Now reading...

[Kalo]

Thanks for the recs. I started THE DROWNING POOL this afternoon; it's an earlier Archer, I take it (1950?) and seems a bit under the spell of Marlowe/Chandler at times, but I'm still really enjoying it.

The Drowning Pool was the second Archer, sort of a holding pattern after the very good The Moving Target. The early Archers are indeed, as you noticed, under the spell of Chandler (Chandler himself was a bit pissed off at the time). But even though the early Macdonalds were derivative, they were derivative at a very high level. He started out good and got better and better. As he went on he evolved a style that elevated the Chandlerian similes, in Chandler confined to clever wisecracks, to a level of thematic resonance that has rarely been matched since.

[Matthew]

Dashiell Hammett, LOST STORIES. Also rereading parts of Michael Mott's THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS OF THOMAS MERTON.

Ghost, you and I appear to have similar reading interests. I've been reading a ton of Hammet, Raymond Chandler etc this summer. I can hardly get enough of it! Lately, I've been reading Ross MacDonald (the Lew Archer stuff). I just finished the Galton Case.

Have you read Paul Elie's biography of Merton, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor? Really enjoyable and interesting to see the intersections among those great lives.

The real story of Dorothy Day has yet to be written -- much to dangerous in today's religious climate. She'd pop people's minds and assumptions like a ballon. She also seems to have met, and influenced, with every important catholic thinker of the 20th century.

Edited September 11, 2006 by Matthew

[BruceH]

Just finished A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Times of Bernard Herrmann by Steven C. Smith (University of California Press)

Very good book. Smith writes well, is judicious in his critical evaluations, and wisely quotes Herrmann's own eloquent published writing and letters at length.

This sounds good. Herrmann is probably my favorite film composer; certainly in the top 2 or 3.

[jlhoots]

Tomas Eloy Martinez: The Tango Singer

[BruceH]

The Galton Case is one of Macdonald's best, a watershed for him, but all of the Archer novels are worthwhile. Anything from the '60s is highly recommended, especially The Wycherly Woman, The Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Chill, The Far Side of the Dollar, and The Goodbye Look.

"I believe I just got the goodbye look..."

[Niko]

when i had my "Hammett then Chandler then McDonald" Summer three years ago I finished it with Ross Thomas "Missionary Stew". Somehow it's a political criminal novel in the tradition of "the glass key" (or, if you want a step, away from usual criminal novels into the direction of eric ambler) but what it keeps from the Marlowe/Archer world is the lonesome guy driving through southern california (iirc)... highly recommended... didn't check out any further Ross Thomas back then - the summer was over - should do that some time

[BruceH]

"Mr. Midshipman Hornblower"

When I read the Hornblower series some years ago, I skipped the first couple of books. Now I'm rectifying that.

[Kalo]

Just finished A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Times of Bernard Herrmann by Steven C. Smith (University of California Press)

Very good book. Smith writes well, is judicious in his critical evaluations, and wisely quotes Herrmann's own eloquent published writing and letters at length.

This sounds good. Herrmann is probably my favorite film composer; certainly in the top 2 or 3.

Don't Hesitate, BruceH. Since you're a classical music fan and a film aficionado, I think you'd get a lot out of this. Herrmann was a lot more of a force in the world of "serious" music than I had realized, though I did know that he was an early and lifelong booster of Charles Ives, from having read Jan Swafford's Ives biography (which I would recommend very highly as well).

[Kalo]

when i had my "Hammett then Chandler then McDonald" Summer three years ago I finished it with Ross Thomas "Missionary Stew". Somehow it's a political criminal novel in the tradition of "the glass key" (or, if you want a step, away from usual criminal novels into the direction of eric ambler) but what it keeps from the Marlowe/Archer world is the lonesome guy driving through southern california (iirc)... highly recommended... didn't check out any further Ross Thomas back then - the summer was over - should do that some time

I've heard very good things about Ross Thomas, Niko.

Thanks for the reminder.

[B. Goren.]

[7/4]

Pretty interesting, I'm about halfways through it.

[BruceH]

Just finished A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Times of Bernard Herrmann by Steven C. Smith (University of California Press)

Very good book. Smith writes well, is judicious in his critical evaluations, and wisely quotes Herrmann's own eloquent published writing and letters at length.

This sounds good. Herrmann is probably my favorite film composer; certainly in the top 2 or 3.

Don't Hesitate, BruceH. Since you're a classical music fan and a film aficionado, I think you'd get a lot out of this. Herrmann was a lot more of a force in the world of "serious" music than I had realized, though I did know that he was an early and lifelong booster of Charles Ives, from having read Jan Swafford's Ives biography (which I would recommend very highly as well).

I'm reading it now. Freaked me out to learn that Herrmann and Abraham Polonsky were childhood friends. Wow! My favorite film composer and one of my favorite directors. Guess it really is a small world.

[ejp626]

I just completed Anthony Powell -- Hearing Secret Harmonies.

This is the 12th and final book in his cycle A Dance to the Music of Time. No question it was ambitious, deliberately recalling Proust though different in that the narrator mostly lived through time and grew old, rather than reflected back on life (book 6 does have a high proportion of flashback, however). Some parts, maybe even most, are quite good. Other parts are a bit contrived. On the whole, I probably liked books 4-5 the best, covering the narrator's early adulthood basically. I wasn't quite as taken with the books covering the narrator living through WWII (7-9). The final set of books have some really odd and even unbelievable plot twists. But what Powell is good at is showing how people go in and out of one's life and how the threads sometimes can be integrated and how the whole web of relations unravels as one ages and friends and relatives begin to die off. Some of the interactions are only possible because he is focusing on the elites and near elites who do tend to congregate in London. One could imagine writing the same type of thing for New York City, but not too many other US cities (maybe a case could be made for SF with Maupin's Tales of the City). I doubt I will take the time to read it again, but maybe the mood will strike me.

I am astonished at how few Brits have heard of Powell, but I also mostly hang out with engineers and programmers, and not too many literary types. Maybe Powell is a bit out of fashion now as well.

[Matthew]

I just completed Anthony Powell -- Hearing Secret Harmonies.

This is the 12th and final book in his cycle A Dance to the Music of Time. No question it was ambitious, deliberately recalling Proust though different in that the narrator mostly lived through time and grew old, rather than reflected back on life (book 6 does have a high proportion of flashback, however). Some parts, maybe even most, are quite good. Other parts are a bit contrived. On the whole, I probably liked books 4-5 the best, covering the narrator's early adulthood basically. I wasn't quite as taken with the books covering the narrator living through WWII (7-9). The final set of books have some really odd and even unbelievable plot twists. But what Powell is good at is showing how people go in and out of one's life and how the threads sometimes can be integrated and how the whole web of relations unravels as one ages and friends and relatives begin to die off. Some of the interactions are only possible because he is focusing on the elites and near elites who do tend to congregate in London. One could imagine writing the same type of thing for New York City, but not too many other US cities (maybe a case could be made for SF with Maupin's Tales of the City). I doubt I will take the time to read it again, but maybe the mood will strike me.

I am astonished at how few Brits have heard of Powell, but I also mostly hang out with engineers and programmers, and not too many literary types. Maybe Powell is a bit out of fashion now as well.

I must admit that the ending to this series of novels was a let down for me -- it had too much of a sixties flavor (in a bad way) for me. Also, the plot twist of having the first image and last image of a character be running, was too contrived for me. Still, all-in-all, I enjoyed it much more the second time through than the first. Still thinking of reading it for a third time.

[Kalo]

I just completed Anthony Powell -- Hearing Secret Harmonies.

This is the 12th and final book in his cycle A Dance to the Music of Time. No question it was ambitious, deliberately recalling Proust though different in that the narrator mostly lived through time and grew old, rather than reflected back on life (book 6 does have a high proportion of flashback, however). Some parts, maybe even most, are quite good. Other parts are a bit contrived. On the whole, I probably liked books 4-5 the best, covering the narrator's early adulthood basically. I wasn't quite as taken with the books covering the narrator living through WWII (7-9). The final set of books have some really odd and even unbelievable plot twists. But what Powell is good at is showing how people go in and out of one's life and how the threads sometimes can be integrated and how the whole web of relations unravels as one ages and friends and relatives begin to die off. Some of the interactions are only possible because he is focusing on the elites and near elites who do tend to congregate in London. One could imagine writing the same type of thing for New York City, but not too many other US cities (maybe a case could be made for SF with Maupin's Tales of the City). I doubt I will take the time to read it again, but maybe the mood will strike me.

I am astonished at how few Brits have heard of Powell, but I also mostly hang out with engineers and programmers, and not too many literary types. Maybe Powell is a bit out of fashion now as well.

I must admit that the ending to this series of novels was a let down for me -- it had too much of a sixties flavor (in a bad way) for me. Also, the plot twist of having the first image and last image of a character be running, was too contrived for me. Still, all-in-all, I enjoyed it much more the second time through than the first. Still thinking of reading it for a third time.

A third time? So how bad could it be?

I'm going to jump into this soon.

As soon as I finish Proust. (Not even joking here, either, as I'm two-thirds through Marcel's opus and hope to finish it by year's end).

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that Brit engineers/programmers don't know who Powell is. Bet they know who Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are.

I work in the wine department at a wine and spirits store in Boston and I sometimes mention to new employees that I sold wine to Saul Bellow several times. Very few of them show even a glimmer of recognition at the sound of his name. I guess the Nobel Prize ain't what it's cracked up to be. Still, even more of a thrill to me was selling wine to film-maker Ross McElwee.

[ejp626]

Still thinking of reading it for a third time.

A third time? So how bad could it be?

I'm going to jump into this soon.

As soon as I finish Proust. (Not even joking here, either, as I'm two-thirds through Marcel's opus and hope to finish it by year's end).

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that Brit engineers/programmers don't know who Powell is. Bet they know who Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are.

I think you will enjoy most of it, and it probably does make more sense to read Proust, then Powell, as you would catch where Powell is riffing (not ripping) off Proust. But I thought that reading Powell while living in England made a bit more sense. As it turns out, I will probably only be in the UK for another 5 months.

Anyway, these engineers/programmers aren't coming from tech schools. They graduated from Imperial College in London or Cambridge University, where I would expect a broader exposure to culture. I think 10 or certainly 15 years ago a Cambridge grad would at least have heard of Powell, if not necessarily read the whole series.

[BruceH]

I found out about Powell by looking over his books at Boston bookstores.

[BruceH]

I just completed Anthony Powell -- Hearing Secret Harmonies.

This is the 12th and final book in his cycle A Dance to the Music of Time. No question it was ambitious, deliberately recalling Proust though different in that the narrator mostly lived through time and grew old, rather than reflected back on life (book 6 does have a high proportion of flashback, however). Some parts, maybe even most, are quite good. Other parts are a bit contrived. On the whole, I probably liked books 4-5 the best, covering the narrator's early adulthood basically. I wasn't quite as taken with the books covering the narrator living through WWII (7-9). The final set of books have some really odd and even unbelievable plot twists. But what Powell is good at is showing how people go in and out of one's life and how the threads sometimes can be integrated and how the whole web of relations unravels as one ages and friends and relatives begin to die off. Some of the interactions are only possible because he is focusing on the elites and near elites who do tend to congregate in London. One could imagine writing the same type of thing for New York City, but not too many other US cities (maybe a case could be made for SF with Maupin's Tales of the City). I doubt I will take the time to read it again, but maybe the mood will strike me.

I am astonished at how few Brits have heard of Powell, but I also mostly hang out with engineers and programmers, and not too many literary types. Maybe Powell is a bit out of fashion now as well.

I must admit that the ending to this series of novels was a let down for me -- it had too much of a sixties flavor (in a bad way) for me. Also, the plot twist of having the first image and last image of a character be running, was too contrived for me. Still, all-in-all, I enjoyed it much more the second time through than the first. Still thinking of reading it for a third time.

A third time? So how bad could it be?

I'm going to jump into this soon.

As soon as I finish Proust. (Not even joking here, either, as I'm two-thirds through Marcel's opus and hope to finish it by year's end).

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that Brit engineers/programmers don't know who Powell is. Bet they know who Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are.

I work in the wine department at a wine and spirits store in Boston and I sometimes mention to new employees that I sold wine to Saul Bellow several times. Very few of them show even a glimmer of recognition at the sound of his name. I guess the Nobel Prize ain't what it's cracked up to be.

You sold wine to Saul Bellow??

[medjuck]

Dashiell Hammett, LOST STORIES. Also rereading parts of Michael Mott's THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS OF THOMAS MERTON.

Is this a new book? I thought I had all of Hammett. (Includng a book of comic strips he wrote.)

Yes--I have that SECRET AGENT X-9 book as well. LOST STORIES came out just last year; I stumbled across it at our local Borders last week. It's not "complete," as far as I can tell; it doesn't contain the very last Continental Op story, "Death and Company" (which I've been searching for for some time), or several early 1930s stories I still can't find ("On the Way," "Albert Pastor at Home," and "His Brother's Keeper"). It does have "Night Shade" and "This Little Pig," plus a # of 1920s stories I've never read, so I bought it. The book is rather padded with biographical commentary.

\Arghh I just went looking and discovered I no longer seem to have what used to be the most commonly available of his books of short stories: The Continental Op and The Big Knockover. I think while Lillian Hellman was alive she kept anything else from being published. However I did find "His Brothers Keeper" in an old paperback called "A Man Called Spade". If you just want to read it I can scan or copy it (I'll have to do either very carefully) and send it to you. If you want to own it you ight be able to find the same paperback. It's Dell 411.

[medjuck]

Welty was right: Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar) was the man. I read all of his novels over the course of a year about a decade ago and have returned to several of them a few times since.

Other big Macdonald fans were hard-boiled singer/songwriter Warren Zevon and one of my favorite living writers, Thomas Berger (Little Big Man, Killing Time, Neighbors, The Feud etc.).

The Galton Case is one of Macdonald's best, a watershed for him, but all of the Archer novels are worthwhile. Anything from the '60s is highly recommended, especially The Wycherly Woman, The Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Chill, The Far Side of the Dollar, and The Goodbye Look.

Tom Nolan's biography of Millar/Macdonald is good but depressing. Myserious Press publiohsed a wonderful book of essays about him called "Ross Macdonald's Inward Journey." I read it just before I moved to Santa Barbara. Taught me a lot about the place.

[medjuck]

Just finished A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Times of Bernard Herrmann by Steven C. Smith (University of California Press)

Very good book. Smith writes well, is judicious in his critical evaluations, and wisely quotes Herrmann's own eloquent published writing and letters at length.

This sounds good. Herrmann is probably my favorite film composer; certainly in the top 2 or 3.

I once saw Hermann speak at the British Film Institute. Someone from the audience asked why he continued to work on The Magnificent Ambersons after the studio took the film away from Orson Welles. Given the subsequent careers of both men I thought his answer was amazingly poignant and ironic. He answered "We thought it was just a movie. We thought we were going to makes lots of them."

[Kalo]

I just completed Anthony Powell -- Hearing Secret Harmonies.

This is the 12th and final book in his cycle A Dance to the Music of Time. No question it was ambitious, deliberately recalling Proust though different in that the narrator mostly lived through time and grew old, rather than reflected back on life (book 6 does have a high proportion of flashback, however). Some parts, maybe even most, are quite good. Other parts are a bit contrived. On the whole, I probably liked books 4-5 the best, covering the narrator's early adulthood basically. I wasn't quite as taken with the books covering the narrator living through WWII (7-9). The final set of books have some really odd and even unbelievable plot twists. But what Powell is good at is showing how people go in and out of one's life and how the threads sometimes can be integrated and how the whole web of relations unravels as one ages and friends and relatives begin to die off. Some of the interactions are only possible because he is focusing on the elites and near elites who do tend to congregate in London. One could imagine writing the same type of thing for New York City, but not too many other US cities (maybe a case could be made for SF with Maupin's Tales of the City). I doubt I will take the time to read it again, but maybe the mood will strike me.

I am astonished at how few Brits have heard of Powell, but I also mostly hang out with engineers and programmers, and not too many literary types. Maybe Powell is a bit out of fashion now as well.

I must admit that the ending to this series of novels was a let down for me -- it had too much of a sixties flavor (in a bad way) for me. Also, the plot twist of having the first image and last image of a character be running, was too contrived for me. Still, all-in-all, I enjoyed it much more the second time through than the first. Still thinking of reading it for a third time.

A third time? So how bad could it be?

I'm going to jump into this soon.

As soon as I finish Proust. (Not even joking here, either, as I'm two-thirds through Marcel's opus and hope to finish it by year's end).

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that Brit engineers/programmers don't know who Powell is. Bet they know who Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are.

I work in the wine department at a wine and spirits store in Boston and I sometimes mention to new employees that I sold wine to Saul Bellow several times. Very few of them show even a glimmer of recognition at the sound of his name. I guess the Nobel Prize ain't what it's cracked up to be.

You sold wine to Saul Bellow??

Didn't I tell you about that?

I also sold wine to Ross McElwee, Ran Blake, J. Geils frontman Peter Wolf, and Tatiana Ali (who I didn't recognize, but the cashiers at the store were very excited and informed me that she was on the TV show Fresh Prince of Bel Air).

Edited October 6, 2006 by Kalo

[jlhoots]

Edward Jones: All Aunt Hagar's Children

[Kalo]

Just started Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrook.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I finished "Pandora's star" by Peter F Hamilton the other day. Not quite as good as the "Night's dawn" trilogy, but a good solid SF yarn and I ordered the concluding part.

While waiting for it to come in, I plucked out of my shelves George Bernard Shaw's "The adventures of the black girl in her search for God". A short little thing he wrote in South Africa in '32. The publisher must have seriously underestimated the sales potential; it was published in December 1932 and my copy, which is the fifth printing, is also December 1932! It's beautifully illustrated with engravings by someone called John Farleigh. I bought it in the late '60s and can't have read it more than once before. Really nice to read really felicitous prose!

The other short one I plucked out is one of my favourites: "Sundiata: an epic of old Mali", written down by D T Niane from the words of the Mandinke djali Mamadou Kouyate. It's the story/history of the creation of the Empire of Mali in the second quarter of the 13th century. Hard to say which bits are history, which bits are fantasy, and which are political propaganda. But the whole story is magnificent and puts Tolkien and others to shame!

However much is fantasy, it's a great adventure and also a great window onto Mandinke culture.

MG