Gopnik earlier wrote a review in The New Yorker criticizing Snyder's latest book:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/blood-and-soil

I was an enthusiast for Bloodlands because it shed light, for me anyway, on the variety of massacres that took place behind the Iron Curtain, especially by Stalin. Some of them I knew about, but I appreciated having such a comprehensive look at what went on. After Gopnik's article, I haven't been interested in the new book. I also read Snyder's The Reconstruction of Nations, which I found a slog, and too much like a doctoral dissertation.

141Mr.Durick
nov. 14, 2015, 4:17 pm

Thank you for the New Yorker review, Rebecca. I should maybe read Bloodlands. With Paris just now, I am tired of man's inhumanity to man, and that sounds so banal. I wonder what the caliphate will do when it has Europe?

Robert

142bragan
nov. 14, 2015, 9:47 pm

>138 RidgewayGirl: I scored less highly on that than I would expect to on a book nerd quiz, partly because I don't do ebooks, but also because the author of the quiz seems to think that a big part of being a book nerd is obsessively judging other people's attitudes towards books, which, as far as I'm concerned, just eats up mental energy that could be better put towards one's own reading. (Also, they seem to think 100 books is a lot of books, which just makes me want to pat them gently on their naive little head. :))

143.Monkey.
nov. 15, 2015, 4:05 am

>142 bragan: Agreed, a number of these "book nerd" questions were nothing more than personal preference/behavior, nothing to do with actual books. Annoying!

144Mr.Durick
nov. 17, 2015, 4:45 pm

I reckon the novels of Marilynne Robinson not to be just good but to be great. This a novelist who had a sitting President come to her for conversation. She also writes essays.

http://thesmartset.com/marilynne-robinson-the-novelist-as-anglerfish/

Robert

145Mr.Durick
Editat: nov. 19, 2015, 5:18 pm

I came to James Baldwin late. When I was young he was a public figure. It was only recently that I read him. I took on his essays, and now I believe his work is worth engaging. Here is some discussion about him and about works about him.

http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article1634298.ece

I think that I am particularly attracted to The Cambridge Companion to James Baldwin which is apparently not yet in LibraryThing.

I haven't received this issue yet. Apparently periodical mail cannot keep up with the internet.

Robert

146wandering_star
nov. 21, 2015, 10:12 pm

A nice podcast/radio discussion of Emma here.

147Mr.Durick
nov. 27, 2015, 4:18 pm

I think it was the fault of my software and not of the article, but I couldn't get this to scroll in Internet Explorer. It worked in Chrome.

It is a list that I think we should have even if it some years grows nonsensical: The New York Times Notable Books of 2015, and with only a month to go.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2015.html?_r...

Robert

148Cariola
nov. 27, 2015, 5:06 pm

>147 Mr.Durick: Can't see it without purchasing a subscription. :(

149.Monkey.
nov. 27, 2015, 5:13 pm

>148 Cariola: Do you block cookies? I do, hence I can't access NYTimes site, because they have stupid limits on how much you can read for free, therefore they keep cookies to let them know when to cut you off. I explicitly allow cookies only from sites I whitelist, so they automatically shove a login page at me if I'm not paying attention and click someone's link somewhere to one of their articles. Super obnoxious!

150Cariola
nov. 27, 2015, 5:39 pm

Eh, I'll make a note to search for it on December 1.

151Mr.Durick
nov. 27, 2015, 8:34 pm

Yeah. I don't have a subscription, but I look at fewer than ten articles a month.

Robert

152Nickelini
nov. 28, 2015, 1:20 pm

153rebeccanyc
nov. 28, 2015, 1:44 pm

>147 Mr.Durick:, etc. One of the advantages of having (gasp!) a print subscription is that I get a digital subscription "free."

154sibylline
Editat: nov. 30, 2015, 8:13 am

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/nov/10/how-could-you-like-that-book/

This is a subject that fascinates me. Particularly when someone whose taste normally runs fairy parallel to my own, dislikes some writer I'm nuts about!

155RidgewayGirl
Editat: des. 2, 2015, 5:40 am

This article, by Battleborn author Claire Watkins, has been rampaging across the book world. Some are calling it a potential game-changer. Whatever its long-term impact, it is worth reading:



http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/41314/on-pandering.html

And here's a corresponding article by A History of Seven Killings author Marlon James:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/30/marlon-james-writers-of-colour-pand...

Rather than disagree, it amplifies the discussion, I think.

156LolaWalser
des. 2, 2015, 12:50 pm

Misogynistic dick.

157rebeccanyc
des. 2, 2015, 1:53 pm

I'll definitely have to come back to the article by Claire Vaye Watkins when I have more time even though I was less than impressed with Battleborn.

158lilisin
Editat: des. 2, 2015, 9:09 pm

Found an amusing article on CNN (weird source, I know) for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

Here is the "winning" passage:

"At this, Eliza and Ezra rolled together into the one giggling snowball of full-figured copulation, screaming and shouting as they playfully bit and pulled at each other in a dangerous and clamorous rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza's breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra's howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement as it whacked and smacked its way into every muscle of Eliza's body except for the otherwise central zone."

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/02/entertainment/morrissey-bad-sex-award/index.ht...

159lilisin
des. 2, 2015, 9:22 pm

Also another article spotted on CNN stating that Hitler's Mein Kampf will be republished again in Germany in a heavily annotated edition. I think it would be a very interesting read for those interested in history.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/02/europe/germany-mein-kampf-republication-annota...

160.Monkey.
des. 3, 2015, 3:50 am

Wow, heavily annotated indeed! 600 pages to 2000! I think it's a good thing, to have it published for the sake of history, right alongside all the actual data exposing his lies and trash.

161FlorenceArt
Editat: des. 3, 2015, 5:21 am

>158 lilisin: Wow!!

>155 RidgewayGirl: Have saved the article to Pocket for further reading...

162NanaCC
des. 5, 2015, 10:11 am

"The increasing absence of physical books, records and photo albums in homes can negatively affect developing intellects."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/fashion/our-bare-shelves-our-selves.html?smid=...

The kids spend so much time online these days, that I found this thought provoking.

163RidgewayGirl
des. 5, 2015, 11:09 am

>162 NanaCC: That is interesting! The study the article cites is one that I mention frequently when explaining the non-profit I volunteered with, which gives kids in low-income schools twelve books at the start of summer vacation each year. And I frequently use it as a reason to have shelves and shelves of books in my home.

164NanaCC
des. 5, 2015, 12:21 pm

>163 RidgewayGirl: Our house and my daughters' all have books on shelves and tables all over the house. In my son's house, the kids have book shelves in their rooms, but I don't see books all over the place. He and his family read, and the eight year old always has her nose in a book, but they mostly have Kindle books for the adults. I never thought about the kids perusing mom and dad's shelves.

166Nickelini
des. 8, 2015, 6:00 pm

>165 Mr.Durick: I saw that too. An interesting list. I've read 47/100.

167rebeccanyc
des. 8, 2015, 6:12 pm

>165 Mr.Durick: >166 Nickelini: I agree that it's an interesting list. I've only read 35.

168RidgewayGirl
des. 9, 2015, 4:48 am

These end of the year lists are terrible for my wish list and also give me the clear message that I have read nothing so far this year, and have lived in a bubble, unaware of the books being published around me.

169FlorenceArt
des. 9, 2015, 8:33 am

>165 Mr.Durick: Ouch! I only read 9 of the 100. Not counting Atonement which I didn't finish.

171Cariola
des. 19, 2015, 7:27 pm

>165 Mr.Durick: I think this is a pretty good list overall. I'd probably move some of the books on it up or down, but there are none that I don't think belong on it. I've read 62 of them and have nine more in my TBR stacks. I see 10-12 that I doubt I'll ever read (not a Dickens fan, for one thing).

172Mr.Durick
des. 22, 2015, 4:52 pm

There is probably a pro and con, philosophy, or science group that could better accommodate this, but a quick scan of groups hasn't revealed it to me. It is not literary, but it is an important part of the world of ideas and of how we think critically.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20151216-physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-b...

Robert

173RidgewayGirl
des. 30, 2015, 10:43 am

Here's an interesting article about why we read, and what one person learned during a reading year.

http://www.vox.com/2015/12/29/10634416/reading-list-books

174Mr.Durick
feb. 18, 2016, 5:20 pm

175ursula
Editat: feb. 19, 2016, 2:52 am

>174 Mr.Durick: Yes.

And now I'm off to read the article.

Edited to add: I really enjoyed that article, and the conversation it inspired here at home for me to describe to my husband the source of my starry-eyed devotion. (Unsure, but it exists. I could not put down the first one and I've been holding off starting the second one just because I'm sure I will read it to the near-exclusion of all else.)

176Mr.Durick
feb. 20, 2016, 4:01 pm

177wandering_star
feb. 25, 2016, 6:01 pm

Does this count? http://www.dictionarystories.com/

Short short stories composed entirely of example sentences
from dictionaries. One starts: "She parted the ferns and looked between them. She had completely forgotten how tired and hungry she was. Her robe, beaver wool, trailed along the ground."

178Mr.Durick
març 7, 2016, 4:18 pm

Is fiction for anything (does it have utility)?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/know-thyselves/article/2001258

Robert

179SassyLassy
maig 5, 2016, 4:02 pm

How do you find the book you want? This wouldn't work for me:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/museum-administrator-has-30000...

180AnnieMod
maig 5, 2016, 4:08 pm

>179 SassyLassy: "Serious readers typically have collections of about 300 books"

OK.. I think I am talking to the wrong type of serious readers. 300 is a good start when you had just moved I guess but to call that typical for series reader?

181Nickelini
maig 5, 2016, 4:20 pm

>179 SassyLassy: Nice! Victoria is indeed an excellent book town. Vancouver, on the other hand, is not.

182edwinbcn
jul. 21, 2021, 3:27 am

.

183edwinbcn
nov. 7, 2022, 2:29 pm

.