Leeway

A strong novel.

The 4th and last novel in Mishima's Sea Of Fertility tetralogy. This novel is something of a throwback to his earlier novels in style. The quartet of novels are challenging to read.

Still have to read Underworld. Don't know why I haven't. The others you cited are indeed superlative.

The third novel in Mishima's Sea of Fertility tetralogy. No doubt an ambitious effort on Mishima's part, but the novel as a whole just fell flat for me.

I used to enjoy watching Hitchens on America TV; his witty repartee (even when he was wrong) was refreshing in an often anodyne cultural landscape. His relatively early passing was unfortunate. The memoir is interesting, occasionally amusing, and occasionally plodding. I wonder if he's remembered even now?

PM sent. Thanks.

The 2nd novel in Mishima's "Sea of Fertility" tetralogy. Perhaps not quite up to the mark of his Spring Snow, but clearly a major effort from Mishima. It's fascinating, if disturbing, to watch Mishima engage with the subject of ritual suicide (seppuku), knowing that's how he ended his own life.

Another masterpiece from Mishima.

Exquisitely calibrated revelations of an unreliable narrator. One can follow this narrative approach as it develops in Ishiguro's earlier novels, A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World," which bear strong similarities to TROTD. The tone of these novels is serious, but it strikes me that there is a fair amount of covert, mordant humor in these stories, although it can be hard to tell given the ambivalence of the narration.

Yukio Mishima - THE SOUND OF WAVES A lovely, nearly fabulist tale of young love, but with the shadow outlines of some of Mishima's later preoccupations.

Love the BAG and HAE recordings. An important figure in the music. RIP.

Memoirs of a publishing giant (Simon & Schuster, Knopf, The New Yorker), with enough literary gossip to keep things interesting. Reading this reminded me of how similar Hollywood and publishing can be. Watching a book make it to publication is like watching how sausages are made--not always pretty even if the end result is tasty.

I have still to read Remains of the Day, but I might take a break before I do so.

Another ambivalent, ambiguous, elusive fiction from Ishiguro.

An interesting if rather baffling novel from Ishiguro.

Nice find! Amazing how books circulate around, in their own inscrutable ecology.

That's a nice connection with Augie.

Part pulp Western, part political manifesto, part anarchist cookbook, part Vietnam War flashback, and more, this is an interesting gallimaufry. It's been a while since I read Abbey, and am still a fan of his Desert Solitaire, one of the great books of eco-literature. This one is more troubling, albeit entertaining.

I really enjoyed Ravelstein and would recommend it. I believe it's his heartfelt yet ironic tribute to his friend, philosopher Allen Bloom.

Not too long ago, I tried re-reading Henderson (I recall liking it considerably when I first read it several decades before) but gave up on it by page 50. I found it cringe-inducing, I think mainly for the African setting, but the whole novel seemed meretricious. I must have been in the wrong frame of mind, but am not sure I'm keen on trying again, even though one is always challenged by a Bellow work.

Couldn't get to as many shows as I'd have liked but the ones I did attend were satisfying: Ches Smith Trio with Maneri and Taborn Content Provider- with Andrew Drury, Ingrid Laubrock, Brandon Seabrook, and Brigden Krause Ken Vaandermark Made to Break Universal Indian with Joe McPhee Matt Shipp Trio Bill Cole Trio Nate Wooley Icepick, with Corsano and IHF Ken Vadermark Solo Dave Rempis Trio Gunwale Kahn El'Zabar Ritual Trio with David Murray and Harrison Bankhead Larry Ochs, Nels Cline, Gerald Cleaver Michael Formanek, Hank Roberts, Ches Smith

VF is a funny book. If one catches the current of its humor, it's clear sailing. Just finished: A useful book, with a wealth of detail, but sometimes wearying. O'Brian also seems to share his subject's chauvinism, and he's a bit too John Bull at times. The lack of photos and reproductions is another drawback.

A lot of great music Ubu! Amazing how Brotzman keeps topping lists. In fact many of the artists from the 60s and 70s continue to dominate the scene (Parker, Schlippenbach, Guy, et al).

Listening to Hotel Grief now and it sounds great.Should be a top-notch show.