What Are You Reading (Part 10)

Restarting the topic afresh, I am reading Double Blind by Edward St. Aubyn the writer of the Patrick Melrose series. The contemporary characters are well drawn and the book is peppered with many digressions on science with references to the likes of FS published writers Stephen Pinker and E. O. Wilson.

I have just started the FS Midshipman Hornblower - my first entry into the series. I’ve seen the show, so this book is treading over familiar ground so far, but I’m enjoying it.

I am currently reading Rob Roy. It’s my first Walter Scott novel and I find it quite enjoyable so far. I like the setting and the plot is engaging and moving along nicely.

Will be finishing up the last 50 pages of Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin tonight. I'll then be starting the noir classic Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes (which I discovered as part of Otto Penzler's American Mystery Classics series). I really liked the first book I read of hers that was a selection of the series, which was Ride the Pink Horse. I've also been listening on audio to the first book in Brandon Sanderson's YA sci-fi series Skyward which is surprisingly fun (I'm always a little suspicious of YA books, though I've read and do like a lot of Brandon's other stuff), since my niece is listening to it, too. And yes, my reading/listening tastes are just a tad eclectic. :P

>2 jsg1976: That was a great series of adaptations! I've always meant to read the actual books but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Reading The Book of Ebenezer Le Page recommended by someone on this forum, and really enjoying it. Also reading Ask Mamma by Surtees as a distraction.

Boswell's "The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides." It's not even on my TBR but I ordered the LEC edition on an impulse and when it arrived I just peeked at the introduction. I had no idea the addiction this could cause. I have things I need to do but I cannot stop reaching for the thing.

Blood Meridian. And I have to say, despite its description ticking all of my boxes (beautiful prose allegedly, American western, violent), I’m underwhelmed. I read Lonesome Dove then Moby-Dick and now this one.

I see *some* of the beauty in the unusual prose, but by god it’s nowhere even in the same solar system as Moby-Dick, contrary to the book reviews pasted on it saying it’s as beautiful as MD.

2/3 the way through and there are some good parts, but overall the lack of either dialogue or internal analysis just makes it feel like I’m rushing while reading just watching the action. It’s a different experience I’m slowly enjoying though.

>8 simbae: I never understood why McCarthy was vaunted as one of the best American authors. All of his books are really good but recently I've seen online him being compared to the Melville's, Hemingway's, Faulkner's, and I'm always perplexed. Good? Certainly, but no where near the greats.

>9 Joshbooks1: Agreed, but I am and will keep an open mind on him since I prefer to focus on classics/books that stand the test of at least some time. This is the only work I've read from him, so I'll also try The Road at some point since of it's similar accolades and an entirely different setting. That will either be the end of my path with him, or I'll hop to some others.

Coincidentally, just this morning I moved onto some great pages in the book with the Judge opining on life and the universe to the others. That's what I like to see!

>10 simbae: I’d actually try something other than The Road if Blood Meridian didn’t speak to you. Maybe the Border Trilogy. The Road is (in my opinion) more hopeful than Blood Meridian, but they are written in the same register (as is Child of God, which might be the most extreme novel of his in this direction).

I always read 2 or 3 books at the same time. I enjoy the change of pace and it keeps the stories fresh(er).

I’m currently reading :

- A Man on the Moon (Folio)
- A Game of Thrones (Folio)
- The War of the Worlds (Suntup)

All great reads so far.

I’m reading the FS Narnia series to my soon-to-be-five-year-old each evening in bed, just started on the second volume. Good chapter lengths for this exercise. My son thinks not quite enough happens, which is to say there’s too little swordplay!

>8 simbae: If you check out the PDF on Blood Meridian from this site, it may prove enlightening (it certainly was for me).
http://www.amerlit.com/novels/IndexAnalysisOfNovels.htm

Just scroll down to the link under "McCarthy, Cormac" titled "Blood Meridian (1985): analysis by 20 critics"

These are literary critics, by the way, not reviewers.

I would have provided the direct link to the page, but the forum software doesn't like something about it, and it wasn't rendering correctly.

>13 GusLogan: I can’t wait to read those books to my kids (2 and almost 4)! Been thinking of acquiring the FS editions. Are they nice?

Hornblower a ship of the line.

I have the full set but couldn’t decide whether to read them in publishing or chronological order, until I found a suggestion online that I start with the original trilogy, then go back to read the ‘prequels’ in order, followed by the later books. So that’s what I’m doing.

It’s therefore my second book and I’m really enjoying them. Hornblower the character is a far more interesting than I was lead to believe, it’s very clever how the author convey’s his psychological state at the same time as describing the events. It’s also quite funny at times.

I plan to read Aubrey Maturin afterwards and apparently those are even better.

Currently reading Pere Goriot by Balzac which, believe it or not (I found it hard), Folio has never published.

>17 Willoyd: Would love an FS treatment of this classic. Which edition have you chosen?

>14 whytewolf1: Great resource for this book, and others. Bookmarked!

I have to eat my earlier words. Maybe it was a change in the book 2/3 the way through or I finally got in the right mind, the final 1/3 of BM was an excellent experience, especially the final chapter. One character in that book will no doubt stand the test of time in my mind. I look forward to a reread in the future/another McCarthy book, but that’ll be after I get through some other backlog/FS deliveries.

>18 L.Bloom:
I'm reading the Everyman edition - Ellen Marriage's translation. I'm not au fait with the relative merits of translations, so have no idea how 'good' this is, but I'm enjoying it!

>15 RRCBS:
Standard FS quality I’d say. Lovely reading size (good for bedtime use), my son’s not that keen on the black and white illustrations. He’d like more oomph.

I am reading :-
- Hand of Ethelberta - Thomas Hardy
- Seva Sadan - Premchand (Hindi)
- Professor Unrat - Heinrich Mann (German)
- Der Ballspielende Hund - Agatha Christie

I’ve just finished reading No Cloak, No Dagger and really enjoyed it. Not something I’d usually go for but the binding stood out to me in the Christmas 2019 sale and it seemed like it could be interesting. I sped through it in two days and the only criticism is that I felt he could have gone into more detail.

Been on a bit of a noir classic kick lately. Recently finished Dread Journey (1945) by Dorothy B. Hughes (from Otto Penzler's American Mystery Classics series) which I didn't like nearly as well as Ride the Pink Horse (1946) which is considered one of her masterpieces. Also, just finished the short and punchy The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1934) (Folio edition).

Next up is The Old Man and the Sea on Kindle and the Easton DLE edition of Frederick Rebsamen's translation of Beowulf.

After many recommendations, I tried History, by Elsa Morante. "Tried" is the right word - after about 120 pages of heavy slogging through much communist sympathizing and long background stories, I gave up.

I then started The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson, and Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific 1944-1945 (the third of a trilogy), by Ian Toll. I'm racing through them, and both of them scare me in different ways. Unless something changes, and I'm halfway through them, I will recommend both.

Recently finished:
Young Romantics; The Shelleys, Bryon, and Other Tangled Lives, by Daisy Hay (actually quite good)
Ivory Vikings, by Nancy Brown (excellent)

Presently reading:
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (reread)
Botanical Curses and Poisons; The Shadow-lives of Plants, by Fez Inkwright.

Started "Therese Raquin", FS 1969, Emile Zola, Tancock translation. A story of passion, lust, betrayal, murder set in 18 century Paris. So far a fantastic story. Have just reached the "murder" stage of the story. Excellent translation. I saw the old BBC tv series in the 1970's and heard a great podcast about this novel , so I picked it up and really happy that I did.

Every Man Stands Alone / Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada.

Kipling's Plain Tales from the Hills from FS 2005 collected stories set.

After a crazy 6 months during which we did a whole bunch of upgrades on our Melbourne house, then sold, then bought a house in the country, I'm now back to reading my usual amount again. Deep breath.

I'm currently reading Richard Flanagan's most recent novel, "The Living Sea of Waking Dreams" - really liking it, half way through. It's about a dying old woman gradually losing touch with reality, and the efforts of her children to either prolong her life or let her go. Beautiful writing, full of a kind of magical realism I guess, or just the hallucinations of the central character. Bits of Gogol's 'The Nose' too, I think...

Prior to that I read Alex Miller's 'The Simplest Words', which I adored. A collection of his writings and musings over his career - heavily autobiographical and particularly insightful and moving regarding Indigenous experiences and the vexed process of Reconciliation.

As for Folio reads, I'm dipping in and out of the Folio Book of Historic Speeches. I'm a speechwriter, so it's professional development ;-)

My next Folio read beyond that I think will be Kafka's The Castle.

I'm looking forward to setting up the library in our new house - we actually have a room for one now!

>31 Jeremy53: The best speech in history in my opinion.

Background per Wiki: Pitt returned to the premiership on 10 May 1804. He had originally planned to form a broad coalition government, but faced the opposition of George III to the inclusion of Fox. Moreover, many of Pitt's former supporters, including the allies of Addington, joined the Opposition. Thus, Pitt's second ministry was considerably weaker than his first. The British government began placing pressure on the French Emperor, Napoleon I. Thanks to Pitt's efforts, Britain joined the Third Coalition, an alliance that included Austria, Russia, and Sweden. In October 1805, the British Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, won a crushing victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, ensuring British naval supremacy for the remainder of the war. At the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet toasting him as "the Saviour of Europe", Pitt responded in a few words that became the most famous speech of his life:

"I return you many thanks for the honour you have done me; but Europe is not to be saved by any single man. England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by her example."

I just read The Dam Busters. Great example of a FS book, and a fascinating bit of history I knew almost nothing about.

Picked up The Diversity of Life, purchased in the New Year's sale.

I read it originally thirty years ago, and while parts are vaguely familiar the book is gorgeous, a delight to again engage. Very happy with it.

I have a couple on the go right now:

Gibbon's Decline and Fall: this has been staring at me from the shelf for a couple of years now (FS edition) and I have finally taken the plunge. Taking my time, making notes at each chapter end and also reading around a lot of the concepts, ideas and geography as I go. Just finished up the 'controversial' chapter 14 & 15. Just another 60 or so to go... what a phenomenal piece of work this is, so glad I am finally getting into it. Also have the folio Atlas to help me along. The prose is significantly better than my expectations and once you get into Gibbon's style it is easy to get swept along. It helps of course to have a grounding already in the basic history of Rome, which thankfully I already have, not sure I would attempt this fresh. I keep looking at Hume's history of England online... could be my next project for 2022.

Phillip K Dick short stories: I'm through the first FS volume (of 4) and have enjoyed it immensely. It's great to read some of the early pulp stories to get an idea of how is writing and ideas developed, and they are quick reads as well.

Just finished Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft and highly recommend it to anyone who feels like an inventive adventure series with the unlikely hero but with beautiful prose as the years of the authors poetry study really shines through. With four books in the series I’m already halfway through the second and still thoroughly enjoying it.

>35 Ravern: I’m not going to ruin your experience so I’m not going to say anything about footnotes. (Caution: user discretion advised: Emoji (smiley of a man’s face with a slight stiff upper lip, top hat, cane and monocle, staring bemused with much force and vigour))

I recently finished Heart of Darkness the FS 1997 version with two short stories. It was my first time reading Joseph Conrad. I have to say I was really impressed with his writing. Youth the first story was my favorite of the three. I also have Lord Jim in that series but will happily be picking up some more down the line. I have just started Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds which I have not read in a while but thoroughly enjoyed previously. I wish FS would do this book as they did a great job with The Third Policeman in 2006 but doubt it will happen at this stage.

>38 ironjaw: A fair comment, and actually for the first few chapters I found a PDF version online with the full footnotes so that I could understand what I was missing. And to be fair, there is a lot missing... however, as interesting as most of the footnotes are, I can only manage so many diversions given that my general approach to this (and any history book for that matter) is that when I don't understand something, I look it up. Gibbon's footnotes are like a warren of interconnected rabbit holes: perhaps I'll lose myself in them upon my second reading once Folio produce a complete limited edition...

I've just started reading Churchill's The River War (1899) in the new (2020) restored First Edition text from St Augustine's Press. Well, to be honest, I haven't started the actual book yet, as I have the 150-page introduction to read first!

>41 boldface: If it’s too much to bite off, you can ease into it with the FS’ My Early Life (2007)

>41 boldface: interesting, Jonathan. Another publisher I need to look up: St Augustine's Press

Churchill is always something I’m naturally drawn towards.

>42 NLNils:

It's not too much, just long. But I love all the background so it's very enjoyable, not in any way heavy going. This edition has been twenty or thirty years in the making and I had to wait even longer for my hand-made leather-bound limited edition. The text is printed in black and red - the red shows what was altered or cut out for the 1902 second edition. All subsequent editions until now have reprinted the abridged 1902 text or even more abridged versions of it.

My Early Life is a great book which I read many years ago. I'm probably due for a re-read.

>43 ironjaw:

As far as I can tell, this is the only Churchill book published by St Augustine's Press. I can heartily recommend the book, although the first impression has now sold out and a new printing is on the way.

I just finished Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. A very interesting 1960’s sci-fi read from a French author.

Now I’m working my way through Atlas Shrugged.

I’m breaking Atlas up with my first read through Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not.

>45 CJR93: Polish, not French. :)

>45 CJR93:
>46 AnnieMod:

Yes, if you’re looking for “a very interesting 1960’s sci-fi read from a French author”, I suggest Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, which is different enough from the movies that it is still surprising and enjoyable. The FS edition has excellent illustrations.

>46 AnnieMod:
>47 BionicJim:

Aha! That’s right! 🤦🏽‍♂️
You know how the States gets their European countries mixed up…

But joking aside, I’m really enjoying sci-fi from authors from different countries.

I really enjoyed Planet of the Apes. It’s a great classic!

Also the Remembrance of Things Past series by the French author Liu Cixin was very different but interesting.

Or was that the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by that Chinese author Proust…?

(Just kidding!)

Just finished the LEC edition of Boswell's "The Journal of a tour to the Hebrides." If you are looking for a book which makes you feel warmth and humanity and friendship, this is highly recommended. This LEC is a work of art as an artifact alone. The reading of it (many references to Homer, Virgil and Horace) has prompted my next selection which will be the FS edition of the Fagles translation of The Iliad.

I've just finished "A Canticle for Leibowitz" which I thought was brilliant! A poignant look at humanity's self-destructive nature through a Catholic lens.

Reading Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the FS edition with my 5-year-old, a couple of chapters each evening before bed. We’re both delighted with it. Looking forward to the other volumes in the set.

I'm currently halfway through FS' "A Circle in the Fire and Other Stories" by Flannery O'Connor. These are some wild, intense Southern Gothic stories and the B&W illustrations are a perfect match tonally.

Years ago I watched the film "Wise Blood" and I was reminded of it from reading this book. It wasn't until I was a few stories in that I realized it is the same author! A great film and a great book.

Just finished Modernism by Michael Davies.

I have two on the go concurrently...

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

The Catechism of the Council of Trent by St Pius V

I’m reading volume 7 Plato’s Apology and Crito to my niece and my sister as a group read while we are working through Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World and using the Great Ideas Program set to furnish much debate and discussion afterwards.

Separately, I’m reading Lord of the Rings and my niece is enjoying reading Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days in Penguin Classics - one of my favourite novels. She’s quite keen on collecting the Penguin Classics paperbacks. Did warn her about the yellowing but she’s a kid and can rough up the books as much as she likes as she’s carrying them to school and all places.

I just finished reading The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. I haven't read this one in decades! Penguin Classic.

Now doing a fun reread of Far From The Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy. FS older version. I absolutely love Hardy and read a few of his novels every year. I never tire of them!

Just finished rereading Brave New World, the 2013 FS edition which was a lovely reading size, effective if somewhat dark illustrations and fitting Utopia font.
This is my first finished FS edition this year, as I seem to have been reading Fitzcarraldo Editions (contemporary non-fiction, especially Annie Ernaux), Slightly Foxed memoirs and more wonderful Joan Didion essays. May next start the first E H Shepard Slightly Foxed memoir.

>56 CarltonC: Are you enjoying the Slightly foxed?

>57 ironjaw: Very much so.
These titles have been some of my favourite reads this year:
Cider with Rosie is a well known memoir, also produced by FS, but this edition has the original black and white illustrations.
When I was A Little Boy by Erich Kästner was joyful, neither “rose-coloured” nor with “black lenses”, but a “multicoloured” memoir of Germany before the First World War, with delightful original black and white illustrations.
Still Life - Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood by Richard Cobb, surprisingly rises from gossipy fun to create a detailed social history of mainly middle class England in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
Then there is the tactility of the Slightly Foxed editions, small cloth bound hardbacks with ribbon markers, made by Smith Settle in Yorkshire, hand numbered and limited to 2,000 (but most are not illustrated). Joyful!

I'm re-reading Neil Ansell's 'Deep Country', and I have a recently purchased FS volume of 'The Seeds of Change' waiting in the wings.

Back on Walter Scott: just started Peveril of the Peak. Enjoying it so far. Thanks nice again, thanks to boldface for giving me the information I needed to purchase the Edinburgh editions. Definitely more scholarly than ornate, but perfect for me!

>58 CarltonC: Thank you for that delightful review. I don't have those books but have some of the earlier Slightly Foxed Editions and although I agree with your overall assertions, I find that the gold gilding on the spine, i.e., the title, number, etc., wears off over time as you handle them to the point becoming illegible. It annoys me quite a lot and I've left collecting them but do still enjoy the Quarterly.

>61 ironjaw: Worried, I checked my bookcase but thankfully can’t see any damage to the gold gilding on the spines of my volumes, but I have later volumes, my earliest is 19 and then 32, so perhaps it was a problem with the earlier volumes?
The Quarterly continues to be a joy, both reflecting on familiar favourites and raising my awareness of sometimes forgotten treasures.

I have all 55 and don't see any problem with the gold in earlier volumes, though inevitably the type is so cramped that a long title will be hard to read. I read them once and don't handle them again.
I've been happy with the choice of subject, despite the prevalence of the lifestyles of the leisured classes, but the current Cobb has so far defeated me. Too many pages of Tunbridge Wells topography induced catatonia, and I gave up. Still, 1 out of 55 isn't bad.

After a reading of an FS Hardy novel resulted in major wearing to the spine from handling, making it unpresentable on the shelf, I've used a leather book cover when reading/traveling with all FS books and have had no more reading/handling related damaged spines or boards.

>64 DanielOC: I would love to know more about this book cover. I made one of a brown paper bag, which is pretty ghetto, so would love to acquire a leather one.

I’ve started dipping into The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Brown which is excellent reading for small amounts here and there.

>65 BionicJim: I bought a number of different sized leather book covers in Fez, Maroc, they make them for the Koran but they do a wondrful job in protecting FS books from all handling related wear and tear. I never use a book off the shelf without one. See links for images of similar product :

https://www.etsy.com/listing/47533285/vintage-gold-embossed-moroccan-leather?sho...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/850149070/vintage-moroccan-leather-decorative?ga_or...

>67 DanielOC: I left the Fez leather works with only a belt and never thought of looking for these book covers. Thanks!

It’s disappointing to me how many Folio books I have where the spine has rubbed off significantly - Master and Commander and some of the Dickens come to mind. I try to justify the look on my shelf by thinking at least it shows I read them, but they just don’t look good.

>68 BionicJim:

I'm surprised Master and Commander is showing wear from reading: where would you have read it? Usually the book I'm reading is on a cloth on the desk or table in front of me, occasionally a smaller one may be in my lap. I've run aground with O'Brian at least for now, a little over half way through the series, but I don't think anyone could possibly tell by looking at the spines which I've read and which I haven't. My Folio Dickens is the first version, which I bought as a complete set only a few years ago, with some volumes showing erosion of the black blocking on the spine. My Trollopes on the other hand are near enough perfect.

>69 terebinth: I’ve found some printings are more durable than others and M&C has probably had more than one run. I have a Dickens 1990s complete set and two of the spines have significant wear after reading while many others look pristine with the same use. I definitely take more care after the first one showed wear, but my reading usually includes carrying the book with me in a bag or with a stack of papers, etc. None of my Folio Society books printed in the past 10 years seem to have the problem, so hopefully this particular issue has been permanently resolved. I love the idea of a leather cover for the added protection and tactile feel.

Just finished Rendezvous with Rama on Sunday. It made an impression on me as a teenager, and while it felt like a much more breezy read than I remember (finished in the space of a day), it was still enjoyable as an example of science fiction that focuses on a sense of exploration rather than character psychology, convoluted plotting, or complex world-building. The Folio production is mostly great too; the artificial silk-like shimmery cloth binding feels perfect for the cover and the cut-out on the slip case is striking (though perhaps not the most durable protection). My only real critique is the dot-matrix looking font chosen for the page numbers and page headers which I found to be inelegant (and not really justified by any aspect of the story).

In progress: Folio's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn), Folio's Legends of the Grail, and an edition of Goethe's Italian Journeys printed by the Stamperia Valdonega. C&C Offset did the Kuhn, and it is a great job. No complaints; even the Yu Long Pure paper works nicely in this book.

The other two (Grail, Goethe) I am reading at a glacial pace, about six pages per day, as I am airing them out at the same time (so I turn a page roughly three times per day and while doing so take a moment to read whatever is on the spread). Both arrived with some cigarette odor and this process seems to be doing a good job of purification.

There sure are a lot of decapitated head in the grail legends. Someone with more knowledge about the symbolism will need to explain that to me at some point.

A classic norwegian thriller/horror/mystery `Lake of the Dead` book from 1942, movie from 1958 - and a new release I have not yet viewed from 2019)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58005213-the-lake-of-the-dead?ac=1&from_...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIPhx00Ekq0 (If you have about an hour to spend, and like a classic thriller, horror, Christie, John Dickson Carr and are in the mood for some old black and white it is highly recommended).

>72 Pellias:

I watched the first few minutes. Looks very good. I could have easily been hooked. Early Scandi-noir.

>73 folio_books: Intriguing story and lots of atmosphere. A classic. We are very closely connected to our (often primitive) cabins in the woods as you know. Often no electricity, this is about some academics and townspeople entering the nature which as we know has it`s own set of rules, and they try to decipher what is going on. A classic Christie like, or Hitchcock even - psychology and rich atmosphere. I like these oldies, but goodies from time to time when time is right. Enjoy !