PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 15
Dit is een voortzetting van het onderwerp PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 14.
Dit onderwerp werd voortgezet door PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 16.
Discussie75 Books Challenge for 2020
Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.
1PaulCranswick
This is near where Kyran goes to University and where he stayed at his father's expense before the University found him accommodation
2PaulCranswick
POEM
ART OR ARTISAN? (A SESTINA)
The trick is to write in eleven syllables -
Six stanzas by six and make virtue of sense.
Then construct all the ending words in order
Such that something of beauty is created.
Modernists don’t bother with the form tradition,
But if a thing’s to be done, it must be right.
To give a proper flavour, to make it right
I had to think around pesky syllables
While not forgetting poetic tradition.
Not be left with a pile of words and no sense
That merely fit the formulae created
Sitting on the page made as if to order.
Art is memory that we cannot order
Instinctively knowing the wrong from the right –
That oversees what the unconscious created,
Guides that metered pendulum of syllables.
Is it common sense or maybe a sixth sense
That ghostly practitioner of tradition?
If I were to eschew Petrarch’s tradition
Then I would only need to mind word order
And so afford laxity to wring out sense.
Who am I to say that it would not be right
Not to bother with eleven syllables
Surely it is about what is created?
But then again better men had created
From the Roman Petrarch, a great tradition
Of metered verse with eleven syllables.
That honed and defined in established order
Which Camoes and de Tyard held as right;
Good enough for them is surely common sense.
That time moves on need not disavow all sense,
But rather allow stock of past deeds created
In reaching to find what today is good and right.
We ought to keep what is best in tradition
In this, the making of a new world order
Yes, they matter those eleven syllables!
It behoves us to see tradition as right
Where we have full sense of what is created
Placing in order eleven syllables.
ART OR ARTISAN? (A SESTINA)
The trick is to write in eleven syllables -
Six stanzas by six and make virtue of sense.
Then construct all the ending words in order
Such that something of beauty is created.
Modernists don’t bother with the form tradition,
But if a thing’s to be done, it must be right.
To give a proper flavour, to make it right
I had to think around pesky syllables
While not forgetting poetic tradition.
Not be left with a pile of words and no sense
That merely fit the formulae created
Sitting on the page made as if to order.
Art is memory that we cannot order
Instinctively knowing the wrong from the right –
That oversees what the unconscious created,
Guides that metered pendulum of syllables.
Is it common sense or maybe a sixth sense
That ghostly practitioner of tradition?
If I were to eschew Petrarch’s tradition
Then I would only need to mind word order
And so afford laxity to wring out sense.
Who am I to say that it would not be right
Not to bother with eleven syllables
Surely it is about what is created?
But then again better men had created
From the Roman Petrarch, a great tradition
Of metered verse with eleven syllables.
That honed and defined in established order
Which Camoes and de Tyard held as right;
Good enough for them is surely common sense.
That time moves on need not disavow all sense,
But rather allow stock of past deeds created
In reaching to find what today is good and right.
We ought to keep what is best in tradition
In this, the making of a new world order
Yes, they matter those eleven syllables!
It behoves us to see tradition as right
Where we have full sense of what is created
Placing in order eleven syllables.
3PaulCranswick
BOOKS READ FIRST QUARTER OF 2020
January
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (2016) 149 pp - BAC Challenge
2. Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage (2014) 232 pp
3. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985) 171 pp - BAC Challenge
4. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (1970) 133 pp - Nobel winner
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (2006) 312 pp
6. Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (1972) 93 pp BAC Challenge
7. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (2001) 225 pp
8. Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding (1931) 252 pp
9. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminski (2019) 78 pp
10. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (2012) 377 pp
11. James II : The Last Catholic King by David Womersley (2015) 99 pp
12. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) 313 pp
13. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 41 pp
14. England and the Aeroplane by David Edgerton (1991) 172 pp
February
15. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (2018) 182 pp
16. The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus (2012) 52 pp
17. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1991) 110 pp
18. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp BAC Challenge
19. Dregs by Jan Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp
20. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis (2018) 313 pp
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp
22. The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski (1988) 256 pp
23. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (1996) 233 pp BAC Challenge
24. As it Was by Fred Trueman (2004) 397 pp
25. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973) 314 pp BOOKER WINNER
26. Varina by Charles Frazier (2018) 353 pp AAC
27. A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry (1998) 216 pp AAC
March
28. Past Tense by Lee Child (2018) 461 pp
29. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) 266 pp NOBEL
30. Over the Moon by Imtiaz Dharkar (2014) 155 pp
31. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 287 pp PULITZER
32. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (2018) 255 pp
33. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (1957) 52 pp
34. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (2013) 183 pp
35. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp
36. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (2010) 252 pp
37. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811) 374 pp
38. The English Civil War by David Clark (2008) 154 pp
39. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) 280 pp
40. The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018) 385 pp
41. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp
January
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (2016) 149 pp - BAC Challenge
2. Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage (2014) 232 pp
3. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985) 171 pp - BAC Challenge
4. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (1970) 133 pp - Nobel winner
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (2006) 312 pp
6. Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (1972) 93 pp BAC Challenge
7. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (2001) 225 pp
8. Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding (1931) 252 pp
9. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminski (2019) 78 pp
10. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (2012) 377 pp
11. James II : The Last Catholic King by David Womersley (2015) 99 pp
12. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) 313 pp
13. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 41 pp
14. England and the Aeroplane by David Edgerton (1991) 172 pp
February
15. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (2018) 182 pp
16. The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus (2012) 52 pp
17. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1991) 110 pp
18. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp BAC Challenge
19. Dregs by Jan Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp
20. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis (2018) 313 pp
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp
22. The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski (1988) 256 pp
23. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (1996) 233 pp BAC Challenge
24. As it Was by Fred Trueman (2004) 397 pp
25. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973) 314 pp BOOKER WINNER
26. Varina by Charles Frazier (2018) 353 pp AAC
27. A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry (1998) 216 pp AAC
March
28. Past Tense by Lee Child (2018) 461 pp
29. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) 266 pp NOBEL
30. Over the Moon by Imtiaz Dharkar (2014) 155 pp
31. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 287 pp PULITZER
32. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (2018) 255 pp
33. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (1957) 52 pp
34. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (2013) 183 pp
35. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp
36. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (2010) 252 pp
37. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811) 374 pp
38. The English Civil War by David Clark (2008) 154 pp
39. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) 280 pp
40. The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018) 385 pp
41. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp
4PaulCranswick
BOOKS READ SECOND QUARTER OF 2020
April
42. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956) 110 pp
44. Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra (2007) 55 pp
45. Icarus by Deon Meyer (2015) 360 pp
46. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019) 452 pp
47. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp
48. Behind the Sofa : Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who by Steve Berry (2013) 216 pp
49. Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield (2011) 336 pp
50. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (2018) 82 pp
51. The Sea Gull by Anton Checkhov (1896) 68 pp
52. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp
53. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall (2018) 288 pp
54. Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder (2009) 378 pp
55. North by Seamus Heaney (1975) 68 pp
56. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (1991) 184 pp
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott (2017) 456 pp
58. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp
May
59. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
60. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt (1960) 163 pp
61. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (1990) 115 pp
62. Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922) 186 pp
63. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) 87 pp
64. Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (1962) 308 pp
65. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) 375 pp
66. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
67. Boomerang by Michael Lewis (2011) 212pp
68. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp
69. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) 401 pp
70. Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp
71. Selected Poems by Marianne Moore (1935) 109 pp
72. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (2005) 266 pp
June
73. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (1935) 88 pp
74. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
75. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) 340 pp
76. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 221 pp
77. Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 115 pp
April
42. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956) 110 pp
44. Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra (2007) 55 pp
45. Icarus by Deon Meyer (2015) 360 pp
46. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019) 452 pp
47. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp
48. Behind the Sofa : Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who by Steve Berry (2013) 216 pp
49. Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield (2011) 336 pp
50. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (2018) 82 pp
51. The Sea Gull by Anton Checkhov (1896) 68 pp
52. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp
53. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall (2018) 288 pp
54. Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder (2009) 378 pp
55. North by Seamus Heaney (1975) 68 pp
56. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (1991) 184 pp
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott (2017) 456 pp
58. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp
May
59. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
60. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt (1960) 163 pp
61. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (1990) 115 pp
62. Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922) 186 pp
63. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) 87 pp
64. Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (1962) 308 pp
65. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) 375 pp
66. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
67. Boomerang by Michael Lewis (2011) 212pp
68. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp
69. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) 401 pp
70. Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp
71. Selected Poems by Marianne Moore (1935) 109 pp
72. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (2005) 266 pp
June
73. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (1935) 88 pp
74. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
75. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) 340 pp
76. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 221 pp
77. Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 115 pp
5PaulCranswick
CURRENTLY READING
6PaulCranswick
READING PLAN FOR 2020
I always start out ambitiously but not having made 100 books in the last two years I am going all out to read 20 books a month next year and go well past 200 for the first time since my University days.
20 Categories for 2020 which will also give a nod to my other challenges and longer term projects.
The twenty categories are :
1. British Author Challenge
2. British Poetry
3. Contemporary British Fiction
4. World Poetry
5. 1001 Books
6. Plays
7. American Author Challenge
8. Non-Fiction
9. History
10. Current Affairs
11. Booker Nominees
12. Nobel Winners
13. Scandi
14. Series Books
15. Thrillers/Mystery
16. Classic Fiction
17. 21st Century Fiction
18. World Literature
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy
20. Pot Luck
I always start out ambitiously but not having made 100 books in the last two years I am going all out to read 20 books a month next year and go well past 200 for the first time since my University days.
20 Categories for 2020 which will also give a nod to my other challenges and longer term projects.
The twenty categories are :
1. British Author Challenge
2. British Poetry
3. Contemporary British Fiction
4. World Poetry
5. 1001 Books
6. Plays
7. American Author Challenge
8. Non-Fiction
9. History
10. Current Affairs
11. Booker Nominees
12. Nobel Winners
13. Scandi
14. Series Books
15. Thrillers/Mystery
16. Classic Fiction
17. 21st Century Fiction
18. World Literature
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy
20. Pot Luck
7PaulCranswick
BRITISH ISLES AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2020
The general thread can be found here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/315141
January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift
February: The 1990s - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6991758
March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott
April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips
May: New Wave Sci-Fi : Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss
June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale
July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham
August: The Brontë Sisters : Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte & Emily Bronte
September: World War II - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999459
October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell
November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré
December: The 2010s : https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999620
Wildcard: Playwrights - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#7000002
The general thread can be found here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/315141
January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift
February: The 1990s - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6991758
March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott
April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips
May: New Wave Sci-Fi : Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss
June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale
July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham
August: The Brontë Sisters : Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte & Emily Bronte
September: World War II - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999459
October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell
November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré
December: The 2010s : https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999620
Wildcard: Playwrights - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#7000002
8PaulCranswick
AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE
January Charles Frazier - Varina
February Grace Paley - Fidelity : Poems
March David McCullough
April Francine Prose
May E. Lynn Harris
June Jean Stafford
July Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir
August Robert Penn Warren
September Dawn Powell
October Ward Just
November Ann Petry
December Tony Hillerman
January Charles Frazier - Varina
February Grace Paley - Fidelity : Poems
March David McCullough
April Francine Prose
May E. Lynn Harris
June Jean Stafford
July Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir
August Robert Penn Warren
September Dawn Powell
October Ward Just
November Ann Petry
December Tony Hillerman
9PaulCranswick
My last decade of reading (probably my worst since I started reading).
Total Books Read : 1,145 books
1 book every 3.2 days
Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books
Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books
My Books of the Year on LT:
2011 : Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2012 : The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2013 : Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
2014 : Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2015 : Winter King by Thomas Penn
2016 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
2017 : The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2018 : Country Girls by Edna O'Brien
2019 : The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Total Books Read : 1,145 books
1 book every 3.2 days
Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books
Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books
My Books of the Year on LT:
2011 : Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2012 : The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2013 : Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
2014 : Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2015 : Winter King by Thomas Penn
2016 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
2017 : The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2018 : Country Girls by Edna O'Brien
2019 : The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
10PaulCranswick
Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969
1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
READ 30 of 55 WINNERS
1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
READ 30 of 55 WINNERS
11PaulCranswick
Pulitzer Winners
As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.
Fiction
1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead
16 READ
37 ON SHELVES
40 NOT OWNED OR READ
93 TOTAL
As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.
Fiction
1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead
16 READ
37 ON SHELVES
40 NOT OWNED OR READ
93 TOTAL
12PaulCranswick
NOBELS
Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
READ 67 OF
116 LAUREATES
Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
READ 67 OF
116 LAUREATES
13PaulCranswick
LIT HUB'S 50 CHUNKSTERS & MY 20 ALTERNATIVES
These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:
1. The Overstory by Richard Powers OWNED
2. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco OWNED
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee OWNED
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell OWNED
6. The Witch Elm by Tana French OWNED
7. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood OWNED
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr OWNED
9. Little, Big by John Crowley
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides OWNED
11. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
12. Possession by A.S. Byatt READ
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
14. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
15. The Secret History by Donna Tartt READ
16. The Parisian : A Novel
17. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie OWNED
18. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters READ
19. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami OWNED
20. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson OWNED
21. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman READ
23. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon OWNED
24. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu OWNED
25. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen OWNED
26. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray OWNED
27. A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
28. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
29. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
30. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson OWNED
31. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe OWNED
32. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara OWNED
33. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin OWNED
34. JR by William Gaddis OWNED
35. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon OWNED
37. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett OWNED
39. The Stand by Stephen King OWNED
40. Underworld by Don DeLillo READ
41. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton OWNED
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke READ
43. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry OWNED
44. 2666 by Roberto Bolano OWNED
45. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra OWNED
46. Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann OWNED
47. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace OWNED
48. Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
49. Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
50. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth OWNED
& My Alternative 20
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995) 624 pp
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2001) 544 pp
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005) 720 pp
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye (1978) 960 pp
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980) 656 pp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 560 pp
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (1982) 896 pp
Saville by David Storey (1976) 560 pp
To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield (1972) 672 pp
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994) 533 pp
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992) 640 pp
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993) 528 pp
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (1979) 656 pp
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008) 544 pp
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998) 626 pp
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989) 656 pp
The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell (1978) 704 pp
Magician by Raymond E Feist (1982) 864 pp
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 672 pp
A Chain of Voices by Andre Brink (1982) 512 pp
These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:
1. The Overstory by Richard Powers OWNED
2. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco OWNED
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee OWNED
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell OWNED
6. The Witch Elm by Tana French OWNED
7. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood OWNED
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr OWNED
9. Little, Big by John Crowley
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides OWNED
11. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
12. Possession by A.S. Byatt READ
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
14. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
15. The Secret History by Donna Tartt READ
16. The Parisian : A Novel
17. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie OWNED
18. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters READ
19. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami OWNED
20. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson OWNED
21. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman READ
23. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon OWNED
24. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu OWNED
25. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen OWNED
26. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray OWNED
27. A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
28. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
29. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
30. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson OWNED
31. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe OWNED
32. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara OWNED
33. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin OWNED
34. JR by William Gaddis OWNED
35. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon OWNED
37. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett OWNED
39. The Stand by Stephen King OWNED
40. Underworld by Don DeLillo READ
41. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton OWNED
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke READ
43. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry OWNED
44. 2666 by Roberto Bolano OWNED
45. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra OWNED
46. Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann OWNED
47. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace OWNED
48. Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
49. Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
50. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth OWNED
& My Alternative 20
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995) 624 pp
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2001) 544 pp
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005) 720 pp
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye (1978) 960 pp
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980) 656 pp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 560 pp
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (1982) 896 pp
Saville by David Storey (1976) 560 pp
To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield (1972) 672 pp
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994) 533 pp
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992) 640 pp
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993) 528 pp
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (1979) 656 pp
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008) 544 pp
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998) 626 pp
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989) 656 pp
The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell (1978) 704 pp
Magician by Raymond E Feist (1982) 864 pp
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 672 pp
A Chain of Voices by Andre Brink (1982) 512 pp
14PaulCranswick
2020 ADDITIONS
These are the books that I have added this year. My new rule is that any book I buy I should read before the end of the following year!
1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp READ APR 20
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis READ MAY 20
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola READ May 20
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp READ MAY 20
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp
57. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (2019) 350 pp
58. Lanny by Max Porter (2019) 210 pp
59. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (2019) 280 pp
60. Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot (1935) 88 pp READ JUNE 20
61. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) READ MAY 20
62. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) READ MAY 20
63. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) READ MAY 20
64. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) READ JUNE 20
65. American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
66. Saltwater by Jessica Andrews (2019)
67. Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp READ MAY 20
68. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 288 pp READ JUNE 20
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp READ JUNE 20
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
75 books added
26 already finished
These are the books that I have added this year. My new rule is that any book I buy I should read before the end of the following year!
1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp READ APR 20
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis READ MAY 20
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola READ May 20
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp READ MAY 20
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp
57. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (2019) 350 pp
58. Lanny by Max Porter (2019) 210 pp
59. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (2019) 280 pp
60. Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot (1935) 88 pp READ JUNE 20
61. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) READ MAY 20
62. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) READ MAY 20
63. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) READ MAY 20
64. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) READ JUNE 20
65. American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
66. Saltwater by Jessica Andrews (2019)
67. Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp READ MAY 20
68. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 288 pp READ JUNE 20
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp READ JUNE 20
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
75 books added
26 already finished
15PaulCranswick
Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT.
16PaulCranswick
Next is yours
17amanda4242
Happy new thread!
18richardderus
U2...Bad at LiveAid...my favorite rendition of this song, and one of my all-time favorite musical moments, specially hunted to inaugurate the new thread.
19PaulCranswick
>17 amanda4242: Dear Amanda you are reliably in the first few every thread. It wouldn't be the same without you.
22PaulCranswick
>18 richardderus: Thank you RD and much appreciated. I have three real U2 memories. I fell in love with my first real love at a party whilst U2's Unforgettable Fire was playing. I used to sing my children to sleep with the song MLK from the same album and, particularly Yasmyne, will prick up her ears if it is played and then there is One.
Bad is from that Unforgettable Fire album which remains one of my absolute favourite LPs.
ETA
A live version of MLK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDH7oD_AQW8
Bad is from that Unforgettable Fire album which remains one of my absolute favourite LPs.
ETA
A live version of MLK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDH7oD_AQW8
23figsfromthistle
Happy new thread!
25PaulCranswick
>20 ronincats: Lovely to see you Roni. Third place is also on the podium!
>21 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I had to ask SWMBO where it was as it is of course one of her photographs. I thought it was the Netherlands!
>21 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I had to ask SWMBO where it was as it is of course one of her photographs. I thought it was the Netherlands!
26PaulCranswick
>23 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita
>24 quondame: Thanks Susan.
It has been a nice weekend for me. Last night Belle and I went out for our first outside meal in three months. We went to my favourite Korean restaurant where the owner is a close friend. Had a bottle of SoJoo also which made me sleep like a top!
>24 quondame: Thanks Susan.
It has been a nice weekend for me. Last night Belle and I went out for our first outside meal in three months. We went to my favourite Korean restaurant where the owner is a close friend. Had a bottle of SoJoo also which made me sleep like a top!
28jessibud2
Happy new thread, Paul. I almost asked if Kyran was still in school, until I remembered that, of course. No one is. How is he doing?
29PaulCranswick
>27 BLBera: I have my mojo back Beth in many ways. Enjoying the threads and reading much better. Almost read as many books by May as I did the whole of last year!
>28 jessibud2: He is currently in Sheffield and driving SWMBO nuts. Contacted me the other day worried that his hair was thinning!
>28 jessibud2: He is currently in Sheffield and driving SWMBO nuts. Contacted me the other day worried that his hair was thinning!
30jnwelch
Ha! Kyran's a little young for thinning hair, isn't he.
Happy New Thread, Paul. Good to hear about the return of your mojo!
Happy New Thread, Paul. Good to hear about the return of your mojo!
31PaulCranswick
>30 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Thing is he has hair thicker than the undergrowth in Borneo's Rainforest.
32harrygbutler
Happy new thread, Paul! I have quite a few E. Phillips Oppenheim books (42, according to LT). I've enjoyed those I've read (I think the last was The Spy Paramount) and thus add to the stack whenever I get a chance.
33PaulCranswick
>32 harrygbutler: I have always been unable to find them over here in paper form, Harry, so I "borrowed" one online via Open Library. It is an interesting idea and makes available a number of books I have looked for elsewhere but couldn't find.
34msf59
Happy New Thread, Paul! From one Grizzly Adams to another, I am finally getting my haircut tomorrow. It will be close to four months. I can NOT WAIT!!
36PaulCranswick
>34 msf59: Me too, Mark. It will be a no frills affair cut by the Samsung office-boy! I hope my ears survive the experience.
>35 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. Always nice to see you.
>35 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. Always nice to see you.
37Storeetllr
Hi, Paul - Happy new thread!
>26 PaulCranswick: Glad you and Belle were able to get out and enjoy an evening away from home. I'm still sticking close to home but it's getting harder and harder to do, even for this home-loving introverted hermit.
>26 PaulCranswick: Glad you and Belle were able to get out and enjoy an evening away from home. I'm still sticking close to home but it's getting harder and harder to do, even for this home-loving introverted hermit.
38bell7
Happy new thread, Paul! Glad to see you enjoyed Maria Sharapova's memoir. I may have to add it to the ever-growing TBR list, as I enjoy tennis though I don't love her screeching. Your contrast of her "doping" and Lance Armstrong reminded me that ESPN's doing a two-part show on the cyclist, and I've got to remember to turn on my TV at 9.
39Dejah_Thoris
Happy new thread, Paul. I'm glad your first dining out experience in a while was a good one.
>1 PaulCranswick: Lovely accommodations!
>1 PaulCranswick: Lovely accommodations!
40PaulCranswick
>37 Storeetllr: Woke up with a sore throat, Mary, so I was regretting our jaunt but after a cup of tea and several glasses of water it doesn't feel too bad any more.
>38 bell7: I did enjoy it, Mary, and I thought she was quite straightforward in dissecting both her strengths as well as her weaknesses. She revealed a major crush she had on a particular player which I found interesting and had no inkling of.
Armstrong was a supremely gifted athlete and it is such a shame that all he achieved has been so compromised and polluted. He gave so much hope to cancer patients in recovery and his foundation Livestrong was a generous one. He would have won things without cheating just not so much or as dominantly. I feel sad remembering him more than angry and I don't think they would have stripped all those titles had he been French. Anquetil was a notorious and unrepentant doper and Merckx & Hinault were hardly lilleywhite either. I don't agree with striking his name from the records as he was not convicted of cheating in any of those races and those occupying the podium places were not free from suspicion either.
He was a cheat and a hated that he cheated but he has been punished disproportionately.
>38 bell7: I did enjoy it, Mary, and I thought she was quite straightforward in dissecting both her strengths as well as her weaknesses. She revealed a major crush she had on a particular player which I found interesting and had no inkling of.
Armstrong was a supremely gifted athlete and it is such a shame that all he achieved has been so compromised and polluted. He gave so much hope to cancer patients in recovery and his foundation Livestrong was a generous one. He would have won things without cheating just not so much or as dominantly. I feel sad remembering him more than angry and I don't think they would have stripped all those titles had he been French. Anquetil was a notorious and unrepentant doper and Merckx & Hinault were hardly lilleywhite either. I don't agree with striking his name from the records as he was not convicted of cheating in any of those races and those occupying the podium places were not free from suspicion either.
He was a cheat and a hated that he cheated but he has been punished disproportionately.
41PaulCranswick
>49 richardderus: Thank you Princess. I am a big fan of Korean food.
42PaulCranswick
Book #72
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
Date of Publication : 2005
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 266 pp
Gaddis is fast becoming one of my favourite non-fiction writers. This history and evaluation of the so called Cold War is an excellent and thought provoking read.
It is at the same time cerebral and academic whilst being accessible and enjoyable to wade through. I thought I knew most of the history explained but I learnt plenty too as I went along.
Recommended.
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
Date of Publication : 2005
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 266 pp
Gaddis is fast becoming one of my favourite non-fiction writers. This history and evaluation of the so called Cold War is an excellent and thought provoking read.
It is at the same time cerebral and academic whilst being accessible and enjoyable to wade through. I thought I knew most of the history explained but I learnt plenty too as I went along.
Recommended.
43PaulCranswick
READING UPDATE
1. British Author Challenge - 4/12 The Drought by J.G. Ballard
2. British Poetry - 5/12 - Field Work by Seamus Heaney
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12
4. World Poetry - 5/12 - Selected Poems by Marianne Moore
5. 1001 Books - 3/12
6. Plays - 5/12 - A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 - Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 - Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova
9. History - 3/12 - The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 - Boomerang by Michael Lewis
11. Booker Winners - 2/12
12. Nobel Winners - 3/12
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 4/12 - The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 2/12 - Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes
16. Classic Fiction - 2/12 - Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
17. 21st Century Fiction - 2/12
18. World Literature - 5/12 - The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 5/12 - The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock
20. Pot Luck - 4/12 - The Citadel by AJ Cronin
Books Completed May - 14 Year to Date - 72
Pages Read May - 3,008 Year to Date - 15,828
1001 Books May - 0 Year to Date - 6
Bookers May - 0 Year to Date - 2
Nobel Winners May - 0 Year to Date - 4
BAC Books May - 3 Year to Date - 11
AAC Books May - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners May - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave May - 97.03 Year to Date - 104.13
Gender of Authors 17 Female / 55 male
1. British Author Challenge - 4/12 The Drought by J.G. Ballard
2. British Poetry - 5/12 - Field Work by Seamus Heaney
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12
4. World Poetry - 5/12 - Selected Poems by Marianne Moore
5. 1001 Books - 3/12
6. Plays - 5/12 - A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 - Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 - Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova
9. History - 3/12 - The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 - Boomerang by Michael Lewis
11. Booker Winners - 2/12
12. Nobel Winners - 3/12
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 4/12 - The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 2/12 - Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes
16. Classic Fiction - 2/12 - Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
17. 21st Century Fiction - 2/12
18. World Literature - 5/12 - The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 5/12 - The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock
20. Pot Luck - 4/12 - The Citadel by AJ Cronin
Books Completed May - 14 Year to Date - 72
Pages Read May - 3,008 Year to Date - 15,828
1001 Books May - 0 Year to Date - 6
Bookers May - 0 Year to Date - 2
Nobel Winners May - 0 Year to Date - 4
BAC Books May - 3 Year to Date - 11
AAC Books May - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners May - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave May - 97.03 Year to Date - 104.13
Gender of Authors 17 Female / 55 male
44Familyhistorian
Happy new thread, Paul. It feels good to get back to eating in restaurants, doesn't it? I went to a restaurant for lunch for the first time in a long time on Friday. Our bookstores opened on Tuesday and I made it in the first day they were open and again today. It's nice to have things a bit more relaxed.
46PaulCranswick
Continuing the Songs from the years of my life.
1993
My last full year in the UK - finishing up Rye House power station for my company and starting on the Warminster Center Parcs holiday village although there were rumours that the finances of the company were in disorder.
Paul Weller has long been a favourite of mine. Brilliant songwriter and performer first with The Jam (see 1980) and then with The Style Council. He had hit a rut in the fag end days of the last decade but returned in 1992 with his self-titled "debut" solo outing but consolidated fabulously in 1993 with the smash (in the UK) Wild Wood album. Britpop came up clinging onto his coattails and to many he was and remains The Modfather. This is the title track ; Wild Wood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIw51zmiy8
1993
My last full year in the UK - finishing up Rye House power station for my company and starting on the Warminster Center Parcs holiday village although there were rumours that the finances of the company were in disorder.
Paul Weller has long been a favourite of mine. Brilliant songwriter and performer first with The Jam (see 1980) and then with The Style Council. He had hit a rut in the fag end days of the last decade but returned in 1992 with his self-titled "debut" solo outing but consolidated fabulously in 1993 with the smash (in the UK) Wild Wood album. Britpop came up clinging onto his coattails and to many he was and remains The Modfather. This is the title track ; Wild Wood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIw51zmiy8
47PaulCranswick
I am pleased to note that this is the 4,000th post on my threads this year.
A big thank you to everyone who has visited and helped make my thread chug along so nicely. I am grateful for the company, kindness, occasional necessary reproval and above all friendship.
Last year 4,000 posts was only achieved on 30 July (by Mark) which goes to show that this year's figures are much improved. We have collectively 8,000 more posts than at the same stage last year. It is noted that we are comfortably ahead of the numbers we had put up for 30 June and June is not quite started in LT time!
A big thank you to everyone who has visited and helped make my thread chug along so nicely. I am grateful for the company, kindness, occasional necessary reproval and above all friendship.
Last year 4,000 posts was only achieved on 30 July (by Mark) which goes to show that this year's figures are much improved. We have collectively 8,000 more posts than at the same stage last year. It is noted that we are comfortably ahead of the numbers we had put up for 30 June and June is not quite started in LT time!
48benitastrnad
I disagreed with your assessment of the Ozarks. The Ozarks of Missouri and northwest Arkansas is a beautiful part of the U.S. It was, a very poor and backward part of the country, but not so much anymore. It has become a leading retirement area due to low cost-of-living. What made the Ozarks was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Ozarks is an area of steep hills with poor soil. Not good for farming. It was also prone to severe flooding and home to a couple of big rivers - the Arkansas being one of them. In the late 1930's and on through the WWII years and up to the 1960's the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prompted by the Roosevelt New Deal programs built several big dams in the area. This created some huge lakes and provided controlled river flow in the rivers of the area. Tourism is now the main industry in the area. Branson, Missouri is as big of a tourist city as is Orlando, Florida.
It is a beautiful area and anything to do with water sports is there. In abundance. Eureka Springs, Arkansas is an old spa town that is a great place to vacation. Bentonville, Arkansas is the home of the Sam Walton family and the Crystal Bridges Art Museum. It is also home to the Bass Pro Shops (original store is in Springfield, MO). It is a great place to relax on the cheap with world class hotels and recreational facilities. It ain't no Monaco, but it does have crooked roads aplenty due to the mountains and rivers in the area. Like Monaco it also has its underbelly. From my point of view it would be fun to have a TV series about the underbelly of the French Riviera.
It is a beautiful area and anything to do with water sports is there. In abundance. Eureka Springs, Arkansas is an old spa town that is a great place to vacation. Bentonville, Arkansas is the home of the Sam Walton family and the Crystal Bridges Art Museum. It is also home to the Bass Pro Shops (original store is in Springfield, MO). It is a great place to relax on the cheap with world class hotels and recreational facilities. It ain't no Monaco, but it does have crooked roads aplenty due to the mountains and rivers in the area. Like Monaco it also has its underbelly. From my point of view it would be fun to have a TV series about the underbelly of the French Riviera.
49richardderus
Walls Come Tumbling Down, a Style Council favorite.
50Dejah_Thoris
>47 PaulCranswick: Congratulations on 4000+, Paul!
51PaulCranswick
>48 benitastrnad: Benita it was a joke or flippancy in relation to the TV programme which makes the place seemed filled with people you would do best to avoid at all costs. It does indeed look a beautiful part of the world.
TV programmes about underbellies are to be encouraged here!
>49 richardderus: Indeed RD. The first three years of the Style Council was epic. Weller wrote a string of classics in the period, your selection included.
TV programmes about underbellies are to be encouraged here!
>49 richardderus: Indeed RD. The first three years of the Style Council was epic. Weller wrote a string of classics in the period, your selection included.
52PaulCranswick
>50 Dejah_Thoris: Couldn't have been done without the help of my friends, Princess. xx
53PaulCranswick
Stat Attack:
Thread posting league as at 00.00 1 June 2020
1 PaulCranswick 4,001
2 msf59 3,058
3 KatieKrug 2,513
4 richardderus 2,486
5 jnwelch 2,377
6 karenmarie 2,146
7 scaifea 1,888
8 FamilyHistorian 1,564
9 Charl08 1,543
10 crazymamie 1,486
11 Berly 1,423
12 SusanJ67 1,338
13 EBT1002 1,333
14 ronincats 1,107
15 BBLBera 1,046
16 alcottacre 1,030
17 harrygbutler 943
18 sandymc 818
19 lyzard 815
20 thornton37814 812
21 bell7 810
22 FAMeulstee 798
23 jessibud2 795
24 johnsimpson 775
25 brenzi 765
26 quondame 748
27 laurelkeet 709
28 mstrust 662
29 figsfromthistle 616
30 rebarelishesreading 614
31 drneutron 609
32 ChelleBearss 607
33 Streamsong 577
34 foggidawn 529
35 storeetllr 525
36 cameling 495
37 mahsdad 469
38 Whisper1 457
39 Weird_O 434
40 Donna 425
41 laytonwoman3rd 412
42 Humouress 387
43 swynn 386
44 MickyFine 383
45 Carmenere 381
46 vancouverdeb 374
47 avatiakh 372
48 LizzieD 367
49 Ameise1 364
50 mdoris 363
51 EllaTim 361
52 PaulStalder 361
53 sibyline 353
54 curioussquared 334
55 SandDune 330
56 Caroline_McElwee 321
57 lkernagh 317
58 loving-lit 308
59 Banjo 300
60 witchyrichy 296
61 DianaNL 286
62 ffortsa 271
63 coppers 266
64 Dejah_Thoris 262
65 Chatterbox 236
66 morphy 234
67 AMQS 230
68 Sir Thomas 225
69 kidzdoc 220
70 oberon 216
71 bohemima 215
72 SqueakyChu 212
73 hredwards 209
74 lycomayflower 208
75 fuzzi 207
76 klobrien2 207
77 coffee.cat 204
78 The_Hibernator 197
79 cbl_tn 193
80 souloftherose 180
81 vivians 178
82 dreamweaver529 172
83 PawsForThought 164
84 norabelle414 161
85 aktakukac 147
86 Bekkajo 144
87 arubabookwoman 138
88 fairywings 136
89 nittnut 136
90 tiffin 133
91 lindapanzo 126
92 SirFurboy 120
93 Ape 115
94 tymfos 114
95 brodiew2 111
96 SuziQOregon 105
97 Rbeffa 103
98 Dianekeenoy 101
99 Deern 99
100 jayde1599 98
101 someguyinvirginia 94
102 Fourpawz2 92
103 esquiress 88
104 CDVicarage 85
105 amanda4242 84
106 archerygirl 81
107 Oregonreader 77
108 RandyMetcalfe 75
109 London 74
110 jennyifer24 73
111 aspirit 72
112 torontoc 71
113 meanderer 69
114 cyderry 68
115 dmulvee 68
116 BBGirl55 67
117 BerlinBibliophile 67
118 LibraryLover23 66
119 crazy4reading 61
120 yoyogod 61
121 HanGerg 60
Thread posting league as at 00.00 1 June 2020
1 PaulCranswick 4,001
2 msf59 3,058
3 KatieKrug 2,513
4 richardderus 2,486
5 jnwelch 2,377
6 karenmarie 2,146
7 scaifea 1,888
8 FamilyHistorian 1,564
9 Charl08 1,543
10 crazymamie 1,486
11 Berly 1,423
12 SusanJ67 1,338
13 EBT1002 1,333
14 ronincats 1,107
15 BBLBera 1,046
16 alcottacre 1,030
17 harrygbutler 943
18 sandymc 818
19 lyzard 815
20 thornton37814 812
21 bell7 810
22 FAMeulstee 798
23 jessibud2 795
24 johnsimpson 775
25 brenzi 765
26 quondame 748
27 laurelkeet 709
28 mstrust 662
29 figsfromthistle 616
30 rebarelishesreading 614
31 drneutron 609
32 ChelleBearss 607
33 Streamsong 577
34 foggidawn 529
35 storeetllr 525
36 cameling 495
37 mahsdad 469
38 Whisper1 457
39 Weird_O 434
40 Donna 425
41 laytonwoman3rd 412
42 Humouress 387
43 swynn 386
44 MickyFine 383
45 Carmenere 381
46 vancouverdeb 374
47 avatiakh 372
48 LizzieD 367
49 Ameise1 364
50 mdoris 363
51 EllaTim 361
52 PaulStalder 361
53 sibyline 353
54 curioussquared 334
55 SandDune 330
56 Caroline_McElwee 321
57 lkernagh 317
58 loving-lit 308
59 Banjo 300
60 witchyrichy 296
61 DianaNL 286
62 ffortsa 271
63 coppers 266
64 Dejah_Thoris 262
65 Chatterbox 236
66 morphy 234
67 AMQS 230
68 Sir Thomas 225
69 kidzdoc 220
70 oberon 216
71 bohemima 215
72 SqueakyChu 212
73 hredwards 209
74 lycomayflower 208
75 fuzzi 207
76 klobrien2 207
77 coffee.cat 204
78 The_Hibernator 197
79 cbl_tn 193
80 souloftherose 180
81 vivians 178
82 dreamweaver529 172
83 PawsForThought 164
84 norabelle414 161
85 aktakukac 147
86 Bekkajo 144
87 arubabookwoman 138
88 fairywings 136
89 nittnut 136
90 tiffin 133
91 lindapanzo 126
92 SirFurboy 120
93 Ape 115
94 tymfos 114
95 brodiew2 111
96 SuziQOregon 105
97 Rbeffa 103
98 Dianekeenoy 101
99 Deern 99
100 jayde1599 98
101 someguyinvirginia 94
102 Fourpawz2 92
103 esquiress 88
104 CDVicarage 85
105 amanda4242 84
106 archerygirl 81
107 Oregonreader 77
108 RandyMetcalfe 75
109 London 74
110 jennyifer24 73
111 aspirit 72
112 torontoc 71
113 meanderer 69
114 cyderry 68
115 dmulvee 68
116 BBGirl55 67
117 BerlinBibliophile 67
118 LibraryLover23 66
119 crazy4reading 61
120 yoyogod 61
121 HanGerg 60
54PaulCranswick
Top Six's
Top Six USA Residents
1 Mark
2 Katie
3 Richard
4 Joe
5 Karen
6 Amber
Top Six Canadian Residents
1 Meg
2 Sandy
3 Shelley
4 Anita
5 Chelle
6 Micky
Top Six UK Residents
1 Charlotte
2 Susan
3 John
4 Rhian
5 Caroline
6 Heather
Top Six European Residents
1 Anita
2 Barbara
3 Ella
4 Paul S
5 Diana
6 Thomas
Top Six Asia Pacific
1 Paul C
2 Liz
3 Nina
4 Kerry
5 Megan
6 Adrienne
Top Six USA Residents
1 Mark
2 Katie
3 Richard
4 Joe
5 Karen
6 Amber
Top Six Canadian Residents
1 Meg
2 Sandy
3 Shelley
4 Anita
5 Chelle
6 Micky
Top Six UK Residents
1 Charlotte
2 Susan
3 John
4 Rhian
5 Caroline
6 Heather
Top Six European Residents
1 Anita
2 Barbara
3 Ella
4 Paul S
5 Diana
6 Thomas
Top Six Asia Pacific
1 Paul C
2 Liz
3 Nina
4 Kerry
5 Megan
6 Adrienne
55FAMeulstee
>53 PaulCranswick: Yes! You did the stats, thanks Paul :-)
I didn't expect to climb two numbers, from 24 last time to 22, as I wasn't very active in May.
I didn't expect to climb two numbers, from 24 last time to 22, as I wasn't very active in May.
56figsfromthistle
Thanks for the stats! I am surprised that I am still doing ok as I have not been as active this month.
58PaulCranswick
>55 FAMeulstee: I noticed a few fits and starts this month, Anita, but the numbers don't lie!
>56 figsfromthistle: Also flying the flag for Canada, Anita. Very respectable numbers and comfortably within the top thirty.
>56 figsfromthistle: Also flying the flag for Canada, Anita. Very respectable numbers and comfortably within the top thirty.
59PaulCranswick
>57 drneutron: Thanks Jim. Always a sign that I am in a good frame of mind!
60richardderus
>53 PaulCranswick: Interesting distribution...top 5 = next 10 = next 17. (Close enough to 15 for me.)
Fun with numbers!
Splendid week ahead orisons.
Fun with numbers!
Splendid week ahead orisons.
61PaulCranswick
>60 richardderus: Those comparative numbers are interesting. My number of posts equates to the total of the bottom 40 threads listed in >53 PaulCranswick: above with a few to spare. Shows that I probably need a hobby!
62richardderus
>61 PaulCranswick: *gestures* THIS is your hobby. You need another? What fer?
63PaulCranswick
>62 richardderus: *Doesn't flinch* - true dat.
64karenmarie
Hi Paul! Wow. I posted on the 30th, and here we are 2 days later with 32 posts on your last thread and now 60 posts on this one! Happy new thread.
From your last thread about the Sharapova book: She was not a favourite of mine i truth but I liked her much better for reading her story in mostly her own words. Serena Williams was the superior match-player and winner but is a terrible sport and lacks any sort of personal grace that always has me wishing the opponent to win even whilst admiring her abilities. Sharapova's admiration and understanding of Williams is evident in the book and makes me warm to both a little. I liked the plucky 17-year old Sharapova when she beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2004, but Shriekapova, as my daughter called her, was never a true favorite of mine. I agree with your assessment of Williams.
I love mirror image photos, and the one in your first post is pleasing to the eye.
>53 PaulCranswick: 6, 2146. Ah. 6+2 = 8. 14-6 = 8. Thanks for keeping the stats.
From your last thread about the Sharapova book: She was not a favourite of mine i truth but I liked her much better for reading her story in mostly her own words. Serena Williams was the superior match-player and winner but is a terrible sport and lacks any sort of personal grace that always has me wishing the opponent to win even whilst admiring her abilities. Sharapova's admiration and understanding of Williams is evident in the book and makes me warm to both a little. I liked the plucky 17-year old Sharapova when she beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2004, but Shriekapova, as my daughter called her, was never a true favorite of mine. I agree with your assessment of Williams.
I love mirror image photos, and the one in your first post is pleasing to the eye.
>53 PaulCranswick: 6, 2146. Ah. 6+2 = 8. 14-6 = 8. Thanks for keeping the stats.
66weird_O
Another Happy Paul thread. Excellent.
I note that The Overstory is a current read. I've finished it, and no doubt you'll finish it soon. So what Pulitzer winner are we tackling next? I recall that Evicted was high on your list. You want to read that as the Pulitzer for June?
I note that The Overstory is a current read. I've finished it, and no doubt you'll finish it soon. So what Pulitzer winner are we tackling next? I recall that Evicted was high on your list. You want to read that as the Pulitzer for June?
67PaulCranswick
>64 karenmarie: Serena is, I think, the dominant player of her era and that era has been an age! I always preferred her sister whose style, whilst still occasionally brutal was more languid and pleasing on the eye. I like Shriekapova and she was also one who would living me willing on opponents but I do like trying to get into the minds of those athletes who were so driven.
I figured you'd manage an 8 there somehow!
>65 AMQS: Thanks Anne. I shall try to pray every now and then!
I figured you'd manage an 8 there somehow!
>65 AMQS: Thanks Anne. I shall try to pray every now and then!
68PaulCranswick
>66 weird_O: Yes Bill, The Overstory is still a current read but I shall concentrate upon it soon, promise! Evicted is awaiting the two of us.
69AMQS
>67 PaulCranswick: *snerk* typo!! Have a good and godly week?
70PaulCranswick
>69 AMQS: No problem, Anne. I am feeling godly anyway because I am reading and listening to Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot which is about the murder of Thomas A Becket.
71PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
1994
I have arrived in Malaysia. After a few days solourn in Kuala Lumpur and then on the East Coast, I locate to Johor Bahru in the south, abutting Singapore. Settled in nicely and was like a schoolboy in a candystore when it came to the attractions of the female of the species in South East Asia - I fell in love severally! I also had cause to meet a certain receptionist in the one 5 star hotel in Johor Bahru who was much chagrined by by jape of paying my RM13,600 hotel bill (About $3,500) in very small denomination notes. Little did I know when I was laughing behind my sleeve that she would have the last laugh and would still be chuckling 26 years later.
1994 is the real start of what is termed Brit Pop but what I call British Alternative music. With the late sixties, it is my favourite music. This year had many groups for me to choose from and some I know I will include later. I narrowed it to three Suede and "The Wild Ones", Terrorvision (a group from my own West Yorkshire) with "Some People Say" and The Lightning Seeds with "Lucky You".
I chose the latter because it most suited my mood during that happy year and also the upbeat mood that the Brit Pop movement engendered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxf9gf9kHXA
You can decide whether I made a mistake as this is Terrorvision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT2qapOtFa4
and this is Suede
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SuX1IvJys
1994
I have arrived in Malaysia. After a few days solourn in Kuala Lumpur and then on the East Coast, I locate to Johor Bahru in the south, abutting Singapore. Settled in nicely and was like a schoolboy in a candystore when it came to the attractions of the female of the species in South East Asia - I fell in love severally! I also had cause to meet a certain receptionist in the one 5 star hotel in Johor Bahru who was much chagrined by by jape of paying my RM13,600 hotel bill (About $3,500) in very small denomination notes. Little did I know when I was laughing behind my sleeve that she would have the last laugh and would still be chuckling 26 years later.
1994 is the real start of what is termed Brit Pop but what I call British Alternative music. With the late sixties, it is my favourite music. This year had many groups for me to choose from and some I know I will include later. I narrowed it to three Suede and "The Wild Ones", Terrorvision (a group from my own West Yorkshire) with "Some People Say" and The Lightning Seeds with "Lucky You".
I chose the latter because it most suited my mood during that happy year and also the upbeat mood that the Brit Pop movement engendered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxf9gf9kHXA
You can decide whether I made a mistake as this is Terrorvision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT2qapOtFa4
and this is Suede
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SuX1IvJys
72m.belljackson
Um...kinda hard to relate - "Scotland's Burning..." here in the U.S.
73PaulCranswick
>72 m.belljackson: Yeah, Marianne, I can see that I suppose! I think that the music stands up anyway, no?
75Berly
I think you wanted to read this sometime soon...
This is a thread for anyone who wants to read and discuss Adam Johnson's Pulitzer Prize winner, The Orphan Master's Son.
We intend to read this during the month of June. Come join us!!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/321009#
This is a thread for anyone who wants to read and discuss Adam Johnson's Pulitzer Prize winner, The Orphan Master's Son.
We intend to read this during the month of June. Come join us!!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/321009#
76PaulCranswick
>74 m.belljackson: Indeed Marianne.
>75 Berly: I won't get a better excuse, Kimmers! I shall endeavour to join in.
>75 Berly: I won't get a better excuse, Kimmers! I shall endeavour to join in.
77PaulCranswick
Book #73
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
Date of Publication : 1935
Origin of Author : USA/UK
Pages : 88 pp
T.S. Eliot was a great poet, close to being my favourite poet. There is some great poetry in this too.
On this evidence, however, I'm not so sure how he would have cut it as a playwright. Far too high-blown and high brow for an audience surely? This tells the story of the return and murder/martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Canterbury in 1170. Sitting through the production would probably make most feel fit and ready for martyrdom.
In the play, which is based upon Eliot's reading of eye-witness accounts, Becket is seen as accepting or even welcoming his fate:
Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
Recommended for its poetry.
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
Date of Publication : 1935
Origin of Author : USA/UK
Pages : 88 pp
T.S. Eliot was a great poet, close to being my favourite poet. There is some great poetry in this too.
On this evidence, however, I'm not so sure how he would have cut it as a playwright. Far too high-blown and high brow for an audience surely? This tells the story of the return and murder/martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Canterbury in 1170. Sitting through the production would probably make most feel fit and ready for martyrdom.
In the play, which is based upon Eliot's reading of eye-witness accounts, Becket is seen as accepting or even welcoming his fate:
Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
Recommended for its poetry.
78johnsimpson
Hi Paul, happy new thread mate. I am surprised that i am still in the top 25 of posts but i have been posting a lot more this year, on the flipside i will be quite near the bottom on the reading stats as i have only just finished my Eleventh book of the year, lol. The page count is good though,lol.
79PaulCranswick
>78 johnsimpson: Funny John, because I was just over at your new digs. The books read listing is of course just for fun but it doesn't tell the whole story.
Tracy (praisemusictlp) has read the most books this year so far in the group with 362 to the end of May but probably is behind you on word count.
Tracy (praisemusictlp) has read the most books this year so far in the group with 362 to the end of May but probably is behind you on word count.
80richardderus
>77 PaulCranswick: It was...um...not the most performable play, though recitations of it have been more or less endurable.
As a read? Weeelll....
As a read? Weeelll....
81Matke
So, happy new-ish thread, Paul.
>53 PaulCranswick: Huh. Better than I thought. But I’m terrible at keeping up with others’ threads.
>53 PaulCranswick: Huh. Better than I thought. But I’m terrible at keeping up with others’ threads.
82PaulCranswick
>80 richardderus: I read and listened RD and I must tell you that some of the voices would have bored boredom itself.
>81 Matke: I will do the books read over the weekend, Gail. There is an impressive number already beyond 75 already and I hope to join that number by the weekend.
>81 Matke: I will do the books read over the weekend, Gail. There is an impressive number already beyond 75 already and I hope to join that number by the weekend.
83PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
1995
Quite a year for me. I left Siemens in mid year when the suggestion was to go to Zimbabwe for their new project there. I decamped briefly to Singapore to work on the extension to Changi Airport Terminal 2 settling in Marine Parade Road. I had also started dating SWMBO and (ahem eventually) stopped dating others. In December of 1995 I converted to Islam. Musically it was Blur versus Oasis (contrarian that I am I of course chose Pulp!). This song is however from Oasis "The Masterplan" and was included as a B Side to a non-album single. I could have chosen a few of their more famous songs but I like this one and some of the others have been played to death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPi2D6GK7A
1995
Quite a year for me. I left Siemens in mid year when the suggestion was to go to Zimbabwe for their new project there. I decamped briefly to Singapore to work on the extension to Changi Airport Terminal 2 settling in Marine Parade Road. I had also started dating SWMBO and (ahem eventually) stopped dating others. In December of 1995 I converted to Islam. Musically it was Blur versus Oasis (contrarian that I am I of course chose Pulp!). This song is however from Oasis "The Masterplan" and was included as a B Side to a non-album single. I could have chosen a few of their more famous songs but I like this one and some of the others have been played to death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPi2D6GK7A
84PaulCranswick
Tentative Reading Plans for June
1 Murder in the Cathedral DONE
2 The Bookshop - BAC
3 The Orphan Master's Son (Kimmers)
4 Golden Hill (Stasia)
5 Evicted (Bill)
6 The Overstory to finish
7 The Great Impersonator
8 Friendly Fire
9 Three Dog Night
10 Panic Room
I haven't decided on poetry and some of my other reads yet.
1 Murder in the Cathedral DONE
2 The Bookshop - BAC
3 The Orphan Master's Son (Kimmers)
4 Golden Hill (Stasia)
5 Evicted (Bill)
6 The Overstory to finish
7 The Great Impersonator
8 Friendly Fire
9 Three Dog Night
10 Panic Room
I haven't decided on poetry and some of my other reads yet.
85bell7
>53 PaulCranswick: Oh nice, a stats update! Interesting to me to see how much our posting is up this year - that was even before the virus had us all staying home, wasn't it? Though I certainly know it's given me more time to stay posting the last two plus months.
I look forward to your thoughts on The Overstory and hope you enjoy your group reads of The Orphan Master's Son and Evicted. Those last two were books I read for my book discussion and I was very impressed with both.
I look forward to your thoughts on The Overstory and hope you enjoy your group reads of The Orphan Master's Son and Evicted. Those last two were books I read for my book discussion and I was very impressed with both.
86PaulCranswick
>85 bell7: I am pretty confident that this year will be your best posting year, Mary. I managed 10,057 in 2017 and I'll get nowhere near that but I am already beyond the numbers I posted in the last two fallow years.
I will concentrate on The Overstory at some stage this month and am looking forward to the other two Pulitzer winners I intend to read this month.
I will concentrate on The Overstory at some stage this month and am looking forward to the other two Pulitzer winners I intend to read this month.
87richardderus
Y'all often wonder why it is that I abominate The Expressions Poeticall when it's such a joy to others. Because, to me, almost all poetry is like this:
from In Time of Swallows: 52 American Birds, by Mae Winkler Goodman, illustrated by William E. Scheele
New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1951
And that, kind sir, is urpsome drivel made even less lovely by its seasick rhythm and rhyme.
In Time of Swallows
The pear is weighted now with more than fruit–
In hordes they come, a winged avalanche,
Descending on the tree from tip to root,
Shaking the leaves, bending each silver branch.
They overflow the meadows for miles around
In multitudes, spilling their liquid song;
This is the time of swallows; along the ground,
On fence posts, bushes, these living beads are strung.
And then, in thousands, they reclaim the sky,
Sailing across the soft blue sea of air,
A bright, light-winged armada; we watch them fly
To what far destination; suddenly aware
Of the year’s waning, as the quick eye follows
The end of summer in the flight of swallows.
from In Time of Swallows: 52 American Birds, by Mae Winkler Goodman, illustrated by William E. Scheele
New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1951
And that, kind sir, is urpsome drivel made even less lovely by its seasick rhythm and rhyme.
88PaulCranswick
>87 richardderus: Hyperbolic I'll grant you RD, but written in sonnet form albeit in imperfect sonnet form.
89benitastrnad
I started the last book published in English by Deon Meyer. Dead Before Dying is one of the earlier ones published in the U.S. As soon as I finish it I will have read his entire oeuvre.
90richardderus
>88 PaulCranswick: It's bad, PC. Flat out bad. It's awkward and mawkish and twitzy-twee. And it got published by a not-vanity press! Ye gawds and li'l fishes.
91charl08
Ooh, stats Paul. It's been pretty busy round here. Good luck with The Overstory, that's quite a chunkster.
I'm not touching the poetry debate, but the Don Paterson has arrived and it's lovely (as expected).
I'm not touching the poetry debate, but the Don Paterson has arrived and it's lovely (as expected).
93PaulCranswick
>89 benitastrnad: I am up to date with the Benny Griessel series but haven't yet read anything else by him, Benita.
>90 richardderus: It was also lazy because it set out with following ten syllables per line and lost the plot halfway. Mawkish is a good word to a bad poem.
>90 richardderus: It was also lazy because it set out with following ten syllables per line and lost the plot halfway. Mawkish is a good word to a bad poem.
94PaulCranswick
>91 charl08: No debate about the Don, Charlotte, he is brilliant.
>92 lkernagh: Thanks Lori. Nice to see you back posting. xx
>92 lkernagh: Thanks Lori. Nice to see you back posting. xx
95PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
1996
Got myself married. Got myself working with Koreans. Happy year of tremendous music. Tough for me to choose but it really had to be a love song. This is Divine Comedy and "Songs of Love"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o05wDl7IJk
1996
Got myself married. Got myself working with Koreans. Happy year of tremendous music. Tough for me to choose but it really had to be a love song. This is Divine Comedy and "Songs of Love"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o05wDl7IJk
96PaulCranswick
I took this from Darryl's Facebook Page:
Those so called officers of the law shame every white man and woman on earth.
George Floyd
What is learnt when the color of skin
Is thought enough to do someone in?
On George Floyd's neck, a knee
"I wanna breathe", was his plea;
But they wouldn't relent
Until a man's life was spent.
For the passing of a small bill
Who thought it right to kill?
We should all stand with our black brothers
So that there may be no others
That die in fear and pain
Just as Abel was murdered by Cain
We must hang our heads in shame
When will all men be treated the same?
Those so called officers of the law shame every white man and woman on earth.
George Floyd
What is learnt when the color of skin
Is thought enough to do someone in?
On George Floyd's neck, a knee
"I wanna breathe", was his plea;
But they wouldn't relent
Until a man's life was spent.
For the passing of a small bill
Who thought it right to kill?
We should all stand with our black brothers
So that there may be no others
That die in fear and pain
Just as Abel was murdered by Cain
We must hang our heads in shame
When will all men be treated the same?
97benitastrnad
I finished reading Dead Before Dying by Deon Meyer. It is the last of his titles available in English that I had on the TBR list. Now I just have to wait for him to write more.
This book was one of the first to be published in English, back in 2006. It as a great good read. I figured out whodunit, but getting there and watching all the threads come together is the fun in reading a police procedural. Once again, Meyer has doled out a really good quarantine read. What would I have done for the last month without him and Dennis E. Taylor - the author of the Bobiverse books? They certainly enlivened my reading life.
This book was one of the first to be published in English, back in 2006. It as a great good read. I figured out whodunit, but getting there and watching all the threads come together is the fun in reading a police procedural. Once again, Meyer has doled out a really good quarantine read. What would I have done for the last month without him and Dennis E. Taylor - the author of the Bobiverse books? They certainly enlivened my reading life.
98PaulCranswick
>97 benitastrnad: Reliable fellow Deon Meyer; never let me down yet, either.
99laytonwoman3rd
>53 PaulCranswick: Surprised to find myself in the top 50, as it seems to me my threads have been very quiet lately. Must be all those GIF's certain parties kept dueling with for a while.
100PaulCranswick
>99 laytonwoman3rd: I think your threads have accumulated steadily, Linda. xx
101alcottacre
Checking in on the new-ish thread, Paul! I am looking forward to reading Golden Hill and The Orphan Master's Son with you this month :)
102PaulCranswick
>101 alcottacre: I will be starting Golden Hill, tomorrow - Saturday and The Orphan Master's Son straight after. I won't be able to keep up with you, though.
103PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
1997
One of my favourite years for music and one of my fondest for memories. I became a father on 27 February of this year when Kyra Yasmyne Amanda made her entrance jaundiced and screeching via C-section. As a man, you never love a woman as much as the moment she goes through the suffering of childbirth to create a family.
I bought and bought and bought music this year and loved so many albums:
In it for the Money - Supergrass
Be Here Now - Oasis
Blur - Blur
Heavy Soul - Paul Weller
Radiator - Super Furry Animals
OK Computer - Radiohead
Flaming Pie - Paul McCartney
White on Blonde - Texas
A Short Album About Love - The Divine Comedy
Whiplash - James
The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
Barafundle - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Tellin Stories - The Charlatans
The Sound of Lies - The Jayhawks
Word Gets Around - The Stereophonics
Tubthumpin - Chumbawamba
Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
Urban Hymns - Verve
But I will pick a song by a group I really liked at the time Ocean Colour Scene. This song is called Better Day. They were better days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMnEzmuBQl8
1997
One of my favourite years for music and one of my fondest for memories. I became a father on 27 February of this year when Kyra Yasmyne Amanda made her entrance jaundiced and screeching via C-section. As a man, you never love a woman as much as the moment she goes through the suffering of childbirth to create a family.
I bought and bought and bought music this year and loved so many albums:
In it for the Money - Supergrass
Be Here Now - Oasis
Blur - Blur
Heavy Soul - Paul Weller
Radiator - Super Furry Animals
OK Computer - Radiohead
Flaming Pie - Paul McCartney
White on Blonde - Texas
A Short Album About Love - The Divine Comedy
Whiplash - James
The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
Barafundle - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Tellin Stories - The Charlatans
The Sound of Lies - The Jayhawks
Word Gets Around - The Stereophonics
Tubthumpin - Chumbawamba
Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
Urban Hymns - Verve
But I will pick a song by a group I really liked at the time Ocean Colour Scene. This song is called Better Day. They were better days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMnEzmuBQl8
104paulstalder
>1 PaulCranswick: Looks like a nice place. But to live in such an open houseboat ....
105PaulCranswick
>104 paulstalder: Hahaha Paul, I think it would be rather too bijou although well ventilated.
106ChelleBearss
Congrats on passing 4000 posts!
My reading has been steady but my posting has not be consistent. Which has been the norm for a few years now
My reading has been steady but my posting has not be consistent. Which has been the norm for a few years now
107PaulCranswick
>106 ChelleBearss: Your norm involves two little cuties. Trumps my 4000 posts any day!
108m.belljackson
Paul - Although T.S. Eliott is not one of my favorite poets,
I continue to read mentions to find out what the draw is for so many.
TO A NIGHTINGALE - "Sonnets & Poems from Sappho to Borges" - offers this from The Wasteland:
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced, yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.
I continue to read mentions to find out what the draw is for so many.
TO A NIGHTINGALE - "Sonnets & Poems from Sappho to Borges" - offers this from The Wasteland:
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced, yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.
109PaulCranswick
>109 PaulCranswick: My favourite Eliot work is Four Quartets, Marianne
This is the beginning of the second Quartet:
In my beginning is my end. In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.
Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,
Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth
Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,
Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.
Houses live and die: there is a time for building
And a time for living and for generation
And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.
This is the beginning of the second Quartet:
In my beginning is my end. In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.
Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,
Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth
Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,
Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.
Houses live and die: there is a time for building
And a time for living and for generation
And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.
110alcottacre
Loving the Eliot quotes! One of these days I will have to break down and read some of his stuff.
111PaulCranswick
>110 alcottacre: His book on cats is interesting lighter stuff and his Prufrock readable. Wasteland is a tough read and I consider The Four Quartets his crowning glory, his last masterpiece his meditations on time, religion, the elements and the meaning of life, of what had become his country struggling amid the turmoil of war.
112alcottacre
>111 PaulCranswick: I think I have read the Prufrock, but I so rarely read poetry I am just not sure. If I did, it was eons ago.
113m.belljackson
Paul -
Even after, dear gods and goddesses, "Jug- Jug," I'll give Four Quartets another look.
(Also included in the Nightingale book was the truly awful (yes, to me alone, I know)
"Sweeney Among the Nightingales." Keats! Byron! Matthew Arnold! Emma Lazarus!?!)
Even after, dear gods and goddesses, "Jug- Jug," I'll give Four Quartets another look.
(Also included in the Nightingale book was the truly awful (yes, to me alone, I know)
"Sweeney Among the Nightingales." Keats! Byron! Matthew Arnold! Emma Lazarus!?!)
114charl08
The skit by Wendy Cope of T S Eliot is worth checking out, I think.
I'm reading Broken Greek, music critic Pete Paphides memoir at the moment, and your current music posts share with the book that enthusiasm for the music of the time, wrapped up with personal memories. (Apart from around 1995/96 when I first got a CD player, I have almost no memory of any song linked to a year. I am not the person to rely on for a music quiz!)
I'm reading Broken Greek, music critic Pete Paphides memoir at the moment, and your current music posts share with the book that enthusiasm for the music of the time, wrapped up with personal memories. (Apart from around 1995/96 when I first got a CD player, I have almost no memory of any song linked to a year. I am not the person to rely on for a music quiz!)
115PaulCranswick
>112 alcottacre: Prufrock is probably more accessible that Waste Land or Four Quartets, Stasia.
>113 m.belljackson: That is an interesting grouping of writers. First two at least belong in the same collection!
>113 m.belljackson: That is an interesting grouping of writers. First two at least belong in the same collection!
116PaulCranswick
>114 charl08: I must look for that book then, Charlotte. I do remember dates very well for some reason. I can often remember publication dates of most of the books I have read and I associate music with years because of my constant cataloguing.
117msf59
>103 PaulCranswick: I love this decade! Incredible amount of music came out in the 90s. Dylan had a great comeback with Time Out of Mind too.
Happy Weekend, Paul. I hope all is well in your world.
Happy Weekend, Paul. I hope all is well in your world.
118PaulCranswick
>117 msf59: Spent into the late afternoon at work, Mark, as we are trying to effect a Supplementary Agreement on the PNB118 tower in order to fix a new completion date complete with some compensation.
You will see the tower is progressing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qxtDLny1Dw
You will see the tower is progressing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qxtDLny1Dw
120PaulCranswick
Thank you Gail xx
121SirThomas
...and again, I couldn't get it under 100 - Happy New Thread, Paul. It is a beautiful topper.
>53 PaulCranswick:, >54 PaulCranswick: Stats - YAY - at least here I am under 100 ;-).
I wish you a wonderful weekend!
>53 PaulCranswick:, >54 PaulCranswick: Stats - YAY - at least here I am under 100 ;-).
I wish you a wonderful weekend!
123PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
1998
In Johor Bahru and enjoying Yasmyne slowly show signs of personality. She had a whooping cough scare and I realised I could trust myself in a crisis.
In music "Britpop" was still making me swoon and I loved songs from Catatonia, Pulp, Space, Suede and this from the sadly underrated and often overlooked group from Liverpool - The Boo Radleys - (I, ahem, mock you not). This is "Kingsize" Cannot unfortunately find a video of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjHGTlqzIU&list=PLB3D38FD3B0BDD1A9&inde...
1998
In Johor Bahru and enjoying Yasmyne slowly show signs of personality. She had a whooping cough scare and I realised I could trust myself in a crisis.
In music "Britpop" was still making me swoon and I loved songs from Catatonia, Pulp, Space, Suede and this from the sadly underrated and often overlooked group from Liverpool - The Boo Radleys - (I, ahem, mock you not). This is "Kingsize" Cannot unfortunately find a video of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjHGTlqzIU&list=PLB3D38FD3B0BDD1A9&inde...
124PaulCranswick
Book #74
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Date of Publication : 1978
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 156 pp
British Author Challenge
This short novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1978 and for half of the book I couldn't really see why. It came along creeping up the fenland marshes with a snide little sucker-punch to the solar plexus.
Florence is widowed and thinks it a good idea to invest in a derelict, damp little building to found a local bookshop. After an initial period of success in which the novel proceeds pleasantly with mild comedy of manners her fortunes are changed by provincial petty mindedness that is almost unworldly and sinister.
Deft and sad and well worth the wait to realise its potency.
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Date of Publication : 1978
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 156 pp
British Author Challenge
This short novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1978 and for half of the book I couldn't really see why. It came along creeping up the fenland marshes with a snide little sucker-punch to the solar plexus.
Florence is widowed and thinks it a good idea to invest in a derelict, damp little building to found a local bookshop. After an initial period of success in which the novel proceeds pleasantly with mild comedy of manners her fortunes are changed by provincial petty mindedness that is almost unworldly and sinister.
Deft and sad and well worth the wait to realise its potency.
125vancouverdeb
Wishing you a great weekend, Paul. I read The Bookshop several years ago and I left feeling somewhat cold about the book. Not to disagree with you, but really, I could not understand why it was short listed for the Booker Prize.
126PaulCranswick
>125 vancouverdeb: I would have agreed with you, Deb, for most of the short novel but the last quarter of the book is, I think, wonderfully and very cleverly realised.
127PaulCranswick
Some additions to report!:
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp
Both these are loans from Open Library
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
Bought in Kinokuiya.
Stafford is obviously both for Pulitzer reads and the AAC
Elytis' Selected Poems are to read the Nobel Winner
Lolly Willowes has long been on my radar.
The Porpoise has been on so many best of lists from last year
The two African writers are from my hitlist and for another tilt at the Around the World in 80 books challenge
Don Paterson's latest collection - of course I couldn't resist.
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp
Both these are loans from Open Library
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
Bought in Kinokuiya.
Stafford is obviously both for Pulitzer reads and the AAC
Elytis' Selected Poems are to read the Nobel Winner
Lolly Willowes has long been on my radar.
The Porpoise has been on so many best of lists from last year
The two African writers are from my hitlist and for another tilt at the Around the World in 80 books challenge
Don Paterson's latest collection - of course I couldn't resist.
128alcottacre
>123 PaulCranswick: Many of the songs you are re-collecting are outside of anything I have heard. My parents as I was growing up listened to country music, which to this day I despise, southern gospel music - ditto, and classical music, which I love. Listening to the songs you are posting is like getting a whole new education in music. Keep them coming, Paul!
>124 PaulCranswick: Dodging that BB as I have already read it!
>127 PaulCranswick: Nice haul!
On the Golden Hill front, I am making no progress, Paul, I am sorry to report. My eyes are being problematic again and the print in my copy of the book too small. I will try and get it started tomorrow. Sorry.
>124 PaulCranswick: Dodging that BB as I have already read it!
>127 PaulCranswick: Nice haul!
On the Golden Hill front, I am making no progress, Paul, I am sorry to report. My eyes are being problematic again and the print in my copy of the book too small. I will try and get it started tomorrow. Sorry.
129PaulCranswick
>128 alcottacre: 1999 is upcoming, Stasia, and it will be another British band - famous there - but most likely unfamiliar to you.
I am pleased at finding Open Library as on-line resource as it allows me to read books I simply cannot find otherwise.
I am 60 plus pages into Golden Hill and enjoying it so far although in truth not that much has happened.
I am pleased at finding Open Library as on-line resource as it allows me to read books I simply cannot find otherwise.
I am 60 plus pages into Golden Hill and enjoying it so far although in truth not that much has happened.
130PaulCranswick
These are the latest additions:
131bell7
Very interesting seeing how different our music familiarity is, Paul. I remember Oasis, Radiohead, and Bob Dylan of course, though of the list in >103 PaulCranswick: I'm most familiar with Flaming Pie by Paul McCartney (my dad had the album on CD, so I heard it and now I have the title song stuck in my head). Apparently our music taste overlaps most with the Beatles/McCartney and Simon & Garfunkel, at least so far.
132PaulCranswick
>131 bell7: I insist upon melody, Mary, so I don't think my picks will make too many actually shudder. The lyrics and meaning and the ability to rouse are also important to me too. Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel are easy picks right?
I really like McCartney's Flaming Pie album as a solo artist (if you say Band on the Run is Wings) I think it his best. When she was a little one in the car seat, Belle, used to always insist on this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXVLnh5thrQ
I had to play it over and over and over.
I really like McCartney's Flaming Pie album as a solo artist (if you say Band on the Run is Wings) I think it his best. When she was a little one in the car seat, Belle, used to always insist on this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXVLnh5thrQ
I had to play it over and over and over.
133PaulCranswick
Songs from the Years of My Life:
1999
Close of the century and my son was born on October 18 of the year by normal delivery in Johor Bahru. Britpop was slowly winding down but still would have plenty of "final gasps" into the next millennium.
For this year my choice was relatively easy as I played this song over and over. Blur and "Tender"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA
1999
Close of the century and my son was born on October 18 of the year by normal delivery in Johor Bahru. Britpop was slowly winding down but still would have plenty of "final gasps" into the next millennium.
For this year my choice was relatively easy as I played this song over and over. Blur and "Tender"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA
134bell7
>132 PaulCranswick: I haven't heard as many of his solo albums. My favorite of his solo songs is Maybe I'm Amazed, hands down. Of what I know I think I agree with you that Flaming Pie is his best of the solo albums, though. My dad has a tendency to skip around to the songs he likes best, so I can't say I know every song on the album. Little Willow is a lovely one, though watching the music video it's incredibly bittersweet - I'm impressed that was one Belle gravitated to at a young age. Probably my favorite is the first one, The Song We Were Singing, while Calico Skies is also good. And though it's a simple song, I do like the optimism of Great Day. This was the album he wrote while Linda was so sick and dying, and it clearly impacted his songwriting.
The song my sister (who is a little younger than Yasmyne) used to request was "Peep peep, yeah": https://youtu.be/kfSQkZuIx84
The song my sister (who is a little younger than Yasmyne) used to request was "Peep peep, yeah": https://youtu.be/kfSQkZuIx84
135PaulCranswick
>134 bell7: Maybe I'm Amazed is an incredible song and one of the few that I struggle to sing as I can't do that wonderful screech that he rends part way. I would probably agree that he never beat that song in fifty years!
Yes Great Day is a good tune but I think my favourite song on the album is the one that George Martin helped him produce "Somedays".
In so many ways Rubber Soul is my favourite of all the Beatles albums as it perfectly captures them moving from Mania days to studio kings. In My Life is my favourite Beatles track.
Yes Great Day is a good tune but I think my favourite song on the album is the one that George Martin helped him produce "Somedays".
In so many ways Rubber Soul is my favourite of all the Beatles albums as it perfectly captures them moving from Mania days to studio kings. In My Life is my favourite Beatles track.
136Caroline_McElwee
>124 PaulCranswick: They made a nice film of this book Paul.
137PaulCranswick
>136 Caroline_McElwee: I didn't know there was a film of the book, Caroline. I must go find it.
138charl08
>130 PaulCranswick: Yay for Don Paterson!
141PaulCranswick
>138 charl08: I think I have all of his original stuff, Charlotte, excepting his interpretive work and translations.
>139 banjo123: Thank you Rhonda. I am struggling to get round the threads in this last week. Hope to put that right later today.
>139 banjo123: Thank you Rhonda. I am struggling to get round the threads in this last week. Hope to put that right later today.
142PaulCranswick
>140 richardderus: Spot on RD. For more than half of the novel I thought it was equivalent to that awful new word - meh - but it had a sort of creeping brilliance. I am hopeful that the African writers hit the spot as I have a pretty good view of African literature to date, although it is far too large an area to make such sweeping generalisations.
143scaifea
Popping in to agree that Rubber Soul is THE Beatles album. I have and love them all, but that one is just so, so wonderful.
144PaulCranswick
>143 scaifea: I always admired your impeccable taste, Amber!
145scaifea
>144 PaulCranswick: *grins*
146PaulCranswick
>145 scaifea: Let's see whether you like what I put up for the year 2000
147PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
2000
Splitting my time between Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur I had started work on what was then the tallest condominium project in Malaysia (now probably not in the top ten) in KL Sentral.
2000 despite its prophecies of doom saw instead the emergence of Coldplay. This is Yellow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKNxeF4KMsY
2000
Splitting my time between Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur I had started work on what was then the tallest condominium project in Malaysia (now probably not in the top ten) in KL Sentral.
2000 despite its prophecies of doom saw instead the emergence of Coldplay. This is Yellow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKNxeF4KMsY
148karenmarie
Hi Paul!
>124 PaulCranswick: On my shelves, just waiting for the right moment. Perhaps sooner than later after reading your review.
A boyfriend took me to the Wings over America concert at the Forum in Inglewood in June of 1976 for my 23rd birthday. It was a surprise - he said we were going to our favorite pizza joint which was near the Forum, we got 'stuck' in Forum traffic, and then he said to open the glove box - two tickets. Fantastic. However, I still love McCartney's first solo album better than anything he did post-Beatles. There's not a single song on it that I don't absolutely adore. (I also saw the Beatles in 1964 at the Hollywood Bowl when I was 10).
>124 PaulCranswick: On my shelves, just waiting for the right moment. Perhaps sooner than later after reading your review.
A boyfriend took me to the Wings over America concert at the Forum in Inglewood in June of 1976 for my 23rd birthday. It was a surprise - he said we were going to our favorite pizza joint which was near the Forum, we got 'stuck' in Forum traffic, and then he said to open the glove box - two tickets. Fantastic. However, I still love McCartney's first solo album better than anything he did post-Beatles. There's not a single song on it that I don't absolutely adore. (I also saw the Beatles in 1964 at the Hollywood Bowl when I was 10).
149PaulCranswick
>148 karenmarie: I am in awe a little bit. A Beatles concert and the Wings famous 1976 tour!
I can't quite agree about his first solo effort being his absolute best but it does contain two of his absolute greatest songs in Maybe I'm Amazed and Every Night. There is nothing on Flaming Pie as good as those two songs but it is such a consistent effort.
I can't quite agree about his first solo effort being his absolute best but it does contain two of his absolute greatest songs in Maybe I'm Amazed and Every Night. There is nothing on Flaming Pie as good as those two songs but it is such a consistent effort.
150PaulCranswick
Book #75
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
Date of Publication : 2016
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 340 pp
I do like novels that actually bother to tell a story and this one charmed and intrigued me almost from the get go. Atmospheric and created a very vivid view of New York as an oversized village in the middle part of the 18th Century.
Mr. Smith has arrived in town by ship from England bearing a promissory note entitling him to £1,000. The Counting House has suspicions about his credentials and he is set to wait in town whilst such proof can be obtained. What does he intend for the money?
Just my bag and quite accomplished for a first novel. I didn't quite see the end coming.
Recommended.
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
Date of Publication : 2016
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 340 pp
I do like novels that actually bother to tell a story and this one charmed and intrigued me almost from the get go. Atmospheric and created a very vivid view of New York as an oversized village in the middle part of the 18th Century.
Mr. Smith has arrived in town by ship from England bearing a promissory note entitling him to £1,000. The Counting House has suspicions about his credentials and he is set to wait in town whilst such proof can be obtained. What does he intend for the money?
Just my bag and quite accomplished for a first novel. I didn't quite see the end coming.
Recommended.
151PaulCranswick
READING UPDATE
Actually the fastest I have made it to 75 since I have been on LT - by about 3 weeks.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
2. British Poetry - 5/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 5/12 -
5. 1001 Books - 3/12
6. Plays - 6/12 - Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 3/12 -
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 2/12
12. Nobel Winners - 3/12
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 4/12 -
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 2/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 2/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 3/12 - Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
18. World Literature - 5/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 5/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 4/12 -
Books Completed June - 3 Year to Date - 75
Pages Read June - 584 Year to Date - 16,412
1001 Books June - 0 Year to Date - 6
Bookers June - 0 Year to Date - 2
Nobel Winners June - 1 Year to Date - 7
BAC Books June - 3 Year to Date - 11
AAC Books June - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners June - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave June - 73.00 Year to Date - 102.58
Gender of Authors 18 Female / 57 male
Actually the fastest I have made it to 75 since I have been on LT - by about 3 weeks.
1. British Author Challenge - 5/12 - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
2. British Poetry - 5/12 -
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 2/12 -
4. World Poetry - 5/12 -
5. 1001 Books - 3/12
6. Plays - 6/12 - Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot
7. American Author Challenge 3/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 5/12 -
9. History - 3/12 -
10. Current Affairs - 5/12 -
11. Booker Winners - 2/12
12. Nobel Winners - 3/12
13. Scandi - 3/12 -
14. Series Books - 4/12 -
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 2/12 -
16. Classic Fiction - 2/12 -
17. 21st Century Fiction - 3/12 - Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
18. World Literature - 5/12 -
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 5/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 4/12 -
Books Completed June - 3 Year to Date - 75
Pages Read June - 584 Year to Date - 16,412
1001 Books June - 0 Year to Date - 6
Bookers June - 0 Year to Date - 2
Nobel Winners June - 1 Year to Date - 7
BAC Books June - 3 Year to Date - 11
AAC Books June - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners June - 0 Year to Date - 1
Daily Reading Ave June - 73.00 Year to Date - 102.58
Gender of Authors 18 Female / 57 male
152curioussquared
>150 PaulCranswick: Congrats on 75!! I'm close behind you :D
153amanda4242
Congratulations on hitting 75!
155PaulCranswick
>152 curioussquared: Thank you Natalie. I will keep a look out over at yours.
>153 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda. Half your own pace but I am happy nonetheless!
>153 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda. Half your own pace but I am happy nonetheless!
156PaulCranswick
>154 richardderus: That was a happy but unintended coincidence, RD. Thank you dear fellow.
157alcottacre
>150 PaulCranswick: I am glad to see that you enjoyed Golden Hill, Paul! I have barely started it.
Congratulations on hitting 75!
Congratulations on hitting 75!
158PaulCranswick
>157 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia. I did enjoy Spufford's book - I don't really care for all that stream of consciousness malarkey.
160Dejah_Thoris
Congratulations on your first 75 books this year, Paul!
161vancouverdeb
Wow! 75 books already ! Congratulations , Paul !
162bell7
Congrats on reaching 75! I'm a couple of titles behind you, but should also reach this month unless my reading drops of precipitously, which doesn't seem to be the case so far.
163figsfromthistle
Congrats on reading 75 books!
164FAMeulstee
>150 PaulCranswick: Congratulations on reaching 75, Paul!
165PaulCranswick
>159 Caroline_McElwee: Yes, I have you to thank for drawing my attention to it, Caroline.
>160 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks Princess.
>160 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks Princess.
166PaulCranswick
>161 vancouverdeb: I know, Deb! Last year I stumbled over the finish line towards the end of December! My previous best whilst on LT was 30 June.
>162 bell7: We are both exceeding expectations this year, Mary, I guess - our own expectations!
>162 bell7: We are both exceeding expectations this year, Mary, I guess - our own expectations!
167PaulCranswick
>163 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.
>164 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I think that is the second time recently on my threads that my two favourite Anitas have posted next to each other!
>164 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. I think that is the second time recently on my threads that my two favourite Anitas have posted next to each other!
168FAMeulstee
>167 PaulCranswick: I suppose Anita's should stick together ;-)
169PaulCranswick
>168 FAMeulstee: Indeed!
170figsfromthistle
I concur! :)
171PaulCranswick
When does justifiable protest go too far?
The UK is not the USA though we still have a long, long way to go to eradicate amongst other things the blight of racism and I speak as someone whose own father called his children (my children) half-breeds. The British Prime Minister's response is not, for all those that want to lump him with Chump (and I could never vote for him), to be a cheerleader for gun violence but to say the country has made strides but needs to do much more.
That said it goes against the grain when the Cenotaph - there in remembrance of those who served and died for our country - is attacked. It goes against the grain when a statue is vandalised of Winston Churchill who, for all his faults (and I am a socialist), lead my country and its then empire alone against the Nazi jack-boots so that, when the USA woke up, we may all be free. It goes against the grain when black police officers are attacked for doing their jobs with restraint. Surely it is that togetherness and integration that will foster a society free from some of the ills that those who are genuinely protesting want to change? A good cause can be undermined by thugs seeking to hijack an issue to make trouble.
Machiavelli was wrong not all means are justified in searching for a better end.
The UK is not the USA though we still have a long, long way to go to eradicate amongst other things the blight of racism and I speak as someone whose own father called his children (my children) half-breeds. The British Prime Minister's response is not, for all those that want to lump him with Chump (and I could never vote for him), to be a cheerleader for gun violence but to say the country has made strides but needs to do much more.
That said it goes against the grain when the Cenotaph - there in remembrance of those who served and died for our country - is attacked. It goes against the grain when a statue is vandalised of Winston Churchill who, for all his faults (and I am a socialist), lead my country and its then empire alone against the Nazi jack-boots so that, when the USA woke up, we may all be free. It goes against the grain when black police officers are attacked for doing their jobs with restraint. Surely it is that togetherness and integration that will foster a society free from some of the ills that those who are genuinely protesting want to change? A good cause can be undermined by thugs seeking to hijack an issue to make trouble.
Machiavelli was wrong not all means are justified in searching for a better end.
172PaulCranswick
>170 figsfromthistle: You see!!! You ladies do stick together!
173RebaRelishesReading
Goon for you -- 75 in June!
174PaulCranswick
>173 RebaRelishesReading: :D Thanks, Reba
178charl08
>141 PaulCranswick: I don't have all his stuff (and can't find my copy of Nil Nil which is annoying) but I do have this signed copy of Rain.179PaulCranswick
>178 charl08: That is cool, Charlotte and Rain is a great collection.
180PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
2001
Relocated to Kuala Lumpur in a veritable village in the city - 16 acres with 270 apartments and seven minutes into the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers. Yasmyne had a scary febrile fit and Erni joined our family with her wry little smile and her slow and steady ability to learn.
The song for the year is the last one I sang to a paying audience. After the Aceh Earthquake and Tsunami in 2004 some of our friends who are performing artists organised a charity show in Kuala Lumpur. A quartet had been put together to sing this particular song but one of the number was paralytic drunk (not too politic for a Malay artist but still) and one of the group asked me to step in and sing with them. I reprised the performance in a company celebration last year but this was my last time singing with a professional group to a paying audience.
The song is Better Man by Robbie Williams. Robbie is a huge star in the UK but hasn't really troubled the charts in the USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoDqwQ10oIE
For some reason the video states the song is from 1998. This is false. It was recorded in 2000 and was the last single released from the Sing When We're Winning album in 2001.
2001
Relocated to Kuala Lumpur in a veritable village in the city - 16 acres with 270 apartments and seven minutes into the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers. Yasmyne had a scary febrile fit and Erni joined our family with her wry little smile and her slow and steady ability to learn.
The song for the year is the last one I sang to a paying audience. After the Aceh Earthquake and Tsunami in 2004 some of our friends who are performing artists organised a charity show in Kuala Lumpur. A quartet had been put together to sing this particular song but one of the number was paralytic drunk (not too politic for a Malay artist but still) and one of the group asked me to step in and sing with them. I reprised the performance in a company celebration last year but this was my last time singing with a professional group to a paying audience.
The song is Better Man by Robbie Williams. Robbie is a huge star in the UK but hasn't really troubled the charts in the USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoDqwQ10oIE
For some reason the video states the song is from 1998. This is false. It was recorded in 2000 and was the last single released from the Sing When We're Winning album in 2001.
181m.belljackson
Protests, yes; Looters, no; change police, yes;
Defund police?
No police? = people need to read the history of Paris after The French Revolution
Defund police?
No police? = people need to read the history of Paris after The French Revolution
182PaulCranswick
>181 m.belljackson: Protests are a basic right that many have fought for and has been established in the UK for generations. What is really not ok is vandalising our cenotaph which commemorates our fallen - many of us have had family members who have fought and died for our country and to disrespect their memory is shameful. The asswipe burning our flag should also be ashamed of himself.
Paris after the revolution - you mean the committee of public safety? That worked out very well for precisely nobody.
Paris after the revolution - you mean the committee of public safety? That worked out very well for precisely nobody.
183LizzieD
>181 m.belljackson: "Defund police" doesn't mean give the police no money. It does mean to return money to social programs which have been "defunded" in order to boost police budgets for more weaponry (for example) than is needed to protect people. (I just read Heather Cox Richardson on this and had to chime in.)
Ooops.
Hi, Paul. Congratulations on your 75+! I do believe your reading mojo is back.
Ooops.
Hi, Paul. Congratulations on your 75+! I do believe your reading mojo is back.
184m.belljackson
>183 LizzieD:
Yes, I also read this interpretation when it came out - the problem is that the wording has meant 'No money and No police' for too many people.
Yes, I also read this interpretation when it came out - the problem is that the wording has meant 'No money and No police' for too many people.
186benitastrnad
>183 LizzieD:
I agree with you. Defunding is part of the solution. Far too much taxpayer money is spent on militarizing our policing. That is not good. Too much money spent on more and more for the police and less on social programs and safety nets. If the money spent on our police was as closely watched as the money spent on family assistance or medical assistance, or God forbid - schools those programs would be fully funded and the police would get a lot less in financial support. I think that the police should have to account for every penny - EVERY penny - of the money spent on equipment. At the very least, more of their budgets should be spent on training in deescalation tactics. They should learn how to listen and show empathy. They need to learn counseling and moderation. They don't need to learn to shoot guns.
Then we need to start using different language when we talk about police. Any of the words that have force in them, or imply the use of force, should not be used.
Change the uniforms. They should have to wear khaki pants or bermuda shorts, and polo shirts. Uniforms like the UPS or the US Postal Service people wear. Totally change the image. They should drive around Volkswagen Beetles. Not those souped up super tanks they drive now. No motorcycles. Bicycles only. Maybe an electric bike or scooter. Skate boards, roller skates, would be allowed.
One half of the police personnel should be women. The testosterone level of the police needs to be lowered.
The required textbook for policemen should be Make Way For Ducklings.
Lastly, only certain licensed police personnel should be allowed to carry guns.
All of this would put the words guardian and helpmeet back into the picture instead of the words enforcement and protect.
I agree with you. Defunding is part of the solution. Far too much taxpayer money is spent on militarizing our policing. That is not good. Too much money spent on more and more for the police and less on social programs and safety nets. If the money spent on our police was as closely watched as the money spent on family assistance or medical assistance, or God forbid - schools those programs would be fully funded and the police would get a lot less in financial support. I think that the police should have to account for every penny - EVERY penny - of the money spent on equipment. At the very least, more of their budgets should be spent on training in deescalation tactics. They should learn how to listen and show empathy. They need to learn counseling and moderation. They don't need to learn to shoot guns.
Then we need to start using different language when we talk about police. Any of the words that have force in them, or imply the use of force, should not be used.
Change the uniforms. They should have to wear khaki pants or bermuda shorts, and polo shirts. Uniforms like the UPS or the US Postal Service people wear. Totally change the image. They should drive around Volkswagen Beetles. Not those souped up super tanks they drive now. No motorcycles. Bicycles only. Maybe an electric bike or scooter. Skate boards, roller skates, would be allowed.
One half of the police personnel should be women. The testosterone level of the police needs to be lowered.
The required textbook for policemen should be Make Way For Ducklings.
Lastly, only certain licensed police personnel should be allowed to carry guns.
All of this would put the words guardian and helpmeet back into the picture instead of the words enforcement and protect.
187johnsimpson
Hi Paul, a bit late with this but congratulations mate on reaching 75 books read so far.
188PaulCranswick
>183 LizzieD: Yeas Peggy, but this is an American concern. Our police generally do not carry weapons. I don't want to sentimentalise our police force and we also get a lot of things wrong, but my point was ok protest and I may have joined in had I been in the UK because "isms" in most of their forms are things I take up against, but don't dishonour our heroes, those ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things for all of us. I am lucky that my generation did not have to go to war. Those people - some members of my family - are the reason why.
Where are the apologies for desecrating the cenotaph? Is that the fault of the police?
>184 m.belljackson: In the UK policemen on the beat is an important issue as is community policing. There is no debate about guns because we don't have your ridiculous 2nd amendment or whatever it is.
Where are the apologies for desecrating the cenotaph? Is that the fault of the police?
>184 m.belljackson: In the UK policemen on the beat is an important issue as is community policing. There is no debate about guns because we don't have your ridiculous 2nd amendment or whatever it is.
189PaulCranswick
>185 drneutron: Thanks Jim.
>186 benitastrnad: In the UK and elsewhere I imagine, there is a general perplexity about the gun culture in the USA. Not to have an armed police force there when everyone else is free to bear arms strikes me as naivety. It is police practices and attitude that needs reform most urgently. This outpouring was the result of prejudice and mal-intentioned knees whilst the guns were holstered.
I regret the bandwagon-ism that results in looting and the mob and also surely provocation by both those determined to cause trouble and elements of the police and the dark forces of the Klan etc. All that shouldn't be allowed to distract from the issues of what happened and to the refrain that BLACK LIVES MATTER.
>186 benitastrnad: In the UK and elsewhere I imagine, there is a general perplexity about the gun culture in the USA. Not to have an armed police force there when everyone else is free to bear arms strikes me as naivety. It is police practices and attitude that needs reform most urgently. This outpouring was the result of prejudice and mal-intentioned knees whilst the guns were holstered.
I regret the bandwagon-ism that results in looting and the mob and also surely provocation by both those determined to cause trouble and elements of the police and the dark forces of the Klan etc. All that shouldn't be allowed to distract from the issues of what happened and to the refrain that BLACK LIVES MATTER.
190PaulCranswick
>187 johnsimpson: Thank you John. You aren't far behind in numbers of pages and would be closer to 75 had you not taken time to make so many pots of tea!
191SirThomas
A whoo-hoo for 75! Congratulations, Paul.
>171 PaulCranswick: Well said, I completely agree with you.
>171 PaulCranswick: Well said, I completely agree with you.
192PaulCranswick
>191 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas.
At a time when the issue should have been about racial prejudice it is sad that the moronic minority despoil the cause by looting and vandalism. It doesn't mean the cause is any the less urgent but the cause does not justify some of the actions taken in its name but not belonging to its spirit.
At a time when the issue should have been about racial prejudice it is sad that the moronic minority despoil the cause by looting and vandalism. It doesn't mean the cause is any the less urgent but the cause does not justify some of the actions taken in its name but not belonging to its spirit.
193jnwelch
Hi, Paul. Congrats on reaching 75! And thanks to you and Charlotte for the nudge to read more Don Paterson.
194PaulCranswick
>193 jnwelch: Best living poet , Joe, bar none.
195RebaRelishesReading
>189 PaulCranswick: one of the scariest things about the pandemic is the number of guns that were sold in the first weeks
196streamsong
Congrats on 75! Way cool.
197Whisper1
Hi Friend Paul. I join others in congratulating you on reaching the 75 books read goal.
Thinking of you and sending all good wishes.
Thinking of you and sending all good wishes.
198m.belljackson
>188 PaulCranswick:
Just statues of slave traders...?
Where I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, in the 1950s, beat policemen were standard.
No idea what happened and I often write letters asking for their return,
as do many of the people now in less "advantaged" neighborhoods.
Scary also were the many guns purchased by people of peace who had never owned one,
yet now feel compelled to be able to defend their homes and families against
the AKA armed thugs approved by the head moronic thug.
There they are - allowed to "protest" on the steps of our Capitols.
A True Life Mystery is why Americans are STILL allowing insane freak to rule our lives - what will be left of us if we wait until November?
Just statues of slave traders...?
Where I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, in the 1950s, beat policemen were standard.
No idea what happened and I often write letters asking for their return,
as do many of the people now in less "advantaged" neighborhoods.
Scary also were the many guns purchased by people of peace who had never owned one,
yet now feel compelled to be able to defend their homes and families against
the AKA armed thugs approved by the head moronic thug.
There they are - allowed to "protest" on the steps of our Capitols.
A True Life Mystery is why Americans are STILL allowing insane freak to rule our lives - what will be left of us if we wait until November?
200m.belljackson
Hi Paul , one more from Wednesday's WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL =EDITORIAL PAGE =
"MY VIEW/PHIL HANDS"
(amazing cartoonist)
"What does 'DEFUND POLICE' mean?"
(In case you can't call it up, he's drawn 4 squares:
each with a person holding up the same DEFUND POLICE sign.
#1 IT MEANS REALLOCATING LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES FOR MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES.
#2 IT MEANS DISMANTLING THE POLICE AND REPLACING THEM WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS.
#3 IT MEANS ANARCHY!
#4 IT MEANS SCARED VOTERS IN THE SUBURBS MIGHT ACTUALLY REELECT ME.)
"MY VIEW/PHIL HANDS"
(amazing cartoonist)
"What does 'DEFUND POLICE' mean?"
(In case you can't call it up, he's drawn 4 squares:
each with a person holding up the same DEFUND POLICE sign.
#1 IT MEANS REALLOCATING LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES FOR MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES.
#2 IT MEANS DISMANTLING THE POLICE AND REPLACING THEM WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS.
#3 IT MEANS ANARCHY!
#4 IT MEANS SCARED VOTERS IN THE SUBURBS MIGHT ACTUALLY REELECT ME.)
202Fourpawz2
Joining the multitudes with congratulations on your accomplishment, Paul. I don't seem to be reading at a much different speed than last year.
I used to say that I wanted Our Orange Overlord to survive long enough to lose in November so that I could see him crushed, but now I don't care about that anymore. He's killing this country. If his head exploded tomorrow I would count it as a blessing.
I used to say that I wanted Our Orange Overlord to survive long enough to lose in November so that I could see him crushed, but now I don't care about that anymore. He's killing this country. If his head exploded tomorrow I would count it as a blessing.
203PaulCranswick
>195 RebaRelishesReading: That would be scary, Reba. We have problems in the UK and Malaysia but we simply cannot just go out and buy guns. I think almost all Brits would consider that absolute madness.
>196 streamsong: Thank you, Janet. I got the electrical supervisor to cut my hair yesterday at site and it is really, I mean REALLY, short. A sign of how unruly my hair had become was that SWMBO who hates me cutting my hair so short had no complaints at all!
>196 streamsong: Thank you, Janet. I got the electrical supervisor to cut my hair yesterday at site and it is really, I mean REALLY, short. A sign of how unruly my hair had become was that SWMBO who hates me cutting my hair so short had no complaints at all!
204PaulCranswick
>197 Whisper1: Thank you, dear Linda.
>198 m.belljackson: I don't think too many people are grumbling about the statue of Colston being thrown into the river Avon (or was it the Severn?) in Bristol, Marianne. Dishonouring our cenotaphs is not in any way acceptable.
One of the problems has been that there are insufficient BAME officers joining up and it is not surprising when they were targeted especially for attacks by the demonstrators.
>198 m.belljackson: I don't think too many people are grumbling about the statue of Colston being thrown into the river Avon (or was it the Severn?) in Bristol, Marianne. Dishonouring our cenotaphs is not in any way acceptable.
One of the problems has been that there are insufficient BAME officers joining up and it is not surprising when they were targeted especially for attacks by the demonstrators.
205PaulCranswick
>199 quondame: Thanks Susan. My meagre efforts pale in comparison with your own stellar reading of course. xx
>200 m.belljackson: Yeah, I don't quite get the issue, Marianne. Change your gun laws first.
>200 m.belljackson: Yeah, I don't quite get the issue, Marianne. Change your gun laws first.
206PaulCranswick
>201 avatiakh: Thank you, Kerry. I am at so high a reading altitude I think my nose will bleed!
>202 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. He sets the tone, I guess, but he is nowhere near alone in despoiling America unfortunately.
>202 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. He sets the tone, I guess, but he is nowhere near alone in despoiling America unfortunately.
207PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
2002
Fully settled in Kuala Lumpur and Yasmyne ready to start school.
I have to include Super Furry Animals here as they have been a favourite band of mine for a long time. A group from Wales who sometimes also recorded in welsh, they have some great tunes and all their albums are interesting.
I prefer their first two albums from 1996 & 1997 and this is not my absolute favourite track of theirs but merits a play, I think. It is called "It's Not the End of the World?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlWLc8V_-SE
2002
Fully settled in Kuala Lumpur and Yasmyne ready to start school.
I have to include Super Furry Animals here as they have been a favourite band of mine for a long time. A group from Wales who sometimes also recorded in welsh, they have some great tunes and all their albums are interesting.
I prefer their first two albums from 1996 & 1997 and this is not my absolute favourite track of theirs but merits a play, I think. It is called "It's Not the End of the World?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlWLc8V_-SE
208m.belljackson
>205 PaulCranswick:
The 2nd Amendment to the U>S> Constitution - right to bear arms -
was created primarily in response to some tyrannical government depriving people of freedom.
Without that, it might never have been necessary
or
have morphed into the present reign of terror where
armed men sit next to kids at restaurants.
The 2nd Amendment to the U>S> Constitution - right to bear arms -
was created primarily in response to some tyrannical government depriving people of freedom.
Without that, it might never have been necessary
or
have morphed into the present reign of terror where
armed men sit next to kids at restaurants.
209karenmarie
Hi Paul!
>149 PaulCranswick: I didn’t say it was his best, I just said it was the one I love most, post-Beatles. *smile* I haven’t listened to most of his solo work, so can’t really speak to it.
>151 PaulCranswick: Congratulations on 75 and your personal best 75.
>171 PaulCranswick: I’ve always tried to value historical figures for what they did and not what was beyond their mindset and culture set. Churchill fits in with that, as did the American Founders who had slaves. Of course we wish they had been completely enlightened and progressive thinking, but some stunning and earth-shattering accomplishments are better than none. Even Lincoln didn’t initially start out wanting complete emancipation for slaves, after all.
And there will always be thugs who hijack an issue for their own ends. It’s up to good people to see through and around their despicable motives and do what’s right as far as our personal situations will let us. Personally, I’d love to volunteer somehow during this pandemic, but I’m a senior and also can’t afford to bring it home to a husband who is a senior with underlying health conditions. The most I can do right now is wear a mask in public and try to keep from being a Covid-19 statistic and burden on the medical infrastructure of my county.
>149 PaulCranswick: I didn’t say it was his best, I just said it was the one I love most, post-Beatles. *smile* I haven’t listened to most of his solo work, so can’t really speak to it.
>151 PaulCranswick: Congratulations on 75 and your personal best 75.
>171 PaulCranswick: I’ve always tried to value historical figures for what they did and not what was beyond their mindset and culture set. Churchill fits in with that, as did the American Founders who had slaves. Of course we wish they had been completely enlightened and progressive thinking, but some stunning and earth-shattering accomplishments are better than none. Even Lincoln didn’t initially start out wanting complete emancipation for slaves, after all.
And there will always be thugs who hijack an issue for their own ends. It’s up to good people to see through and around their despicable motives and do what’s right as far as our personal situations will let us. Personally, I’d love to volunteer somehow during this pandemic, but I’m a senior and also can’t afford to bring it home to a husband who is a senior with underlying health conditions. The most I can do right now is wear a mask in public and try to keep from being a Covid-19 statistic and burden on the medical infrastructure of my county.
210PaulCranswick
>208 m.belljackson: As I said, Marianne, most other countries consider this (right to bear arms) to be unmitigated madness.
An interesting issue that has arisen over in the UK over the tearing down of monuments and statues where there is a perceived link to slavery. One was Thomas Guy who paid for the founding of Guy's Hospital in London which has given so much to so many on the premise that he profited from slavery through his shares in the South Sea Company. Poor history because studies would show that he cashed out his shares before the company made any profits from slavery but it seems that historical fact shouldn't get in the way of people making a stand! Also Robert Peel (the first real Prime Minister of the Conservative Party almost 200 years ago and who many will know I could never support) who seems to be getting blamed for forming the first police force. A complete denigration both of the man and all the good and honest police men and women around the world. Defund the police is utopian nonsense and would simply lead to anarchy and I do not believe that above 5% of the public in the UK would seriously consider that. He also fought for catholic emancipation and, despite being of a different political persuasion to me, it is outrageous that his legacy be so slanderously dishonoured.
The Pyramids of Giza were built by slaves - shall we demolish them?
Jefferson is carved into Mount Rushmore - he was a slave owner and took sexual advantage of at least one of his slaves - do we get masons to chip off his image?
Where do we stop?
I am a Celt by racial origin - we were racially oppressed and prejudiced against by the Anglo Saxons and Normans for almost 1,000 years should we insist all Anglo-Saxon and Norman statues and obelisks be torn down. The Tudors had our Yorkist king betrayed and killed at Bosworth Field in 1485 - surely we have a right to tear down all Tudor monuments and have the works of William Shakespeare which gave false history on the Wars of the Roses publicly destroyed?
We need to come together as brothers and sisters and not keep raking over the coals. Black Lives Matter - yes surely - and we should work against injustice and discrimination everywhere and constantly but history is a Pandora's Box best kept reasonably closed. Colston was a fairly unrepentant slaver and throwing his statue into the river at Bristol won't raise any heckles much as I can't think of anyone who could think of anything particularly good he did. I don't think too many would shed tears for Rhodes and Clive either but there is a proceed with care warning to all of this.
An interesting issue that has arisen over in the UK over the tearing down of monuments and statues where there is a perceived link to slavery. One was Thomas Guy who paid for the founding of Guy's Hospital in London which has given so much to so many on the premise that he profited from slavery through his shares in the South Sea Company. Poor history because studies would show that he cashed out his shares before the company made any profits from slavery but it seems that historical fact shouldn't get in the way of people making a stand! Also Robert Peel (the first real Prime Minister of the Conservative Party almost 200 years ago and who many will know I could never support) who seems to be getting blamed for forming the first police force. A complete denigration both of the man and all the good and honest police men and women around the world. Defund the police is utopian nonsense and would simply lead to anarchy and I do not believe that above 5% of the public in the UK would seriously consider that. He also fought for catholic emancipation and, despite being of a different political persuasion to me, it is outrageous that his legacy be so slanderously dishonoured.
The Pyramids of Giza were built by slaves - shall we demolish them?
Jefferson is carved into Mount Rushmore - he was a slave owner and took sexual advantage of at least one of his slaves - do we get masons to chip off his image?
Where do we stop?
I am a Celt by racial origin - we were racially oppressed and prejudiced against by the Anglo Saxons and Normans for almost 1,000 years should we insist all Anglo-Saxon and Norman statues and obelisks be torn down. The Tudors had our Yorkist king betrayed and killed at Bosworth Field in 1485 - surely we have a right to tear down all Tudor monuments and have the works of William Shakespeare which gave false history on the Wars of the Roses publicly destroyed?
We need to come together as brothers and sisters and not keep raking over the coals. Black Lives Matter - yes surely - and we should work against injustice and discrimination everywhere and constantly but history is a Pandora's Box best kept reasonably closed. Colston was a fairly unrepentant slaver and throwing his statue into the river at Bristol won't raise any heckles much as I can't think of anyone who could think of anything particularly good he did. I don't think too many would shed tears for Rhodes and Clive either but there is a proceed with care warning to all of this.
211PaulCranswick
>209 karenmarie: Yes Karen, that mostly articulated my feelings on historical figures too.
I would love to do more for some of the causes I believe in strongly too, but we all need to make our own way in our own way. With me being asthmatic and overweight, I have to be careful with COVID-19, but I still have to go our daily and put food on my family's table.
Let's agree that McCartney's solo debut is excellent. Comparative rankings will always be subjective. xx
I would love to do more for some of the causes I believe in strongly too, but we all need to make our own way in our own way. With me being asthmatic and overweight, I have to be careful with COVID-19, but I still have to go our daily and put food on my family's table.
Let's agree that McCartney's solo debut is excellent. Comparative rankings will always be subjective. xx
213PaulCranswick
>212 m.belljackson: Would Percy have stopped there?
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Probably not.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Probably not.
214quondame
>210 PaulCranswick: While there are always blunders in mob actions, there really should be more care given to what statues mean to the current population. Also, there's a case that the pyramids weren't the result of slave labor so much as a way of using workers seasonally idle.
I do think that it really is time to re-think the police, certainly in the US and also do de-criminalize a host of behaviors that have shown no improvement over the decades of being considered illegal.
I do think that it really is time to re-think the police, certainly in the US and also do de-criminalize a host of behaviors that have shown no improvement over the decades of being considered illegal.
215m.belljackson
>210 PaulCranswick:
Jefferson seduced his wife's slave relation, Sally Hemmings, when she was a child.
She bore him children and lived in a hidden part of Montpelier.
He freed their children, but not her, in his will.
The youngest of their sons, Eston Hemmings Jefferson, is buried here in Madison, Wisconsin at Forest Hill Cemetery.
Jefferson had PLANTATIONS of slaves.
For all of this and for betraying her husband and family, Abigail Adams loathed him.
Maybe a mason could at least land a black eye or two on him?
Washington also owned slaves.
Jefferson seduced his wife's slave relation, Sally Hemmings, when she was a child.
She bore him children and lived in a hidden part of Montpelier.
He freed their children, but not her, in his will.
The youngest of their sons, Eston Hemmings Jefferson, is buried here in Madison, Wisconsin at Forest Hill Cemetery.
Jefferson had PLANTATIONS of slaves.
For all of this and for betraying her husband and family, Abigail Adams loathed him.
Maybe a mason could at least land a black eye or two on him?
Washington also owned slaves.
216PaulCranswick
>214 quondame: As I have already stated some of the problems are peculiar to the USA and it is a shame that you export the bad together with the good. There is clearly much more respect in general terms for the police in the UK than over the pond and I don't think that disbanding them and creating community groups to "self-police" is in the least bit workable in a world context. I am not saying the police is particularly well liked in the UK by a significant minority but, whilst there will always be reforms mooted, a radical departure would not, I think, be welcomed. Unless the US tackles the gun culture your streets and communities will always be scary places.
I don't quite know which "host of behaviors" you would propose to decriminalise in the USA but I am pretty glad to be living where I am right at the moment.
I have seen Hawass' opinion on the building of the Pyramids but he is a non-historian. It is generally held that the workers who built the pyramids were indentured and given food but no wages. To assert that there were no slaves in Ancient Egypt is preposterous - the jewish nation was certainly enslaved. I don't propose the tearing down of the pyramids - my point is that, whilst we should be sensitive to today's feelings how far are we willing to go to right all of history's wrongs?
I don't quite know which "host of behaviors" you would propose to decriminalise in the USA but I am pretty glad to be living where I am right at the moment.
I have seen Hawass' opinion on the building of the Pyramids but he is a non-historian. It is generally held that the workers who built the pyramids were indentured and given food but no wages. To assert that there were no slaves in Ancient Egypt is preposterous - the jewish nation was certainly enslaved. I don't propose the tearing down of the pyramids - my point is that, whilst we should be sensitive to today's feelings how far are we willing to go to right all of history's wrongs?
217PaulCranswick
>215 m.belljackson: Jefferson and Washington are interesting cases-in-points. Creatures of their time, it is commonly held that they were slave owners and we shall never know how "enlightened" or merciful they were to the people they owned. The concept of slavery is utterly repugnant to all of us now but Washington is honoured rightly as the man mostly responsible for leading the Americans to independence against the perfidious Albion whilst Jefferson helped set the terms of your future constitution good and ill.
I think that they deserve to be remembered for both. I wouldn't tear down the monuments to them but I think these monuments should be qualified by an explanation of their involvement in slavery. Education not destruction is, as usual, the answer to most ills.
I think that they deserve to be remembered for both. I wouldn't tear down the monuments to them but I think these monuments should be qualified by an explanation of their involvement in slavery. Education not destruction is, as usual, the answer to most ills.
219PaulCranswick
>218 m.belljackson: I think you and I are at one in our opinions of the Republican "leaders" in Washington DC. I didn't go to the same school, I fear, as they did.
220quondame
>216 PaulCranswick: Well, yes, there were slaves in Egypt, everywhere pretty much, but I'm of the opinion that while some Jews may have been slaves to some Egyptians, there isn't any real evidence that there was a whole population that picked up and moved. Good story, fine tradition of freedom, not valid history.
As to no wages, getting people fed and working in teams on public works projects in the off seasons, is better than letting them loose to cause trouble in idleness. Chattel slavery as practiced by the Romans on their latifundia and the American South wasn't generally practiced, it was much more common to kill off the men and bring home the women to spin and weave and all the other economically productive fiber tasks and food prep tasks, and besides being good to rape they produced wee little hostages that kept them in line.
As to no wages, getting people fed and working in teams on public works projects in the off seasons, is better than letting them loose to cause trouble in idleness. Chattel slavery as practiced by the Romans on their latifundia and the American South wasn't generally practiced, it was much more common to kill off the men and bring home the women to spin and weave and all the other economically productive fiber tasks and food prep tasks, and besides being good to rape they produced wee little hostages that kept them in line.
221ChelleBearss
Congrats on 75! :)
222PaulCranswick
>220 quondame: I think the disputed history rather proves my point Susan. Would you advocate the tearing down of Mount Rushmore which glorifies slave owners Jefferson and Washington? Where do we stop? My point is that it is about looking forward rather than backwards in trying to determine a racism free tomorrow.
223PaulCranswick
>221 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle.
224Fourpawz2
>222 PaulCranswick: - Well said, Paul!
226quondame
>222 PaulCranswick: I've always thought Mt. Rushmore was grotesque and it wouldn't bother me one whit if fell off and left a flat cliff. While the men shown do deserve memorials of various sorts, I feel that that one was just a spur to DT style grandiosity that would demand the same for himself. I'm not sympathetic at all about monuments. They almost always say more about who put them up than who they honor. I was impressed by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I don't find "where do we stop" arguments compelling either, really, since we have always stopped far short of real justice and change, always ceding the minimum to get the streets quiet again. Any toppled statue can be dredged up from the river or replaced. People's lives and futures can't be retrieved, the physical and spiritual mauling dolled out by corrupt laws and law enforcement are lifelong burdens to the victims and likely the decedents of the victims.
The laws change, but the people find ways to minimize the impact of those changes. Back in the 70s I listened in horror and my co-workers justified their flight to the suburbs and their support for Prop 13, which largely defunded California city schools to the ultimate benefit of corporate land holders, as anything but out and out racism. So the Civil Rights Act helped, but we made sure it didn't help too much, sending huge numbers of black men to jail for drug offenses whites were rarely charged with and demonizing them for it.
The laws change, but the people find ways to minimize the impact of those changes. Back in the 70s I listened in horror and my co-workers justified their flight to the suburbs and their support for Prop 13, which largely defunded California city schools to the ultimate benefit of corporate land holders, as anything but out and out racism. So the Civil Rights Act helped, but we made sure it didn't help too much, sending huge numbers of black men to jail for drug offenses whites were rarely charged with and demonizing them for it.
227PaulCranswick
>224 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. Lovely to see you here.
>225 Matke: It is the best I have done on LT, Gail, certainly. I read 200 books a year a few times as a student but I need to get back to that!
>225 Matke: It is the best I have done on LT, Gail, certainly. I read 200 books a year a few times as a student but I need to get back to that!
228PaulCranswick
>226 quondame: I think the American experience doesn't translate everywhere, Susan. I am proud of the UK's history for all its faults, wrongs and imperfections I feel that we did more good than bad in the world. I feel pretty much the same about the States. Memorials to some of the people that have forged or defended what we are are perfectly good and right in my view. Churchill sent the army against the miners at Tonypandy and authorised chemical weapons against the Bolsheviks and his views on India were, to be kind, illiberal. That said he stood up as our leader in the Second World War and by dint of his rousing oratory and energy was the only Democratic power that held out against the fascists until Pearl Harbor. For this he deserves the gratitude of all Britons and all nations and the despoiling of his statue is deeply offensive to me and many other British people.
229PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life
2003
Kyran has started kindergarten and I have probably reached the zenith of my music buying.
This is Cerys Matthews, previously lead singer of Catatonia, who almost got featured in 1998 singing a song named for one of my favourites....."Chardonnay"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a66XnMz6IBA
2003
Kyran has started kindergarten and I have probably reached the zenith of my music buying.
This is Cerys Matthews, previously lead singer of Catatonia, who almost got featured in 1998 singing a song named for one of my favourites....."Chardonnay"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a66XnMz6IBA
230quondame
>228 PaulCranswick: I'm inclined to be more pro Churchill than not, but a statue is a thing, like a flag. It has no feelings or decedents. And it will be re-placed. Those ideas and reputations which can stand up to challenges will. Those that are unchallenged show our blind spots.
As to the good the UK has done, well, they've been proclaiming their virtues for centuries, while Africans and Indians probably have their own opinions even more unfavorable than those I read in my Dad's pre-WWI, hence pre-Anglophile children's Books of Knowledge. The UK certainly held no charms for the late 19th century authors of those. And it's hard to think of any good the US has achieved with it's colonial efforts and regime changes, and so much harm. Maybe if we had really fought to let other countries keep their wealth within their borders there would be far fewer brutal dictatorships. But I can't know what would have worked any more than anyone else, I just see the disasters that both of our countries have caused by stripping wealth from others. I'm as much a beneficiary as anyone, in that my family's prosperity is largely based on turning the forests of Wisconsin into capital and profiting off land stolen from Native Americans, while supporting Lincoln whose face adorns Mt. Rushmore.
As to the good the UK has done, well, they've been proclaiming their virtues for centuries, while Africans and Indians probably have their own opinions even more unfavorable than those I read in my Dad's pre-WWI, hence pre-Anglophile children's Books of Knowledge. The UK certainly held no charms for the late 19th century authors of those. And it's hard to think of any good the US has achieved with it's colonial efforts and regime changes, and so much harm. Maybe if we had really fought to let other countries keep their wealth within their borders there would be far fewer brutal dictatorships. But I can't know what would have worked any more than anyone else, I just see the disasters that both of our countries have caused by stripping wealth from others. I'm as much a beneficiary as anyone, in that my family's prosperity is largely based on turning the forests of Wisconsin into capital and profiting off land stolen from Native Americans, while supporting Lincoln whose face adorns Mt. Rushmore.
231PaulCranswick
>230 quondame: Does it all get stripped down to a history of exploitation, Susan? Surely our science, innovation, literature administration and industriousness are things to be proud of? Every great power from Egypt, through Rome onto the British and the Americans have so many things repugnant in their histories to others and themselves. I still think the British have been more of a force of good in the world than bad and the diversity of our culture these days is more a celebration of that than anything else. I don't want to sugar coat and there is still a long way to go for everyone to be treated equally not under the law, which provides for this, but in practice and reality.
232quondame
>231 PaulCranswick: In a sense, yes, in as much as I may love air conditioning and dentistry and live on the internet, I feel that how we treat other people is more important than accomplishments.
I absolutely adore those marquetry cabinets but am not sure they justify the aristocracies for which they were made. Mozart maybe redeems a few, but I wasn't cleaning up after his recitals.
As long as we tout accomplishments while hiding our selfish appropriation of resources we aren't very admirable and it is arrogant to brag about what we have accomplished while we have prevented others from reaching their potential.
I absolutely adore those marquetry cabinets but am not sure they justify the aristocracies for which they were made. Mozart maybe redeems a few, but I wasn't cleaning up after his recitals.
As long as we tout accomplishments while hiding our selfish appropriation of resources we aren't very admirable and it is arrogant to brag about what we have accomplished while we have prevented others from reaching their potential.
233m.belljackson
Hmm - British Imperialism, followed by Manifest Destiny, led to the slavery and proposed extermination of people all over the world.
Science and Literature could have accomplished their goals without murder.
Great Britain claimed the entire world as its EMPIRE, ended only by The American Revolution.
Unfortunately, the newly united states did not learn from those horrors perpetuated
and continued to choose Greed over Character.
Science and Literature could have accomplished their goals without murder.
Great Britain claimed the entire world as its EMPIRE, ended only by The American Revolution.
Unfortunately, the newly united states did not learn from those horrors perpetuated
and continued to choose Greed over Character.
234The_Hibernator
>231 PaulCranswick: I would argue that the UK has probably made some huge steps in shaping the current world. There are some good points to what they've done, and some less good points. I don't think it can be teased out as more good than bad or more bad than good. The bad and the good are so intertwined. Because what's good for some people might be bad for others. Such a difficult argument.
235PaulCranswick
>232 quondame: That very sanguine view of the world will probably give me quite a heavy feeling for the whole weekend! Your comments are always insightful and impassioned, Susan and I very much appreciate and enjoy your views and the eloquence with which they are expressed whilst retaining for myself a slightly more optimistic and generous view of history.
>233 m.belljackson:
I am certainly not going to make any sort of apologia for slavery as it was irredeemable and evil, but I do think things need to be in proper context.
Slavery operated in the very first civilizations (such as Sumer in Mesopotamia,which dates back as far as 3500 BCE). Slavery features in the Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1860 BCE), which refers to it as an established institution. Slavery became common within much of Europe during the Early Middle Ages and it continued into the following centuries. The Byzantine–Ottoman wars (1265–1479) and the Ottoman wars in Europe (14th to 20th centuries) resulted in the capture of large numbers of Christian slaves. The Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, British, Arabs and a number of West African kingdoms played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade (taken from Wikipedia)
Britain's role with France, Portugal and others did expand the slave trade ingloriously to the eternal shame of those involved which included very notably Queen Anne who profited grandly from the trade following Britain's victory in the War of Spanish Succession.
It is also the case though that Britain was the first nation to outlaw slavery within its borders and abolished the Slave Trade in 1807 through the efforts of people such as Josiah Wedgewood and William Wilberforce. We were the first to recognise its inhumanity as a nation. Britain then brought to bear significant pressure on other nations to follow suit and blockaded the African Atlantic coast to prevent France and others continuing the trade thereafter. It doesn't make up for the wrongs caused but it does show that Britain was prepared to act altruistically when the injustices had been realised officially by the polity. All slaves in British territories were freed decades earlier than in the USA and we haven't had anything approaching a Klan or segregation in the UK.
I'm not an imperialist by any means but imperialism was not about murder in a British sense. Manifest destiny was misguided and wrong headed as the "civilising" attempted is arrogant and self-serving. Britain's is the only Empire that was given up willingly and without wide-spread bloodshed (there were of course localised troubles like the Mau-Mau uprisings) or military defeat. This is something that, as a British man of the Post-War generation, I am proud of.
I am more concerned today about continuing slavery in parts of Africa and Asia in particular - especially the enslaving of women and children in Libya and Sudan and elsewhere rather than an historical, albeit genuine grievance.
>233 m.belljackson:
I am certainly not going to make any sort of apologia for slavery as it was irredeemable and evil, but I do think things need to be in proper context.
Slavery operated in the very first civilizations (such as Sumer in Mesopotamia,which dates back as far as 3500 BCE). Slavery features in the Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1860 BCE), which refers to it as an established institution. Slavery became common within much of Europe during the Early Middle Ages and it continued into the following centuries. The Byzantine–Ottoman wars (1265–1479) and the Ottoman wars in Europe (14th to 20th centuries) resulted in the capture of large numbers of Christian slaves. The Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, British, Arabs and a number of West African kingdoms played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade (taken from Wikipedia)
Britain's role with France, Portugal and others did expand the slave trade ingloriously to the eternal shame of those involved which included very notably Queen Anne who profited grandly from the trade following Britain's victory in the War of Spanish Succession.
It is also the case though that Britain was the first nation to outlaw slavery within its borders and abolished the Slave Trade in 1807 through the efforts of people such as Josiah Wedgewood and William Wilberforce. We were the first to recognise its inhumanity as a nation. Britain then brought to bear significant pressure on other nations to follow suit and blockaded the African Atlantic coast to prevent France and others continuing the trade thereafter. It doesn't make up for the wrongs caused but it does show that Britain was prepared to act altruistically when the injustices had been realised officially by the polity. All slaves in British territories were freed decades earlier than in the USA and we haven't had anything approaching a Klan or segregation in the UK.
I'm not an imperialist by any means but imperialism was not about murder in a British sense. Manifest destiny was misguided and wrong headed as the "civilising" attempted is arrogant and self-serving. Britain's is the only Empire that was given up willingly and without wide-spread bloodshed (there were of course localised troubles like the Mau-Mau uprisings) or military defeat. This is something that, as a British man of the Post-War generation, I am proud of.
I am more concerned today about continuing slavery in parts of Africa and Asia in particular - especially the enslaving of women and children in Libya and Sudan and elsewhere rather than an historical, albeit genuine grievance.
236PaulCranswick
>234 The_Hibernator: That is nicely put, Rachel.
237quondame
>235 PaulCranswick: I don't think that word means what you think it means....
san·guine
/ˈsaNGɡwən/
1. optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
But, yeah, I can be what you mean. Optimistic is good, and sure easier to live with.
I hope you have a good an lively weekend. And stay safe.
san·guine
/ˈsaNGɡwən/
1. optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
But, yeah, I can be what you mean. Optimistic is good, and sure easier to live with.
I hope you have a good an lively weekend. And stay safe.
238vancouverdeb
Stopping to wish you a happy weekend, Paul. It has certainly been an unsettling time in the USA, and in many countries, including Canada. I've been watching so much news and trying to better understand it all. . I read a couple of books that helped a bit, one being The Skin We're In , and then a fiction book, A Burning by Megha Majumdar . I think our police in Canada are also going to have to a hard look at themselves, both for systemic racism and also excessive use of force. It's been a hard week to take in all of the news. For now I'm taking an escape into some scandicrime.
239PaulCranswick
>237 quondame: My command of english remains fully in tact Susan but sometimes my tongue is far too much in my cheek! xx
I don't anticipate a lively weekend, thanks heavens!
>238 vancouverdeb: Scandicrime sounds like just the tonic, Deb. I think all police forces could do better for sure and I think that similar incidents to the George Floyd case as just too prevalent to be a coincidence.
I don't anticipate a lively weekend, thanks heavens!
>238 vancouverdeb: Scandicrime sounds like just the tonic, Deb. I think all police forces could do better for sure and I think that similar incidents to the George Floyd case as just too prevalent to be a coincidence.
240Berly
Paul--Belated congrats on the early 75!! And I love Coldplay, the band. I am only about 50 pages into The Orphan Master's Son--hoping to read a bit this weekend. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. : )
241PaulCranswick
>240 Berly: I am hoping to make some headway with The Orphan Master's Son too, Kimmers, this weekend.
242charl08
>235 PaulCranswick: I would disagree with you on the end of Empire, Paul, although it is a key part of the myth of British colonial exceptionalism which is seemingly resistant to the evidence.
If you wanted to read some authors on the end of Empire Caroline Elkins work, for example, shows that the British deliberately destroyed paper evidence of their violence, embedded into the colonial state. Kenya is the state where this was first identified, but it's certainly not unique to that country. Those leaving newly independent states talk about the air being full of smoke as officials burned incriminating papers. Double file systems were kept with incriminating evidence kept away from those who were going to run the new states. Allegedly the most incriminating that were brought back to the UK have now been assessed and released, (following the "Mau Mau" victims court case) but frankly I doubt it. On the other side of Africa, Toyin Falola has written specifically about colonial violence in Nigeria. And that's before you get to concentration camps in South Africa, complicity in genocide in Namibia...
I know far (even?) less about India, but there is a lot written about the role of the British in partition violence, in famines, and in violent suppression of popular protest. I read Anita Anand's popular history study of the fall out from one massacre after seeing her talk in Edinburgh last year. For many in the audience it raised questions about what is taught in schools and what is left out.
I hope the impact of the BLM movement will include a radical change in our state policy on history teaching, to an approach where all students learn about wide ranging history rather than the rubbish Gove talked about. There are some great projects out there, but they need more funding and dissemination, and especially training for teachers to support them to teach this.
https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/
If you wanted to read some authors on the end of Empire Caroline Elkins work, for example, shows that the British deliberately destroyed paper evidence of their violence, embedded into the colonial state. Kenya is the state where this was first identified, but it's certainly not unique to that country. Those leaving newly independent states talk about the air being full of smoke as officials burned incriminating papers. Double file systems were kept with incriminating evidence kept away from those who were going to run the new states. Allegedly the most incriminating that were brought back to the UK have now been assessed and released, (following the "Mau Mau" victims court case) but frankly I doubt it. On the other side of Africa, Toyin Falola has written specifically about colonial violence in Nigeria. And that's before you get to concentration camps in South Africa, complicity in genocide in Namibia...
I know far (even?) less about India, but there is a lot written about the role of the British in partition violence, in famines, and in violent suppression of popular protest. I read Anita Anand's popular history study of the fall out from one massacre after seeing her talk in Edinburgh last year. For many in the audience it raised questions about what is taught in schools and what is left out.
I hope the impact of the BLM movement will include a radical change in our state policy on history teaching, to an approach where all students learn about wide ranging history rather than the rubbish Gove talked about. There are some great projects out there, but they need more funding and dissemination, and especially training for teachers to support them to teach this.
https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/
243PaulCranswick
>242 charl08: Charlotte, I don't for a second think that Britain's removal from it's colonies was free from any taint but it was given up as a act of public policy inspired by the British Labour Party and that is indisputable fact. It wasn't "surrendered" as a result of military defeat, other than the American colonies. I think that legacy is just as proud a one as the formation of the welfare state. Without the will to accede to independence it would have happened quite differently. The reasons and motives for that public policy can be debated of course but realpolitik definitely did coincide with altruism to some extent.
The teaching of history does need to be more balanced, I would agree, and needs to tell a more complete story. Education is one of the areas in the UK that does give hope to the BAME communities. 13% of the population of the UK identify themselves as BAME whilst the student population in Britain's universities is currently 23.6% - I think that is tremendous and will over a short period of time hopefully help in eliminating some of the inequalities of opportunity and earnings in the workplace.
The teaching of history does need to be more balanced, I would agree, and needs to tell a more complete story. Education is one of the areas in the UK that does give hope to the BAME communities. 13% of the population of the UK identify themselves as BAME whilst the student population in Britain's universities is currently 23.6% - I think that is tremendous and will over a short period of time hopefully help in eliminating some of the inequalities of opportunity and earnings in the workplace.
244msf59
Happy Weekend, Paul. I hope you are enjoying some R & R. My print reading has slipped the past couple days, with other distractions but I am enjoying my audio, of Bruce Lee: A Life. He led quite an interesting life for his short 32 years on earth.
245PaulCranswick
>244 msf59: I am hoping for a good reading weekend, Mark.
246PaulCranswick
Wanted to share this from Katie's (katiekrug) thread both because I think it should be shared and also because I will lose the list if I don't put it here as a reminder!
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/06/09/schomburg-center-black-liberation-reading-l...
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/06/09/schomburg-center-black-liberation-reading-l...
247m.belljackson
Hi Paul - not sure how many of us aren't already aware of the lengthy history of slavery throughout the world...
The point is that the British Empire in recent centuries perpetuated slavery throughout their unremitting conquests of the world
and
that this legacy continued into what became the United States,
primarily by the stupidity, lack of compassion, intelligence, and character of former British subjects.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Back to Winston Churchill - No person whose family was ever involved in the Allied cause during World War II
would EVER condone tearing down his statue.
Whatever his failings, he led the fight to stop Hitler after the French could not go on.
Too many Americans also died in what should have been a preventable Second World War, had Allies acted sooner.
Also, American support for Churchill and the cause was rising BEFORE Pearl Harbor.
Just convincing Americans to die again, as they did in The Revolutionary War and in World War I,
made THAT defense of Democracy a tougher challenge.
The point is that the British Empire in recent centuries perpetuated slavery throughout their unremitting conquests of the world
and
that this legacy continued into what became the United States,
primarily by the stupidity, lack of compassion, intelligence, and character of former British subjects.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Back to Winston Churchill - No person whose family was ever involved in the Allied cause during World War II
would EVER condone tearing down his statue.
Whatever his failings, he led the fight to stop Hitler after the French could not go on.
Too many Americans also died in what should have been a preventable Second World War, had Allies acted sooner.
Also, American support for Churchill and the cause was rising BEFORE Pearl Harbor.
Just convincing Americans to die again, as they did in The Revolutionary War and in World War I,
made THAT defense of Democracy a tougher challenge.
248richardderus
Have a lovely reading week ahead!
(Not wading into the discussions.)
(Not wading into the discussions.)
249PaulCranswick
>247 m.belljackson: I am not defending Britain's culpability for the perpetuation and escalation of the Atlantic slave trade, Marianne, I was pointing out that it was Britain who acted first to abolish it 213 years ago and then forced other countries to abandon the trade thereafter.
The poor continent of Africa suffered depredations from external and internal parties via the trading of slaves systemically between 1500 and 1900. The Atlantic slave trade is more well known and documented and has raised a greater outcry than others. Over the period it is estimated that between 10.2 and 10.5 million slaves were landed in the Americas and that up to 2 million died en-route. Those figures are horrific and the European powers are most to blame for that. The Arab slave trade is estimated to have enslaved 17 million people over the same period along the East Coast of Africa, whilst the Barbary pirates of North Africa apparently sold up to 2 million europeans into slavery to the Ottoman empire. It was estimated that Saudi Arabia had as many as 2 million slaves as recently as 1960.
And this was only from the continent of Africa and doesn't count the holding of slaves by the various tribal groupings in Africa which also ran into millions.
What a terrible terrible legacy and all the nations involved, Britain included, acted shamefully.
The poor continent of Africa suffered depredations from external and internal parties via the trading of slaves systemically between 1500 and 1900. The Atlantic slave trade is more well known and documented and has raised a greater outcry than others. Over the period it is estimated that between 10.2 and 10.5 million slaves were landed in the Americas and that up to 2 million died en-route. Those figures are horrific and the European powers are most to blame for that. The Arab slave trade is estimated to have enslaved 17 million people over the same period along the East Coast of Africa, whilst the Barbary pirates of North Africa apparently sold up to 2 million europeans into slavery to the Ottoman empire. It was estimated that Saudi Arabia had as many as 2 million slaves as recently as 1960.
And this was only from the continent of Africa and doesn't count the holding of slaves by the various tribal groupings in Africa which also ran into millions.
What a terrible terrible legacy and all the nations involved, Britain included, acted shamefully.
250PaulCranswick
>248 richardderus: Thank you dear fellow. I will be pleased to change the subject too as my only real grouse was the defacing of the Cenotaph and the attack on Churchill's statue. I am proud to be British but I am not blind to the past either.
251m.belljackson
Paul =
CODA: Winston was mentioned above in lower section of 247.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was easier for Britain to end their slave trade because the country was no longer as dependent on it for its economy,
unlike the Southern United States which completely relied on slavery to deliver its economy.
Also (see Wiki), Britain apparently PAID slave owners for their losses!
CODA: Winston was mentioned above in lower section of 247.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was easier for Britain to end their slave trade because the country was no longer as dependent on it for its economy,
unlike the Southern United States which completely relied on slavery to deliver its economy.
Also (see Wiki), Britain apparently PAID slave owners for their losses!
252charl08
>250 PaulCranswick: I will leave things where they are.
Hope you're having a good weekend. How are you getting on with the new Don Paterson? Did you say which is your favourite collection?
Hope you're having a good weekend. How are you getting on with the new Don Paterson? Did you say which is your favourite collection?
254benitastrnad
Toppling statues can be a good thing. If it is the right statue and the right time.
I have worked on the campus of the University of Alabama for 28 years and there are statues here that should be torn down and buildings that should be renamed.
Most of the Confederate statues, monuments, plaques and other "Lost Cause" tripe was put up by the KKK, (Ku Klux Klan), the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), the Sons of the Confederacy, and other outright racist organizations and misguided "Lost Cause" organizations. "The Lost Cause" is a myth and worse than that, it is fake history. The paraphernalia of the "Lost Cause" was put in public places in the years 1900 to 1950. It was done only because of the absolute worst Supreme Court decision in history - Plesy v. Ferguson. In the 5 years immediately following that decision the State Constitutions of almost every one of the 9 Confederate States was rewritten to institutionalize Jim Crow, legalize servitude in the form of vagrancy laws, undo every good thing that the American Civil War and Reconstruction did, and approve of, and perpetuate the myths of the "Lost Cause." This nonsense has to stop. Monumments put up 50 years after the surrender of the Confederate States armies are telling lies.
On the front steps of the main library on the campus at which I work were three huge bronze plaques dedicated to the memory of the loyal University of Alabama cadets who gave their lives defending their country. Every one of them are named with the dates of their service to the CSA. This is a form of a cenotaph and they were added to the building by the UDC in the 1930's. These plaques were removed a week ago. They should never have been put up, but at the very least they should have been removed in 1964. They weren't. They were given a false green light because they were "historical markers or monuments." The stupid do-nothing of importance legislature of the State of Alabama passed a law in 2015 forbidding the removal of any historical marker that had been in place longer than 40 years. This law was passed by a group of aged white men who can't get their act together to pass descent school reform or tax reform (Alabama has the lowest property taxes in the nation and some of the highest sales taxes on food), but they can pass this law.
The bronze plaques raised some interesting questions starting with, whose country were they defending? This is a group of men who chose to take up arms against their lawfully elected government. Even the grand slave master George Washington knew that if he didn't win the war he was engaged in that Britain would hang him as a traitor because he had taken up arms against the king. But in the U. S., we allowed a group of doddering old women who apparently were never taught to read to put up monuments celebrating the treason of these cadets. Then to top it off, we "integrate" the university and then force black students to walk past these monuments every day. What is up with that? Clearly, it is all about power and domination. We white folks can rewrite history at will and teach our children to believe it is the truth.
It is past time for all these silly monuments to the "Lost Cause" to be torn down and thrown into the river. (The Black Warrior River is only 4 blocks away from where those monuments were located.) Tearing down these monuments was a good thing.
I have worked on the campus of the University of Alabama for 28 years and there are statues here that should be torn down and buildings that should be renamed.
Most of the Confederate statues, monuments, plaques and other "Lost Cause" tripe was put up by the KKK, (Ku Klux Klan), the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), the Sons of the Confederacy, and other outright racist organizations and misguided "Lost Cause" organizations. "The Lost Cause" is a myth and worse than that, it is fake history. The paraphernalia of the "Lost Cause" was put in public places in the years 1900 to 1950. It was done only because of the absolute worst Supreme Court decision in history - Plesy v. Ferguson. In the 5 years immediately following that decision the State Constitutions of almost every one of the 9 Confederate States was rewritten to institutionalize Jim Crow, legalize servitude in the form of vagrancy laws, undo every good thing that the American Civil War and Reconstruction did, and approve of, and perpetuate the myths of the "Lost Cause." This nonsense has to stop. Monumments put up 50 years after the surrender of the Confederate States armies are telling lies.
On the front steps of the main library on the campus at which I work were three huge bronze plaques dedicated to the memory of the loyal University of Alabama cadets who gave their lives defending their country. Every one of them are named with the dates of their service to the CSA. This is a form of a cenotaph and they were added to the building by the UDC in the 1930's. These plaques were removed a week ago. They should never have been put up, but at the very least they should have been removed in 1964. They weren't. They were given a false green light because they were "historical markers or monuments." The stupid do-nothing of importance legislature of the State of Alabama passed a law in 2015 forbidding the removal of any historical marker that had been in place longer than 40 years. This law was passed by a group of aged white men who can't get their act together to pass descent school reform or tax reform (Alabama has the lowest property taxes in the nation and some of the highest sales taxes on food), but they can pass this law.
The bronze plaques raised some interesting questions starting with, whose country were they defending? This is a group of men who chose to take up arms against their lawfully elected government. Even the grand slave master George Washington knew that if he didn't win the war he was engaged in that Britain would hang him as a traitor because he had taken up arms against the king. But in the U. S., we allowed a group of doddering old women who apparently were never taught to read to put up monuments celebrating the treason of these cadets. Then to top it off, we "integrate" the university and then force black students to walk past these monuments every day. What is up with that? Clearly, it is all about power and domination. We white folks can rewrite history at will and teach our children to believe it is the truth.
It is past time for all these silly monuments to the "Lost Cause" to be torn down and thrown into the river. (The Black Warrior River is only 4 blocks away from where those monuments were located.) Tearing down these monuments was a good thing.
255benitastrnad
I find the movement to rename the military installations amusing. I want to know who picked those names anyway?
Why would you name a major army base Fort Bragg? Braxton Bragg was a bungling feckless bumblebee. He never even won a battle. He bungled every military engagement in which he fought. He was such a bad commander that General Nathan Bedford Forrest yelled at him after a battle saying "neither I nor my men will ever fight under you again, you damned coward." And yes. That is the same General Forrest who was one of the founders of the KKK. How under god's blue sky did the U.S. Army name a fort for an incompetent boob?
General Henry Benning CSA was a racist slave owning bigoted judge whose court decisions and personal bigotry are a matter of public record.
How did the U. S. Army name a fort for a racist bigot?
Of the three major military installations named for Confederate Generals only General John Bell Hood has a legitimate claim to fame, only tainted by the fact that he supported slavery. But really, look at his performance at the Battle of Franklin. That battle was practice for what the British would face on the Somme in 50 years. Hood had his men go over the top until there weren't any men left to order to go over the top. How smart is that?
And consider that there is no major military installation named for General Ulysses Grant, or General Winfield Scott, or General Winfield Scott Hancock, or General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, or General John F. Reynolds, or General George H. Thomas.
Renaming the U. S. military installations after some generals who stood on the right side of history isn't a problem for me. My picks would be Reynolds and Thomas.
Reynolds - because it was he who realized that it was the entire Army of Northern Virginia on the road to Gettysburg. His actions on what is now recognized as the first day of battle, forced that army to fight where they had to advance uphill. His actions forced the Confederate Army to fight when and where they were not prepared. He lost his life in doing so. He has a big statue on the City Hall grounds in Philadelphia.
Thomas - known as the "Rock of Chickamauga." This man was a native of Virginia. Unlike Bobby Lee, he decided that the oath he took to defend the United States was a bond that an honorable man would not break. It was his division that filled the gap left in lines of the Army of the Cumberland and stopped the advance of General John Bell Hood (he of the aforementioned.). Thomas did not retreat. He stood like a rock and saved the army by allowing it to retreat and regroup. He again defeated General Hood at the Battle of Nashville in early 1865 - totally destroying Hood's army. Furthermore, Thomas was the commander of a large part of the South during Reconstruction. As such he stymied the growth and development of the KKK for years, protecting and upholding the rights of Blacks to vote and get an education in desegregated schools.
Those who think there is something sacred about the monuments and names of military installations of the men who are currently immortalized that way, should go read a book.
Why would you name a major army base Fort Bragg? Braxton Bragg was a bungling feckless bumblebee. He never even won a battle. He bungled every military engagement in which he fought. He was such a bad commander that General Nathan Bedford Forrest yelled at him after a battle saying "neither I nor my men will ever fight under you again, you damned coward." And yes. That is the same General Forrest who was one of the founders of the KKK. How under god's blue sky did the U.S. Army name a fort for an incompetent boob?
General Henry Benning CSA was a racist slave owning bigoted judge whose court decisions and personal bigotry are a matter of public record.
How did the U. S. Army name a fort for a racist bigot?
Of the three major military installations named for Confederate Generals only General John Bell Hood has a legitimate claim to fame, only tainted by the fact that he supported slavery. But really, look at his performance at the Battle of Franklin. That battle was practice for what the British would face on the Somme in 50 years. Hood had his men go over the top until there weren't any men left to order to go over the top. How smart is that?
And consider that there is no major military installation named for General Ulysses Grant, or General Winfield Scott, or General Winfield Scott Hancock, or General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, or General John F. Reynolds, or General George H. Thomas.
Renaming the U. S. military installations after some generals who stood on the right side of history isn't a problem for me. My picks would be Reynolds and Thomas.
Reynolds - because it was he who realized that it was the entire Army of Northern Virginia on the road to Gettysburg. His actions on what is now recognized as the first day of battle, forced that army to fight where they had to advance uphill. His actions forced the Confederate Army to fight when and where they were not prepared. He lost his life in doing so. He has a big statue on the City Hall grounds in Philadelphia.
Thomas - known as the "Rock of Chickamauga." This man was a native of Virginia. Unlike Bobby Lee, he decided that the oath he took to defend the United States was a bond that an honorable man would not break. It was his division that filled the gap left in lines of the Army of the Cumberland and stopped the advance of General John Bell Hood (he of the aforementioned.). Thomas did not retreat. He stood like a rock and saved the army by allowing it to retreat and regroup. He again defeated General Hood at the Battle of Nashville in early 1865 - totally destroying Hood's army. Furthermore, Thomas was the commander of a large part of the South during Reconstruction. As such he stymied the growth and development of the KKK for years, protecting and upholding the rights of Blacks to vote and get an education in desegregated schools.
Those who think there is something sacred about the monuments and names of military installations of the men who are currently immortalized that way, should go read a book.
256avatiakh
Hi Paul - I remember my grandmother never ever buying anything that was made in Japan.
I love statues & monuments, the good and the painful, possibly because we have fewer of them here. I love reading the plaques and understanding a little more of history. Cenotaphs and war memorials are sacred in my mind, so many young men died for our freedoms and yet nowadays the ignorance of past history is appalling. My son is doing his post graduate studies in history so we are continually churning up the past at our house.
Here's our deputy PM, Winston Peters, on the subject of statue toppling as there has been a call in NZ to pull down Capt. Cook & most of the colonial statues around the country -
'“A country learns from its mistakes and triumphs and its people should have the knowledge and maturity to distinguish between the two,” he said.
He asked “what’s next?” for the country’s cenotaphs if we didn’t approve of war or if knighthoods to those undeserving be withdrawn posthumously.
“The woke generation are the equivalent of a person with no long-term memory, stumbling around in the present without any signposts to guide them,” Mr Peters said.
“If a person, like a country, doesn’t know where they have come from, they have no way of knowing where they are going.”
Mr Peters offered some advice for those tearing down historic statues: “Deal with it, grow up and read a book.”
I love statues & monuments, the good and the painful, possibly because we have fewer of them here. I love reading the plaques and understanding a little more of history. Cenotaphs and war memorials are sacred in my mind, so many young men died for our freedoms and yet nowadays the ignorance of past history is appalling. My son is doing his post graduate studies in history so we are continually churning up the past at our house.
Here's our deputy PM, Winston Peters, on the subject of statue toppling as there has been a call in NZ to pull down Capt. Cook & most of the colonial statues around the country -
'“A country learns from its mistakes and triumphs and its people should have the knowledge and maturity to distinguish between the two,” he said.
He asked “what’s next?” for the country’s cenotaphs if we didn’t approve of war or if knighthoods to those undeserving be withdrawn posthumously.
“The woke generation are the equivalent of a person with no long-term memory, stumbling around in the present without any signposts to guide them,” Mr Peters said.
“If a person, like a country, doesn’t know where they have come from, they have no way of knowing where they are going.”
Mr Peters offered some advice for those tearing down historic statues: “Deal with it, grow up and read a book.”
257alcottacre
>171 PaulCranswick: A good cause can be undermined by thugs seeking to hijack an issue to make trouble.
I have absolutely no problems with people protesting using their First Amendment rights. I have a big problem with people who say that they are protesting and then destroying public property, looting, and otherwise breaking the law.
I hope you have a lovely weekend, Paul. I will get to Golden Hill soon, I promise. I am trying to finish off a ton of library books!
I have absolutely no problems with people protesting using their First Amendment rights. I have a big problem with people who say that they are protesting and then destroying public property, looting, and otherwise breaking the law.
I hope you have a lovely weekend, Paul. I will get to Golden Hill soon, I promise. I am trying to finish off a ton of library books!
258PaulCranswick
>251 m.belljackson: Yes Marianne I saw your comments re Winston. x
Britain also paid Portugal after seizing its ships to stop it from trading in slaves, I would say that that meant finally they were putting lives before money.
>252 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte.
I haven't started the new Paterson yet but I think my favourite collection of his is either Rain or his 40 Sonnets.
Britain also paid Portugal after seizing its ships to stop it from trading in slaves, I would say that that meant finally they were putting lives before money.
>252 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte.
I haven't started the new Paterson yet but I think my favourite collection of his is either Rain or his 40 Sonnets.
259PaulCranswick
>253 bell7: Thanks Mary. I hope you do too seeing how close you are to reaching 75 books. x
>254 benitastrnad: Yes I am ok with the removal or blowing up of a statue that is a memorial to someone who was primarily remembered for being involved in an abhorrence such as slavery. Colston being thrown into the river in Bristol is fine by me, Benita.
I have no opinion on the confederate war combatants other than fairly obviously the right side won it. It seems to me that not everyone on the losing side fought to preserve slavery but that was clearly part of what they were signing up to. We don't have anything approaching the KKK in the UK and I find it hard to conceive of such hate filled wrong mindedness.
>254 benitastrnad: Yes I am ok with the removal or blowing up of a statue that is a memorial to someone who was primarily remembered for being involved in an abhorrence such as slavery. Colston being thrown into the river in Bristol is fine by me, Benita.
I have no opinion on the confederate war combatants other than fairly obviously the right side won it. It seems to me that not everyone on the losing side fought to preserve slavery but that was clearly part of what they were signing up to. We don't have anything approaching the KKK in the UK and I find it hard to conceive of such hate filled wrong mindedness.
260PaulCranswick
>255 benitastrnad: I wouldn't be able to contribute adequately to this debate, Benita but I would say that if you are naming a base after an ex-soldier it does rather make sense that he should have been a good soldier!
By the way, I received a lovely surprise in the mail this week. xx
>256 avatiakh: I think that you know reading this particular thread, Kerry, that I largely agree with your comments. I think that plaques on the statues should adequately and in a balanced way explain who is being remembered. I think if someone was involved or profited in slavery, like say Queen Anne, then plaques stating that are probably in order together with more deserving achievements.
We shouldn't forget our history, warts and all, because we learn from the bad as well as the good.
By the way, I received a lovely surprise in the mail this week. xx
>256 avatiakh: I think that you know reading this particular thread, Kerry, that I largely agree with your comments. I think that plaques on the statues should adequately and in a balanced way explain who is being remembered. I think if someone was involved or profited in slavery, like say Queen Anne, then plaques stating that are probably in order together with more deserving achievements.
We shouldn't forget our history, warts and all, because we learn from the bad as well as the good.
261PaulCranswick
>257 alcottacre: Yes Stasia and that was my main point too all those posts ago.
A ton of books with you could actually be literal!
A ton of books with you could actually be literal!
262quondame
>256 avatiakh: I can see both loving history and monuments and being willing to reexamine what we have memorialized in those monuments. To deride with such comments as Peters made about a probably mythical "woke generation" is not an argument, it's a misdirection.
263PaulCranswick
>262 quondame: Yeah, I think Mr. Peters is also dismissing genuine concerns that the context of history should be better explained. With a few exceptions I would do that with plaques rather than hammers. For example any celebration of Cecil Rhodes clearly does need careful qualification.
264PaulCranswick
Book #76
The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim
Date of Publication : 1920
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 221 pp
The Riddle of the Sands and The Thirty-Nine Steps are both rightly lauded as adventure novels concerned with the machinations by Germany prior to the First World war. This is of that ilk and I have to say that it is unjustly disregarded as it is close to the equal of those two books.
A man meets his double in Africa and a plot is made to kill him and impersonate him in order to spy upon the enemy. But who killed who?
Highly recommended.
The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim
Date of Publication : 1920
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 221 pp
The Riddle of the Sands and The Thirty-Nine Steps are both rightly lauded as adventure novels concerned with the machinations by Germany prior to the First World war. This is of that ilk and I have to say that it is unjustly disregarded as it is close to the equal of those two books.
A man meets his double in Africa and a plot is made to kill him and impersonate him in order to spy upon the enemy. But who killed who?
Highly recommended.
265PaulCranswick
Continuing Songs from the Years of My Life:
2004
My family is complete in January with the birth of Belle (Karyn Ysabelle Amylea to be precise). Who will always be my baby as well as my boss! I loved this group from West Yorkshire, Embrace, who returned to success in this year with the song "Gravity"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB2F6nagjKs
2004
My family is complete in January with the birth of Belle (Karyn Ysabelle Amylea to be precise). Who will always be my baby as well as my boss! I loved this group from West Yorkshire, Embrace, who returned to success in this year with the song "Gravity"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB2F6nagjKs
266charl08
>265 PaulCranswick: I would have said that I'd never heard of it, but recognised it a couple of lines in.
I was thinking about his (DP's) book of aphorisms this week. Some were just silly, but some packed a punch. I think there's a copy around here somewhere.
Then there is this. Just lovely. It's not Father's Day yet, but still.
Whatever the difference is, it all began
the day we woke up face-to-face like lovers
and his four-day-old smile dawned on him again,
possessed him, till it would not fall or waver;
and I pitched back not my old hard-pressed grin
but his own smile, or one I’d rediscovered.
Dear son, I was mezzo del cammin
and the true path was as lost to me as ever
when you cut in front and lit it as you ran.
See how the true gift never leaves the giver:
returned and redelivered, it rolled on
until the smile poured through us like a river.
How fine, I thought, this waking amongst men!
I kissed your mouth and pledged myself forever.
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/walking-with-russell/
I was thinking about his (DP's) book of aphorisms this week. Some were just silly, but some packed a punch. I think there's a copy around here somewhere.
Then there is this. Just lovely. It's not Father's Day yet, but still.
Whatever the difference is, it all began
the day we woke up face-to-face like lovers
and his four-day-old smile dawned on him again,
possessed him, till it would not fall or waver;
and I pitched back not my old hard-pressed grin
but his own smile, or one I’d rediscovered.
Dear son, I was mezzo del cammin
and the true path was as lost to me as ever
when you cut in front and lit it as you ran.
See how the true gift never leaves the giver:
returned and redelivered, it rolled on
until the smile poured through us like a river.
How fine, I thought, this waking amongst men!
I kissed your mouth and pledged myself forever.
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/walking-with-russell/
267PaulCranswick
Book #77
Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis
Publication Date : 1981
Origin of author : Greece
Pages : 115 pp
Nobel Prize Winner 1979 : 67 of 116 laureates.
The scent of myrtle and thyme
breathing through the olive leaves
As the Aegean strokes the flaxen shore.
Elytis brought a splendid lyricism to his writing describing the natural world of the waters and mountains of his homeland, its peoples and concerns. In an epic style that borrows also from the modern Greek trait of surrealism from the post war French movements.
The Axiom Esti is his most famous work and is shown in extract here as well as his wartime reminisces. This is from the latter part II
of "Heroic and Elegiac Song for the Lost Second Lieutenant of the Albanian Campaign" (1945)
For those men night was a more bitter day
They melted iron, chewed the earth
Their God smelled of gunpowder and mule-hide.
Each thunderclap was a death riding the sky
Each thunderclap a man smiling in the face
Of death - let fate say what she will.
Suddenly the moment misfired and struck courage
Hurled splinters head-on into the sun
Binoculars, sights, mortars froze with terror.
Easily, like calico that the wind rips
Easily, like lungs that stones have punctured
The helmet rolled to the left side.......
For one moment only roots shook in the soil
Then the smoke dissolved and the day tried timidly
To beguile the eternal tumult.
But night rose up like a spurned viper
Death paused one second on the brink -
Then struck deeply with his pallid claws.
Obvious why he won the Nobel prize.
Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis
Publication Date : 1981
Origin of author : Greece
Pages : 115 pp
Nobel Prize Winner 1979 : 67 of 116 laureates.
The scent of myrtle and thyme
breathing through the olive leaves
As the Aegean strokes the flaxen shore.
Elytis brought a splendid lyricism to his writing describing the natural world of the waters and mountains of his homeland, its peoples and concerns. In an epic style that borrows also from the modern Greek trait of surrealism from the post war French movements.
The Axiom Esti is his most famous work and is shown in extract here as well as his wartime reminisces. This is from the latter part II
of "Heroic and Elegiac Song for the Lost Second Lieutenant of the Albanian Campaign" (1945)
For those men night was a more bitter day
They melted iron, chewed the earth
Their God smelled of gunpowder and mule-hide.
Each thunderclap was a death riding the sky
Each thunderclap a man smiling in the face
Of death - let fate say what she will.
Suddenly the moment misfired and struck courage
Hurled splinters head-on into the sun
Binoculars, sights, mortars froze with terror.
Easily, like calico that the wind rips
Easily, like lungs that stones have punctured
The helmet rolled to the left side.......
For one moment only roots shook in the soil
Then the smoke dissolved and the day tried timidly
To beguile the eternal tumult.
But night rose up like a spurned viper
Death paused one second on the brink -
Then struck deeply with his pallid claws.
Obvious why he won the Nobel prize.
268PaulCranswick
>266 charl08: Wonderful, Charlotte. Paterson really is my favourite living poet. Thank you for that.
269PaulCranswick
New books added:
1934 by Alberto Moravia (1982)
Borrowed from Open Library
Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019)
A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2019)
Bought from Kinokuniya
A mixed bag of fiction today. A novel by an Italian maestro that I have always wanted to read, my next Reacher, a debut novel by a young Indian author, a Mexican author nominated for the Booker International Prize and the reliable Stewart O'Nan.
1934 by Alberto Moravia (1982)
Borrowed from Open Library
Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019)
A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2019)
Bought from Kinokuniya
A mixed bag of fiction today. A novel by an Italian maestro that I have always wanted to read, my next Reacher, a debut novel by a young Indian author, a Mexican author nominated for the Booker International Prize and the reliable Stewart O'Nan.
270PaulCranswick
Books Added
271PaulCranswick
My youngest out with me for shopping and mainly for dinner in KLCC Suria Twin Towers this evening.
She is having Tex-Mex food but more rapt in her phone.
She is having Tex-Mex food but more rapt in her phone.
272m.belljackson
PAUL - a very quick and timely notice for your Avant-Garde Music loving friend:
TODAY, Sunday, from 3-9 PM U>S> Eastern Standard Time, is
THE BANG ON THE CAN Marathon, featuring, around 4 PM,
"a brilliant solo by R.M."
Hope somehow you can both enjoy this.
TODAY, Sunday, from 3-9 PM U>S> Eastern Standard Time, is
THE BANG ON THE CAN Marathon, featuring, around 4 PM,
"a brilliant solo by R.M."
Hope somehow you can both enjoy this.
273richardderus
>270 PaulCranswick: Most respectable haul!
>271 PaulCranswick: *baaawww* She's grown up while I wasn't looking! Scary.
>271 PaulCranswick: *baaawww* She's grown up while I wasn't looking! Scary.
274m.belljackson
>272 m.belljackson:
Well, he looked good and his paintings were brilliant, yet the "brilliant solo" seemed to go missing.
The Czech Woman singer and violinist was Great!
Well, he looked good and his paintings were brilliant, yet the "brilliant solo" seemed to go missing.
The Czech Woman singer and violinist was Great!
275vancouverdeb
Ohh, you are in for some treats, Paul. A Burning was excellent - I just finished reading it. I also enjoyed Henry, Himself last year? I'm a fan of Stewart O" Nan. Great picture of Belle. This pandemic has sure put a wrench in seeing family. I had my older son come by and he and my husband were working on his car for a while and we chatted for a little while. Then later my other son did a quick drive by and dropped off some fresh strawberries , and I had a couple of little gifts for my granddaughter. We just waved from a distance. My younger son with the little one is really taking the pandemic distancing very seriously. I miss them all! I'm sure you are missing the rest of your family that much more.
276PaulCranswick
>272 m.belljackson: I had messaged Johann my jazz fiend friend.
>273 richardderus: RD, she is scary. Her looks of disdain could wilt a flower in bloom!
>273 richardderus: RD, she is scary. Her looks of disdain could wilt a flower in bloom!
277PaulCranswick
>272 m.belljackson: I'll check with Johann this morning, Marianne, as to his impressions.
>273 richardderus: I did like the look of A Burning, Deb.
The social distancing here means that even at capacity the restaurants are way less than full if that makes sense. You would have thought that it would have improved service but I haven't noticed any such improvement!
>273 richardderus: I did like the look of A Burning, Deb.
The social distancing here means that even at capacity the restaurants are way less than full if that makes sense. You would have thought that it would have improved service but I haven't noticed any such improvement!
278banjo123
Happy Sunday, Paul! and congrats on the 75. Belle is really growing up, which must be bittersweet.
Regarding protests, riots, tumbling statues, etc. I must say that, even though I don't agree with all of the protester's tactics, there has been more progress on racial justice in the past 2 weeks than in the previous 10 years. I am hoping that this is a moment in history that leads to long-lasting change.
Regarding protests, riots, tumbling statues, etc. I must say that, even though I don't agree with all of the protester's tactics, there has been more progress on racial justice in the past 2 weeks than in the previous 10 years. I am hoping that this is a moment in history that leads to long-lasting change.
279PaulCranswick
>278 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda. It is bittersweet but she is still my baby!
If the American experience means that the demonstrations have effected lasting social change there then that is wonderful news. I am too far away from the events to make such a judgement for my own country but I certainly know that the UK is a much more inclusive place and is far more proud of its social and ethnic diversity than it was when I left it 26 years ago and I see and feel that change on every visit. Like a grade report - "improving but can still do much better!"
If the American experience means that the demonstrations have effected lasting social change there then that is wonderful news. I am too far away from the events to make such a judgement for my own country but I certainly know that the UK is a much more inclusive place and is far more proud of its social and ethnic diversity than it was when I left it 26 years ago and I see and feel that change on every visit. Like a grade report - "improving but can still do much better!"
280lkernagh
Stopping by to get caught up (and pretty much skim reading). Happy to learn that Open Library is proving to be a good resource for you. Congratulations on passing 75!
I wasn't going to weigh in on this lengthy discussion, but I can't stay silent. Where I live, municipal council made a decision last year, without broader community consultation and on very short notice, to remove the statue of our country's founding father from the side entrance to the municipal hall based on guidance received from a council appointed committee. As with all founding fathers, yes there are aspects that do not stand up well in today's society.
Public outcry at the removal of the statue on virtually no notice was that the statue should either remain with explanatory text plaques to inform visitors or replace the statue with explanatory text plaques. The bottom line is that history cannot and should not be erased just by the removal of statues. It should be used as an educational tool to inform current and future citizens. That is an example of democracy in action to correct what was in this particular case a municipal council overstepping their mandate.
Off my soap box and wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
I wasn't going to weigh in on this lengthy discussion, but I can't stay silent. Where I live, municipal council made a decision last year, without broader community consultation and on very short notice, to remove the statue of our country's founding father from the side entrance to the municipal hall based on guidance received from a council appointed committee. As with all founding fathers, yes there are aspects that do not stand up well in today's society.
Public outcry at the removal of the statue on virtually no notice was that the statue should either remain with explanatory text plaques to inform visitors or replace the statue with explanatory text plaques. The bottom line is that history cannot and should not be erased just by the removal of statues. It should be used as an educational tool to inform current and future citizens. That is an example of democracy in action to correct what was in this particular case a municipal council overstepping their mandate.
Off my soap box and wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
281alcottacre
>261 PaulCranswick: Not quite a literal ton, but close!
>264 PaulCranswick: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Paul.
>269 PaulCranswick: >270 PaulCranswick: Nice haul! I need to read Henry Himself. I loved Emily Alone.
>264 PaulCranswick: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Paul.
>269 PaulCranswick: >270 PaulCranswick: Nice haul! I need to read Henry Himself. I loved Emily Alone.
282PaulCranswick
>280 lkernagh: Thanks for those comments Lori. I agree on the one hand that the "celebration" of history should be made less one dimensional by explaining the fuller context. This is, as you say better done by explanatory plaques rather than destruction or as you say erasing history. I do agree though that there is a genuine argument to justify the removal of some statues in light of what is now understood. Edward Colston in Bristol for example. He was seen as a benefactor to the city and did donate huge sums for hospitals, education and the amelioration of the poor, but most of that wealth was generated from profits he made from the slave trade. Does that make his belated generosity to Bristol any less generous - no possibly not - but the source of funds was more than a little tainted.
>281 alcottacre: I think that you'd like the E Phillips Oppenheim book.
>281 alcottacre: I think that you'd like the E Phillips Oppenheim book.
283Caroline_McElwee
>271 PaulCranswick: wow, you get to dine out... nice. Think that's a while away here.
284alcottacre
>282 PaulCranswick: Too bad my local library does not have it.
285charl08
>283 Caroline_McElwee: I don't know how the young man in the background is going to eat through his mask...
286PaulCranswick
>283 Caroline_McElwee: Restaurants have re-opened with Social Distancing regulations t be observed. Now the menus are available to your handphones via QR codes so you don't have to handle them and to keep interaction to a minimum. Tables that seat 4 can only accommodate 2 and so on. Some tables closed altogether. It has been three weeks now.
>284 alcottacre: If you go to openilbrary.com you can borrow it in ebook form.
>284 alcottacre: If you go to openilbrary.com you can borrow it in ebook form.
287PaulCranswick
>285 charl08: Hahaha Charlotte. Well spotted. Belle's facemask is there somewhere too. You would not be allowed in the Mall without a mask.
288Matke
Quite a discussion going on, Paul; a healthy airing of views, I think.
I think the explanatory plaques, or a fuller treatment of history is needed. Nd certainly a much more balanced history should be taught in our woefully inadequate schools.
I think the explanatory plaques, or a fuller treatment of history is needed. Nd certainly a much more balanced history should be taught in our woefully inadequate schools.
289PaulCranswick
>288 Matke: I do think that explanatory plaques are the very least that could be done to better educate. History teaching can always be improved.
290benitastrnad
There was another appalling racial murder in Atlanta on Friday. This one resulted in the arrest of the police officer who shot the man and the police chief resigned. It is clear that systemic change needs to happen in our methods of policing. Instead of "domination" there needs to be dialogue. Police need to talk to people and act as mediators more often. Now there is simply no interaction taking place. This means that complete retraining is necessary.
I think they should start with the uniforms. They should change the colors they use. Lighter brighter colors should be worn and the design needs to change so that they are less menacing. Maybe something like what the Swiss Guards wear?
I think they should start with the uniforms. They should change the colors they use. Lighter brighter colors should be worn and the design needs to change so that they are less menacing. Maybe something like what the Swiss Guards wear?
291Storeetllr
Happy Monday, Paul! Hope you had a lovely weekend.
Interesting conversations going on your thread! I have to say I'm of the same opinion as Benita and Susan and others who have similarly commented on the issues.
Interesting conversations going on your thread! I have to say I'm of the same opinion as Benita and Susan and others who have similarly commented on the issues.
292vancouverdeb
Our restaurants have opened here too, but it's complex, with the social distancing, plexiglass installation etc. I don't often eat out, so I've not had to deal with it all. Maybe it's a complex situation for the waitstaff? I know when I got my hair cut and coloured, my stylist, a really lovely woman, told me how exhausted she was with wearing masks all day, the sanitizing that has to go on in between each customer, and the costs associated ( she and her husband own the salon) . She was not grumpy at all, but I think it had been a trying for them. Our Canadian Government was very good about giving out emergency loans to small businesses that have suffered during the pandemic, that she certainly mentioned.
293EllaTim
>292 vancouverdeb: Here hairdressers have been open for two weeks, I guess. They can chose to wear a mask, or not. The hairdresser in my street doesn't. I'm glad I wear my hair long, so I don't need a haircut.
294PaulCranswick
>290 benitastrnad: Things do need to change, in the States especially, Benita. The fact that we can even make reference to "racial killing" says so much already. I'm not sure that changing the uniforms will make much difference but it may give out a message that the police want to change.
Unless your gun culture is changed I don't see much chance for the violence on your streets to diminish.
>291 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary. I would like to stress that I am sure that 90% of all your policemen and women do a wonderful and difficult job and are being let down badly by a bigoted, violent and trigger happy minority.
Unless your gun culture is changed I don't see much chance for the violence on your streets to diminish.
>291 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary. I would like to stress that I am sure that 90% of all your policemen and women do a wonderful and difficult job and are being let down badly by a bigoted, violent and trigger happy minority.
295PaulCranswick
>292 vancouverdeb: Belle and I are eating out once a week on a Sunday evening and each of us taking a turn to choose where. I don't think I could handle the regulations still less afford it if we were eating out every day.
>293 EllaTim: I think that the hairdressers and barbers opened here this last week. I say think because I folded and got my hair cut by the electrical supervisor on site.
>293 EllaTim: I think that the hairdressers and barbers opened here this last week. I say think because I folded and got my hair cut by the electrical supervisor on site.
296Familyhistorian
Thanks for posting the stats, way back up thread, Paul. That shows how long it has been since I visited and my posting is probably way down for June so it's great you did the stats at the end of May!
Such and interesting and controversial discussion going on but I won't wade in.
Congratulations on reading to 75 and beyond!
Such and interesting and controversial discussion going on but I won't wade in.
Congratulations on reading to 75 and beyond!
Dit onderwerp werd voortgezet door PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 16.
