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I did work my way through the Gould set and nearly all of the Reiner set. Some sets I am good about, others not so good. I find I tend to lose interest/focus after a while and put on rock or even pop, which is more useful (for me) as background music. Curiously, I did go through the 75 CDs (at that time) in the Jazz in Paris set while doing revisions to my dissertation. Probably the only time I've ever been quite so chained to my desk... I wouldn't ever go through it in quite the same way, but it was worth doing once.

I have the last two, not the first two. Do you think the first two are in the same league?

BillF, kudos to you on taking on "The Comforters." Question: who are the "comforters" and who is being comforted? Does the biography address that? The choice of that title remains a mystery to me too. I guess Stannard doesn't have an explanation either, as I don't recall my question being answered by the biography. I checked that Alan Bold critical study of Spark, and he says: "Deriving its title from the discomfortable comforters in the Book of Job, the novel puts Caroline in a distressing predicament." The predicament basically is that Caroline has to suffer through her torments alone; there is little true succor to be found with others. Job is such a curious and deeply unsatisfying book. I couldn't recall it all that clearly, so I went back and took a look. Basically, one of the "comforters" tells Job the same general things that he said to others in the past, so a bit of cold comfort indeed (no one wants to be internally consistent when they are suffering). But as far as I can tell, the second one really gives him God's argument (to come) which Job more or less rejects. Then when God gives him the same line, but backed by great force and mystery, Job accepts it. Ta da. His problems are over. And he gets a whole new batch of kids to replace the ones that God let Satan slay. Done and dusted. I know we are supposed to avoid such issues here, but this one slender book, with all its paradoxes and unreasonable outcomes, turned me completely away from organized religion. There was no way for me to square the circle, as it were.

That is a very good price, but shipping to North America from Amazon.it is just too high. Another factor is I just can't imagine working through this repertoire again when I have essentially all of it by Bernstein, Reiner, or even Toscanini (well not so much the Mahler but I almost never reach for Mahler...). I think I am basically done with the monster sets.

I think I have too much of the Janis already to make this worthwhile for me. Also, while I like having access to original covers (perhaps in a booklet), I am not an obsessive over the original album format. In fact, I generally don't care for it when it means nearly all the CDs are under 40 minutes (as with the Janis and the Living Stereo set #2). I wouldn't say that this Masterworks Heritage is an amazing deal (it's over 1 pound per CD ) but there are some fine performances: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterworks-Heritage-Collection-Various-Artists/dp/B00CUPQHT6/ref=pd_rhf_sc_s_cp_?ie=UTF8&refRID=0DMRF10VK2J7WC96WHW7 The problem for me is that I have an awful lot of the ones that would interest me, so I will be passing on this set.

Just finished it. Not bad as a novel, and the Spark biography shows how it came out of her situation and preoccupations at the time. What has been your favorite Spark novel so far? I figure she is someone I will get around to, but I have quite a few others ahead of her in the queue (Dorris Lessing being one). I've made it about halfway through The Tin Drum. I can understand it's limited appeal, given what an unpleasant character Oskar is. I'm not sure if he is just a symbol of the immature Germans that let Hitler rise to power or something else, like the weak victims of German oppression. (Much is made of his uncertain parentage and if he is essentially all Polish (as Oskar hopes) or half-German, half-Polish.) It's taking me longer than expected to get through it, but that's ok as I haven't really unpacked my other books yet.

I just wrapped up The Tin Flute. Overall fairly depressing. One of the more depressing books I have read with exception of Mintry's A Fine Balance. The only way that anyone seems to escape poverty is when the menfolk join the army (it's early days of WWII in this novel). Probably accurate, but still depressing. The contrast with Tremblay's The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant is fairly striking, where the family is definitely lower class (if not quite as poor as the Lacasse family). One man did go off to WWII but the other got a family exemption and stayed behind. Day-to-day existence doesn't seem to grind the Tremblays down nearly as much as the Lacasses. As I am still waiting on a bunch of books to arrive, I did find Grass's The Tin Drum at the library, so I've started that. It's ok. Very fragmented. The narrator reminds me a fair bit of the semi-reliable narrator of Midnight's Children, which incidentally I re-read six or eight months ago. I hadn't made the connection before, but I think Rushdie's probably was somewhat influenced by The Tin Drum.

Not sure how I missed this, but I'm sorry to hear of it this morning. Almost all of my CDs are still in transit, but tonight I should be able to dig up something I ripped before the move -- maybe the Montreal Tapes. I've probably seen Haden a few times, though the only time I am certain of is when he brought the Liberation Orchestra to the Chicago Jazz Fest. This appears to have been in 2007. It was the closing set that evening, and I recall a couple of folks from the board snuck off to get to the aftershows early, but I stayed through the whole set. It was quite moving.

The thing about Heinlein, is he definitely went through this crochety phase where he was just sure that engineers and the military would end up running societies (esp. Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, though I generally like the latter one). But then he went all 70s with the pansexual books he wrote after that (I Will Fear No Evil, Time Enough for Love, Number of the Beast, To Sail Beyond the Sunset). Friday is probably the least creepy of these late books, but it is still a bit odd to see a male author "Mary-Janeing." I'm sure I would be a lot less impressed with Heinlein's wisdom today than I was as a teenager. Personally, I thought Starship Troopers was just as good as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I didn't mind that part of his career at all (although Stranger was just too much); it was the later phase (won't bother naming the offenders as you already have). Though I Will Fear No Evil certainly deserves special mention as particularly pathetic. I know Number of the Beast is often held up as his worst, but I'd much rather read that the the embarrassingly bad Fear No Evil. But even then, I thought Friday and Job: a Comedy of Justice were worth reading. In the long run, I'm afraid Heinlein will be remembered for his hand in creating the conventions of the genre rather than for his actual writing. Except for All You Zombies; criticize that one and I'll turn back into a teenaged fanboy and go batshit! I don't remember too much about Job, though SPOILERS I have some vague recollection that both God and the Devil were sort of like chess-playing aliens and then it turned out there was some power above them. I almost always conflate Heinlein's Job with Old Testament Job, against which I always have an intense negative reaction. I honestly can't remember if I did read The Cat That Walks Through Walls. I think that one was supposedly ok.

The book you're thinking of may be Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar. It certainly copied the style of John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy. A flawed but interesting novel. On the other hand, as far as Stranger In A Strange Land goes, I could never get on board the bandwagon for that one. At a certain point, about 1959 or so, Heinlein became a windy, stiff-necked, get-off-my-lawn old man. I find most of his later stuff patchy to insufferable. I read Stand on Zanzibar, but don't remember much of it at all (same thing with Zelazny's To Die in Italbar). The thing about Heinlein, is he definitely went through this crochety phase where he was just sure that engineers and the military would end up running societies (esp. Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, though I generally like the latter one). But then he went all 70s with the pansexual books he wrote after that (I Will Fear No Evil, Time Enough for Love, Number of the Beast, To Sail Beyond the Sunset). Friday is probably the least creepy of these late books, but it is still a bit odd to see a male author "Mary-Janeing." I'm sure I would be a lot less impressed with Heinlein's wisdom today than I was as a teenager.

Yes, I like this one. It has some quite profound moments in addition to the humor. I even turned my cousin on to it (he's moved to Wisconsin, which is close enough). I bought a copy of the short stories, but haven't read them. Late in life, Powers published another novel (Wheat That Springeth Green) which is supposed to be pretty good. I have a copy of this as well, but haven't tackled it yet. (The cover of the NYRB edition is odd -- you are looking into a refrigerator.) Given that all my books are going to be in transit for a while, after I finish The Tin Flute, I think probably I can get a library copy of Grass's The Tin Drum, which I've never read.

I wrapped up Two Solitudes (on Canada Day no less!). It's certainly dated but there are some good aspects about the novel. I found myself caring quite a bit for the main character Athanase Tallard and his travails. In general, many of MacLennan's characters are just there to spout off on some social issue or another, and they are more mouthpieces than characters, but Athanase had a bit more depth. (This writing serious historical fiction kind of spoilt Barometer Rising for me as well. The best of the bunch is The Watch That Ends the Night, which I'll try to get to in a couple of years.) Curiously, Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute also was published in 1945 (along with Two Solitudes). I've just started this and will probably wrap it up next week in Toronto.

Interesting piece, but Duke Ellington an "anti-establishment" figure? Wha??? Unless Paul Gudgin means that anyone playing that "hot" music was anti-establishment. Kind of a stupid statement that makes me a bit sorry he has had such high profile gigs. Some of the comments below the line are great. I particularly like "I once saw a picture of David Bowie in a pointed hat. He must be a witch."

I'd like him with the Bulls. Melo. Butler Noah D-Rose Gibson would be an awsome starting line-up. I just really can't see it. Melo is a selfish player (and Rose is a great scorer but frankly a pretty crap point guard -- I have no idea why Thibs didn't pair Rose and Kirk more often). And Melo isn't interested in playing D. I think the whole team falls apart if Carmelo joins. While it is certainly a long shot, LeBron James would complement the Bulls in a way that Melo never would or could.

I was trading in some CDs at Sikora's in Vancouver and I came across 4 CD box sets of Anner Bylsma on Sony Canada (though they can be had relatively cheaply at Amazon.com). A lot of good stuff, released in early 2014, which I had overlooked. However, there is a lot of overlap with the various Vivarte boxes already out there (particularly the Schubert and Beethoven boxes). I will have to be quite careful, particularly with Chamber Music 1 and Chamber Music 2, which seem to have the most overlap with what I already own. I did pick up the Cello Suites and Sonatas (http://www.amazon.com/Anner-Bylsma-Plays-Cello-Suites/dp/B00GH1X1AM/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_y) and Cello Concertos/Duets (http://www.amazon.com/Anner-Bylsma-Plays-Concertos-Ensembl/dp/B00GH1X1DY/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_y) Chamber Music 1 (http://www.amazon.com/Anner-Bylsma-Plays-Chamber-Music/dp/B00GH1X14I/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1404010718&sr=1-1&keywords=Anner+Bylsma+Plays+Chamber+Music) Chamber Music 2 (http://www.amazon.com/Anner-Bylsma-Plays-Chamber-Music/dp/B00GH1X1CU/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0T5T4VS0VHP0N76MCGD2)

Agreed. Well, except for Ellison; I think he's pretty much a waste of space, a man who's schtick became tiresome long ago. There was a lot of silliness involved in the "new wave". I'd compare it to the Sex Pistols in rock, as an interesting, if embarrassing, necessary step to get to what was next, but overrated on it's own. (Except for Effinger's What Entropy Means to Me; for some reason I love that book!) I remember a story by someone (I think it was Spinrad, another author I like) riffing on John Dos Passos (forgive if I'm spelling wrong) being praised as something amazing, and I just didn't get it. I might have been more impressed if Heinlein hadn't already done the same thing in Stranger in a Strange Land, but I guess he was too old guard to count. Silly, silly, silly... Based on your comments, I have picked up that Effinger and I'll probably read it on an upcoming plane ride. Interestingly, I came to Effinger through his late 80s/early 90s interest in cyberpunk (Gibson, Sterling, Shiner, etc.). He wrote a really successful (IMO) version of this called When Gravity Fails, and then followed up with 3 sequels.

You can say that again. I think quite a few of the late 60s to mid 70s winners have that "you had to have been there" quality. I decided to take a look at Delany's The Einstein Intersection (1967 Nebula award winner) and I just can't get past the starting premise. The whole thing reads like an acid trip, and I am pretty sure it settles down a bit later, but still the novel is intentionally written like Jean Cocteau's Orpheus. I think the awards committee basically said Look, we can honor offbeat, semi-pretentious surrealistic writing like the rest of the literary world. But in my opinion The Einstein Intersection fails at being compelling mainstream science fiction, which is what I think should generally be given the awards. Actually, I am glad that the field has space for PKD and Farmer and Delany and Harlan Ellison (who almost never writes "hard" SF) and certainly Zelazny, but I still wouldn't give the awards out to the trippiest stories and novels.

I've been reading quite a bit of poetry, and perhaps I ought to post a few choice poems. For the moment, just one from W.H. Auden's The Quest: The Hero He parried every question that they hurled: "What did the Emperor tell you?" "Not to push." "What is the greatest wonder of the world?" "The bare man Nothing in the Beggar's Bush." Some muttered: "He is cagey for effect. A hero owes a duty to his fame. He looks too like a grocer for respect." Soon they slipped back into his Christian name. The only difference that could be seen From those who'd never risked their lives at all Was his delight in details and routine: For he was always glad to mow the grass, Pour liquids from large bottles into small, Or look at clouds through bits of coloured glass.

Cleared out a lot of shorter books. Am just going over some odds and ends before packing the last of the books up. Skimming through Auden's Selected Poems and Wallace Stevens' Collected Poems. The next novel is MacLennan's Two Solitudes. Apparently, I read this 15+ years ago, but don't remember it. Maybe when the plot kicks into high gear, more will come back to me. After that is Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute, which I am pretty sure I have never read.

I've seen Mahanthappa three times, last with the Mark Dresser Quintet. His soloing was not strong; he seemed a bit unsure. Maybe it was the context, but he seems much stronger in a composed context. I think his compositions are generally interesting but they don't seem to leave him a lot of room to do anything particularly interesting when it comes to the soloing but, though Rez didn't seem too constrained. I do think Rudresh was a bit more compelling as a soloist in a more straight-forward setting, like when I saw him and Vijay Iyer play earlier in their careers up at the Green Mill for instance. Anyway, I thought it was a good show, but you basically are getting a live version of the CD Gamak.

So the Vancouver International Jazz Fest kicked off this weekend. I managed to get down for some of the free admission jazz shows at Robson Square. I saw nearly all of the set by the Partisans - a UK jazz quartet sort of in the Polar Bear/Get the Blessing vein. Line-up is saxophone, guitar, electric bass and drums. Definitely jazz-rock. Their new album Swamp is supposed to come out in Sept. I think they had a few advance copies for sale, but the timing just didn't work out, as we had to leave before the end of the set. They were ok, though I like both Polar Bear and Get the Blessing better. Then I returned for the main show of the evening -- Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gamak. Well, sort of Gamak. The band members have all changed up, and this was essentially his Indo-Pak Coalition (guitarist Rez Abbasi and percussionist Dan Weiss) with the addition of electric bassist Rich Brown. However, they actually did play almost entirely tracks off of the CD Gamak: Waiting is Forbidden, Abhogi, Stay I, Wrathful Wisdom and Ballad for Troubled Times. I've seen Rudresh with Rez Abbasi a long time back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, but this time the impact was much greater -- the quasi-club setting helped. Honestly, Rez pretty much stole the show and his solos were received with more enthusiasm than Rudresh's, which was kind of curious. While the line-up was the same as the Partisans, the sound is totally different, not only with the sound world largely coming from ragas and other Indian music, but the rhythm section was generally doing more complex poly-rhythms. I'm not sure how much Dan Weiss has practiced with Rich Brown, but they seems to have good rapport and even did some trading bars for a while. It was an interesting show, though maybe mixing it up with a track or two off Apti might have been good. (I guess that might have required Dan moving over to tabla, but I think he would have been up to it. Anyway, Rudresh is making a quick tour through Canada (Victoria, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) so catch him soon if interested. Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss Rez Abbasi and first-call percussionist Dan Weiss

RIP. I really dug a lot of his early and mid-career BNs. Not as familiar with the later material, though I do have In Pursuit of the 27th Man. Almost all my CDs are boxed up, waiting for the moving van, but I did find a loose copy of the Bohemia After Dark album, so I put that on.

I came across a copy of Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. It's a little hard to review. Not all that much happens in the book other than Smart recounting the ups and downs (mostly downs) of her having an affair with the English poet George Barker, ultimately leaving her abandoned with a "bun in the oven." But the language is so over the top with lots of references to Old Testament imagery (particularly Song of Solomon) and other ecstatic poets like Blake (and more than a little John Donne and George Herbert?). It's quite unusual in that Smart is operating on two levels at once -- the ecstatic and the real (though mostly in the ecstatic world). I have no idea if she was this way in real life (though some comments in the book suggest she did with people calling her a religious loony), but she certainly retrospectively portrayed these events in that light. (It may not be a good metaphor at all, but I sort of see her doing what Stanley Spencer was doing in the visual arts. It's a very short book, and it is hard to tell how well this style would hold up in a longer narrative. I may find out, as there is sort of a follow-up (much less famous though) called The Assumption of the Rogues & Rascals that was bundled in the copy I borrowed from the library. Anyway, I should be wrapping up Silas Marner and Martin Amis' Other People in a day or two, then maybe I will start in on MacLennan's Two Solitudes. It's been on my to-read list for months, while I got diverted in all other directions due to the Proustian logjam.

I feel I approached her with an open mind and seriously disliked the two books I read. I'll probably still give Middlemarch a shot.

I got it at a pre-order price, so I can't complain too much, but it was more than that... My bigger complaint is that with all these boxes (and this is big indeed) I have to make a huge mental effort to go open it up. I did rip a lot of it, and that helps to some degree.