Now reading...

[ghost of miles]

[BillF]

On 11/7/2023 at 4:30 PM, ejp626 said:

Yes, I enjoyed this, and it is short enough that I can reread it when the mood strikes.

Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban is in some ways even quirkier (and also short).  I enjoyed this a lot and also will reread it at some point.

 

Rereading The Sun Also Rises for the first time since my undergrad days...

 

👍

[jlhoots]

Michael Connolly: Resurrection Walk

[Gheorghe]

George Orwell´s "1984" , but since my beyond jazz-english is very modest, I bought it in romanian language.

Not bad, and some things not just unknown to who ever lived in Eastern Europe. Them filterless cigarretes, where a lot of tobacco is runnin´  out before you lit the cigarrette, some brands still existed for one or two years after 89, organized stuff like Mai 1th parade, leaders whose photo was on all newspapers, corrected history, it seems that Orwell had a quite realistic imagination for someone who didn´t live in the East and wrote that stuff almost 80 years ago......

[BillF]

7 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

George Orwell´s "1984" , but since my beyond jazz-english is very modest, I bought it in romanian language.

Not bad, and some things not just unknown to who ever lived in Eastern Europe. Them filterless cigarretes, where a lot of tobacco is runnin´  out before you lit the cigarrette, some brands still existed for one or two years after 89, organized stuff like Mai 1th parade, leaders whose photo was on all newspapers, corrected history, it seems that Orwell had a quite realistic imagination for someone who didn´t live in the East and wrote that stuff almost 80 years ago......

Such an interesting comment on Orwell, Gheorghe! He's currently under attack from the feminist lobby, but 1984 fascinated me when I first read it at the age of 16 and that fascination has never weakened.

[jazzbo]

As far as Orwell goes it isn't just "imagination" that led to the vision of state that is presented in 1984 but imagination based on extrapolation of experience. Orwell was an international reporter, combatant and traveler that saw and chronicled and even battled fascism in Spain, Germany, Italy and Russia among other nations and understood the inner workings of these repressive states. He was able to write about them with real strength in 1984 and other works.

I have read nearly all of Orwell over the years and a few biographies. Fascinating thinker and writer.

[Gheorghe]

11 hours ago, BillF said:

Such an interesting comment on Orwell, Gheorghe! He's currently under attack from the feminist lobby, but 1984 fascinated me when I first read it at the age of 16 and that fascination has never weakened.

oh that´s quite an honour to get praise from an Englishman for English literature mostly since I didn´t know I can make interesting comments on non-musical topics 😄

Attack from the feminist-lobby ? What for ? For the description of the "anti sex ligue" where the female hero "Julia" is member. Right now I came to the point, where she breaks the rules and becomes a passionate lover and had arranged to play her role in the Inner Party with all them rules and restrictions, and with her personal sexual desires.....very fine and exiting, but I´m sure there will not be a good end of the story. 

10 hours ago, jazzbo said:

As far as Orwell goes it isn't just "imagination" that led to the vision of state that is presented in 1984 but imagination based on extrapolation of experience. Orwell was an international reporter, combatant and traveler that saw and chronicled and even battled fascism in Spain, Germany, Italy and Russia among other nations and understood the inner workings of these repressive states. He was able to write about them with real strength in 1984 and other works.

I have read nearly all of Orwell over the years and a few biographies. Fascinating thinker and writer.

That´s it, now I understand. Uniunea Sovietică exited long before other European States became part of that system. So it must have been Stalin. Anyway, the big moustache which Orwell describes as the face of "Big Brother" (in my book: "Fratele cel Mare" ), Stalin also had such a moustache. 
Stalinism was common also in other European states in the early 50´s . In the birth certificate of my fatha in law as place of birth is written "Stalin"  because they had changed to original name of the city from „Brașov” into "Stalin" , and like I think in Hollywood they have the name of the City written on the mountain, it was the same with "Stalin" , to be seen by anyone who traveled there😄

[BillF]

This might interest you:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/30/my-hunt-for-eileen-george-orwell-erased-wife-anna-funder

[Gheorghe]

1 hour ago, BillF said:

This might interest you:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/30/my-hunt-for-eileen-george-orwell-erased-wife-anna-funder

very very interesting inside information. He must have been a quite difficult person. I´ll have to read animal farm too. "Ferma Animalelor" , I order my books by libris.ro or cărturești.ro to have much to read, I love reading good books........

I heard that "1984" was also a film made out of it,  but films is not really my thing. I saw some films based on books, but it doesn´t get inside like if you read it. 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Gheorghe

[BillF]

[HutchFan]

My daughter bought this for me:

She only gave it to me last night.  Looking forward to diving in.

 

[mjazzg]

3 hours ago, HutchFan said:

My daughter bought this for me:

She only gave it to me last night.  Looking forward to diving in.

 

Enjoy. I loved Rush in the mid to late 70s, not sure enough to read a bio though. 

From the Guardian today

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/nov/16/rush-geddy-lee-reader-interview

Edited November 16, 2023 by mjazzg

[rostasi]

[HutchFan]

5 hours ago, mjazzg said:

Enjoy. I loved Rush in the mid to late 70s, not sure enough to read a bio though. 

Rush was the meat-and-potatoes music of my high school years -- along with Genesis. 

Of course, I don't listen to them like I used to.  But I still love them.    

 

[mjazzg]

4 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Rush was the meat-and-potatoes music of my high school years -- along with Genesis. 

Of course, I don't listen to them like I used to.  But I still love them.    

 

I do still have my 2112 LP somewhere, just couldn't sell it.  Genesis also featured for me but not as prominently

[Brad]

On 11/13/2023 at 11:29 AM, ghost of miles said:

Those Norton Critical Editions are wonderful. I have the two Hemingway ones. 

[BillF]

[ghost of miles]

On 11/17/2023 at 9:38 AM, Brad said:

Those Norton Critical Editions are wonderful. I have the two Hemingway ones. 

I'm definitely a fan as well and picked up the one for Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway several months ago.

[ejp626]

Was on a long train ride to Montreal and actually had to take the bus back!  (Long story...)

Anyway, I got nearly through Perec's Life, A User's Manual.

It's an interesting but just exhausting read: endless lists and catalogues of everything in every room in a Parisienne apartment block, including detailed descriptions of every picture on every wall (and sometimes even the jigsaw puzzles on the coffee tables!).  I'm glad I finally got to this, but I can't see rereading it a second time.

[rostasi]

Perec and that book have a permanent place in my library.

Edited November 23, 2023 by rostasi

[rostasi]

Ukrainian Field Notes is a 567-page A5 fully illustrated book with color and black and white photos
featuring interviews with 170 Ukrainian musicians, volunteers, and filmmakers.
It chronicles the first year of the full-scale invasion and traces the human stories behind the music.

From revised setups and playlists to different approaches to sound, the artists involved discuss PTSD,
belliphonic sounds, phantom air sirens, the ethics of performing live in times of war,
and the changing face of the clubbing scene under curfew restrictions.

The book aims to give agency back to Ukrainians by collecting first-hand accounts
of those on the ground and the displaced.

[ejp626]

25 minutes ago, rostasi said:

The book aims to give agency back to Ukrainians by collecting first-hand accounts
of those on the ground and the displaced.

Not at all the same, but Andrey Kurkov has a number of books talking about his complicated country, including the corruption, and has becomes a cultural ambassador for Ukraine.  Brad was reading Grey Bees a while back, which takes place after the invasion of Crimea, but before the recent invasion.  I'm just starting this now.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/andrey-kurkov/grey-bees/

 

[Brad]

1 hour ago, ejp626 said:

Not at all the same, but Andrey Kurkov has a number of books talking about his complicated country, including the corruption, and has becomes a cultural ambassador for Ukraine.  Brad was reading Grey Bees a while back, which takes place after the invasion of Crimea, but before the recent invasion.  I'm just starting this now.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/andrey-kurkov/grey-bees/

 

I thought it was a terrific book as he travels through the Donbas and Crimea with his bees. 

[jlhoots]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

I thought it was a terrific book as he travels through the Donbas and Crimea with his bees. 

I liked Death & The Penguin

[mjazzg]

8 hours ago, jlhoots said:

I liked Death & The Penguin

Me too, and it's sequel. Read them decades ago, maybe worth a revisit